My continuing tour of global glamour spots saw me visiting the renowned Datchet Village Hall for the Tango Journey Popup Tango milonga.

The milonga had been recommended to me while I was at Biela Tango by David Thomas, who spoke very highly of the DJ, David Thomas …

Travelling outside London does take time, especially on a Sunday, but it’s at least a very straightforward journey for me, taking me virtually door-to-door with just one change.

Walking in, even for me, it was a virtual who’s who of the Outside London tango world! There were many familiar faces from The Feast, Cambridge, Guildford, and elsewhere. It was a four-hug walk just from the entrance to the entry desk!

The first tanda immediately confirmed I was in the right place. Tina had gone to powder her nose, so I cabeceod the nearest follower. It was a very crowded floor, but zero stress in a perfect ronda, and the dance was beautiful, the two of us able to fully express the music within a tiny space.

The David Thomasae lived up to their usual DJing standard, and I danced almost all of the tango and vals tandas.

His vals tandas are often particularly fun, including one where I remarked to my partner that I wasn’t sure whether it was a vals or a national anthem. In particular, I never trust him with the endings of unfamiliar vals songs, so generally end each of them two or three times, acting like the non-endings were just suspensions, guv.

In London, people talk about dance levels, but that so misses the point: it’s about dance quality, and the quality here is wonderful. As with everywhere I’ve danced outside London, the dancers are all about the embrace, the connection, the music, and the ronda.

I danced with a mix of familiar and new followers (and, knowing me of course, some familiar followers I thought were new ones). I didn’t have a single tanda that was less than lovely, and the norm was well into delightful territory.

I did look around in an optimistic fashion for a dual-role dancer to lead me in one of the milonga tandas, but they were kept very busy!

Much as I might tease village halls, I have to say it was a lovely room, with windows on two sides and skylights – actually too bright at one point! The floor was great.

It was a super-friendly atmosphere, and the food was both abundant and delicious. While almost every seat was full, they seem prepared to have catered for at least three times as many people. People even came around the tables offering savoury and sweet bites during a couple of the cortinas.

I didn’t get the chance to dance with everyone I wanted to, which was partly due to skipping the first hour on the basis that it would have required me to be out of the flat before noon on a Sunday (which is clearly a ridiculous notion). But I wouldn’t have managed it anyway – there were just too many beautiful dancers, and too little time.

I had a request a while back to include some video clips in my posts about milongas. I typically only shoot very brief clips, but they do help give a feel, so here’s the first of these (and I’ll go back and add them to the two previous posts):

While such delicious tango does see me outside London with increasing frequency, Tina thought it was still sufficiently novel to require a commemorative photo.

Sadly, the TJ popups are not every often, and the next one isn’t until January; it’s in my diary already.