Los Codigos de Tango
Codigos (pron: “Coh”-“Dee”-“Gohs”). This word means, when translated from Spanish to English, ‘The Codes’ or Practices of the dance! What the ‘F’ does that mean ? It means that from the moment you walk into the Milonga you have certain things you have to do in order to be in community with the other dancers in the room. Codigos defines the way in which we interact with other dancers, our partners, and the room in general. It deals with more commonly, how to ask for a dance or to decline a dance without hurting anyone’s feelings; Where to sit; How to dress; How to enter and exit the line AND lane of dance. How to leave the floor or how to enter the floor. There are also a host of arcane ideas that seemingly have no place in today’s world of egalitarian experience. Like for instance, codigos of years gone by said that woman never asked a man to dance but instead made herself available to a Man. Times have changed, but that codigo still exists in Buenos Aires and other Milongas through-out the world. These codigos below are just a few of the more popular ones. More will be added as time goes by. Also there is a dictionary, or glossary of terms on Tango Topics which also defines some of this stuff.
Where To Sit
When you walk into our Milonga, you can sit wherever you like. Some people in our Milongas, we’re not naming names, grab one of the larger tables and get a group together. Some prefer to sit by themselves. Honestly, you can sit wherever you like. There is no pecking order
What To Wear
What you should or shouldn’t wear is not really an aspect of Códigos. But it is something that affects it in a distant way. And we do get the question now and again. So we’re putting this information here. If you’re new to Argentine Tango, you might want to know
The Shoes
Tango is nothing without the shoes. Shoes make the dancer. Or so the saying goes. When in our opinion, the dancer makes the shoes. The reality of Argentine Tango is some people believe that you need a pair of shoes to complete the look of what you’re doing and to
The Rules!
In every environment there are rules, and in the Milonga environment there are rules too. However, in our environment there aren’t really rules, but firm suggestions that we’d like you to consider: 1.) First and foremost, bring a smile, and your best outfit for the day, and a nice pair
Mirada
‘Mirada’ comes from the Spanish verb ‘Mirar’ which means ‘to look’. However, because it’s a verb, it has tenses. And as such, that ‘ada’ ending in Spanish is very similar to the ‘ed’ ending in English. So when you put these two ideas together you get ‘LOOKED’. Mirada is the
Follow the Line & Lane of Dance
Coming to a Milonga for the first time, or even for the 100th, you may recognize a structure of the Milonga, a format if you will, that helps to organize the Milonga itself. And that format is called ‘The Line of Dance’. That ‘Line of Dance‘ is important to keeping
Floorcraft!
The word ‘Floorcraft‘ sounds a bit like the word ‘witchcraft’ but is so far from that it’s not even funny. Floorcraft is not something that gets taught a lot or talked about, and yet it’s the very foundation of nearly everything we do at a Milonga while dancing tango. To
Cabeceo
The word ‘Cabeceo’ is properly pronounced as “CAH”-“BAH”-“SAY”-“OH”. It comes from the root Spanish word ‘Cabeza’ or ‘Head’ when translated to English. Cabeceo means, in Argentine Tango parlance, a little nod of the head. Although truthfully it’s a bit more than that as you’ll see. What does Cabeceo mean from
Accidents Happen!
The fact of the matter is that when dancing Tango, you’re going to either run into someone, and/or you’re going to hit something or someone. This is, obviously, not intentional. Stuff happens. You either misjudge the distance of something or someone, and you step very close to, or on someone