What do we mean by the “nuevo tango scene” in Buenos Aires?

One of the best things about dancing tango in Buenos Aires is the variety of “scenes” to choose from. If you go to Club Sunderland on a Saturday night, for instance, you’ll see that everyone is dancing in a close embrace and more than 75 couples may be crowded on the floor. Although some younger dancers go to Sunderland, most of the attendees at this milonga are over 50. Both the music and the dancing are firmly grounded in tradition. It would be totally inappropriate to open the embrace here or to lead moves like ganchos or boleos, which require more space. Rather, it’s best to relish the opportunity to dance on the same floor with—and in the same style as—these extraordinary dancers, many of whom have been dancing for decades.

More and more, however, young dancers in Buenos Aires are interested in dancing in environments where there is space to dance in open embrace and to try new steps. If you walk into Villa Malcolm on a Friday night, for instance, you’ll see about 50 couples—mostly in their 20s and 30s—flying around the dance floor. One pair will be trying to make their new "colgada-then volcada-straight into two ganchos" combination work, while another pair may be incorporating lifts taken straight from contact improvisation into their tango. If you talk to these dancers, some will say they are dancing “tango nuevo”; others will say that they are simply dancing tango. Since these kinds of movement and exploration are often called nuevo tango, we have adopted that terminology for this guide.

In Buenos Aires, nuevo tango is generally danced in practicas, as opposed to milongas (although there are a couple of milongas aimed at the nuevo tango dancers). The practica scene in Buenos Aires has exploded in the last two years. Whereas in 2004, there were only a couple of practicas each week, now you can choose among two or more different practicas on some nights. If you want to see the famous younger dancers when they're in town (people like Chicho, Cecelia Gonzalez, Eugenia Parilla, Ezequiel Farfaro, etc.), you're more likely to catch them in one of the practicas than in the milongas.

The links to the left will help you start finding your way around Buenos Aires' nuevo tango scene. If you have any additional information, or want to correct something I have wrong, please email me.