La Panza Milonguera

Tete at left;
Alberto below





Ruben at right









La Panza Milonguera is a very important accoutrement in dancing tango. Most of the older milongueros have one, and their partners love to relax on the soft pillow of their stomachs. It's much more comfortable than dancing with a skinny guy. Tete even uses his panza to lead with no hands--at the Milongueando Festival of Susana Miller a couple of weeks ago, he danced with no hands and patted his panza to give it credit for leading Silvia.


Gavito had one all of his professional career dancing on stage until he fell ill and lost it along with way too much weight. (Gavito with me below left)


















Pacho at right
























I used to dance upon occasion with a very tall and skinny man, but it was so uncomfortable as his bones would poke into me. A nice soft stomach is ever so much more comfortable to lean against.






The two photos above can be found in a beautiful exhibition of tango photos taken by Jingzi at Club Espanol.