How to Dance Milonga

Milonga music is 2/4 time. There are two quarter notes in each measure, each quarter note receives a beat, counted as 1+, 2+ (1 is the downbeat, 2 is the upbeat, + is the subdivision), which is twice as fast as tango. (See Tango Music and Its Danceability.) How well one dances milonga depends on one's ability to handle its fast rhythm.

There are three ways to do that.

Milonga Lisa
The first way is called milonga Lisa, in which the dancer steps only on the downbeat of each measure and ignore the upbeat and subdivisions, that is, right foot on 1 of the first measure, left foot on 1 of the second measure, right foot on 1 of the third measure, left food on 1 of the forth measure..., in even speed.

Milonga Lisa is the simplest way to dance milonga. It feels a bit slow and monotonous, but fits well when music is very fast.

Dynamic Timing
The second way is using dynamic timing to step randomly on any or all beats and subdivisions in different speeds.

For example, you may step on 1 of the first measure, then on both 1 and 2 of the second measure (slow, quick-quick), or vice versa (quick-quick, slow), or on all downbeats and upbeats (quick-quick, quick-quick).

You may also step on subdivisions in addition to beats: left foot on 1, right foot on +, left foot on 2 (quick-quick, slow); or left foot on 1, right foot on 2, left foot on + (slow, quick-quick); or left foot on 1, right foot on +, left foot on 2, right foot on + (quick-quick, quick-quick). Of course you may also use pause and slow motion.

Dancing milonga with dynamic timing is more interesting, but due to frequent weight changes, it feels busy and could be tedious if the whole tanda is danced in this way. It fits nicely when music is slower.

Milonga Traspie
The third and more sophisticated way to dance milonga is called milonga traspie. Meaning stumble, traspie refers to the stumble like step, i.e., a pseudo-step or semi-weight change, to reduce the movements, thus make the fast-paced milonga easier to dance.

When the leg is blocked by an obstacle, it can either cross over to land on the other side of the obstacle, or it can retreat. Similarly, there are two types of milonga traspie.

The first type of traspie is double-step traspie, in which the dancer steps twice with the same leg on two consecutive downbeats in slow-slow timing. The first step resembles the outstretched leg meets the obstacle. The second step resembles that same leg crosses over the obstacle. The first step is not an actual step but only a tap, carrying 50% of the body weight. The second step is a real step, carrying 100% of the body weight to free the standing leg. Dancing double-step traspie, the left leg steps in line with the partner's leg, the right leg steps outside of the partner's leg, often in a pattern of two traspies forward and two traspies backward.

With its slow-slow timing, double-step traspie can help slow down the pace of the dance when music is very fast.

The second type of traspie is rock traspie, resembling the rebound reaction of the leg after it meets an obstacle. The dancer uses the rock actions to transfer weight back and forth three times in quick-quick-slow timing: (1) stretch one leg out to the front, or back, or side, and transfer 50% of the body weight to that leg on 1 (quick), (2) push with that leg to transfer weight back to the standing leg on + (quick), (3) push with the standing leg to transfer weight back to the stretched leg completely on 2 to free the standing leg (slow).

Rock traspie is particuarly favored by the milongueros for its plainness, compactness, inconspicuousness and easiness.

By using a feigned step, whether tap or rock, traspie can keep the body movements in tune with the fast-paced milonga music without actually changing weight on every beat and subdivision, thus retain the rhythmic motion of the body but make the dance more manageable.

Due to the subtlety of its lead, traspie is best executed in close embrace with good physical connection between the dancers. Since traspie is a pseudo-step rather than real step, beginners who are used to changing weight every step need to go through a habit-breaking process to master it.

Experienced dancers mix all above methods to make their dance more interesting and fun. The following are few more examples.

Imitating Steps vs. Developing Skills

Beginners often think that if they can do the steps, they can dance tango. That's why they only focus on imitating steps. As soon as they have memorized a step, they move on to copy another step. They believe in that way they can learn faster and be able to dance tango sooner.

What they don’t know is that what makes a qualified tango dancer is not the number of steps one knows, but the behind the scene skills upon which the steps are built. These basic skills include musicality, embrace, posture, connection, the ability to use the torso to lead/follow, switch between parallel system and cross system, the ability to return to the home position in a timely manner, flexibility, lightness, balance, stability, walk, salida, resolution, cross, pivot, dissociation, ocho, molinete, gear effect, cadencia, rock, traspie, synchronization, and slow motion. These are the building blocks of all tango steps. Those who have a solid grounding in these basic skills can dance beautifully with few simple steps. Those who lack these basic skills, their dance looks incoherent and awkward even though they may know a lot of fancy steps.

The purpose of teachers teaching steps is not only to teach steps, but more importantly, to teach basic skills. For example, the teacher instructs the students to use dissociation in ocho because dissociation is a key skill not only in ocho but also in many other tango steps. Students, however, may not understand that. They imitate the ocho movemment by crossing one leg in front of the other leg and leave out the hard work of swiveling the hips. Instead of taking the pain to develop a skill, they take a short cut to get quick results. Consequently, although they may have dabbled at many steps, their basic skills remain poor.

Another purpose of teachers teaching steps is to help students overcome bad habits, such as bending over, leaning back, bowing the head, curving the knees, breaking the embrace, using arms and hands to lead/follow, grasping hold of the partner to do steps, etc. Until students break away from these bad habits and develop good habits that meet the requirement of tango, they cannot dance tango well. But students may not understand that. They focus on imitating steps but pay little attention to correcting their bad habits. Consequently, although they may have smattered many steps, their old habits remain, and their dance is still not up to the standard of tango.

The eagerness to succeed is a big obstacle to learning. Students must understand that it is not the number of steps they know but the basic skills and good habits they have developed that decide the quality of their dance. Instead of focusing on copying steps, they should focus on laying the foundation, so that what they learn in each step becomes a building block for the next step. By proceeding in an orderly and gradual way, by diligently practicing basic skills, by carefully following instructions and paying attention to technical details, by taking pains to do drills, and by laying a solid foundation, they can achieve twice the result with half the effort overall. That is the only way to become a qualified tango dancer. (See Tango Is a Language (I).)