the first month in Buenos Aires

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A new home, a new life…

April 13, 2007 in Buenos Aires Information, Diary of a Tango Dancer in Buenos Aires | 6 comments

After one month in a Palermo Hostel I have at last moved to my own apartment. It has taken a week, but today I have had broadband installed so I am back in communication with the world via this blog. How great it feels to have my own space again and along with it, all the small things that add up to a home and a normal (!) life: a bath, a kitchen, a TV, a CD player, the internet, a balcony with plants, front door keys… Now I feel that I am living in this city and not just visiting or on holiday.

Of course moving means learning about a new area. I am lucky. My apartment is in the middle of the first block from Avenida Santa Fe, in Recoleta. It’s a great district and I have everything I need just yards away: laundries, cafes, restaurants, cinemas, supermarkets, shops of every kind including a 24 hour Farmacity (the equivalent of Boots in the UK), the subway, buses… it’s all on my doorstep.

Santa Fe is a busy Avenida lined with shops, large and small. I love it because it is always full of Porteños going about their business. It is not ‘touristy’. I can walk downtown along it and never get bored. Since I moved I am doing much more walking. I am enjoying piecing the city together in my mind as if doing a huge jigsaw puzzle. Every time I walk rather than take the subway, my brain clicks into place and I can picture, in three dimensions, another area of the tango map that I always carry in my bag.

I don’t walk at night. I take cabs. I always choose the radio taxis with numbers printed in yellow on all four doors. These are the ones that I am told are safest. They have meters and the drivers always use them. They have radios and belong to an official taxi company. Some others look very similar but only have numbers printed on two doors, have no radios and maybe don’t have meters. From my new apartment I can get virtually anywhere that I regularly go to for less than $10 (less than £2) pesos in a cab.

So where have I been in the past week? Well, my most visited Milonga has been Salon Canning. We have started to reserve a table here, which is a must on busy nights. After Canning I have walked the few blocks to La Viruta and twice stayed up all night there to dance the last tango. This is only possible for me because of the coffee and medialunas (croissants) they serve from about four in the morning! The last tango at La Viruta is something else. They turn all the lights off then flash spotlights while they play a passionate and dramatic tango. A fair bit of snogging goes on in the dark moments (I believe!). After the tango they turn all the lights on and play a loud rock and roll number which most people dance to. To see this at 6 o’clock in the morning is quite incredible. This first time I saw it I had to stop myself staring, open mouthed. How do they go to work a few hours later?

On Tuesday at Canning I watched the stunning Gustavo Naveira (The Tango Lesson) and his partner Giselle Anne. Truly I felt privileged to see them dance just yards from me. Three other couples danced before them and they were all great in their own way. I have memories to treasure from this night. As I watched, I felt that someone would shake me awake in any moment and tell me that I was dreaming. But no, I was actually there, I am really here and this is  my life!

Last night we were at Ariel’s to watch a movie. We ate takeaway, then enormous amounts of icecream. The Porteños are big into icecream. What a heavenly surprise! We ate chocolate, banana, coconut, tiramasu, strawberry and the must have for an Argentine – dulce de leche. Dulche de leche is like the caramel you find in Banoffee Pie and it is delicious in any form. As icecream it is ‘to die for’. Then we settled down at around 1am to watch the movie. It was 4am when I headed home in a cab. Even an evening in with a DVD means staying up half the night here…

I am still squeezing in my tango classes, Spanish lessons and Spanish homework. I finally learned the past tense this week!  That means I have moved beyond saying slightly stupid things like, ‘Yesterday I go to La Viruta.’  To give you an idea of how I use my Spanish, I can now explain to a Porteño, that I like him and I like dancing with him but I only want to be good friends. I can even explain that it is important that while I am here I dance with many different men to practice my tango, that I want to spend time alone, that I do not want a boyfriend. Impressive huh? It is amazing what I can manage to say when I am under pressure and don’t have Gabriella to help me out. I am proud of myself.

So slowly but surely I am settling into my second month in Buenos Aires, into my new life. I think less and less about home. In a way this is conscious on my part. If I think about things in the UK, I can start to miss them or to feel sentimental. This is not good for me. My life for the foreseeable future is in this city, this country and that is what I have to focus on. Of course I get moments when I miss home and the people I have left behind but I can’t dwell on these things. I remind myself every day how lucky I am to be here, to be able to pursue my dream. I focus on my desire to become a great dancer and then I know that I am in the right place at the right time…

See pictures taken this week on my walks in BA

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A day in the BA life…

April 4, 2007 in Diary of a Tango Dancer in Buenos Aires | 3 comments

Last night I was at Salon Canning until 5am and I admit that today in the BA life has been spent sleeping. I got up at 5.45 this afternoon! Once every week this happens – usually at the weekend. I need the occasional recovery day. I looked back through my diary of attended Milongas and yes, I have been out every night, since Friday 23rd March, until the early hours… 

I am going out tonight at around midnight to see the tango orchestra ‘Color Tango’ play at Salon Canning. Peter from Southampton/Portsmouth/Winchester tango is here this week which is great so we are meeting at the Milonga. It’s strange, but fantastic to welcome someone from home to my new world. It felt very odd to dance together last night here in Buenos Aires!

On days when I don’t sleep in, life here is action packed. I get up around ten, do my Spanish homework and chat on the internet over breakfast. By twelve I’m on the bus heading to Ariel’s apartment for my private tango lesson. A quick cortado at the cafe on the corner wakes me up! In my lessons this week we’re working on different styles of walking in tango – breaking some of the rules – and on milonga steps and rhythms. I am beginning to dance milonga with alot more confidence. It has been the case lately that whenever I arrive at a Milonga, the first tanda I am asked to dance is milonga!  Ariel has now told me that it is extremely impolite to refuse a dance and even worse to leave the floor before the end of the tanda – apparently this will never be forgotten by a Porteño… So I am dancing more milonga these days!

If I have a Spanish lesson it is in the afternoon for two hours, but if not I do a bit of sightseeing or window shopping. This week I headed to Abasto to check out the statue of Carlos Gardel. A few tango stores are located here and I took pictures of the shoes along with the men’s price list. These are not the finest men’s shoes I have seen but at least you can get an idea of what is available for what price. While I was there I endured lunch in the horrendous Abasto Shopping Mall. This place was throbbing with people. There are fairground rides all around the edge. It’s like West Quay in Southampton but on acid. I couldn’t wait to escape.

I sleep from around seven until ten when I go out to eat. My favourites are steak or fish. I have not yet had a bad food experience. All options are available: the restaurants are fantastic in Palermo, the meal we ate at the tango show we went to was delicious, the takeaway we had at Ariel’s was great comfort food. A good two course meal in a restaurant with wine, or agua con gas in my case, costs about £5.

Then it’s on to a Milonga and possibly two. The one we choose depends on the night of the week, whether there is live music that night, where people we know are going, and what has been recommended. I am compiling a list of all the Milongas I have been to as a guide for any of you who head out this way in the future. An intimate knowledge of the Milonga options would be a great starting point if you are only going to be out here a couple of weeks. I hope that my experiences can help some of you to get the best out of your next holiday in Buenos Aires.

Surely you are not still saying ‘What holiday in Buenos Aires?’ Hey guys, I must have convinced some of you by now…  

See pictures of a day in my life in Buenos Aires

Visit the website of ‘Color Tango’

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New friends in BA

March 30, 2007 in Diary of a Tango Dancer in Buenos Aires | 3 comments

Three weeks ago yesterday I arrived in Buenos Aires. I was not alone because I carried my friends and my family in my heart, but in this huge city  I knew no-one. Things have changed. My heart has had to expand to fit in my new BA friends…

Last night Gabriella and I relaxed at Ariel’s apartment. We ate an Argentine takeaway. They played guitar and sang – everything from Brazilian love songs in Portuguese, to Black Sabbath. I lay back on a huge bean bag and read 1990s’ issues of the BA tango scene magazine El Tangauta. We laughed and chatted until 3am. I have known Ariel for three weeks but I make food in his kitchen, lie on his sofa, and feel relaxed in his home. His warmth and generosity is typical of the Argentine people I have met.

At our second Milonga in BA at Sabor A Tango (in the days when I was shaking in my shoes) Fernando asked me to dance. I introduced him to Gabriella because I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. He brought Melina over to sit with us because she is Swedish and speaks English. We bumped in to them again last Friday at Salon Canning, where being able to sit at their table saved me from my ’stalker’. On Wednesday this week we were at Melina’s leaving party: she was heading back to her home in Denmark the following day. At the party we met young dancers Rodrigo and Gabriel who accompanied us to La Viruta later that night. They have recommended their favourite Milongas to us and we will see them again. This is the way things go here. Meet someone, meet someone they know, bump into them at a Milonga, get a generous invitation, meet someone else they know, get a recommendation, follow it, and so it goes on… Our circle of familiar faces is growing. It is almost normal for us to see someone we recognise at a Milonga these days. Soon it will be normal.

Then there are the travellers I have met through staying at the hostel for my first month here: the gorgeous and entertaining Gabriella, the stunning Laura who Gabriella met during her five months in El Salvador and the young and  beautiful Binky who is here working and studying Spanish. These girls are now my friends and it is a joy to chat, eat, dance and shop with them! We have many South American guys staying here too: Venezuelan, Ecuadorian, Uruguayan, Columbian. They are great fun. They cook, play table tennis and table football – very loudly, dance samba, break dance, laugh all the time and whistle at us as we leave at midnight for the next Milonga. Ok yes sometimes when I want to sleep it’s noisy, but I love these guys. They remind me that life is to be lived…

The people I appreciate most every day are the ones who start to make the difference between a new city and a familiar one in the moments when I am alone: the waiter who knows that I will order a cortado before my tango lesson, the security guard at the phone shop I pass on my way to the Subte (who still apologises for banging my head on his door), the smiling guy at the kiosk where I buy mints to get change for the bus.

Finally there are the guys we meet at our group tango classes: Jorge, Pepe and Julio – the Porteños whose arms it is a pleasure to dance in. And of course, the guys we dance with in the Milongas who we maybe will never see again. This afternoon I went to Confiteria La Ideal alone. I was asked to dance immediately and then did not sit out a single tanda! I had some amazing dances with men of all ages, sizes and styles. Without exception they were charming and polite. They made me feel beautiful. All except one was Argentine. I felt like Sally Potter as I was led in tangos and milongas around the columns and across the tiled floor. I did not stop smiling and these days if I make a mistake I just laugh! 

Last night in a 2001 edition of La Tangauta, I read the following quote by Sonia Abadi (translated from the Spanish):

‘For women to dance with many men is like building a figure of the ideal man with shreds of each one of them. For the man to dance with various women is like embracing with the arms all the women of the earth.’

Beautiful words and for me true ones. In every man I dance with, I find a different shred of beauty, of joy, or of pain. From the tango I steal a piece of the perfect dancer, the perfect friend, the perfect lover, the perfect man. I treasure these precious fragments. Sometimes I am taken by surprise and I am gifted with a shred of my dream dancer of Hampshire. In an instant I am transported back to Bournemouth, to Southampton, into his embrace. I feel sad in these moments because I miss him. I long to dance with him again.

But then again, on Sunday, in the arms of an Argentine, I found a new longing – to dance with Carlos one more time. He was not at El Beso, nor Porteño y Bailarin, nor at La Ideal this afternoon. For now he is my dream dancer of Buenos Aires and I will find him, however long it takes. In search of him I shall return to La Glorieta at the weekend…

This evening, I have a more practical matter on my mind. After an hour and a half of practicing spins and dancing milonga in my private lesson, followed by two hours of continuous dancing at La Ideal, my feet are in agony. Plus I’ve only had twelve hours sleep in total over the last three nights. How will I ever manage to dance again tonight?

See pictures of my new friends in Buenos Aires

See pictures of Friday afternoon at Confiteria La Ideal

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BA Tango passion and pain

March 27, 2007 in Diary of a Tango Dancer in Buenos Aires | 3 comments

Each Buenos Aires Milonga has in it the potential to leave you flying or crying. The past week has been a rollercoaster ride. Some Milongas I have loved, some I have hated, some I long to return to and some – well, they are now at the bottom of my list. I promised honesty in this blog so I am not going to pretend that every experience in my adventure is a good one.

There’s no question that the lowest point so far in my BA tango journey was Salon Canning on Friday night. It was my second visit to this venue. We arrived at about 1am and the place was packed. There are tables around the dance floor and we did manage to sit eventually, but it was stressful with guys pushing past all the time in search of their next tango. Sadly none of them chose me. My younger friends got several dances. This was a horrible feeling. In a second I convinced myself I was too old and ugly, couldn’t dance at all, would never be asked to dance again… My spirits plunged. To compound matters I gained a ’stalker’. A man approached me but not for a dance. He invited me to accompany him to a casino and although I refused, he approached me again and again as the night progressed. He made his way towards me wherever I fled, sat in chairs next to me and stared at me constantly. A kind woman told him to leave me alone. He did not. Later, when my teacher Ariel came to my rescue and asked me to dance it was already the final dance in the tanda and over in a second. It was just one of those nights I guess, but the experience left me cold and wondering why the hell I ever came to Buenos Aires.

Thank God that every Milonga is a new beginning. Saturday was my second time at the gorgeous Club Gricel. Here we were recognised and greeted by the immaculately turned out older clientele who were all seated in exactly the same reserved tables as the previous week. We were with our class mates so had easy and enjoyable dances to begin with. One of our group had a birthday so there was cake and singing. To my delight I spotted Julio, my favourite dance partner from my Thursday group class. He was equally happy to see me and insisted on dancing alternate tandas with Gabriella and I until our feet would take no more! He is a great dancer and I even danced milonga in his arms without tripping up… really believe me, the way these guys dance this is an achievement to be proud of. The only pain on this night was in my feet which felt like the bones had been in a vice by the time we left. My heart on the other hand was bursting with passion for tango, Buenos Aires and Argentina as I floated home in the cab.

On Sunday evening I ventured out alone for the first time, with my head full of elementary Spanish phrases , to La Glorieta. What a perfect place. Because I am English I will describe the venue as a raised open sided bandstand in a public park. Steps lead up to the dance floor and the tangueros stand around the edge. It is worth mentioning that there is nowhere to leave bags unattended so carry your valuables in a belt purse. The Milonga is busy by 8 and finishes at 11pm. It was delightful. I got the impression that most of the dancers were Argentine, but despite this I danced all night. Because you stand shoulder to shoulder with guys between dances, it is easy for them to turn and invite you. Here I had my most sensual dances yet. One man, Jorge, managed to make me feel as if I danced on a cloud. Carlos, perhaps the most attractive man I have met here so far – apart from Ariel of course – danced like an angel and with him I have to say it felt like sex with clothes on. Lucky for me there were six dances in a tanda! I actually left after that because I wanted to drift home on my pink cloud.

Yesterday I spent an hour with Gabriella at a practica at Club Villa Malcolm in Palermo close to where we are staying. This could have been a tricky night. The lights were full on and the room, behind a cafe/bar, was full of gorgeous young people mainly dancing Tango Nuevo – not yet in my repertoire! Most people seemed to dance with partners they knew. Fortunately I noticed Fernando who I had met in a group class at Club Gricel. I chatted with him and then we danced many tangos. He danced close embrace, slowly and with grace. I was able to practice decorating my ochos as I have learned with Ariel. I was also able to practice my Spanish. So for me the evening was a success. But I’m not sure I’ll be rushing back there for a while.

I visited La Catedral on Tuesday night last week. Lots of people in England had mentioned this place. I understand from Ariel, who accompanied us there, that it has changed in character since reopening after a period of closure. A few years ago there was a fire in a concert hall in Buenos Aires and many Milongas closed down to refurbish for new fire regulations. La Catedral used to be a popular Milonga with a packed dance floor. These days it has more of the atmosphere and clientele of a bohemian club. It is not on the tourist map of Milongas. The entrance is completely unmarked. It is upstairs in a building that has the feel of an old warehouse. Inside it is dark, atmospheric and the badly cracked and pitted wooden dance floor is surrounded by old sofas. A huge picture of Carlos Gardel hangs above the dancers who are young, of mixed levels and who dance a wide variety of tango styles including Nuevo. A live band played a set of Argentine folk music which was extremely beautiful and I danced a gorgeous tanda with Ariel. After two tangos he told me that I would be a great dancer. This statement earned him a massive hug right there on the dance floor. He was probably mortified but you all know how enthusiastic I can be when I am happy. And I was buzzing happy!

Tonight we plan to pack in two Milongas, El Beso and Porteño de Bailarin which are located near each other on Riobamba. We are heading there around 11pm in search of the lovely Carlos I mentioned earlier. He recommended these Milongas to me for a Tuesday night. So a new week, new Milongas and maybe - if luck is on my side – new and exciting dance partners. Cross your fingers for me that the next few days bring more passion than pain…

See pictures of Julio and of Club Villa Malcolm

Learn more about Carlos Gardel

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If the shoes fit, BUY THEM!

March 25, 2007 in Buenos Aires Information, Diary of a Tango Dancer in Buenos Aires | 2 comments

For this improving tango dancer, good shoes are a priority. Whether I am wearing a sexy dress or scruffy jeans, when the shoes go on I am transformed. And for me, it’s not only what the shoes look like that matters, it’s what they do to my body. Do they help me dance or not?

I remember the day in England when I travelled to London to find one pair of plain black suede shoes from Buenos Aires. They cost me £80. The train fare was £30. So a total of $660 pesos. Now I am living in tango shoe heaven. I have spent hours checking out options and so far I have bought two new pairs.  At first the choice seemed overwhelming but for me, choosing was easy. Why? There are three basic reasons:

  1. The fit. Some makes have gorgeous designs but when I put the shoes on they do not fit the shape of my feet. Of course the assistants say that they can be altered, or that they will stretch. Some shops specialise in making shoes exactly to your requirements and this is an option I have not yet investigated, but I am unsure. What if they are not quite perfect even then?
  2. The heel. I want the highest stiletto heel. They are the sexiest. I am short and they make my legs look longer. Sometimes you can select a heel to go with the shoe you want. But surely it is better if the shoe is designed with the heel in one. I want shoes that will give me the greatest stability and position my body in the correct axis for tango. 
  3. The aesthetics. I am a special dancer, and I want beautiful shoes… My tango shoes are my most loved possessions these days. They are an extension of my personality.

Several tango shoe and clothes stores are located in close proximity on Suipacha (home to Confiteria La Ideal)  including Darcos Tango. Suipacha is a narrow street with relatively little traffic and so you can quickly explore options in one trip. Neo Tango is on Sarmiento and seems very popular. I’ve been in there three times and it’s always been packed. Riobamba also has tango shoe shops. I stumbled upon a ‘Tango Market’ on Sarmiento, organised for La CITA 2007. This was great because many brands were displaying their shoes in one location, thus saving my feet! Comme il Faut, off Arenales, is hidden away from all the other stores. It has no window display, a locked door and photography is not allowed in the tiny showroom. The staff can seem slightly scary at first but they soften when they know that you are serious about buying. It is worth a special trip, or more than one special trip…

So to price. We are talking around $150 pesos up to $300 pesos (£25 to £50). Most of the interesting designs are from $240 pesos. Here, you often pay a little more when using a credit card so you can save a few pesos by carrying cash.

Both the pairs I bought are Comme il Faut. One patent black, the other delicately ruched, pink, green and white striped fabric with a black trim. The latter are for special evenings – yet to come! I have tried on perhaps 50 pairs in different stores but for my feet, for my height, for my comfort, for my sense of style these are the brand for me. They are of course $300 pesos a pair but they are exquisite in their design. When I put them on I feel like I am already the greatest English tango dancer.

It is important not to spend too long deliberating over a pair of shoes. Next time you visit the shop the design may be sold out in your size. On the other hand it is important to visit regularly as new designs come in all the time. Some places allow you to reserve a pair for a week with a deposit.

Many people have asked me to buy shoes for them while I am out here but I am realising that this is potentially problematic. In England I an a size 5/5.5/6 in normal shoes depending on the brand. I know my size now in Comme il Faut. It is a 7. But in other shops I can only get into a 7 in some designs – others won’t go onto my feet! As you have to pay up front and they won’t take the shoes back… well you see the problem. I guess for men it would be the same.

So guys and girls you only really have one safe option. Come out here. Find out for yourself the brand you love and your size in it. Then I can buy more designs for you after you go back home. Now surely that’s an offer you can’t refuse…

See pictures of the tango shopping experience in Buenos Aires

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Saturday, one BA Way

March 18, 2007 in Buenos Aires Information, Diary of a Tango Dancer in Buenos Aires | 3 comments

There are probably a million ways to spend a Saturday in Buenos Aires. Yesterday was my second here and it was action packed. I did manage to get up by midday, pretty good considering it was 5.30am when I stumbled in from the La Viruta Milonga at Club Armenia. The torrential rain that thoroughly cleaned the city on Friday had stopped so we decided to be tourists and head to La Boca.  Two specifics make La Boca a must for many visitors to BA: the small network of colourful streets with their vibrant market, and La Bombonera football stadium, home to the Boca Juniors, the former club of Diego Maradonna. We opted for the market as we are girls and markets mean shopping. By 1.30pm were on the Subte (underground).

In the mid 18th century immigrants from Spain and Italy set up home in La Boca. They used bright paint left over from painting the river barges for their corrugated metal houses and this characteristic has made La Boca famous. We took a cab from the Subte to the market. The driver warned us not to wander out of the market streets. In fact there were small barriers and a police presence at the end of each street. Clearly it is not a safe area for tourists.

The market itself was inexpensive. I bought several tango CDs. These were original, not bootlegged and at $10 to $20 pesos (£1.70 to £3.40), far cheaper than in the UK. Also they have EVERYTHING. I bought Pugliese, El Arranque and Color Tango. Of course there are the stalls of football shirts and tacky souvenirs but there are great Argentine crafts too. The silk shawls are beautiful, and we bought small leather bags on belts to put our valuables in when dancing tango at the Milongas. Many of the restaurants in La Boca have couples dancing tango for the tourists and buskers dance tango on the streets. Personally I’d rather watch the real thing in an atmospheric Milonga.

After getting the 152 bus back to Palermo and a mad dash to get ready, we left for Club Gricel in San Cristobel where my teacher Ariel runs a group class on Saturdays at 8.30pm. What a fantastic venue. Faded grandeur, ceiling fans, a bar serving strong coffee and snacks as well as all the usual drinks. The class was friendly and cheap at $10 pesos. It lasted until nearly 11pm. By then I was shattered. I kept having to sit down, and the Milonga was yet to come!

Our class had a set of reserved tables, which was lucky because I am learning that all the best tables in the Milongas are reserved in advance. After eating a pile of empanadas (miniature pasties stuffed with cheese, chicken or meat) I recovered enough to dance. My first dance came immediately and was with a milonguero (or at least I think that’s what he said!). It is an honour to dance with these guys who all must be seventy plus. The embrace is the closest possible and he led me with the tiniest hand pressures in the small of my back. He kept saying, ‘Muy bien, muy bien.’ Encouraging…

The clientele here was in the older range but the dances were beautiful, the men were gentlemen and KNEW how to lead. Perfect. I even managed to dance Milonga without tripping up. Between dances we had a riot learning ‘interesting’ Spanish phrases and wordplays from Ariel. I managed to stay upright until about 3.30am when my bed became only second to a bar of chocolate in my hearts desires. Many kisses and farewells later we were in a cab headed home. Meanwhile the younger patrons of Club Gricel had moved on to La Viruta. The older patrons, one or two easily ninety, were still dancing tango and salsa. How do they do it?

I have spent the entire day today relaxing on my bed. I need to. I have been roped in to a salsa class tonight at 9.00pm…

See pictures of my second Saturday in Buenos Aires

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The BA Tango Lessons

March 15, 2007 in Buenos Aires Information, Diary of a Tango Dancer in Buenos Aires | 2 comments

I have been here one week and my tango is improving by the hour. It’s even improving while I sleep according to my private teacher, Ariel. Honestly, it works like magic. On Monday in my first lesson we worked over and over on different exercises to improve my walking. The exercises were difficult and I lost my balance many times. I swore alot. Today (Wednesday) we worked on decorating walking and ochos with crosses. We decorated ochos before the pivot, after the pivot, in the pivot.  Today I hardly ever lost my balance. How had that happened in 48 hours? My body just KNEW what to do. We broke up the exercises with tangos to try out the decorations. Next lesson we will be working on giros.

Ariel speaks great English, is a lovely guy and unbelievably knows Pastor who gave me my private lesson at the Tango Tangk in February. So, I am loving my private classes which is good because I have three a week – Monday, Wednesday and Friday, each an hour and a half long.

I am attending group lessons to experience different teachers, understand the various styles of tango, learn sequences that may be danced in the Milongas and meet people – especially men. It is important to arrive at a Milonga with a potential partner, dance with him and show off your dancing to the male throng.  Gabriella and I cheekily ask the guys we like to dance with for recommendations of their favourite Milongas. If we show interest they quickly say, ‘Oh we are heading to XYZ Milonga on Friday, why don’t you come along?’

So far I’ve been to two group tango classes – each totally different:

  1. Escuela Argentina de Tango. Cost 14.50 pesos (£2.50). Held at the Centro Cultural Borges. Number of students: 20. This school has a mindblowing schedule of classes all day, every day with different teachers taking each class. The class I attended was fast, furious and scary at first. We learned four sequences with no in depth individual tuition. The moves included many giros, voleos and a pivoted volcada with decoration. Arghhhhhhhh! The leaders were mixed (as they are in any country of course) and sometimes I knew I was being led wrongly, but pointing that out politely in Spanish at this stage is not an option for me. Oh and another thing, of course the whole class was in Spanish…
  2. La Escuela del Tango. Cost 35 pesos (£6). Number of students: 6. Held at Claudia Bozzo’s dance studio in the Montserrat district. This is an atmospheric space and I loved it here. Claudia taught the class and tried out her English for me which was brilliant. She gave highly individual tuition and to my joy assessed me as – wait for it – ADVANCED! Claudia is Eduardo Bozzo’s sister and I laughed because she is so similar to him in her teaching with regards to musicality and needing to feel the music.  She even explains things in a similar way, for example ‘Attack, attack, attack!’ Again the leaders were mixed but I think I will get more from these classes with Claudia than from the different teacher every time approach of option 1. above – for the first month at least. So I will be going back tomorrow.

Milongas are the reality of tango here and often there is insufficient space to try out anything fancy learned in a class. I have now been to three different Milongas: Confiteria La Ideal, Sabor a Tango and Salon Canning. Of these Salon Canning was my favourite. We went on a Monday night – the ‘happening’ night there apparently. We took some non-tango-dancing friends with us. It was much more informal than the other two and dances came easier. The performances at ‘half time’ were inspirational. All three Milongas cost 15 pesos to get in.

The last two nights I have skipped the Milongas. I am exhausted from the Spanish classes, private tango classes, group tango classes, shopping for dancewear, finding an apartment for April and May and eating steaks… However, I may head to Confiteria La Ideal tomorrow afternoon because it has been recommended to me and I’m getting serious Milonga withdrawals as I type this at 2am Argentine time! Alternatively I could pop out there now of course…

See pictures of my BA Tango Lessons and a BA Milonga

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Milonga for ALOT longer

March 12, 2007 in Buenos Aires Information, Diary of a Tango Dancer in Buenos Aires | 5 comments

Why did I ever have any doubts? I’ve been here three nights and I am completely hooked! All I can say to you tango addicts out there who have not yet visited this amazing city is, ‘GET OVER HERE!’

The big news is that I am no longer a BA tango virgin. Last night at a swanky tango venue called Sabor a Tango I received the ‘nod’ from an Argentine for the first time! It is an unmistakable ritual: direct eye contact and a nod from him, a nod from you, a confirmation nod from him and the deal is struck. There is no going back, he will dance the next tanda with you. The thrill of this is indescribable. You have been chosen by a total stranger. He is Argentine. Better than sex I reckon…

The Milonga was crowded. Thank you Eduardo for teaching me the ocho cortado. It was led over and over again. Thank you Jenny and Ricardo for teaching me to take ‘ant steps’. There was no space for anything else. Thank you Pastor for teaching me to keep my chest connected. I was able to follow the leads of complete strangers. One man told me I would be a good dancer but I must relax my upper body, one kindly suggested I could relax my right wrist… no new news there then! Everybody I danced with was friendly, spoke Spanish to me on the whole – though a Korean and a Dutchman spoke good English. I did not fall over, even though I was trying out my new black patent Comme il Faut stilettos, and the only time I messed up was when dancing milonga but even then my partner asked me to dance tango later so I can’t have been too terrible. Well, either that or he fancied me. It is not easy to tell.

I cannot believe the choice of Milongas here. On Saturday nights there are twenty two operating from around 10pm and ending between 4 and 6am. Last night we left about 5am and headed on for a breakfast of coffee and croissant with a lovely Argentine and his Swedish friend. I finally crawled into bed as the sun was rising. Wicked!

Mornings, as a result of the late nights, don’t exist for me. But weekend afternoons are for the markets (or another Milonga if you haven’t had enough). Today we headed to San Telmo to browse crafts and antiques in the hot sun. A highlight there is the profusion of live tango bands that play in the streets. One that I especially loved, Fervor de Buenos Aires, will be coming to the Crypt in London next year, though I’m going to see them perform here on 21st March.

You may have noticed that the pronoun ‘we’ has crept into my writing. On day two here I met my new tango partner in crime – the totally gorgeous Gabriella from Seattle. She is here for six months to study tango and we have joined forces in our mission to conquer the BA tango scene. This is a fantastic lucky break for me. Gabriella is a ‘kick ass’ girl. She makes me laugh, speaks fluent Spanish, loves shopping and is a tango addict.

We have already hit the tango shoe shops, the antique clothes stores, the restaurants, the markets. Tonight we plan to draw up a schedule of group tango classes and this will include classes at Claudia Bozzo’s La Escuela del Tango. And of course we will be trying out a different Milonga every night. So, the first week of my new life begins. Is it the ‘kick ass’ life? You decide…

See pictures of my first days in BA

Visit the website of Fervor de Buenos Aires (now evolved into Orquesta Tipica Misteriosa Buenos Aires)

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Hello BA

March 9, 2007 in Diary of a Tango Dancer in Buenos Aires, Live your dreams | 5 comments

Now I really have done it. I am here! After dropping off some passengers in Brazil my plane finally touched down this morning at 9.45 local time , which is three hours behind the UK. I was greeted by efficient immigration procedures, the smiling Travellers Worldwide driver and torrential rain. It has absolutely chucked it down. Someone is trying to make sure I don’t miss England too much!

The truth is I have missed England a little today. The goodbyes were hard. The journey was tiring. Everything is strange. I am here alone. But after some initial problems, I got my technology working. I am in contact with the people I love. Tonight I feel calm and positive.

It has been quite a day. I’ve made Argentines laugh with my enthusiastic but terrible Spanish. I’ve had a helpful local climbing all over an internet cafe trying to find a working headset for my Skype call to my dream dance partner of Hampshire. I’ve been bashed on the forehead by a glass door which was being opened for me by a rather too strong security guard at a mobile phone shop. This final incident resulted in a very worried sales assistant holding up various combinations of fingers and bringing me glasses of water! I have a big bump on my head and a bad headache but thankfully the injury won’t stop me dancing – if he had broken my toe I would not have been laughing…

I am settled in to my home for the next four weeks, a friendly hostel in Palermo, just two short blocks from the subway line D which will take me straight into the centre of town. I’ve met my local contacts Adriana and Melina who have given me my timetable of organised classes. I will be taking a Spanish level test (!) tomorrow with my Spanish teacher, to help us plan the content of my lessons. I will meet my tango teacher on Monday for my first private lesson.

Now you know of course that I am a complete tango addict and normally dance five or six nights a week. I will not be able to wait until Monday. I am desperate to head to a Milonga, first consulting my ’least scary Milongas list’ which has been kindly provided by my tango mates who have been here before me. But will I really have the courage to walk in alone? Will anyone dance with me? Will I remember anything I’ve learned over the last five months? These are the questions on my mind tonight as I start the next phase of my tango journey.

Meanwhile in my spare hours this weekend I plan to visit a tango shoe store or two, maybe a market, take some walks, do some sight seeing. Apparently it’s going to be sunny and warm over the next couple of days which is fantastic, because I’ve got a ‘kick ass’ city to explore. That is, after I’ve had at least twelve hours sleep…

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