Albuquerque Tango at Lloyd Shaw Dance Studio

             What a long drive for tango: 2000 miles!!! I had no choice but to drive it because I finally got a job and couldn’t afford to rent a car for the year I will be here. I won’t be in Albuquerque, I’ll be in Farmington, a town of 50,000, about 3 or 4 hours northwest of here. I thought about skipping this event and taking my time driving out but, the more I thought about it, the more I realized this was an absolutely necessary stop.

               I say that because it is quite possible I will spend an entire year without access to tango. If that is the case, I will start my own tango group. I figured there might be someone from Farmington who dances and it would be easier to find them in Albuquerque.

               There are several webpages for tango in this area but the best one is for Santa Fe Tango, it also lists the Albuquerque and Taos events. You can find it here: http://www.santafetango.org/index_calendar.php

               I had just enough time to drive from Ft. Smith, Arkansas, to here, take a shower and go to tango. It was pretty easy to find the studio and it is in a nice part of town. It is located on a dead-end street, almost directly across the street from a Walmart.

               Inside there is plenty of room. Before the ballroom is a long anteroom with large windows to view the dance floor. The dance floor is big, about 50’X60’. There are long, wide wooden benches along the wall inside the ballroom. The floor is oak, brand new but perfectly finished.

               There were snacks, cheese, sausage, veggies and punch. The punch was very good.

               There were about forty people and most of them appeared to be single or had no problems dancing with strangers. As a stranger in a strange land, I had no problem inviting ladies onto the floor. This made for a nice experience and I found the ladies very sensual. I’m probably confusing my extreme geographic dislocation for sensuality. It could also be genuine as there is a tango festival coming up and men are in short supply, so they are buttering me up...I’ll take it:-D               

               I did hear of tango enthusiasts from Farmington but didn’t get any names. I will have to find them.

               All in all, it was a very good milonga. I enjoyed the people thoroughly, found myself intoxicated by the women and danced quite a bit. Hopefully, I can come back but it will not be too often; the long drive means I’ll have to stay overnight which is too costly for this tanguero at this time. My journey is not yet over: 187 miles to go. Let’s hope there is tango at the end of the road.