Cinco de Mayo CELEBRATION! Four days of Milongas and Classes with Amazing DJs and Instructors at La Vie! Outdoor and indoor dance floors

https://sin-nombre.org/festivalito/schedule/

Registration OPEN!

Hosted by San Diego’s longest running milonga!
Milonga Sin Nombre 9pm Every Friday!

$18 admission after 10pm

$15 before 10pm

$10 full-time students and TJ community members.

Please bring your own reusable cup.

Classes with Ozzy and Fulya

Beginner at 7pm and Intermediate at 8pm

Pictures from past milongas and events.

1255 WEST MORENA BLVD, San Diego, CA 92110

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PAST EVENTS!

 

Tango is a social dance and one of the best, yet hardest, parts is the interactions with other dancers, both on and off the dance floor.  There are many guidelines for tango etiquette (called “codigos”) that can help make the experience more enjoyable for everyone.  Many pages can be written about this, but here are some important points to get you started.

Getting Dances:

We strongly encourage the use of the “cabeceo” for asking and accepting dances.  This technique of using eye contact to initiate a dance empowers both leaders and followers.  Leaders can avoid the embarrassment of having walked up to a follower and being rejected and followers can decline dances without feeling rude.  Hint to the leaders: If a follower is avoiding eye contact with you (and she is not a beginner) she might not want to dance with you at that time.  It is considered rude at some milongas to walk up to a follow that you don’t know and ask her for  dance.  At Sin Nombre many of the group have know each other for many years, so the rules are a little more relaxed, but we still encourage the use of the cabeceo first.  Try it, the first time you get a dance diagonally across the dance floor in a room with 100+ people, you might see the utility!

Rejecting dances:

This is a tricky subject.  Tango is a balance between pursuing your own connection in the dance and nurturing beginners that might be awesome future partners.  If you don’t feel like dancing with a particular person you shouldn’t have to, but think about conditions in which you might be more inclined to dance with that person, especially if they are a beginner.  Personally, I find that I prefer rhythmic music, which often occurs earlier in the night, when I am dancing with someone new to tango.  Your own preferences may vary, but try to consider the other person’s feelings and how you can help them be a part of the community, without compromising your own social experience.

For beginners:

Try to use the cabeceo!  If you use it properly you can get a feel for the type of music that a more advanced dancer is interested in dancing with you.  People who have been dancing a long time tend to have strong opinions about music. If you don’t put them on the spot to dance to music that they don’t think is right, you might find it easier to get dances with them in the future.

For everyone:

You should not have to dance with anyone who make you uncomfortable.  If you are in physical discomfort consider whether there is something that you can do or ask them to do in order to ease it.  If there is not, this is one of the few times that ending a tanda is appropriate.  Try to be polite, explain that it is a matter of physical pain, hopefully without placing blame.

If someone is giving you an odd vibe, or makes you uncomfortable you do not have to dance with them. If someone does anything inappropriate on the dance floor, you do NOT need to finish the tanda. Excuse yourself — politely or not depending on the situation. If it is a serious transgression, please let some staff know.  We want to make sure that everyone feels comfortable at Sin Nombre.  In the rare case that you may consider it to be a serious transgression, please let some staff know.

Resources for more info:
http://www.close-embrace.com/invitingetiquette.html

Good navigation is essential to ensure the enjoyment of everyone on the dance floor.  There is plenty of space to accommodate various styles of dance if everyone follows a few rules.

A fun interactive floorcraft trainer can be found at http://www.tango-dj.at/dancing/interactive/interactivecodigos.htm.

The most important thing to understand is the “ronda” or outer lanes  of dancers. This functions a lot like a freeway at rush hour, everyone has to be respectful of the dancers around them in order to make everything flow smoothly.  Unlike the freeway, however, we all have our radios tuned to the same station, which hopefully orchestrates the movement of the dance floor as a whole.

Before entering the floor the leader should make eye contact with the leaders in the ronda.  This is the equivalent of turning on your turn signal.  Leaders in the ronda will return the eye contact and allow a gap for you to enter the floor.  The leader can then enter the ronda and invite the follower to enter downstream of him in the line of dance, shielding her from any accidents.  Leaders in the ronda, please be courteous to those entering.

The ronda proceeds in a generally counterclockwise direction.  Smaller milongas will have only one lane for the ronda, larger or festival milongas may have several concentric lanes of dancers.  When dancing in the ronda figures should be compact and respect the line of dance and those around you.  Use caution when executing boleos and other larger moves.   If you wish to do larger moves, more patterns, or find that the line of dance doesn’t move enough for you, you might be happier in the center of the floor.  Additionally, if you find that you are dancing with someone unpredictable or who “overfollows” you might choose to move into the center to protect your reputation.  Remember, if you hit another couple, they will remember you, and you may be less likely to get a dance with that follower.  Followers, be aware of the weapons strapped to your feet, any move can be toned down to avoid causing disruption or harm to the dancers around you.  If your boleo hits a couple, you may find that leader is less likely to ask you to dance later.

It is helpful to imagine a lane line around the ronda.  Just like on the freeway, you should avoid veering too close to the line or cutting in and out. This causes the leaders to tense up and have to practice “defensive driving” severely impacting their enjoyment.  Just because you didn’t hit someone doesn’t mean that they didn’t have to swerve or put on the brakes to avoid you. Everyone wants to relax and enjoy themselves, don’t ruin other people’s dance by being a floor hog.  If you are dancing in the center, you should not cut into the ronda.  This is the equivalent of cutting off cars on a freeway exit after the solid white line at rush hour when they are patiently going 10 mph waiting their turn.  You all swear at that guy  on the freeway, don’t be him on the dance floor.

People who are not dancing should stay off the floor.  If you need to cross the room, please walk off the floor in the corridors that are provided. If you must walk on the edge of the floor, give right of way to the dancers at all times.  On NO occasion should pedestrians cut across the floor when people are dancing.  If you find that you and your partner want to continue to talk when the rest of the ronda begins to move, please be courteous and step off the floor.

Under no condition should teaching be conducted on the social dance floor.  The majority of people come to milongas to enjoy the dance.  There are plenty of opportunities for practicas and classes in San Diego for improving your tango.  If both you and your partner agree that you want to work on something, Sin Nombre is lucky to have a second floor downstairs that you can use to practice.  If you find yourself stopping and discussing steps or overwhelmed by the flow of traffic at the milonga, you may want to go downstairs for a bit.

Dancers of all styles can coexist if they respect the rules of the road.  Try to be honest with yourself what kind of dancer you are and dance in a manner that allows everyone to enjoy the floor.