Milonga – Tango in Belgium

I went to El Dorado (Humbeek) without my camera because I just wanted to dance and relax. During one of the tandas there was a loud shout from the entrance and a lot of sudden movement. What I feared turned out to be true: some young thugs had rushed in, taken the cash register and ran away. What happened after that is not sure, I’ve heard different versions. Apparently they were three, they had been drinking in the El Dorado café before, two of them were captured by, if I’m not mistaken, Philippe and Peter, and I’m not sure if Sergio got his money back. I can only hope so.

The Brussels/Belgian tango scene is that of an in-crowd, where people feel relatively safe for burglary and violence, because we all more or less know each other. Most of us don’t go through too much trouble to secure our wallets or cameras at milongas. It’s a pity to have this wake-up call. The atmosphere turned weird and a bit grim, certainly when we were stopped twice in the middle of a tanda by the police with a call for witnesses. I have little illusions about how severely the responsible kids will be punished, or what the chance is they will continue on the same path. I guess we’ll all have to be more careful. It’s a pity.