MV- ¿Existe una escuela para ser Milonguero? ¿dónde nace el Milonguero?
R- Nace desde su capacidad de apreciar lo que esta danza representa, y luego se aprende de la gente que siente lo que hace. Cuando entiende lo que esto significa, y logra conectar este sentimiento al compás de su corazón, comienza a integrar esta sociedad, que ya lleva muchos años profundamente relacionada con la música del tango.
MV- ¿Qué es para vos lo más importante dentro de la danza?
R- Lo más importante es escuchar… escuchar la música y sentir de qué se trata, saber que son otros compases y otras melodías, es el arte de saber moverse dentro de cada tema y melodía.
MV- ¿Qué es ser un buen bailarín?
R- ¡Ah!... eso es muy difícil… (risas), pienso que en buen bailarín debe saber combinar sus pasos y sentir segundo a segundo lo que está haciendo.
MV- ¿Qué bailarín te gusta más?
R- Me gusta mucho Miguel Angel Zotto, hace pasos cortos, rápidos y bien sentidos. Tiene un gran sentido de orientación, y demuestra en la pista tener sal y pimienta muy bien balanceado; como técnico y profesor: Nito.
JV- Rafa, ¿qué es lo que te gusta y lo que no te gusta de las Milongas aquí?
R- Me gustan las Milongas que tienen ambiente, donde vos llegás y escuchás buena música; creo que es fundamental que la gente que organiza una Milonga tenga cierta antigüedad en el ambiente del tango y conocer a los bailarines, no es sólo pasar música. No me gustan los lugares donde la gente sólo está preocupada por hacer pasos y se chocan unos a otros, sin considerar la distancia y el respeto
MV- Aquí en EEUU ¿dónde viste mejor el tango, en dónde te sentiste más cómodo bailando?
R-Sin duda en San Francisco. Es un lugar donde no existe una actitud, allí me siento respetado, y no subestimado, además el 80% de la gente con la que bailás, lee y toma clases continuamente. Allí no van a las Milongas por que les hace bien, es decir, no usan al tango como terapia, la gente que baila en San Francisco sabe lo que está bailando, sabe de música, y conoce a las orquestas. El DJ está atento a la pista, realmente es un placer.
MV- ¿Y qué pasa en Los Angeles?
R-Aquí la gente espera mucho y da poco.
MV- ¿A qué te referís?
R-Espera recibir mucho del otro, tenemos que dar un poquito más de cada uno, en todo orden en cuanto a bailar aprender y demostrar lo que se sabe, aquí hay una actitud muy crítica. Aquí tenemos muchas personas que creen tener la solvencia necesaria para enseñar, cuando todavía no comprenden la esencia de esta danza. Hay que estudiar y saber cómo están formadas las orquestas y sus diferentes estilos; hay que leer libros y saber de dónde viene todo esto; para enseñar obviamente hay que saber.
JV- ¿Rafa, qué es ser tanguero?
R- Mirá, lo voy a hacer sencillo El tanguero comienza cuando lustro los zapatos para ir a la Milonga, el arte de elegir los zapatos escuchando un buen tango, eso me identifica. Cuando busco y selecciono una corbata para esa noche, la camisa, el traje, la búsqueda y la elección correcta, todo forma parte de esa ceremonia que es ser “tanguero”. Ya en la pista, selecciono a aquella persona que comparte mi sentimiento, si elegí un buen traje elijo un buen vestido, cuando llevo mis gemelos, elijo unos buenos aros, estos detalles, forman parte del tanguero. Cada pequeña cosa me hace sentir milonguero. Es la presencia y el sentido, allí comienza el tanguero; luego, todo lo demás, la llegada a la milonga, los saludos, mis amigos.
MV- ¿La milonga, para vos, es un templo?
R- De alguna manera sí, porque es un sentimiento casi religioso, porque voy a bailar y en cada movimiento hablo de mí mismo, cuento mi historia, mis alegrías y tristezas, todo esta allí, allí dejas tu alma.
El Rafa, un “Tanguero”, un mago del tango escapado de Buenos Aires, usted lo puede encontrar aquí en Los Angeles, en alguna vuelta de las tantas que damos en las milongas, ¡ah!... tenga cuidado este sentimiento, es contagioso.

Profile of the Tango: “Rafa”, The Tanguero de Los Angeles
This universe -the tango- outside of Argentina creates a character who appears as if he lives in a time corridor, allowing him to live in Buenos Aires in another era. With this interaction of the realities he is an authentic tanguero in the Los Angeles of today!
Some people thinks that in order to be a tanguero, it’s necessary to avoid certain guidelines that the mind dictates, some say one must be a bit of an elf, a magician, and I believe that “The Rafa” has a lot of both, and this is from people who have seen him dance and since he is now here, in the USA, we are actual witnesses. Rafa's gaze is also focused on another landscape, another time, maybe the streets of Villa Urquiza, or his milongas with his people… one thing is certain, the authenticity of his steps, the compass and the cadence that this milonguero exhibits on the dance floors are postcards of a Buenos Aires born trembling, night after night, in the heart of the dancer Rafael Galante, “The Rafa”
The Rafa comes from a family of musicians, his father was the bandoneonista for Jose Pepe Basso, Rafa is a musician dedicated to the wind instruments; probably this is reminiscent of the winds of the bandoneon of his father. This heritage pushed him to take tango classes with the teacher Manuel Martínez and then consolidated his knowledge of tango with Nito & Elba.
But we will leave Rafa to express himself and tell us what an authentic tanguero feels.
MV- What is a milonguero?
R- I believe that is the art of being able to show what the milonga is and its essence.
MV- Is there a school for milongueros, where’s the milonguero born?
R- The milonguero is born from one's capacity to appreciate what this dance represents. Then we learn from the people who feel what they are doing and understand what it means and manage to connect this feeling to the compass of their heart, at that moment he begins to integrate itself into this society that for many years has been deeply connected to the music of the tango.
MV- What’s the most important thing within the dance?
R- The most important thing is to listen, and try to feel what it means. It is the art of knowing how to move inside each song and melody.
MV- What is the meaning of being a good dancer?
R- Ah!, that is very difficult (laughs), I think that to be a good dancer, one must know how to combine his steps and to feel second by second what one is doing.
MV- Who is your favorite dancer?
R- I like Miguel Angel Zotto, he makes short fast steps with deep feeling. He has a great sense orientation and demonstrates it on the stage, having salt and pepper very balanced. I like the technique and teaching of Nito.
JV- Rafa, What do you like and what you don’t like of the milongas here?
R- I like the milongas that have atmosphere, where when you arrive you're listening to good music. I believe that it is fundamental that the people that organize a milonga must have a certain amount of time in the tango ambience and know the dancers. It is not only to play music that makes a milonga. I don’t like places where the people are worried to do steps and bump into others without considering the distance and respect.
MV- In the USA, where do you feel more comfortable dancing, what cities are better?
R- No doubt San Francisco, it’s a place where an attitude doesn’t exist. I feel respected, I do not feel myself underestimated and 80% of the people with which you dance,they read and take classes continuously, for example, they do not go to the milongas because it makes them feel better, not for therapy. The people who dance in San Francisco knows what they are dancing, they know the music, and they know the orchestras, the DJ is paying attention...this is a pleasure.
Mv- And what happens in Los Angeles?
R- Here the people expect so much and give to little.
Mv- What do you mean?
R- They expect to receive everything, instead, we must give just a little bit more , in all senses… dance, learn and demonstrate what you know. Here’s an attitude of criticism.
For example, we have many people here who think they have the knowledge necessary to teach, in the meantime they do not understand the essence of dance. It is necessary to study and to know how the orchestras are integrated and their different styles - it is necessary to read books and have knowledge from where all this comes…of course for teaching, it is necessary to know.
Jv- Rafa, what is the meaning of being a tanguero?
R- Look, I’m going to make it simple: the tanguero begins when I start to polish my shoes planning to go to the milonga, the art to choose the shoes I’m going to use that night probably listening to a good tango, one that identifies me. When I look for and I select a necktie for that night, the shirt, the suit, the research and the correct selection is all a part of the ceremony …that is to be a tanguero, on the dance floor of the milonga, I already select that person who shares my feelings, if I have a good suit I choose a good dress, when I take my cufflinks, I choose good earrings, these details, creates the tanguero, the small things that make me feel like a milonguero. The presence, the feeling. All this make the tanguero. Then the other things, the arrival to the milonga, the greetings, my friends.
MV- Is the milonga a temple for you?
R- Somehow, yes it’s almost a religious feeling because when I dance, in each movement I speak of myself, I tell my story, my happiness and sadness everything is there, you leave there your soul. The Rafa, a tanguero, a magician of the tango, escaped from Buenos Aires; you can find him here in Los Angeles, in some of the turns of the milongas…Hey, …these feelings are contagious. Ø