Comments on: Treating the symptoms

By: Tina

Tina — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 11:26:26 +0000

Tangocommuter: In my experience, living in Buenos Aires for a year and a half, plenty of men still wear jackets in the milongas. They might take them off when they are resting but they always put the jacket back on to dance. This experience of mine was very recent, 2008-2009. It just depends on what milonga you go to and who you dance with.

By: Cherie

Cherie — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:46:30 +0000

Some people dance with lots more energy than others–it’s their style. It doesn’t mean they are “trying harder” or beginners.

And some perspire more than others as well.

I love the old-fashioned custom of the man keeping folding handkerchiefs in both hands to avoid sweating on the lady, but you don’t see that much anymore, sadly.

By: Simba

Simba — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 00:52:02 +0000

Hm – this discussion is reverting into the one I was commenting on. Treating the symptoms instead of the underlying cause. If you dance well, you would only need these under extreme conditions. Shows are a different matter of course. Well, maybe that is part of the problem, too…

By: Cherie

Cherie — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:30:53 +0000

Many men take a change of shirt, which is so thoughtful.
Ruben also brings a small towel.

By: Simba

Simba — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 01:45:44 +0000

Another inside tip: It is allowed to take a rest/break every now and then.

My experience is the same as Tangocommuter’s, it is not really that common with jackets. But there are indeed some more formal milongas where it is still the norm.

@Tangocommuter: Isn’t the effort mainly before hand, i.e. when learning, not when dancing?

By: tangocommuter

tangocommuter — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:50:52 +0000

…but very few dancers, milongueros or otherwise, wear jackets at milongas in Buenos Aires! A few of the older, more formal ones, do, it’s true, but really it’s no longer that common. Shirt sleeves are the norm. Of course the older dancers have learned over the years how to dance with little apparent effort…

By: Tina

Tina — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:27:14 +0000

The reason only anglo-americans write about sweat in tango, is because it’s not a problem anywhere else. I mean, everybody sweats, all over the world, even milongueros in Buenos Aires sweat. But:

In Buenos Aires, a milonguero always has a handkerchief in his pocket ready to wipe away sweat from his forehead and temples between tangos, and he always wears his jacket during the dance, and it protects the woman from his sweat, if he sweats (it can get pretty hot on a crowded dance floor in the humid summer). It’s just normal to bathe and wear deodorant and do what you can to stay clean and dry while at a milonga in Buenos Aires. It’s second nature there.

Here in Italy, and in the US as well, people are actually SURPRISED when I tell them this. They don’t even realize how sweaty and gross they get at milongas. I had one guy basically drench my hair with his sweat and I finally had to suggest that he carry a handkerchief with him at all times (after he apologized for the sweat). He was so amazed and enlightened by this innovative (ha) idea that it made me chuckle inside.