When my two friends and I stepped into the hole-in-the-wall that was El Mundo del Tango on Miramar road followed close behind by two parents, we didn’t know what to expect. The place was dimly lit and by the looks of it pretty shady, with only a few "old fogies," as said by Danielle, dancing with themselves. We made conversation with one nice old man who turned out to be the instructor’s husband, and an ex-Navy man, someone after my own Military brat heart. He told us all about the Milonga, whose name actually comes from an African dialect; "milonga" is the plural of "mulonga" which means word. The Milonga was originally a form of song and had long improvised guitar sections hallmark of the folk-singers of the Pampa, Los Payadores. As the song became slower over the years, it was combined with types of dances from Africa, Cuba, Poland and—you won’t believe it—the polka. This new dancing combined with the music eventually became the Milonga. It turns out that he and his wife met in Argentina during a celebration where (surprise!) they danced the Milonga together and fell in love.

With good old fashioned sappy-ness on our minds, we joined the rest of the motley crew of mostly old folk, two cute teenage guys ( Qué suerte!) and with the instruction of Señora Linda proceeded to learn more about and dance the Tango Argentino, the Milonga.

The first few steps to the Milonga that we learned left me and my feet very confused. Unlike most dances we Freshmen have learned this year—against our will or not—the Milonga keeps the woman constantly going backwards which puts more than our feet at risk for the situation—after the first two times my partner bashed my head into the wall I began to figure out before the others the useful art of turning. We also had to cross our feet and use the foot that had been crossed over immediately after, which, when wearing tennis shoes made for running, is not helpful to the situation.

After switching shoes with my mother to provide less traction with the floor in order to turn, I began to get the gist of the Milonga. Brian, however, hadn’t exactly figured the dancing steps out yet, and was constantly trying to count it out in his head. "I can’t find the beat," he complained. I told him to listen to the violins and try to stop stepping on my feet. When it came time for new partners, Carlotta, my good friend, and I switched, leaving me with an almost hyper partner my age named Ron.

Ron found the beat and was a great dancer; apparently he had done this before. He taught me a step called los ochos; that helped out my footwork immensely. On the fifth beat when I normally had to think extra hard about not tripping, I was to swivel around making a figure eight shape twice, hence, los ochos and a much easier way to finish the dance.

Near the end of the dancing, Señora Linda and her husband showed us all the steps of the Milonga to a faster song than we had been taught with. I must say, I half-expected something like the dancing I had seen on television, walking forwards and backwards with roses, but the dance was complex and it was amazing to me how she could stay standing with all of the fancy footwork she was doing. Despite the faster beat, however, it was still slow and the deep dips, spirals and the balancing acts that were las cunas were beautiful.

Carlotta and I left El Mundo del Tango with an annoying song stuck in both of our heads and one annoyed grumbling Danielle who apparently had to dance with an old man who liked her tango way too much (You should have seen the look on her face! I wish I had brought a camera…). Regardless of that, it was a very rewarding experience and after finals I might just go back and learn some more!