I have written several posts on how I believe the codigos will disappear with the milongueros, because they are the ones who practiced them for decades in the confiterias bailables, clubes de barrio, and cabarets. Using the codigos showed others the way to enter a salon, how to invite a lady to dance, and how to navigate the floor and much more.
The codigos should be presented and practiced in every tango class. Attending ballroom dance classes and parties in Chicago, I learned about the rules of the dance floor during practice sessions. Every sport has its rules which one has to know to play the game. It’s the same with tango, but the codigos are unlike those for social dancing in other countries.
Teachers should begin with proper dance etiquette during the first classes to provide a framework for social dancing. The more dancers know about the codigos of the milongueros, the more they will enjoy a milonga experience.
Continuing to practice the codigos at every tango event one attends anywhere in the world is the perfect way of honoring the milongueros who respected the codigos for decades and passed them on by their example. The survival of the codigos is essential to the survival of tango in the world. The codigos were the foundation of social behavior that young men learned from seasoned dancers in the 1940s . Those who did not respect the codigos were asked to leave.
Taking tango classes with stage performers is like learning how to drive a car without any knowledge of the rules of the road. They don’t have any rules to follow when they are the only ones on stage. The milonga and the stage are two different worlds.
“A milonguero can dance on stage, but stage performers cannot dance in milongas.” — Ricardo Vidort