2020 marks a momentous milestone for tango dancers in the SF Bay Area. Since 2000, there has been a monthly milonga in the region where dancers could dance all night to their hearts’ and feets’ content. The All-Night Milonga (ANM), or “The All-nighter” as it is often referred, is held at The Beat, a dance studio in West Berkeley. It happens on the 4th Saturday of every month, from the evening until the wee hours of Sunday morning - a schedule which has not changed since its beginning. Once … Continue reading
Articles by Guest Writers
How Many Tandas?
Half a tanda or 10? When do you leave a tanda, and for how many do you stay? The latest from guest writer Tanguera Escondida. One of my worst experiences in tango happened recently. I was sitting along the wall at a popular milonga when a dignified-looking man approached, wearing a pin-striped suit and button-up […]
More Tango Confessions by Tanguera Escondida
Another humorous story by guest writer Tanguera Escondida: Situations In Which Followers Should Be Paid To Go To Group Classes I recently decided to take a group class with one of my favorite instructors in the Bay area. I love his focus on the basics, his salon tango embrace, the way he walks around the […]
Practicing Tango
Tanguera Escondida returns with more thoughtful and humorous observations on the benefits of practice and a salad with tuna: A couples months ago I said something truly ridiculous to my tango partner, Klondike. He had remarked that I’d danced beautifully at a recent milonga with good posture and elegance. I really took this compliment to […]
Celebrating 20 years of Tuesday Night Tango
The El V Story by Andrea Bindereif “Where did the time go?” asks Julian Ramil, and as they both shake their heads his wife Claudia repeats: “Yes, where did the time go?” We were talking about El V, one of the best-known milongas in San Francisco and beyond, and which was about to celebrate […]
Tango Confessions by Tanguera Escondida
SF Loves Tango is thrilled to introduce Tanguera Escondida, our new guest writer. “Tango Confessions by Tanguera Escondida” will be a regular series at SF Loves Tango. Tanguera Escondida (TE) shares her stories, with honesty and a wry sense of humor, the joys and frustrations of dancing Tango in the Bay Area. TE frequents all the […]
Teaching Tango in Africa
A few years ago I received an email from Camille Cusumano requesting support for her “Go Fund Me” campaign to teach tango in Africa. Camille is someone I’ve known for several years now, first as the author of Tango: An Argentine Love Story and then in person as a Bay Area dancer and teacher. Her […]
Articles about Bay Area Milongas
Tango Etiquette and Floor Craft
It’s time to re-share this post on Tango Floor Craft and Etiquette for newer dancers and a refresher for those who may have forgotten. If you dance frequently enough, you have experienced a chaotic dance floor. A chaotic dance floor has no flow, people weave in and out of lanes, and couples enter with no […]
Milonga Spotlight: CMC Mission Milonga
The CMC Milonga is a wonderful intimate milonga in the heart of the Mission. It’s held in a beautiful Victorian concert hall with smooth wooden floor and outdoor patio. This monthly Milonga, held every 2nd Saturday of the month, often includes live music and dance performances by local and international Tango guests. Plus, all ages are welcome […]
Milonga Spotlight: La Genesis
For a while, San Francisco was seriously lacking a good regular Friday night tango venue, that is until La Genesis came along. Tango Sabor (also the host of Tuesday’s ‘El V’) has been hosting this Friday night milonga for over a year now and it has quickly become one of the most popular milongas in […]
Looking for Tango on Valentine’s Weekend?
With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, this is a good time for a round-up of upcoming SF Bay Area Tango events. For some reason, many consider Argentine Tango to be romantic, passionate or sensual. Perhaps it’s the physical closeness of the dance, the intertwining of legs or the serious, contemplative look on dancers faces. For those […]
Pushing Boundaries with Fusion Tango
Some would say true creativity can only happen when we push the boundaries on tradition. Tango has evolved a lot in the past 20 years. But then again, it has evolved a lot since its humble beginnings on the streets of Buenos Aires in the late 1800’s. Although many still revere the “Golden Age” of […]
Studio 1924 Slumberlonga
Do you often wish the milongas would last longer? Do you wish you could dance in your PJs? Then the upcoming slumberlonga is just what you need. Starting this coming Sunday, August 31st, Count and Melissa will be hosting their third Slumberlonga at studio 1924. The upcoming Slumberlonga celebrates the second anniversary of Studio 1924 […]