Jun 11
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Aga: Music is an indispensable part of any kind of milonga (traditional/alternative) or tango event. For many of us, experienced dancers and not only, music is one of the critical elements in deciding which milonga to attend. As I know, you have been DJing during your travels, as well as at your own events. When did you start DJing? What factors from your point of view as a DJ, determine the success of a milonga?
Melina: I started DJing in 2004 – when I got my first iBook. I never wanted to handle CD’s, so I had to wait until I had an appropriate machine.
As for the factors, that determine the success of a Milonga, I could write a book! They are, amongst others: Welcoming and non-snobbish hosts and habitués; a nice setting with an appropriate dance floor and enough places to sit; proper lighting to allow for the use of Cabeceo/Mirada…
The music makes of course all the difference. Experienced dancers (also the more nuevo ones) are usually attracted by good traditional DJ’s, who present the music in Tandas and Cortinas. They want to have a choice of interesting, danceable Tangos, Milongas and Valses in a setting where they can meet appropriate partners.
A DJ has therefore to „serve the customers”, and not be an artist or a scientist, who’s looking for the most rare Tangos, that are never played at Milongas – never played for a good reason!
On the other hand, he/she should not either respond obediently to every wish of a customer. A DJ who will interrupt the flow of the Milonga by putting an exciting Piazzolla-Tanda, because an over-zealous beginner asked him to do so, will not attract the better social dancers.
A strong „predictability of good quality“ is crucial for a Milonga. This is why the DJ has to stand for a certain „style“ of music. He or she will have a very personal taste and stick to his general principles, so that people can rely on a standard – especially those who travel from afar.
If the DJ is not known or changing at an event or a regular Milonga, it is the host, who has to represent this special „flavour“ of a Milonga.
Aga: There are some many great selections of traditional tango music, famous orchestras, beautiful instrumental songs and songs with passionate lyrics. When you DJ, what collections do you like to play to get people on the dance floor and keep them dancing? Are there any particular orchestras that work better together?
Melina: Out of principle, I alternate always between lyrical and rhythmical or dramatic Tangos – without creating too hard contrasts. I use exclusively traditional Tango orchestras of the 30′s and 40′s and add 1-2 Tandas of late 20‘s (Carabelli, Tipica Victor) and early 50′s (Di Sarli). If you stick to that principle, all major orchestras work out nicely.
There will of course never be a Milonga – no matter how short it is – without the „Big 4“: Di Sarli, D’Arienzo, Biagi, Canaro. I play 1-3 Tandas of these at every Milonga. My absolute favourite is Di Sarli and I love to play his Tangos with Rufino or Podesta. For Valses I prefer Canaro, Rodriguez, Donato and De Angelis. For Milongas Canaro, Donato and Lomuto. I of course use all the other well-known classic orchestras as well: D‘Agostino, Troilo, Calo, Fresedo, Tanturi, De Angelis, Laurenz. Once in a while a little Malerba, Demare or Garcia.
I never play Firpo – just don’t like it. And I almost never use Pugliese, he’s great! But much too complex for the ordinary dancer, including me.
Aga: The DJ’s work is tremendously crucial and responsible. To get people on the floor sometimes requires some kind of intuition and good observation of the dancing crowd. What would you suggest to do or how would you encourage newcomers in DJing so that they improve?
Melina: Intuition and observation will have to develop over the years and it helps to watch experienced DJ’s do their work. To get started, you need a set of simple „rules“ as helpers. I wrote them down a couple of years ago for the German Tango magazine „Tangodanza“.
You can find an English version on our site: here. Just recently, I wrote a blog entry about „danceability“ of Tangos: here
Aga: “Let’s talk about sex!” This is a title of one of your articles on Melina’s two cents blog. You opened quite an interesting topic. Let me quote you here, “…when I look around, I see many people finding partners for life or having love affairs in Tango. Very often, they just don’t tell, which is a little strange for me, because I used to move in circles, where people talked openly about their sexuality or at least did not try to repress this primal need. But if you take Tango seriously, sex seems to be a taboo.” Does your observation concern the tango scene in Germany only or it is “an issue” that appears in tango community in general?
Melina: Nowadays, we teach/dance only little in Germany – we are travelling most of the year and are rather seldomly invited by German organisers. (The prophet in his own land …) We spend more time in France, Italy, the UK, the USA and Scandinavia. So I’m talking about the Tango community in general.
I do have to admit though, that my article was a tad provocative. There are of course lots of Tangueros who treat their sexuality in a very „normal“ way – it is a general tendency, I was talking about.
Aga: Apart from men and women using the milongas to make sexual or romantic approaches to each other, I would like to point out one more thing that has been observed not only by me. An attractive young woman, beautifully (I would go even further, provocatively) dressed, with very sexy shoes enters the room. And what is even more important, she is not necessarily distinguished by good quality dancing. But she is going to get more tandas with good male-dancers than someone who looks just fine, has a good posture, strong basics and is quite a good and polished dancer. What would be your approach to this issue as a psychologist, or as a tango dancer?
Melina: I totally agree with this observation and wrote about it on my blog last year: here
As for a „solution“… Well, women need to be more active in Tango, not depend so much on the men. Sitting, waiting and complaining is no valuable strategy. I’ve done that many years and was very unhappy. Nowadays, I dance little, but always nicely, because I make choices. Women need to decide how they want to dance, to what music, with which partner. Once they’ve got this clear and have done their part in improving their technique, it will all be about the quality of the dance and not about the number of Tandas accomplished.
I wrote about that too here and the last paragraph in this article here.
Aga: Recently, I heard 2 quotes, firstly – “Why are all advanced dancers beginners, and all beginners advanced?” What would your response to this be Melina and Detlef?
Detlef: Advanced dancers are beginners:
I am a beginner, somewhere on the way. One has to be modest being confronted with something so deep and broad as tango. No one will ever know all about it. Some things I can do, but so many I can’t. For example I still can’t interpret the music as I hear it. My body still is a natural prison. In my mind I can imagine nicely and exactly how I would like to move to a certain piece of music, together with my partner. Just that I can’t do it that way. It has become better over the years, but I am still not there. Never will be I guess. Imagine Achilles and the turtle. Coming close, yes. Arriving there, never. Exactly that is the power source of going on with it. And this life long process of learning happens in all the interesting disciplines, be it painting or music or literature or (artistic) dance. And a teacher, who has stopped being curious and learning should stop teaching right away, because his teaching has got no life in it anymore.
Beginners are advanced:
Someone who takes his first tango class is not an idiot ! Just not knowing about tango doesn’t imply non-education or non-maturity in other fields. We all deal with adults here. That means, our students come with their life experiences, with their sense of quality and beauty. They come with several strengths we never had. Owing to their reflections and questions we can be the teachers we are today. And as I may hope they will continue to help us on our way.
Aga: And, secondly, a teacher who shall remain nameless, was heard to say that when she turned 40, she would retire from milongas, as it was too difficult for women that are getting older to get dances. Have either of you had much feedback to this in the past, or even better, recently?
Melina: I find that a very sad idea. It is of course harder to be invited, once you’ve crossed a certain age limit. But: I’m 44 and find it easier to be invited by my chosen partners now than a couple of years earlier. If you are a good dancer, well respected and self-confident you will always dance, provided that you choose the right places to go to. Sure, if you dance a flashy nuevo-style and have to compete with all the 20 year olds in that cool Milonga… It may be harder then. But you change, and your Tango will develop over the years. I will surely dance totally different in 20 years – and will find the appropriate partners to do so!
My big idol in the Buenos Aires Milongas is an old Milonguera called Margarita. She’s an excellent dancer and you’ll find her sitting at the best table, watching the dance floor with a very critical eye. And you can tell that she does not approve of everything she sees. But if there is a dancer, who will suit her, she just looks at him – and he‘ll be there right away – ignoring all the beautiful girls willing and available. I call that authority! 
Another thought, if you are a teacher, you have to visit Milongas. What sense does it make to teach a social dance, but not dance it anymore? Tango develops constantly and you have to stay connected. I’m sad, that I cannot visit Milongas so freely anymore, as we are working so much. And very often, I do not dance, because I’m exhausted of classes. That’s a natural result of my job. But retiring from Milongas? Totally ridiculous!
Aga: I know that tango keeps you busy pretty much and you may have just a little time for doing something else outside of tango. What is it that you do do then? Do you have any other hobbies that you like to do when you want to “take a break” from tango?
Melina: I read a lot and love to do Fantasy Role-playing, when I manage to get my friends around the table. I also re-started studying and am preparing for a Master in History and Literature. This will take me years though. In the meanwhile, I love to spend an evening on the couch, watching a TV-series (mostly HBO or BBC) on DVD. As you can see, I’m quite the nerd!
Detlef: Well, sports are of some importance, I try to maintain a regular schedule of strength and cardio training which is very difficult when not being at home most of the time. Then reading magazines, articles and blogs is a welcome distraction. Listening to classical music, watching TV series of ‘high birth’ and quality, taking walks in the city and the nature, meeting old friends. A sad fact is, that my saxophone is collecting dust, but not my breath. Since tango has taken over I don’t play it anymore.
Melina: As you can see, we have very different interests. But we meet to watch the TV-series!
Aga: I am always curious about what people like to eat. What is your favourite cuisine and do you like cooking?
Melina: I like everything spicy (Indian, Thai, Mexican), vegetables, fruit and salads, generally a healthy cuisine. Add some French cheese and good German bread and I’m happy. I loved to cook with friends, but nowadays, there’s very little time to do so. So unfortunately, I mostly have to eat, what an organiser chooses or prepares for me. Now, that’s a huge downside of our job!
Detlef: Food! Important for us. As we often miss our favourite food during our travels far from home, enjoying good meals has become a real treat. German food is of great variety and quality and you can get nutrition from different ethnic proveniences. Organic food is well represented as well. Especially in our home region, we have an excellent German (and French influenced) dining culture.
When travelling, we are always happy to be in Italy. The regional cuisines in Italy are really something to discover and too good to be missed. Eating in an Osteria in Bologna is a must!
And just now, I am thinking of Finland and an impressive experience: Once there, I ate a piece of salmon and there has not been anything like it since then. This salmon had been caught just the day before and all the fish had seen was sea salt and some hours in the smoke. Too good! I am going to work again in Finland coming July, already looking forward to it ! 
Melina: Detlef did not mention the huge amounts of sausage he loves to eat. I always wonder, where he puts it! That’s very German, I guess.
Aga: For my curiosity, what do you think you would be doing if you had never discovered tango in your lives?
Melina: I would – most likely – still be a psychologist and trying to do the history studies in my spare time. I would surely be leading a very normal life and spend lots of time with my friends and interesting hobbies. Sounds not so bad, doesn’t it?
Detlef: That’s a difficult one. As I had already worked in the educational field for ten years, I might have just stayed there. Or maybe take steps towards environmental engineering and management (alternative energies). Besides I am also interested in trading the financial markets. Many interests and so little time. Tango is consuming, on many levels. But let’s see, ask me again in 15 years, God knows what I will be doing.
Melina and Detlef, thank you so much for sharing your fascinating tango story with us
Aga M.
For more information about Melina & Detlef’s teaching & performing go to: www.tangodesalon.de
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