With or without the pandemic interruption, five years is a lifetime ago in my tango journey. Way back in the Paleolithic era of 2020, with a little over a year of tango under my belt, I’d made it my mission to sample every milongo in London, and The Light was one of these.

Visiting it had very rapidly seemed like a mistake, as I soon discovered it was where all of London’s tango teachers, DJs and organisers went to dance socially. I danced exactly three tandas, all of them with the follower friend who accompanied me, and that was that …

While the dancing was way above my pay grade at the time, I did very much appreciate the civilised ronda.

The floorcraft was beautiful. I was watching for more than an hour, and saw just one small incident in that time, despite a lot of very fast dancing on a very crowded floor. Which was why I felt perfectly comfortable dancing there despite everything going on around me – even if I did feel like I was a five-year-old with a colouring book surrounded by post-graduate students refining their dissertations.

I said at the time I would return … several years later. As things turned out, it would be five years later, and in its reincarnated form as the New Tango Light. Run by Luciano and Elena, it takes place on two Sundays a month in St Philip’s Church, a few minutes’ walk from Earl’s Court tube.

It might have new organisers and a new venue, but the floorcraft and quality of dance was the same as I recalled – far more BsAs than London in nature. The ronda moves at a good pace, with couples who dance in close embrace and are able to adapt the size of their movements to the available space on the floor. All the good things, but now lacking the intimidation factor!

While some teachers were indeed present, it was clear that what was valued was embrace, musicality and floorcraft skills. It was a very welcoming atmosphere, much more akin to my favourite milongas outside the city.

Churches aren’t always ideal milonga venues, sometimes having rough and uneven stone flooring, but this one takes place in an upstairs room with an absolutely perfect wooden floor. It’s also equipped with that most valuable of tango accessories: an effective air conditioning system!

Regular readers will know that, despite living in London, I don’t often dance there these days, so I didn’t recognise too many of the dancers. But cabeceoing randomly was a perfectly safe sport here, both in terms of friendliness and quality of dance.

The music was dreamy! Humberto Ruiz was new to me, but went straight into my database of A-list DJs. There was a great deal of the very layered and lyrical music I adore, but it was a well-balanced set that I think would have kept rhythmic dancing fans equally happy. Added to the quality of the followers there, I was a very happy man!

Speaking of quality followers, I keep explaining to The Selfie Queen that I don’t do selfies, and The Bow Tie Collection was very much an exception, but she doesn’t listen.

NTL feels very similar to Corrientes, a place I would dance more often were it not for the timings. I can’t have an active Saturday and still have energy to dance through till 2am – while getting home in the middle of the night and not being able to sleep for a while also leaves me feeling wiped-out on Sundays. Five hours of dance is effectively a full weekend commitment! Admittedly, NTL is on a school night, but I can be home before midnight.

That similarity of feel extends to the availability of delicious empanadas! There’s no bar here, but dancers are welcome to bring their own wine.

The shape and size of the room can make cabaceo a little trickier than at Corrientes, as there is no space to wander behind the tables. From where I was sitting at the entrance end of the room, you don’t have line of sight to followers on one side at the far end. I think the secret here is to do a bit of chair-hopping in order to achieve a variety of angles in the course of the evening, so I shall do that next time.

And there will for sure be a next time! This edition was the last of the year before the team takes a well-earned break after all the work of organising the Ambassador’s Cup competition and associated milonga, and unfortunately, the regular editions won’t resume until April.

However, there may be some ad hoc additions on some Saturdays before then, and whenever they happen I shall be back. I think I’ve found my new London Tango home.