Milonga Maalbeek – Brussels – A Review

Review of Milonga Maalbeek
De Maalbeek, Hoornstraat 97, rue du Cornet 1040 Etterbeek.
Metro Schuman, bus 36 & 80
9pm – 2 am

We arrived around 11pm. The space is a modern theatre, large, decent sound quality. Use of theatrical lighting, as in Cellule the night before, created atmosphere but made the place very hot. There is a bar in the entrance of the building, away from the milonga space inside the theatre. No food! We were told this is normally a busier milonga but on this particular evening there were 20 people max when we arrived and numbers only went down. Perhaps because the previous weekend was the Brussels tango festival, could be the local tanguera population was recovering.

The greeting at the entrance was polite and reserved. The presence of 6 or so ex-pat Argentineans made us feel more welcome, without them the night would have been really quite solemn. The music was classic dance-able tandas, though the downbeat cortinas did not help the low energy atmosphere. The music peaked around 12:30 with D’arienzo back to back with a tanda of fast milongas, seems to be in fashion in Brussels. Most of the time we were there there only 3 or 4 couples on the dancefloor at any point. At 1:30 the place was emptying out, we relied on the courtesy of a resident Argentine to call us a cab, again hailing a cab would have been impossible and the Metro (15 min walk away) was closed by then. This could potentially be a nice night out if there were more people, but for us it was rather disappointingly flat.

The following night (Sunday) we were in Paris. The downlow from Carlos’ cousin was that Sunday is not a good tango night, the Parisiennes get up for work early on Monday. She recommended a practica that ended at 10:30. We opted instead for dinner followed by “le Crazy Horse” cabaret – well worth a visit for the high standard of choreography, lighting, and performance.

http://www.milonga.be/

Review by:  http://www.carlosyalisontango.com

Wanted: Reviews for Milongas in Europe and Elsewhere

Hello People!

You may have noticed that I haven’t got much to say about Tango these days.  I think I have pretty much said it all, that and the fact that I haven’t been dancing much.  That is what happens when one moves to a land of no Tango.  My life has taken off on a different turn.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t love Tango or keep up with events in London and abroad.

I am planning on taking a trip to Bruges at the end of May and would like to go to a Milonga there, if there is one.  I need to Google it and find out.  However, there is nothing like having a personal recommendation.  When I went to Seville, I wrote about my experience there.  I didn’t know what to expect, but I had a wonderful time, mainly because I didn’t expect anything and because I met some wonderful people.  Although I never managed a Milonga in Berlin (due to the BA cock-up with luggage at Terminal 5 on the way out!), I had some lovely recommendations from friends who have danced there.

So, I was wondering if anyone was interested in writing a guest post about a Milonga that they went to in Europe or further afield?  Obviously, the positive reviews will be the most encouraging, however anything seemingly negative is not necessarily a bad thing either.  For example:  A friend of mine went to some milongas while on holiday.  They said that there were plenty of Milongas and good floors, but too few numbers.

To me, that is not a bad review.  It is honest and would let people know what to expect.  If you were travelling with your dance partner, then that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  If you were on your own, then it might be more challenging, but who is to really say that you wouldn’t have a good time.

If someone said that the hospitality was lacking and the music was rubbish, well, I think they would need to go into more detail.  If you like traditional salon and everyone is dancing to modern Nuevo, well then you have a problem, but at least people would know what to expect.

So, what do you all think?

Send me a comment on this post if you are interested.  And, if anyone knows anywhere nice to dance in Bruges, please let me know!

Happy Dancing!

Arlene