La Nacional NYC

La Nacional NYC is a Thursday milonga organized by Coco Arregui & Juan Pablo Vicente at La Nacional, a restaurant in New York City's Chelsea, from 930pm-130am, for $14.

La Nacional NYC Review

by Keith Widyolar, Thursday, June 2, 2011

La Nacional is the New York City milonga that most gives you the feeling of being in Buenos Aires with close-embrace dancing, a social environment, and two Argentine organizers, Coco and Juan Pablo who make sure that everyone respects the floor and has a good time.

The milonga is held in the upstairs event room of La Nacional, a Spanish Tapas restaurant with good food and atmosphere. The combination of restaurant and milonga make it easy to have dinner with friends and then go dancing, which is how many people go to milonga in Buenos Aires. The room offers a cash-only bar that serves beer, wine and soft drinks.

The dancing is on a rectangular wood floor. The layout is a bar with tables, then the dance floor. There is a small stage in back with seating where important guests have a good view of the room. The wall is on the left side of the dance floor, but the intense action is among the tables.

The room is decorated with strings of Christmas tree lights hanging from the ceiling. It reminded us of Tete’s old outdoor milonga in BAires, La Calecita. Juan Pablo told us that was exactly the inspiration.

Argentine Maria Jose is the house DJ. We think she can run a room on autopilot. All of her music is good for dancing. Dancers will enjoy the excellent club sound system.

La Nacional is a milonga where good dancers dance close-embrace. Though everyone is welcome, we would recommend that beginners watch rather than dance so they can see how the milonga works. In fact there was a table of young Argentines who were not dancing. They told us that they have too much respect for the floor to dance there as beginners, but they like to watch. This respect is very Argentine. Someday those kids will be great dancers because they know how to watch.

The mostly New York crowd with many local organizers starts to arrive around 10pm. Typical for New York, the floor begins to open up after midnight. You can enjoy a chacarera break late in the night.

La Nacional accepts table reservations and holds them until 10pm. This is an important part of the ritual of going to milonga in Buenos Aires. The table is a sanctuary and creates a social environment. We wish it was offered more in the USA.

On the summer night we visited, the dress code was casual, but you can dress elegantly at La Nacional, just like people do in Buenos Aires. The cabaceo is understood at La Nacional. Floorcraft is excellent even with a crowded dance floor. Dancers stay in line and in their lane. La Nacional is a milonga where you can practice dancing much the way they do in Buenos Aires.

We enjoyed a performance by US Tango Salon champions Omar Lagos and Mariana Parma. They demonstrated the style of dancing of the milongas in the barrios of Buenos Aires, a real Tango Salon. They were so relaxed and connected that you felt you were watching one dancer, not two.

They danced a lovely milonga which is unusual for the states. Mariana adorns beautifully and like the best artists of Villa Urquiza together they give the impression of weightlessness, of floating across the floor while at the same time being deeply grounded in it. This sounds silly, but we loved his suit. The elegant presence of Omar and Mariana make them one of New York’s premiere Tango couples.

What we noticed about the dancing was that almost everyone is relaxed, smiling and having a good time. Coco explained that he is careful to protect the energy in the room. On a previous night when life’s hurt was showing on a friend’s face, Coco visited with her and sent her home later with a flower.

La Nacional deserves its reputation as the rose of the New York milongas with the perfume of Buenos Aires.

Artists at La Nacional NYC

More Information about La Nacional NYC

Coco (917) 385-9698,
Juan Pablo +1 (917) 691-6399
www.TangoLaNacional.com

UPDATED 2011-12-19
TAGS La Nacional, Coco Arregui, Juan Pablo Vicente

La Nacional

La Nacional is a restaurant that serves good Spanish cuisine. Tango takes place upstairs where there is a stage, dance floor, table area and a beer and wine bar.

La Nacional
239 West 14th Street, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10011 USA
(Between Seventh and Eighth Avenue)
+1 (212) 929-7873

WEB www.LaNacionalTapas.com

SUBWAY Blue (A,C,E) or Red (1,2,3) to 14th Street, Gray (L) to Eighth Avenue

UPDATED 2011-12-14
TAGS La Nacional, La Nacional Tango, Spanish Restaurant, Tango Restaurant