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December 10, 2008
Beginners Guide to the Loring Pasta Bar
We've been playing every Sunday night at the Loring Pasta Bar since April 2002. It is our tango home and we love having visitors. On a typical evening, we'll have about 50-80 dancers (a little fewer in Summer and on the Sundays that follow the monthly TSoM Milonga) Our LPB gig is a kinda of tango rarity: there are very few cities outside of Argentina that have a weekly milonga with live music. We're pretty sure that we've played more milongas than any band outside of Argentina.Here are some tips to make Tango Night at the Loring Pasta Bar more enjoyable.
It's pretty easy to get to the LPB. It's at the corner of 14th. Avenue SE and 4th. Street SE in the Dinkytown neighborhood of Minneapolis.
- From Minneapolis, take 35W north and take the Univeristy Avenue West exit right after you cross the Mississippi. Make a left on 14th. Ave and go one block. It's on your left.
- From St. Paul, take 94 West to Huron Avenue North. Make a left on 4th. Street. It's on your left, on the corner of 14th. Ave.
Dinkytown parking can be tricky. 
On-street parking is free on Sundays, but is pretty sparse. There are 2 lots within easy walking distance. There is a free lot that you enter at the corner of 13th. Ave and 5th. St. There is a pay lot on 5th. St. between 13th and 14th. They sometimes close early and leave passive-aggressive notes on your car reminding you to pay up later.
The waitstaff at the LPB are generally nice people, but have been known to be aloof or squirrelly. If you are nice to them, they'll be nice to you. Sunday night is the only night where they have to serve tables while people dance in the middle of the floor. The waitstaff does a great job of keeping out of the way of dancers, but it's super-important to leave your big, flashy show-tango moves at the dance studio.
There is no cover charge to enter the LPB, but it is considered polite to at least buy a drink. No one will stop you if you don't buy anything, but it doesn't reflect well on the dance community. A venue can only pay a band if they make enough money on dinner and drinks to justify the expense. Uncountably many dance nights have been canceled all over the world due to dancers who only order a glass of tap water.
Dancers generally dress up for tango night. Maybe not as much as BsAs, but definitely more than a Tuesday practica at a strip mall. It can get quite warm in summer, so gentlemen way want to consider a lightweight shirt rather than a suit.
The fact that there are both diners and dancers can be a bit confusing for newcomers. If it's your first time, leaders may not know that you are there for dancing rather than pasta. Also, the Cabeceo is not generally used.
Just like in BsAs, the staff of the LPB have set aside several tables for dancers. 
If you're having dinner, tell the hostess and she'll give you a table near the action. If you're coming alone, buy yourself a drink at the bar and check out this radically over-simplified map. The tables in red are usually stocked with dancers. Dancers who are not having dinner usually congregate on stage right or by the grand staircase in the back. There is a bench between the 2 arches to the bar where dancers usually change their shoes: no need to use the restroom.
(Random Factiod: in 1959, Bob Dylan lived in an apartment that is now part of the LPB. The door to his apartment was recycled to become the door to the women's room.)
Just like every dance community in the world, there are creepy guys who will prey on new dancers who don't yet know how creepy they are. (Luckily, Minneapolis does not have any know cases of "old guy in black leather pants", which seems to be epidemic on the east coast). You'll notice that the local followers don't dance with them that much. Use your instincts: if you think a guy is creepy, you are probably right. Don't forget that followers can set the "terms of the embrace" with their left arms. Also, followers have the right to refuse 2nd dances by saying something like "I'd like to try dancing with some of the other leaders". There is also the usual ageism: old creepy guys who only want to dance w/ college-age followers and younger leaders who are afraid to dance with a woman of a certain age. Mandrágora try to counter this a bit. We occasionally have a Sadie Hawkins Tanda where followers ask leaders to dance. We also like to promote the mantra of "Have one dance with someone better than you, one dance with someone newer than you, and one dance with someone you've never danced with".
Important Reminder for Leaders Please don't go table-to-table asking random college-age women to tango with you. This creeps them out and give them a bad idea of what tango is about. Eeeeeew!!! Plus, women have complained to the LPB management. This would not be so bad if these proselytizing leaders would dance with women close to their own age, but I've pretty much never seen that happen.
Our milonga at the Loring Pasta Bar is a "studio-free zone". Folks from all dance studios are welcome. All dance instructors can put fliers on stage as long as they stick around to dance a little bit. We also ask that dance instructors not "troll for students", so you should not be put in the situation of dancing with someone who then tries to sell you lessons. We try to have good relations with all the dance instructors in town, but we do not recommend one over the others. They all have different strengths and we love them all in a non-creepy, asexual way.
The dancers at the LPB are generally nice folks. I've heard other dancers describe them as "cliquey". If you say "hi" or introduce yourself as a newcomer, you will be assured of a dance. Mandrágora is always happy to have new dancers at the LPB. If it's your first time, say "hi" to one of us at break. We'd be happy to introduce you to some of the nice folks you might enjoy dancing with (we can also point out the creepy guys that libel laws prevent us from naming on this website!)
We hope to see you soon!
Posted by bbarnes at December 10, 2008 5:06 PM