A few days ago, I had a completely new experience.
For the first time, I was the DJ at a milonga.
It was actually the first milonga that Anne and I organized together through OM Tango, which made it feel even more special.
To be honest, I was scared.
I felt a lot of responsibility and pressure. The thought that kept repeating in my head was: you cannot make mistakes.
I have never underestimated the role of a tango DJ. In fact, I always thought it looked incredibly difficult. For a long time, I believed that being a DJ required a deep understanding of musicality, years of study, and knowledge that felt far beyond my reach.
That was one of the reasons I was afraid to try it.
But at the same time, something kept calling me towards it. I felt a strong curiosity to connect with tango music from a different place than I ever had before, and I'm very glad I listened to that feeling.
Preparing for the milonga meant spending almost a month immersed in tango music. I listened to orchestra after orchestra, comparing different periods, discovering new tangos and paying attention to details that I had never noticed before.
I started to hear more clearly the personality of each orchestra, the different energies they create and the emotions they transmit. It felt like I was discovering a whole new layer of tango that had always been there, but that I had never explored deeply.
What surprised me the most was that the learning process felt very familiar.
It reminded me of when I first started dancing tango.
At the beginning, there was a lot of thinking.
Will people like it?
Am I choosing the right tandas?
Did I organize the energy correctly?
Should I play something different?
Am I doing this well enough?
The questions seemed endless.
And then I realized that it was very similar to what happens when we start dancing tango. We worry about doing everything correctly, making mistakes, what others might think and whether we are good enough.
But little by little, something changed.
The more I listened to the music, studied it and connected with it, the less I worried about what other people would think. Instead of trying to please everyone, I started focusing on sharing something that I genuinely loved.
And that made everything feel lighter.
One of the most fascinating parts of being a DJ is observing how the dance floor responds to the music. Seeing when people need more energy, when they need a moment to breathe, and how different orchestras create different reactions.
It is another way of listening.
Another way of connecting.
Another way of understanding tango.
Being a DJ made me realize that tango is even bigger than I thought.
For many years, tango was mainly about the connection between myself, my partner and the music. Through this experience, I discovered another layer: the possibility of helping create the space where an entire community can connect through that music.
And I find that incredibly beautiful.
Being a DJ made me love tango in a different way.
It reminded me that tango is not only about dancing.
Sometimes it is also about creating the space where others can dance.
And that, too, is part of the magic of tango.
Un abrazo de tango,
Cami