Back to La Negracha

One year on, I got convinced to go again to La Negracha! I had not many expectations other than maybe try and not get stabbed by a flying stilleto and maybe a few nice dances... So I got there and there were a few tables free at the stage-end bit. We knew those are usually used for the regulars but there isn't any sign so we got one right next to the DJ. You could see the milonga very well and could spot who you want and who you don't want to dance with.
There were a few familiar faces around, a few from Edinburgh and others that you meet in random milongas in the UK. I had really nice dances and, best of best, my feet came out of the milonga untouched! There was a close blow at some point but no fatal injuries! I also think that the floorcraft was much better than before. Not that many die-hard Pablo Véron wannabes and many more people actually going there to dance rather than show. The music was good at times although I'm still not convinced about the two floors with different types of music. I am confessedly a both traditional and neotango admirer but when I go to La Negracha I just can't stand go to the neotango floor. It may create a big argument here (because it always does) but I like when old is mixed with new. Obviously it has to be well mixed; eggs and sugar can make wonderful things when mixed together but they can also make quite disgusting experiments, it all depends HOW you mix it.
I am definitely going to come back to London more often to dance. Maybe I'll dance with some tangologuers. Or maybe I've already danced with some and don't know! That's even more interesting!

La Negracha

It’s a cliché to say that things have to live up to the expectations. In fact, things have to live over the expectations created. It happens with cinema, music, and tango is no exception. La Negracha had to punch really high.

First things first - the music. It doesn’t work having one room playing clasico for the most skilled dancers and another playing neotango for the walls; walls don’t dance. Nevertheless, the music selection was quite nice. I knew Ivan’s good taste for tango from previous milongas in Edinburgh but, hombre, if you’re reading this, give up the bottom room and bring some neo upstairs!

The level of dancing was quite high. I had many sweet dances and I saw some lovely couples dancing really nicely to the tracks, trying to enjoy them as much as they can. However, it was painful (literally, I got a heel on my foot at some point) to have to constantly dodge away from Pablo Verón wannabes. Watching the very last three minutes of Assassination Tango where Pablo Verón & Geraldine dance on the empty floor should be forbidden before a milonga – you start getting murdering thoughts. Furthermore, those people 1) weren’t Pablo Verón, 2) their companions weren’t Geraldine and 3) the floor was crowded. They are the living proof that clean quick moves don’t make you a good dancer.

The bar was an absolute rip-off, even considering that we were in Holborn.

And I share with you a story that a friend of mine came across, in the same milonga (sorry J!). He went to a lady and asked her to dance, she asked him, very pretentiously, “Are you good?” to what he said “no”. Then she asked him “How long have you been dancing for?” and when he told him that he had been dancing for four years she said, patronisingly, “Ok, I’ll dance with you.” These are the kind of people that should be barred from milongas.

We walked back to City Road and realised how lucky we were to be tango-raised in Edinburgh.

And if you want another opinion about La Negracha, read mshedgehog's review.