Milonga « Traspie »

It is important to note that there are different types of milongas : the campera milonga, the candombera or candombeada milonga and the porteña milonga. Not all these types of milongas can be danced with « traspié » style, in particular the slow ones because their rhythm makes it difficult. Milongas with a more stressed rhythm, quick or moderately quick rhythm with a "cadence" are more appropriate.

The « traspié » is an interpretation to the milonga music which keeps in its move the poetry, the rhythm and the gracefulness of its African origin. This musical game begins in the dancer’s bodies and the subtle move of the dancer’s feet is a response to body’ rhythms.

Despite what many people think or do while they dance Traspie, it is not the feet but the body which generates the Traspie. Not to confuse with the tiny moves of your feet that one does in tango and other types of milonga. If musically speaking the « traspié » is a double beat, it is more than that, because it has a style in the move, a poetry which differentiates the feet’s game from a double beat.

When the dancer stresses the musical accent down to the ground, it is called Traspie. When the dancer stresses the musical accent up in the air, it is called Traspie « falcetti ». These two varieties of milonga traspié are often confused for each other because they often look the same ; in reality they are different because they both use a distinctive manner to accentuate the move in agreement to the music : one down to the ground, the other up in the air.

I would like to thank the masters who taught me the essence of this rhythm. It was Nelly, the Turco José’s wife, who first made me discover the subtle way of walking with steadiness and rhythm. It was José Maria Bana, the famous Pibe Palermo, who taught me the « compadradas » and a very specific way to move the body in the milonga. Tommy O’ Connel, undisputed master of the milonga traspié « falcetti », made me discover the subtleties and the differences between the two styles of milongas : « traspié » and « traspié falcetti ».