Here are my personal favorites for tango classes, practicas, and milongas in Los Angeles. I also put notes included on other events. For any organizers who are offended, please don’t take it personally. I’m tired of people asking for my opinion and not having an opinionated resource to direct them to. Events are listed below in order of favorite to least favorite. I don’t list anything that I don’t go to.
Monday:
- Practica Lunatica (Sherman Oaks) – run by Guillermo De Fazio and Giovanna Dan. Class 8:45-10pm, practica 10pm-12am. Fun vibe if you like Argentinean figures and tricks. Fun crowd for me but they might feel cliché to some people.
- Oxygen Tango (Venice) – beginner class 8-9pm, practica 9-11pm. Warm friendly crowd although Monday is not as packed as their Thursday nights. Good for chill practice vibe.
- Jerry/Christine advanced couples class (Culver City) – class 8-9pm, practica 9-9:30pm. I think the practica sometimes goes longer. Great class for serious dancers. Learn new techniques and also ask questions. Must have a partner.
- Practica Electrica (Culver City)- run by Makela Brizuela. Basic class 7:30-8:30pm. Practica 8:30-10pm but sometimes goes longer I think. Friendly affluent/older crowd.
Tuesday:
- Tango Mio (Hollywood) – my absolute favorite milonga in LA (class 8-9pm, milonga 9pm-1am). Huge floor, bar/food, many dancers. The premiere destination for out-of-towners also performers and maestros.
- Tango Room (Sherman Oaks) – intermediate class with Jerry/Christine 9-10pm, practica 10-11pm. Nice large size class and community. Friendly and good technique.
- Oxygen Tango (Torrance) – class 8-9pm, practica 9-11pm. Fun and friendly place to learn and practice tango.
Wednesday:
- Oxygen (Inglewood) – class 8-9pm, practica 9-11pm. Fun friendly vibe.
- The Tango Experience (El Segundo) – warm friendly room with fun music. Older crowd. Nice open floor.
Thursday:
- Oxygen (Venice) – class 8-9pm, practica 9-11pm. Their most popular night. Fun friendly hipster vibe.
Friday:
- Milonga Gavito – 1st Friday. Small, cozy vibe but good mix of dancers. Has 2 dance rooms, one traditional and one alternative. Probably the best consistent one on Friday.
- Milonga Bombon (Culver City) – last Friday. nice big floor, big space, tasty treats, friendly vibe. Easy to socialize or catch dances. Some nights have more good dancers than others. Usually quieter if Caltech milonga is happening the same night.
- Caltech Milonga (Pasadena) – tight-knit community with good mix of good dancers. Their milongas can range of just OK to “omg, best night ever!”. If Caltech ever happens the same night as Bombon, Caltech will probably be the better one (in terms of good dancers) by a small margin.
- Sonata Room (Arcadia) – 2nd Friday. Friendly milonga further out east. Beautiful floor with nice food and refreshments. Usually older crowd but is well-attended by good dancers during certain nights/performances.
- Milonga Querida (Glendale) – rarely happens but when it does, it’s a big event! All Milonga Querida events are DON’T-MISS events!
Saturday:
- Milonga Corazon (Sherman Oaks) – 2nd Saturday at Tango Room. My 2nd favorite LA milonga. Good range of dancers, nice setting, this event brings out many good dancers.
- El Encuentro (Sherman Oaks) – all Saturdays except 2nd, also at Tango Room. Nice cozy place and feels like a BA milonga. Good range of dancers and mixed crowd. Some nights can be super packed. This milonga goes later than all others, 3:30am or even later.
- Oxygen Milonga (Venice/Inglewood) – irregular intervals but nice when they do happen.
- Milonga Portena (San Pedro) – cute milonga far away from central LA. Friendly cozy setting. Mostly older crowd.
- Milonga Nuestra (Burbank) – 1st Saturday. Beautiful music and intimate setting. Argentinean crowd.
Sunday:
- Oxygen (Inglewood) – class 6-7pm, practica 7-9pm. Fun hipster crowd.
- LAX (Playa Del Rey) – huge floor and bar, mostly older crowd. More fun (and younger dancers) on special nights.
- Milonga Atomica (Irvine) – big beautiful space and great floor. Mostly older crowd.