Club Villa Malcolm

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La Milonguita, Fruto Dulce in Villa Malcolm, Plaza Bohemia at Alsina 2540, and Taconeando tango shoes

February 2, 2012

This is a summary of a few recent changes to places mentioned in my book Happy Tango: Sallycat’s Guide to Dancing in Buenos Aires. Post updated 24th February to reflect a new home for La Milonguita.

If you want these updates faster than I post them here on the Updates Blog, please join the Happy Tango Facebook Page or visit it regularly; I post things there as soon as I hear of them. These Updates Blog posts tend to come a little later when I have enough news to warrant a full article.

There’s another reason to click the ‘Like’ button on the Facebook page. This blog is for updates to the content of Happy Tango. On the Facebook page I also post news of events in Buenos Aires and of places that aren’t in Happy Tango; so, if you want even more than I offer you in the book, you will find it at facebook.com/happytango, and to get the status updates direct to your Facebook feed you need to ‘Like’ the page.

So, here’s my latest round up of updates at the beginning of February 2012.

La Milonguita (Sundays, page 138 of Happy T.) has a new home! Find this Traditional-style milonga in La Nacional at Alsina 1465, 1st Floor from Sunday 19th February 2012, start time 8pm till the early hours. It is no longer being held in Centro Montanés; don’t travel there for tango. Keep in touch with La Milonguita on Facebook here and at their website here.

Fruto Dulce Tangos is the new and very popular Informal-style* milonga in Club Villa Malcolm on Wednesday nights (replacing TangoLab, mentioned on p143 of Happy T. and which left Villa Malcolm some time ago).

I can’t help loving the Fruto Dulce Tangos brand image of sweet and delicious looking fruits. I have visited the milonga and I think it would be a great place to go with a few friends, or perhaps in a couple as it definitely has a romantic air… low (and disco-style from time to time) lighting. I thought the music seemed a rather romantic selection too, though that may just have reflected my mood, so go with an open mind! Dress is smartish and there is usually a dance exhibition later in the night. You can snack on pizza and the like from the Malcolm kitchen; because the floor is hard-tile not springy-wood you could need a pick-me-up to power your tired feet. Fruto Dulce Tangos have a Facebook page where they publish their events.

Fruto Dulce in Club Villa Malcolm

The new Plaza Bohemia at Alsina 2540 is gradually filling all the nights of the week with milongas and other dance events. Of the milongas mentioned in Happy Tango, Sentimental y Coqueta (Tuesday from 6pm) and Lujos (Sunday from 6.30pm) – both Traditional-style*, are gaining in popularity in this venue. Find out what’s happening on each night here at the venue’s website, and there are also lots of photos to give you an idea of what to expect.

Finally, if you are tango-shoe shopping for ladies shoes and want to visit Taconeando, their showroom has moved from Arenales Street in Recoleta to Avenida Cordoba 4030 on the edge of Palermo. Their website still has the Arenales address (today 2nd February) so perhaps it’s best to friend Taconeando Zapatos de Tango on Facebook for the latest news.

Taconeando advert

I do hope that Happy Tango is continuing to bring you many Happy Tangos in Buenos Aires. Certainly it was wonderful to read the recent blog post from tango dancer and teacher Kamila Lukaszewicz at kamilastangoembrace.blogspot.com and to meet her and hear first hand how useful she has found Happy Tango to be. Kamila is using the book in Buenos Aires right now!

If my book Happy Tango has helped you, please pass word of it on to other tango dancers. You could leave a great review on Amazon here or here. You could contact me, via the Contact Us button on this page, for some Happy Tango postcards to display in your tango community. You could share this website or the book’s Facebook page. Any one of those would be absolutely great! Do tell people too that updates are regularly published here and on Facebook too, so the book never really goes out of date. There will be a second edition of the book in due course, but that will inevitably need updates too. That’s guide books for you, eh?

Thank you all for your support and wishing you joy always!

Sallycat

*For my definitions of Traditional and Informal, read Happy Tango. In the book, I define and use three broad categories in an attempt to guide visitors to the venues, milongas and prácticas in Buenos Aires that are most likely to be some of their ‘tango homes’.

Buy the guide book for tango dancers Happy Tango: Sallycat’s Guide to Dancing in Buenos Aires,and start planning your tango adventure in Buenos Aires, today!

Click a link to buy Happy Tango from:
amazon.co.uk
amazon.com
amazon.ca
barnesandnoble.com
BookDepository.co.uk
BookDepository.com

If you’re in the UK and need the book faster than the online stores can do it, or you’re already in Buenos Aires, use the Contact Us button and we’ll do our best to help.

ISBN: 9780956530608
Author: Sally Blake
Published by: Pirotta Press Ltd
Publication date: 30 June 2010

Join the book’s Facebook page for all these Happy Tango updates from Buenos Aires direct to your Facebook feed; click here and then click ‘Like’.

If you’ve enjoyed reading Happy Tango, please recommend it to someone else who would enjoy it too. Thank you!

Christmas and New Year Tango in Buenos Aires 2011/2012

December 23, 2011

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day fall on Saturdays and Sundays this year. If you’re visiting town over the festive period, and using Happy Tango as your guide, here are a few places from the book that are promising Christmas and/or New Year tango (but with some adjustments from their normal routine), plus some definite closures.

Remember that public transport and taxi availability will be reduced, especially on 24th and 31st (the nights of the traditional family meals and celebrations in Argentina), so you might end up having to walk a bit further than usual; do take care as you go.

Make a phone call or check the organiser’s website before setting out, to avoid disappointment!

In my Traditional* category:

La Milonguita (milonguitabaile.com.ar)— Sundays 25th and 1st open for dancing from 8pm, but in Club Sunderland and not in its usual venue Centro Montañés which is closed.

Sueño Porteño (clubdetango.blogia.com) — Open on Sunday 25th, for a specially themed milonga “ROJO” – you are invited to wear red. As far as I know, also open on Sunday 1st January. In the same venue, Boedo Tango will be open on New Year’s Eve Saturday 31st for a special dinner with dancing to “todo los ritmos (all rhythms)”, for more details see their website boedotangoresto.com.ar here.

Plaza Bohemia (plazabohemia.net in its new location at Alsina 2540) — Open for a special dinner on 31st December, telephone number for reservations in the photo below:

Club Gricel (clubgriceltango.com.ar) is open on Sunday 25th December.

Cachirulo — Saturdays 24th and 31st (Villa Malcolm), CLOSED.

In my Informal* category

La Viruta (lavirutatango.com), Armenia 1366 — Saturdays 24th and 31st, offering a book-in-advance “Tenedor Libre (All you can eat buffet)” in La Viruta, details in Spanish here. Begins at 8.30pm with welcome drink. At 1am doors open to everyone else for a night of dancing. For dancing tango on the Saturday night of Christmas Eve 24th into Christmas Day 25th, La Viruta may be the only option. If I hear of others I will add them, of course.

Milonga10 (facebook.com/MILONGA10) in Club Fulgor de Villa Crespo, Loyola 828 — Saturday 24th and Saturday 31st CLOSED.

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*For my definitions of Traditional and Informal, read Happy Tango. In the book, I define and use three broad categories in an attempt to guide visitors to the venues, milongas and prácticas in Buenos Aires that are most likely to be some of their ‘tango homes’.

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Buy the guide book for tango dancers Happy Tango: Sallycat’s Guide to Dancing in Buenos Aires,and start planning your tango adventure in Buenos Aires, today!

Click a link to buy Happy Tango from:
amazon.co.uk
amazon.com
amazon.ca
barnesandnoble.com
BookDepository.co.uk
BookDepository.com

If you’re in the UK and need the book faster than the online stores can do it, or you’re already in Buenos Aires, use the Contact Us button and we’ll do our best to help.

ISBN: 9780956530608
Author: Sally Blake
Published by: Pirotta Press Ltd
Publication date: 30 June 2010

Join the book’s Facebook page for all these Happy Tango updates from Buenos Aires direct to your Facebook feed; click here and then click ‘Like’.

If you’ve enjoyed reading Happy Tango, please recommend it to someone else who would enjoy it too. Thank you!

Cachirulo Saturday, on the move from Plaza Bohemia, Maipú 444

February 5, 2011

News has spread fast on Facebook today that there will be no Cachirulo milonga in Plaza Bohemia (page 140 of Happy Tango), at Maipú 444, tonight 5th February and for the remainder of the month. It will open again on 5th March, but it will be held in Club Villa Malcolm (page 143 of Happy Tango). You can see the Facebook status update from the organisers of Cachirulo confirming this, here, and you can see the ad for the new Saturday Cachirulo in Villa Malcolm on page 79 of the B.A. Tango magazine edition 206 (in PDF) here.

It seems that the move to Malcolm was planned (as evidenced by the ad in B.A. Tango), but that the cancellation for February may have been a surprise (and it certainly was to me!); rumour is that Plaza Bohemia, Maipú 444, may have closed its doors (temporarily?). I can’t confirm this at the moment, but to be sure of having the latest information, do phone the appropriate milonga organiser before setting out to Plaza Bohemia this week. You can find recent telephone numbers from page 78 of the B.A. Tango magazine, link above.

I am grateful to dear Tina Tangos for letting me know that the Saturday Cachirulo is on the move. Meanwhile, Cachirulo in El Beso continues on Tuesdays from 8pm.

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Buy Happy Tango online and start planning your tango adventure to Buenos Aires, today!

Click a link to buy Happy Tango from:

amazon.co.uk
amazon.com
amazon.ca
amazon.fr
amazon.de
amazon.co.jp
barnesandnoble.com
BookDepository.co.uk
BookDepository.com
whsmith.co.uk

Please buy before travelling, as Happy Tango is not generally available in Buenos Aires.

Happy Tango on sale in Salon Canning’s bewitching bookstore

January 22, 2011

***Very sadly, since this post was written, El Pipa passed away. I leave it here in tribute to him and his fabulous Salon Canning store, which is no more.***

Salon Canning is one of the most famous (and most visited by foreigners) tango venues in Buenos Aires. It hosts tango classes by the famous, and milongas by several different organisers, one on every day of the week. In the book Happy Tango, it is featured, on page 127,  as one of my 6 Tourist-circuit Places to Try First. Some love Canning, and some find it too hectic or too cavernous and stay away after the first visit. But for sure, if you are coming to Buenos Aires to dance tango, you’ll want to go and see it for yourselves, at least once.

Salon Canning is also, rather marvellously for my purposes, home to one of the most fascinating tango-book-and-memorabilia stores in existence, and I’m delighted to report that it’s now stocking my book Happy Tango: Sallycat’s Guide to Dancing in Buenos Aires.

The store is run by the well-known tango personality, El Pipa (the man with the pipe), and it’s rather intriguingly (and unusually) located in the entrance to the Canning men’s room and has been for the last ten years. Yes, really.

You’ll be pleased to know, though, you don’t actually have to enter the mensroom either to see or buy Happy T., as El Pipa’s stock spills out into the cubby-hole entrance to ‘the Gents’, and overflows, with style and bewitching impact, into the Salon Canning corridor. You’ll pass it on the left as you walk in to buy your tickets for the milonga. Or you can visit the store without having to go to the milonga at all; El Pipa’s shop can be visited by anyone, whether they dance tango or not. Walls overflow with tango souvenirs: trendy tango-shoe bags, tango T shirts, tango postcards, tango CDs, tango DVDs, and copies of possibly every tango book that has ever been written (in English, in Spanish and even, in the case of my friend Margareta Westergård of TangoMar, in Swedish!), including my essential guide book Happy Tango: Sallycat’s Guide to Dancing in Buenos Aires.

When I and my super-effective part-time PA (oh it feels so good to say that) visited El Pipa this week, he made us chuckle by proudly giving us the full guided tour of the men’s baños, from where he operates a retail hub that I think even Mohamed Al Fayad of Harrods fame, might admire. Pharmacy, newsagent, kiosko, bookstore, clothing outlet… all packed into a few square metres, and all immaculately arranged with the love and care of a man with a mission and a passion for the products of tango.

Our inside-the-den photoshoot necessarily had to take seconds rather than minutes, because, obviamente, it’s a challenge to show your sparkling urinals off to dos chicas lindas when you’ve got a constant stream of milongueros passing through to do business on a Wednesday afternoon. Much laughter resulted as men I dance with, in other places on other days of the week, caught me snuggling up to El Pipa in the gents’ loos, but hey, that’s Happy Tango for you — guaranteed good times in Buenos Aires, for those with the heart to want to discover them.

So now, if you haven’t managed to buy the book before you arrive in Buenos Aires, you can get it easily once in town. Head direct to Salon Canning at 1331 Scalabrini Ortiz (corner with Cabrera) during milonga hours on any day of the week except Thursday (when El Pipa’s store is closed), take $100pesos with you, and snap up a signed copy of the marvellous and highly useful (as proven by all these fantastic reviews) Happy T., before it sells out. When shopping, don’t miss the chance to do the full toilet tour (men) or pop your head around the door (ladies) and see El Pipa’s desk and all the items set out for sale on and around it; believe me, this is a Buenos Aires tango-treasure you would be mad to miss.

If you’ve already got your own copy of the book, and you’ve enjoyed it, and you find yourself at El Pipa’s store… do me a favour and tell him he’s stocking the “super-est tango guide book the world has ever seen”. That should help ensure it gets a great position among the tango books on his walls, and thus increase its chances of being noticed by all tangueros who may need it. That’d be fab.

Enjoy your travels in Buenos Aires, and may many ‘Happy Tangos’ be yours!

PS. A word of update to page 143 of Happy Tango. The Informal-category práctica TangoLab is no longer operating in Club Villa Malcolm on Wednesdays; it’s moved further out of town. Please check the TangoLab websites tangolab.wordpress.com or TangoLab’s Facebook page for the current address.

Happy Tango: Sallycat’s Guide to Dancing in Buenos Aires is also available from:

Or, buy Happy Tango online and start planning your tango adventure to Buenos Aires, today!

Click a link to buy Happy Tango from:

amazon.co.uk
amazon.com
amazon.ca
amazon.fr
amazon.de
amazon.co.jp
barnesandnoble.com
BookDepository.co.uk
BookDepository.com
whsmith.co.uk

Christmas and New Year Tango in Buenos Aires, 2010/2011

December 21, 2010

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Years Eve and New Years Day fall on Fridays and Saturdays this year. If you’re visiting town over the festive period, and using Happy Tango as your guide, here are a few milongas from the book that are promising Christmas and New Year tango (but with some adjustments from their normal routine).

Remember that public transport and taxi availability will be reduced, especially on 24th and 31st (the nights of the traditional family meals and celebrations), so you might end up having to walk a bit further than usual; do take care as you go.

PS. Thank you to Nick, Justin, Ella and Jude for the super pic of the Christmassy Happy Tango reader above! I would love more photos of the book Happy Tango, with you if possible. Use the new Contact Us button to be in touch, or, if we’re FB friends, tag your photo with me, Sally Blake; All pics will be added to the Happy Tango around the world album on Facebook, and the new Happy Tango Flickr Album (coming soon) with credits to you, of course.

So, to the Christmas and New Year milongas…

*** Update 1.1.11, New Year’s Day options are shown in pink below — make a phone call or check the organiser’s website before setting out, to avoid disappointment! FELIZ NUEVO AÑO a todos, from Sallycat at Happy Tango***

In my Traditional* category:

Cachirulo (Tel. 49328594/49532797) in Plaza Bohemia, Maipú 444 — Saturdays 25th and 1st, open as usual. Friday 24th and Friday 31st, Plaza Bohemia is CLOSED.

La Baldosa in Salón El Pial, Ramon L. Falcon 2750 (Tel. 46017988/45741593) — Fridays 24th and 31st, cancelled, but the events are moved to Saturdays 25th and 1st, as a one off; if you are with a group of friends then this could be an interesting option, but it’s more of a couples/groups milonga than one for solos. (The venue is in Flores, and so quite far from city centre, so you will need to think about reserving a taxi to get back, as there may not be many on the streets; this website offers many radio taxi options radiotaxisyremises.com.ar some of which have individual websites.

Sueño Porteño (clubdetango.blogia.com) are holding a special New Years event on Friday 31st from 9pm, as they tend to every year, so that people have a place to share a meal with others should they need it (a lovely idea); Telephone 15-3003-9926 to reserve. This year the website announces the event to be in “Grisel”, Club Gricel.

In my Tourist-circuit* category

Parakultural (parakultural.com.ar) in Salon Canning, Scalabrini Ortiz 1331, Friday 24th open after midnight, and 31st open from 12.30am.

In my Informal* category

La Viruta (lavirutatango.com), Armenia 1366 — Fridays 24th and 31st, open after the brindis (toasts), which usually means from about 1am. Saturdays open as usual.

Tangocool (tangocool-buenosaires.weebly.com) in Villa Malcolm, Cordoba 5064 — Fridays 24th and 31st cancelled, but the events are moved to Saturdays 25th and 1st, as a one off.

Milonga10 (praktika8.milonga10.com) in Club Fulgor de Villa Crespo, Loyola 828 — Saturday 25th and Saturday 1st from 10pm.

In general, Friday 24th and Friday 31st are the most disrupted nights, but if in doubt, check the websites or make a phonecall before you leave home.

Happy (Christmas and New Year) Tango in Buenos Aires to you all!

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*For my definitions of Traditional, Tourist-circuit and Informal, read Happy Tango. In the book, I define and use these three broad categories in an attempt to guide visitors to the venues, milongas and prácticas in Buenos Aires that are most likely to be some of their ‘tango homes’.

.

Buy the guide book for tango dancers Happy Tango: Sallycat’s Guide to Dancing in Buenos Aires,and start planning your tango adventure in Buenos Aires, today!

Click a link to buy Happy Tango from:
amazon.co.uk
amazon.com
amazon.ca
barnesandnoble.com
BookDepository.co.uk
BookDepository.com

If you’re in the UK and need the book faster than the online stores can do it, or you’re already in Buenos Aires, use the Contact Us button and we’ll do our best to help.

ISBN: 9780956530608
Author: Sally Blake
Published by: Pirotta Press Ltd
Publication date: 30 June 2010

Join the book’s Facebook page for all these Happy Tango updates from Buenos Aires direct to your Facebook feed; click here and then click ‘Like’.

If you’ve enjoyed reading Happy Tango, please recommend it to someone else who would enjoy it too. Thank you!