A woman walks out to the edge of the dance floor to meet the man who has invited her to dance while seated at a table. They begin dancing without any conversation.
They dance and then break their embrace at the end of the music. Brief conversation about the music that cannot be heard by others is optional. They continue dancing the three or four dances of the tanda (set) until the cortina music indicates the end. The man escorts the woman off the floor to return to her table. It is the man who says "gracias" to the woman, not the reverse. She accepted his invitation. He may thank her as they reach the edge of the floor. If a woman says "gracias" to a man at any point during the tanda, it means that she no longer wants to dance with him. He then escorts her off the floor to her table. He will never invite her again. According to milonga codes, a man never approaches a woman's table for any reason. The reverse is true as well. This particular code is disappearing from many places in Buenos Aires where socializing takes priority over tango. _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l