Tango Night in Buenos Aires

In the heart of one of the traditional barrios of Buenos Aires, Balvanera, old place of poets and compadritos, near the home barrio and stomping grounds of the most famous Tango singer from Buenos Aires history, Carlos Gardel, Dianne and I immersed ourselves in Tango, the dance of passion and the music of nostalgia. The evening began with a group Tango lesson at Complejo Tango. The L-shaped room was packed with about 40 people, almost all novices, taking the lesson which made for very tight confines, especially when couples started moving and practicing their dancing. But, it gave us a good taste of what a crowded "milonga," public dance hall, will be like if we venture into that environment. The teacher was very good, the class very enjoyable and helpful and we are getting better, growing more confident, in our ability to dance Tango together.

We received our certificate of completion, which meant we were allowed to stay and enjoy dinner and the show (the teacher's joke that if you did not learn well enough, you did not get your certificate, and thus could not stay!) The maitre d' escorted us to a front row table, right next to the stage on the corner, one of the best seats in the house! The dinner was delicious, with a nice bottle of house red wine (a blend of Cabernet & Malbec), very fresh greens and tomatoes in the salad, a tasty and tender steak, followed by a wonderful dessert. (Dianne had wine soaked poached pear with vanilla ice cream and Steve had a white chocolate mousse with red raspberry and currant sauce!)

During dessert the show began, with three energetic young couples dancing Tango and three smooth voiced singers crooning nostalgic songs. Dianne was sung to two or three times during the show, winked at by one at least once, and the show proceeded on the stage and all around us with action periodically taking place in the midst of the audience. Actually, the show began with the three male dancers performing some solo and group numbers, illustrating the beginnings of the dance as an all male dance performed while men waited for their turn in the local bordellos in Buenos Aires. (Tango has a very checkered past!)

The evening was wonderfully fun. The restaurant and show were set on the third floor of this building in what felt like a converted loft. It was designed with wrought iron balconies overlooking the stage. On one balcony the Tango orchestra of four musicians played the live music and on the facing balcony were more tables and chairs (which were not filled this night). It was an excellent introduction to Buenos Aires culture and history, share in more enjoyable fashion.

Today we will probably enjoy more Tango as we are headed to La Boca, one of the oldest barrios in the city, near the mouth of the Riachuelo River. La Boca was settled by Italian immigrants and is one of the barrios that claims to be the birthplace for Tango. It is also home to the famous La Boca Juniors soccer club, which made Diego Maradona famous. The "Caminito" is a kitschy-tourist oriented location, with brightly colored buildings and Tango dancers performing in the streets for the tourist. It will be a nice, relaxing day. We have been keeping a pretty busy schedule since Dianne arrived and have begun to realize the need to slow down a bit and absorb more deeply what we experience.

La Boca Barrio

Today I went to La Boca barrio, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. First, you may be wondering why I went there and not to school on Monday. Because today was a national holiday celebrating General Jose de San Martin, the liberator of Chile and Peru from Spain in the 1800's, which helped solidify Argentina's Independence as well. So we had no school.

Back to La Boca. I went with Rhys, a young student from Wales and England whom I met at the language school these past two weeks. He has finished his time here (5 weeks for him) and this was his last day before returning to England, and next month beginning his law studies at Cambridge. We went to La Boca to take pictures of the brightly colored buildings and enjoy the art fair and Tango dancers in the street.

La Boca is the "Little Italy" of Buenos Aires - the place where the Italian and Portuguese immigrants settled. It was the working class barrio - filled with tanneries, meat packing plants, paint factories, etc. It was because the people used the left over paint from the factories that their houses became such a bright collage of color. La Boca was also the birthplace of Tango and of course is the home of the famous La Boca Juniors futbol club - the club that produced the great Diego Maradona. The community definitely has spirit for their soccer team, wherever you go you see "oro y azul" (gold and blue) (the team colors) as well as many shops that sell La Boca Juniors memorabilia.

La Boca is still a very rough neighborhood. At least according to the rumors, stories, and guidebooks. They tell tourists not to wander away from the tourist area and suggest you should not bring expensive cameras into the area (but it is such an interesting place that I had to take out my camera). They also say the police only patrol the tourist area during the daylight and then leave at sundown. It seemed safe enough to me, but we did follow the stories and took a taxi in and out of the tourist area, instead of trying to walk in from outside and passing through the regular neighborhood of La Boca. If you want to see pictures of the barrio or of the Tango dancers, follow these links to the Kodak Gallery Albums I created. This link goes to pictures of the neighborhood: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.ciq7wl0a&x=0&y=m7jvcc&localeid=en_US

This link takes you to pictures of Tango dancers in the street: http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=6d2p4u6.470in80q&x=0&y=-7pah57&localeid=en_US

Tango Classes!

My Tango classes have begun. Actually, my first free class, (part of my registration fee to the Language school) was my first Monday in Buenos Aires. This past Monday I started the classes I am paying for and had a class Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. My teacher is Guadalupe Garcia, a young, vivacious woman who is a very good dancer and an excellent teacher. Last Friday she had invited Philip and I, her two students on that first Monday, to be her guests at a Tango Show in which she was dancing. It was a "History of Tango on the Radio" in Buenos Aires. There were 8 dancers (4 couples) and 4 Cantare (singers) and a Tango orchestra composed of two bandaneon (accordions), a pianist, a violin, a bass, and another instrument which I am forgetting at this time. It was an excellent show. Phillip and I joked that is was sponsored by AARP of Buenos Aires, because when we arrived at the Theater there was a long line of elderly patrons waiting to enter and more getting off a large tour bus. Upon entering the theater almost all the seats were occupied by older portenos (residents of Buenos Aires). We were clearly the youngest people in the audience. They loved the show, I am sure because it brought back many memories. I loved the show as a tourist, because it gave me a taste of Tango through the years.

Anyway, Guadalupe has been teaching Philip and I the basic steps of Tango, which begins with the idea that you are basically walking to music. Then you start adding "box" type steps in sixes and eights. And then it becomes more complicated from there. The first night she was working with just the two of us, so all she had to do was teach us the man's steps and she would alternate dancing with us as a partner and let us each practice alone the other time. Then this past Monday a new student showed up, Eve, from Paris, France, and so we had two men, two women but at the same time she had to now take time to show Eve the woman's step and then show us the man's steps. On Tuesday, Guadalupe was not well, so she sent a friend, Emiliano, to teach. He was excellent as well and gave us a different perspective, emphasizing different aspects of the Tango. Tonight Guadalupe returned, but Eve was not there and this time Guadalupe did have Philip and I dance together, one taking the man's role and the other the woman's role. (That was not fun, but it was instructive and actually helpful to get a feel for what the woman is experiencing.) But mostly she alternated again between the two of us.

The Tango is a very intimate dance, as almost all dancing is. It is a simple dance in some respects, but very, very complicated in truth. That is, you can learn to dance the basics quickly and simply, but there are so many options and the longer you dance it and the more you study it the more you learn and the more variations on the basics you can add. I think I will take some more private lessons next week with Guadalupe and then when Dianne joins me in October, maybe we will take some lessons with her as well. Argentinians take their Tango very seriously and there are milongas (dance halls for Tango) each open for dancing on different nights for different hours. Many of them don't start until 10 - 11 p.m. and go until 3, 4 or 5 in the morning. Tango is definitely something one must experience in Buenos Aires if you are to taste the full scope of life here.