Milongas barriales en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires: Sentidos de lugar, sociabilidad y tradiciones

Abstract

In this article we will reflect on the sense of place that is developed by the participants and organizers of “milongas”. This analysis is based on some ethnographic research conducted on four milongas that take place at local clubs in some neighborhoods from the northwest of the city of Buenos Aires. This analysis not only includes narrations that relate these dancing places with different traditions and references to the past, but also the dynamics of meeting and socializing that occur in these dancing events. We pay special attention to these aspects through the differences and similarities established between those milongas that have taken place for longer periods and which are considered more traditional, and the “new milongas” that take place around the same area. Moreover, based on this analysis, we claim that the sense of place, the form of socialization and the references to the past which are developed by the groups and the people that participate in these milongas are not necessarily univocal and that they are not immune to changing processes and reconfiguration.