La Milonga Del 126

La Milonga del Treno

2012-01-24T19:47:00.001-10:00

Last Sunday night, I discovered a video on a friend's Facebook page uploaded to YouTube by La Milonga del Treno. There appears to be 59 of these videos on YouTube. They are from classic dance films and cartoons with Tango music replacing the original music. My favorite so far is a beautiful Vals entitled Temo by Orquesta Tipica Victor, with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers dancing. The videos include a very nice selections of songs, many of which I don't have in my 1000 Tangos para bailar collection. The words to the songs are included in subtitles.

La Milonga del Treno is a fashionable Milonga located in Milan, Italy. http://www.youtube.com/user/lamilongadeltreno?feature=watch

Osvaldo Pugliese monument

2011-12-13T21:42:00.000-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Sunday, May 15, 2011 day 97

On my way back from Garrita Rodriguez Milonga, near the corner of Scalabrini Ortiz and Corrientes, I spotted a monument to Osvaldo Pugliese and almost jumped off the colectivo to take some photos. The following Sunday I decided to take some pictures of Buenos Aires and worked my way from San Telmo to the Pugliese monument and here is what it looks like.

Free Milonga at Plaza San Martin

2011-12-06T15:28:00.002-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Saturday, May 14, 2011 day 96

I heard that there was a free tango lesson followed by live entertainment and a milonga at Plaza San Martin, so I took my camera there to see if I could get some interesting shots. Carlos Capello gave a free basic Tango and Milonga lesson and performed later when the live music came on. There were around 40 dancers for the free milonga.

After going home and resting I went to Juan Lencina's Saturday night Milonga at La Nacional and had fun dancing with a few of my regular partners.

Happy Birthday Todotango.com

2011-11-29T14:55:00.004-10:00

I happened to go to the cafe page on TodoTango.com and was happy to see that today they are celebrating 10 years of providing free tango information to the World. I had the honor of interviewing the creator, Richard Garcia Blaya last May, and he said his project was similar to the Save the Whales movement, except his team is preserving Tango history. He doesn't get paid for what he does except for the gratification of the support of his readers. I love to read the lyrics to all of my favorite songs and the life stories of the people involved in creating them. We are very lucky to have a free source for studying Tango History. Thank you very much Mr. Garcia Blaya. Here is a link to his thank you note to everyone that visits Todotango: http://www.todotango.com/spanish/la_pasion/lamesa_respuestas.aspx?pid=447572

91 year old Milonguero

2011-11-26T09:31:00.008-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Wednesday, May 11, 2011 day 93

I had been hoping to interview 91 year old Milonguero Roberto Segarra for my video project, but hadn't seen him at any of the milongas, until one Monday night I saw him at La Nacional. I asked him if he would be interested in being interviewed and at first he wasn't sure, but before he left he told me to meet him on Wednesday night at a neighborhood club where he plays cards and then goes upstairs for their milonga.

I took the colectivo but wasn't sure exactly where to get off. I was fortunate to ask the right fellow, because he was getting off there also and nice enough to help me find the street.

When I arrived Senor Segarra was playing cards with three other gentlemen. We went into another room and talked for about an hour. He told me that he began dancing around 1937 and had made a living as a bus driver. I have always been impressed with the skillful way that the colectivo divers navigate the crowded Buenos Aires streets. Back when Roberto was driving it was even more difficult because he had to take the money from each passenger. Roberto has a twinkle in his eye and is one of the few living dancers that experienced firsthand the glorious years of the great tango era. Afterwards we went upstairs and Roberto arranged with the promoters for me to set up my camera on one side of the milonga.

At one point a fellow from the USA that I'd never seen before came up to me and told me that this was a traditional milonga and that I should have asked the promoters permission before shooting any video. I asked him if he knew Roberto Segarra and he said no. I told him that Senor Segarra had arranged with some people (the promoters assistant and the DJ) for me to be there and they had said it was all right. He told me that the promoter had sent him over to ask me why I hadn't asked her for permission to shoot a video. So I went over and met the promoter, Martha Fama, http://www.tangoandchaos.org/chapt_3search/19entrega.htm , and she said that it was all right for me to continue shooting. I was lucky enough to dance with Marta that night and again at the Entre Tango y Tango milonga at Region Leonesa two nights later.

The video above is of Roberto Segarra dancing a Vals with Martha Fama "La serenata de ayer" by the orchestra of Juan D'Arienzo with the voice of Hector Maure at Garrita Rodriguez milonga, 1191 Manuel A. Rodriguez.

Very funny Tango video

2011-10-24T08:01:00.002-10:00

I discovered this video last year and finally received permission to post it here. Carlos Stasi and Jose Garofalo performing at Porteño y Bailarin in 2006.

My favorite Milonguero

2011-10-11T19:29:00.015-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Monday, May 9, 2011 day 91

Juan Lencina is a promoter of three great milongas in Buenos Aires. I discovered a video of him dancing on YouTube a couple of years ago, and ever since having the good fortune to meet him, I have been fascinated by his incredible ability to follow The Golden Rule.

Juan is a great Tango dancer. He knows every song and I have never seen him take a step off beat. I have seen lots of marquee name Tango performers that could learn a thing or two from watching Maestro Lencina weave his magic. Juan isn't about money, ego, fame and glory, he is all about loving life in the milongas. His work as a milonga promoter is truly a labor of love.

I was lucky enough to interview Juan and even though my castellano is very weak, I was able to understand some of the key points that he made. Maestro Lencina started dancing when he was twelve years old and has been dancing for over sixty years. He danced with some friends in the neighborhood for about three years before going to his first milonga. He started to promote milongas in the mid 1990s. When he dances he lip syncs the words to almost every song, but he doesn't sing while he's dancing. When I asked him what advice he would like to give to students of Tango, he said simply to dance to the music and have a pure embrace.

Juan loves to dance to any type of music. Here is a video of Juan dancing to a Rock n Roll song with our friend Vivien Tan at his Saturday night milonga in La Nacional.

El Flako Dany at El Beso

2011-09-19T20:42:00.002-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Sunday, May 8, day 90

I was a little disappointed that I didn't have my video camera with me when it was announced that El Flaco Dany was going to do a birthday dance at El Beso. I had seen him there several times, but rarely did he dance. There are probably over one hundred videos of him dancing Milonga on YouTube, but for his birthday dance they played a Vals, and the female dancers were happy to get the chance to dance with him.

Fun filled day in Buenos Aires

2011-09-18T21:25:00.004-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Saturday, May 7, day 89

I had a full schedule of activities starting in the early afternoon with an art exhibition opening at a museum in La Boca. My friend Josefina was one of the featured artists.

Later I went to Los Consagrados milonga and after that to a going away party for one of my regular dance partners Agnes from France. I invited my friend Margarita to join me at Agnes' party and she invited several other friends that also know Agnes and we all went together. The party was lots of fun.

This was not the last night I saw and danced with Agnes, but it was the last chance I got to dance with Margarita. She left for a vacation in New York and didn't return to Buenos Aires until after I had left.

Oscar del Priore interview

2011-09-14T07:07:00.005-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Friday May 6, day 88

A couple of different advisors had given me suggestions on how to approach tango professionals to request interviews for my video project. One person said I should get an assistant that spoke fluent Castellano and have them call and set up the appointment. JanTango said that I should be introduced by a mutual acquaintance. Since I only had a couple of weeks left in Buenos Aires and didn't have a Castellano speaking assistant, I decided to go ahead and contact a well know tango personality named Oscar del Priore.

Mr. del Priore has spent his entire professional life working as a tanguero. As un announcer he had the pleasure of introducing: Troilo, Pugliese, D'Arienzo, Fresedo, De Angelis, Calo and many others. He also teaches the history of tango, tango lyrics and lunfardo at IUNA Instituto Universitario Nacional del Arte. In addition he is a writer and a composer. The title of his most famous book is: El Tango: de Villoldo a Piazzolla y Despues.

I contacted Mr. del Priore by phone and asked if he would be willing to be interviewed and he agreed. He doesn't speak English, so I did the best I could with my limited Castellano vocabulary. I was anxious to find out how tango, which had been an immensely popular dance in the 1940s had virtually disappeared by the late 1950s until the mid 1980s. I was under the impression that the Argentine government had played a major role in the decline of tango during that period.

Mr. Prior assured me that the government had very little to do with tango's loss of popularity. The main reason was that people preferred to listen to other types of music like rock n roll. They didn't want to listen to or dance to tango music. Tango music slowly evolved in a new direction, lead by Astor Piazzolla, directed more toward listeners and less appealing to the dancers. Tango never went away, it just ceased to be the nation's favorite music.

In the early 80s the success of the tango stage production Tango Argentino abroad inspired foreigners to become interested in learning to dance tango again, and tango started a comeback. When I asked Mr. del Priore how the popularity of tango today compared to the 1940s, he said that there is was no comparison to the tango phenomenon back in the 1940s. Mr. del Priore loves his work and has lead a enviable life.

Renew Visa in Colonia, Uruguay

2011-09-05T21:34:00.004-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Wednesday , May 4, day 86

Dancing Tango in Buenos Aires for three months just isn't enough time for me, so I needed to renew my 90 day tourist Visa. On my first trip in 2009 I was able to successfully renew my visa at the office of migraciones, but in 2010 when I went to migraciones they said to come back on the following day because they were not taking any more applicants that day. I had made a last minute decision to extend my stay and decided to go to Colonia, Uruguay instead of waiting. So this year I didn't bother going to migraciones, I booked passage through Boquebus and returned to Colonia.

Back in the early 70's I owned a 1957 Blue Volkswagen Van. As I was walking down the main street in Colonia I spotted a similar year VW Van that was being used as an armored car for a local bank. There were two guards with shotguns outside the bank and the Van in the photo was double parked in front. It seemed a little bizarre to me thinking back 40 years to the days that I had owned a similar vehicle which I used for recreational purposes.

Free Champagne at El Beso

2011-09-02T21:22:00.003-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Sunday, May 1, 2011 day 83

Margarita, my favorite dance partner from Los Consagrados milonga also goes to the Sunday afternoon Confiteria Ideal milonga and had been trying to get me to come for quite some time, so I finally decided to check it out. I had fun dancing several tandas with her there. Afterwards I walked over to my regular Sunday night milonga at El Beso.

I had the pleasure of dancing a couple of tandas with Mary Ann Henderson, she was wearing a new pair of dance shoes and told me the I was the first person she danced with in them, I felt privileged.

One of the fun things about the Buenos Aires milongas is they usually have a raffle every night where they giveaway a couple of prizes. The year before I won a free admission at La Nacional one evening and on this night I won a bottle of champagne at El Beso. My friends Alejandro and Jorge can be found drinking champagne at the bar every Sunday night and usually give me a glass, so I was happy to share the champagne with them.

World Champion Tango dancers originally didn't want to compete

2011-08-30T14:07:00.001-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Friday April 29, day 81

I had taken a few Tango classes with 2004 Salon style World Champions Osvaldo and Coca Cartery and they agreed to be interviewed before their Friday evening class. My German friend Susanne Muhlhaus was there to interpret for me.

Osvaldo and Coca told a very amusing story about how they happened to enter the competition that lead to them winning the World Championship. They were at Sunderland Club on a night of the preliminary rounds for the City Championship, and some people suggested that they enter the contest. Osvaldo said no, he was not interested in dancing in a competition, that he only dances for pleasure. Later someone came up to Coca and asked her if she would like to be in the contest, and she replied that Osvaldo didn't want to. Somehow their names were added to the list of competitors and when their names were called out to dance, Coca was on one side of the room and Osvaldo on the other, talking to his friend the DJ. Osvaldo told the DJ that it was strange that they had called their names and that he hadn't entered the contest and wasn't going to dance. But the crowd started clapping and demanding that they dance, so they did. They eventually qualified for the the Tango Salon World Championship and were declared the winners.

Crazy Luck

2011-08-28T21:29:00.002-10:00

My third Buenos Aires Tango adventure, April 28, 2011 day 79

I took my camera over to La Boca and here is a video of the still photos I took. The song is Suerte Loca, by the Orchestra of Anibal Troilo, with Francisco Florentino singing.

Three great Buenos Aires Milongas

2011-08-26T20:35:00.002-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango Adventure April 25, 26 and 27

Sunday night I went to El Beso, Monday night Club Gricel and Tuesday Nuevo Chique Milonga. I danced lots of great tandas and enjoyed all three Milongas.

Juan Lencina at La Nacional Milonga

2011-08-23T10:46:00.002-10:00

My plans to shoot a Tango documentary in Buenos Aires were hampered by a couple of things, first of all I didn't want to sacrifice my dance time in order to bring my camera and shoot other dancers, and I was also fearful that my camera would be stolen while I was dancing. Also some milonga promoters won't give you permission to shoot video. Since I only had a month left in Buenos Aires I decided to bring my camera to the milongas more often. I had already danced for a few hours at Los Consagrados, so by the time I arrived at La Nacional I was content to be an observer and shoot some video.

Juan Lencina is a charismatic promoter and when I asked his permission to shoot some video he graciously agreed. I basically followed him around most of the night. I knew a lot of the dancers there and many of them wanted to be photographed. Juan Lencina makes everyone feel welcome and a great time was had by all.

Here is a video of Juan Lencina having fun dancing Tango.

Chacarea at Los Consagrados

2011-08-22T09:41:00.004-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Friday and Sat., April 23 and 24, 2011 day 74 and 75

On Friday I interviewed Tango instructor Ruben Aybar during the daytime, and that night my friend Vivien invited me to a cocktail party with Tango dancers. As it turned out no one wanted to dance so I left and went to a Tango class with Osvaldo and Coca Cartery. After the class I headed over to the Entre Tango y Tango Milonga at Centro Region Leonesa.

On Saturday I returned to Centro Region Leonesa for Los Consagrados Milonga and shot this footage of Ruben Aybar and Cherie Magnus, tangocherie dancing Chacarea. I had an enjoyable time dancing with Margarita, Cherie, Sally Cat, Mary Anne, Gabriella, Vivien, and Dagmar my German friend with the cold nose.

Los Consagrados ends at around 10:30 PM, and since I had my camera with me I decided to visit my friend Juan Lencina at his Saturday night Milonga at La Nacional.

Holiday weekend at Club Gricel

2011-08-18T09:05:00.001-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Thursday, April 22, 2011 day 73

Club Gricel was very crowded because it was the start of another feriado/ holiday weekend, I was lucky to get a seat. I was sat next to a Porteno that smelt bad. I kept busy dancing with a few of my usual partners: Portena Laura, Gabriella from Patagonia, Mary Anne and crazy Juliette from Canada, and Vivien from Singapore. I arrived late and left fairly early, 3:15 AM, because I needed to get up early for another video interview the next day at noon.

Club Gricel estaba muy lleno, ya que fue el comienzo de otro fin de semana. Tuve la suerte de conseguir un asiento. Yo estaba sentado al lado de un porteño, que olía mal. Seguí bailando ocupado con algunos de mis compañeras de siempre: Laura porteña, Gabriela de la Patagonia, Mary Anne, y Juliette loca de Canadá, y Vivien de Singapur. Llegué tarde y nos fuimos bastante temprano, 3:15 AM, porque tenía que levantarse temprano para ir a otro video de la entrevista del día siguiente al mediodía.

Dance Argentine Tango after one lesson

2011-08-16T13:15:00.008-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Wednesday, April 21, 2011 day 72

My video documentary continued with a trip to a beginner level Tango lesson taught by blogger Tango Cherie Magnus and Ruben Aybar, for a group of 14 visiting Puerto Ricans. The atmosphere in the class was very merry as all of the students knew each other and had come to have fun. Ruben and Cherie where very professional and kept the students dancing and smiling.

I was surprised to see how well the beginning students were able to follow Rubin's masterful lead. Here is a video of how one student danced on her first ever Tango lesson. If you are interested in taking Tango lessons in Buenos Aires, Cherie and Ruben can be reached by following this link: http://tangocherie.blogspot.com/2007/01/tango-lessons-tango-tours-tango-taxi.html

Interview with Pedro Sanchez

2011-07-31T16:51:00.000-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Monday, April 19, 2011 day 70

I had wanted to interview my friend Pedro Sanchez, Private Tango lesson with Pedro Sanchez and finally made it over to his home for a chat. Pedro spoke passionately about his early days dancing Tango in the late 1940s. After listening to him tell stories for about an hour, I had a very strong desire to go out and dance.

That night I headed to Club Gricel and as usual had a fantastic time. I danced several tandas with a tall attractive dancer from San Francisco named San San. Since arriving in the Bay Area, San San and I have become friends. We exchange emails about our Tango dancing experiences, and usually dance together at least once a week a Verdi Club.

Hanging out at El Beso

2011-07-24T17:51:00.002-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Sunday, April 18, 2011 day 69

I had my third Tango practice with Susanne and then headed to El Beso. I always enjoy hanging out with my friends Alejandro and Jorge at the El Beso bar, along with Milonguero Osvaldo Centeno, aka El Oso. I also have a regular seat next to a dancer from Japan named Koji. Koji gave a performance with a Japanese partner to celebrate his birthday. While chatting in between songs, I was surprised to find out that a young attractive Portena named Celeste recognized me from my picture on this blog.

Know when it's time to go home

2011-07-14T16:22:00.003-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Saturday, April 17, 2011 day 68

I love the late afternoon Saturday milonga at Centro Region Leonesa called Los Consagrados. On my way to the milonga I bought a bottle of wine to bring to a going away party later that night for a French friend named Eva.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Gabriella, one of my favorite Argentine dancers that lives in Patagonia, had returned to Buenos Aires for another holiday. She looks like a younger version of Susan Sarandon. Gabriella doesn't speak English but I enjoy listening to her castellano even though I don't understand a lot of what she says.

I had a great time dancing with Juliete, Anise, Dolores, Victoria, Sally Cat and Eva. I danced two Pugliese tandas with Margarita, but had a near disaster on the second tanda. I started walking backwards and I bumped into another couple, lost my balance and almost fell down. It was very scary. Later when I told Margarita, she hadn't even noticed. I was very disappointed with my lack of navigational skills and decided that I was too tired to make it to Eva's party and went home to rest. When you are tired and not dancing well, it's time to go home.

Dancing to Pugliese

2011-07-11T17:53:00.000-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Friday, April 16, 2011 day 67

I met a dancer named Susanne from Germany at El Beso on a Sunday night and bumped into her at a pizza joint around the corner from El Arranque milonga a week later. Then later that night I was sat next to her at Cachirulo and asked her if she would like to practice with me and she said yes. We practiced on Wednesday and again on Friday and then went together to Osvaldo and Coca's Tango lesson at 1557 Tacuari, Tango Lesson with Osvaldo and Coca. After the class we took a cab to the Entre Tango y Tango milonga at Centro Region Leonesa.

I had avoided dancing the Osvaldo Pugliese tandas for the first couple of months I was in Buenos Aires, because Pugliese's music is usually quite slow and dramatic, and my style of dance is more rhythmic. But as time when by I started to feel more comfortable dancing to slower melodic music. For some unknown reason when the Pugliese tanda came on I decided to invite my French friend Anise to dance. It turned out to be a fantastic tanda and from then on I danced to Pugliese whenever I could. He recorded so many incredible songs, but some of his tandas are very difficult to dance to because of varied and uneven melodies and rhythms, and if you don't know the music, you are lost and that is no fun.

You look so happy when you are dancing

2011-07-10T18:21:00.001-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Thursday, April 15, 2011 day 66

I love Thursday nights in Buenos Aires because I get to see my friend Juan Lencina at Club Gricel. My friend Vivien is also there and she gets to dance with Maestro Lencina. Vivien is my Buenos Aires Salsa dance partner and on this particular night another gentleman had hoped to dance the Salsa tanda with Vivien, but I got there first and he said he felt cheated. I thought that was funny. I also danced a D'Arienzo tanda with Vivien and later someone commented that I always look so happy when I'm dancing. I must admit I do have a great time dancing Tango at Club Gricel.

Alito and JanTango at El Arranque Milonga

2011-07-05T18:44:00.004-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Tuesday, April 13, 2011 day 64

JanTango accompanies a legendary Milonguero named Alito on Tuesdays to the matinee milonga at El Arranque. In the last couple of years, I have studied videos over and over of Alito dancing on the TangoandChaos web site: http://www.tangoandchaos.org/chapt_5video/28alito.htm paying special attention to his relaxed embrace. I was excited to meet him and was hoping to shoot some video, but unfortunately the promoters would only allow me to take a few still photos.

Legend has it that in the 1940s Alito was promoting milongas in the Buenos Aires before he was old enough to legally go to a milonga. I've read that as a child he lived at 532 Humberto Primo in San Telmo, which coincidentally is where I studied Castellano, and also briefly stayed there in 2010. I've heard that he was born in Mexico and his family moved to Buenos Aires when he was a child.

My friends Alejandro and Vivien also came to see Alito. Alejandro knew Alito from the Saturday Cachirulo milonga at 444 Maipu which lost its lease and had to close. Vivien was hoping to get a chance to dance with Alito, but he only danced with JanTango, Tango Chamuyo .

From El Arranque Vivien, Alejandro and I had a bite to eat and headed over to El Beso for the Tuesday Cachirulo milonga. When Alejandro told a couple of Milongueros that he'd seen Alito, they were happy to hear that he is still dancing.

Buenos Aires Tango instructors

2011-07-04T21:29:00.001-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Monday, April 12, 2011 day 63

I took my video camera over to Casa Tango Angelitos, Buenos Aires Tango House Video to shoot a Tango demonstrations by Buneos Aires Tango instructors Alejandro Gée and Julieta Herrera Latenaga. The song is "La Guinada", music written by Agustin Bardi and performed by the orchestra of Aldofo Carabelli.

For information about dance lessons, or accommodations in Buenos Aires at Casa Tango Angelitos contact: Alejandro Gée: geealejandro@hotmail.com , or visit the Casa Tango Angelitos facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001678884806#!/profile.php?id=10000...
Phone:
B.A.'s: 4951-7618
B.A.´s cell phone: 1568570021
Para preguntas y reservaciones por favor contacte Alejandro Gee a geealejandro@hotmail.com, o al telefono 49517618 (Buenos Aires)

My lunch with JanTango

2011-06-28T18:28:00.006-10:00

I had written about JanTango, Tango Chamuyo in at least four posts but had never had an in person conversation with her. We finally had an opportunity to meet for a Saturday afternoon lunch in a restaurant near Lo de Celia Milonga. I have a strong desire to become a better social Tango dancer, but even in Buenos Aires it seems like the majority of teachers are teaching Tango for show and not for the milongas. It's hard to learn directly from the Milongueros because they speak Castellano and I'm far from fluent.

JanTango has been living in Buenos Aires for something like 12 years. In that time she has devoted herself to the Milonguero life. Her blog is about as hard core Milonguero as you can get. If she thinks a Milonguero is adding to much show Tango to their repertoire, to sell some lessons, she doesn't hesitate to call them on it. I didn't know what to expect from this strict defender of the milonga codes.

I was hoping to learn something useful to my quest and Jan gave me the idea that you can learn a lot by just watching the Milongueros. As it turned out we had a very pleasant lunch and then went to our separate milongas. Jan went to Lo de Celia, and I went to Los Consagrados and then off to La Viruta to shoot some video of Sexteto Milonguero.

Sexteto Milonguero at La Viruta

2011-06-26T16:32:00.002-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Friday, April 9, 2011 day 60

La Viruta is a very popular milonga with a younger crowd. I went there one time in 2009 and didn't go there at all in 2010, but this was the last performance of Sexteto Milonguero before they left for their European tour, so I took my video camera and ventured into the hybrid world of Tango/Salsa/disco. Shortly after I arrived I danced a rather horrible tanda with a woman that couldn't follow me. Luckily my crazy Chinese friend Juliete was there. As we were dancing we got bumped really hard, but we were fortunate to recover on beat and had a good laugh.

Sexteto Milonguero came on covered in smoke and darkness which made it next to impossible to get clear focused shots. I enjoyed dancing to Sexteto Milonguero the week before, more than trying to shoot a hand held video of their live performance. I didn't really have high expectations for the video because I knew it was going to be dark in La Viruta Milonga. I think the crowd enjoyed dancing to Sexteto Milonguero.

El Aristocrata

2011-06-24T20:36:00.003-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Friday, April 8, day 59

I had been afraid that if I took my camera down to Florida street that someone might grab it and run. But two months after arriving in Buenos Aires, I decided that it was now or never, so I set out on foot down to Florida hoping to find some street dancers to video. Sometimes you can find street performers at the corner of Florida and Lavalle, but on this day no one was performing.

Eight months ago I wrote a post mentioning the song El Aristocrata, El Tangauta TV. The lyrics tell of a dapper lady's man that was seen strolling down Calle Florida dressed in Top Hat, spats and carrying a cane. I thought I'd share that rhythmic Tango along with the photos I took while walking from San Telmo to Calle Florida.

The lyrics are by: Enrique Cadícamo and music written by Juan Carlos Cobián. This recording is by the orchestra of Angel D'Agostino with the singer Angel Vargas. All of these legends of Tango lived colorful lives and the incredible web site Todotango has written stories about more than a few of their adventures.

Dancing with a new partner

2011-06-22T15:23:00.001-10:00

When you go to a certain milonga on a regular basis, you develop regular partners that you like to dance with and sometimes you don't have much time or desire to dance with new people. I hesitate to go to new milongas because I won't have dance partners that I know to rely on, and may have to sit out tandas that I want to dance to. When I hear a tanda that I love my first instinct is to look for one of my regular partners to dance with, one that I know can follow me.

Sometimes for one reason or another all of my regular partners are taken and I have to look for a new partner. Dancing with someone for the first time is not always a pleasant experience. In the month of April, I had three different women tell me that they had seen me and had been wanting to dance with me. Each time I heard this I was surprised because I hadn't noticed any of them before, and with all of the Milongueros around why would someone want to dance with me?

The first of these ladies was from Australia and we really connected. Sometimes you can tell right away that a woman has surrendered to your lead and is willing to absorb the music into her body. It's very enjoyable when a woman trusts you enough to allow herself to express her sensuality. The second one was a tall Portena and she followed very well also. The third was a tall German and I can understand that tall women like to dance with tall men. Many of the Milongueros are not very tall.

With a new partner, after connecting with Cabeceo you don't know what you've gotten yourself into until you embrace the woman and take the first step. Sometimes it's heavenly and at other times it's the opposite.

Casa Tango Angelitos party

2011-06-20T22:16:00.000-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Wednesday, April 6, day 57

I took my camera to the going away party for Italian dancer Rita at Casa Tango Angelitos, Buenos Aires Tango House Video. I met Rita in 2010 at Juan Lecino and Atilio Veron's Tuesday night milonga at 444 Maipu called Sentimental y Coqueta. Rita and two other dancers sang Tangos for the crowd. There was lots of great food and conversation and of course everyone danced. Like the previous going away party, Casa Tango Angelitos party more fun than a Milonga everyone in attendance had a great time.

Last day of March in Buenos Aires

2011-06-18T22:23:00.002-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Thursday, March 31, day 51

I don't think I missed a single Thursday night milonga at Club Gricel this trip, even thought Nino Bien at Centro Region Leonesa is the glamour Thursday night milonga, I have more fun visiting Juan Lencina and dancing at La Cachila. On this particular night Juan Lencina's companera, Margarita told me that Juan was proud of me. I'm not sure why he would be proud of me, but I appreciated the complement. It's a tough life to be a Tango dancer in Buenos Aires, but someone has to dance the beautiful Tangos with all of those lovely ladies.

Post # 300

2011-06-12T23:13:00.004-10:00

San Telmo Blogging headquarters 2011

I had meant to write a one year anniversary post on May 21, but was so busy that I forgot about it. The anniversary fell on a Saturday during my last week-end in Buenos Aires and I was totally preoccupied dancing a triple shift beginning at Los Consagrados, then a going away party at Casa Tango Angelitos, Casa Tango Angelitos party more fun than a Milonga... and then La Nacional, Two great Saturday night Milongas. What a fantastic night! Writing a blog is time consuming and sometimes you need to take a few days off here and there in order to get things done.

I frequently find myself using my blog to get Tango related information. For instance, I forgot the name of the transportation service that I use to and from EZE airport in Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Airport Transportation. So I looked on my blog and found the post and vuela I have the information.

It's kind of strange that sometimes when I'm using Google to look for Tango information I find my blog listed and then I find that the information is on my blog. Sometimes I forget dancers names and the ones that I like are usually listed in my posts, or at least in my daily notes for the blog. I watch the videos on my blog all the time also, and instead of taking dance classes, study the dancers in the videos and pick up some new steps, and I consider these dancers my teachers.

The most popular post so far is My favorite Buenos Aires Milongas, and the second most viewed is Baexpats – Community of Expatriates in Buenos Aires. I get a fair amount of traffic from the Expats site because they have the first paragraph of that post listed on their home page under "What people say". They occasionally list links to posts on this blog also. I also get lots of traffic from TangoCherie's Tango Blog Buzz, TangoCherie and Los Consagrados Milonga. She wrote a comment last September on the My favorite Milongas post saying she hoped to see me at her favorite milonga Los Consagrados, which inspired me to go to that milonga which instantly became one of new favorites.

I don't have any major plans for the blog in the coming year. In the last couple of months I shot quite a few video interviews with some very well know Tango dancers and Tango historians and I will be sharing some of the secrets that I learned from them. Hopefully I will return to Buenos Aires next year to continue my Tango quest.

This blog was originally created with the idea of helping first time visitors to Buenos Aires have the confidence to come to this far away land and not be afraid to live their Tango dreams. I can tell you from personal experience that the people in the Buenos Aires Tango community will welcome you because they feel a sense of great satisfaction when they see new faces that share their love for Tango.

Women leaders

2011-06-11T16:52:00.008-10:00

Sexteto Milonguero

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Wednesday, March 30, day 50

I decided to go see my favorite Tango orchestra Sexteto Milonguero at the La Garufa Milonga at Konex. I wanted to have my friend Vivien join me but she was planning to go to Sueño Porteño first, so I went to Sueño Porteño to dance a little before going to the late starting Milonga at Konex. When I was ready to leave, Vivien said she wanted to watch the dance performance that was about to begin. When I'm at a milonga, I want to dance, I don't particularly like to watch dance performances, but agreed to wait until it was over.

The performance was by a woman dancing the man's role. Apparently she had studied with a famous Tango dancer. She spent several minutes transforming into men's attire in front of the audience. Technically she did an excellent job, but a woman dancing the man's role seems a little pointless to me. For the obvious reason they always look like a woman doing the man's steps, they look cute and pretty and I guess that can be entertaining, but they don't move like a man does, so the outcomes is a feminine leader and a feminine follower dancing Tango together, which I find uninspiring.

After the performance Vivien wanted to stay a little longer because it was our Italian friend Angelo's last night in Buenos Aires, so I left by myself and went to Konex. I danced a few tandas with a couple of dancers that I knew and then Vivien arrived. I love dancing with Vivien because she can follow anything I do, I don't have to think, just react to the music. There were quite a few Nuevo style dancers at this Milonga. They seem to take up a lot of space on the dance floor. Fortunately they was plenty of room to navigate out of their way. Sexteto Milonguero played many of the songs that I have become attached to after seeing them seven or eight times. They played two of my favorite Vals, Romance de Barrio and the song I heard them rehearsing at Academia Nacional Del Tango Viejo Porton, . I really had a great time dancing with Vivien to Sexteto Milonguero.

Definition of Milonguero

2011-06-08T10:04:00.003-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Tuesday March 29, day 49 Gnocchi day

I had the pleasure of interviewing Buenos Aires Tango instructor Alejandro Gée on three different occasions. Alejandro is also the gracious host of Casa Tango Angelitos, the rental space for Tango dancing visitors to Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires Tango House Video, Here are a few of his thoughts about Tango from the first interview. I took the liberty of stitching together the following excerpts from several different trains of thought. After the interview we went to dinner and Alejandro had Gnocchi in celebration of Gnocchi day in Argentina, the 29th of each month.

There isn't a point where you know everything about Tango, it's as complex as life itself, as a human being...... It's fun to see people enjoying themselves, fascinating to see their faces , describing all of the components of life, all the emotions, hate, love, anger, all together, it's not sad, it's not happy it's all together......... It's so expressive there is so much, it's like a human being, we are all different. Some people dance rigid, some dance free, some smile some don't........ Tango gives you the possibility to be connected to another human being. You see the beauty when a couple is connected, you can't define that, some people don't open to that.............

It's a challenge for a human being because it puts you there naked and you have to open up and love the person you are dancing with. You have to dance for that person....... You have to protect the lady and make her feel safe...........

Hugging and kissing is part of the Argentine culture....... Tango is also part of the culture of Argentina....... It is important for the Tango dancer to connect with or try to connect with the cultural aspects..........

The embrace is key......... Tango is sensual, I wouldn't say sexual......... It always goes back to the essence, enjoying the music and embracing the woman.

In the following video Alejandro tells what the word Milonguero means to him:

Cha Cha Cha at Club Gricel

2011-06-06T10:57:00.001-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Monday, March 28, day 48

My roommate in San Telmo left for a six week vacation in Europe and sublet her room out to a couple of Tango dancers from Canada named Dmitri and Eve. I gave them a brief Tango lesson and suggested that they take Tango classes at El Beso.

That night during the Salsa tanda at Club Gricel they played some Cha Cha Cha music. Usually the Salsa tandas consist of Cumbia and Merengue, it's pretty rare that they play a Cha Cha Cha. My regular Salsa partner Vivien is also a ballroom dancer and loves Cha Cha. I also enjoy dancing Cha Cha, but dance with more of a club style than ballroom. We were happy to dance to this enjoyable rhythm.

Performances at La Milonga Del Indio

2011-06-05T19:14:00.003-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Sunday, March 27, day 47

In the late afternoon, I grabbed my camera and headed over to the Sunday street fair on Defensa in San Telmo and then to La Milonga Del Indio at Plaza Dorrego, Magical Sunday night Milonga in San Telmo. Indio usually presents different performers every week starting around 7 PM. This time he had a young couple dancing Swing, followed by a Tango by Ernesto Balmaceda y Stella Baez, then Indio and his partner danced to Pugliese, followed by a Chacarea.

After the performances I danced a tanda with my partner from 2009 Norma. I left early to go home and rest before heading to El Beso, 2011 Favorite Buenos Aires Milongas.

Saturday at Los Consagrados Milonga

2011-06-04T15:44:00.002-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Saturday, March 26, day 46

I saw colectivo 126 go by before I made it to the bus stop, so walked to Los Consagrados Milonga. I didn't dance the first few tandas, because I didn't have a very good cabeceo seat. When a Vals came on I danced with Margarita, but wasn't in a groove yet. I danced tandas with Anise from France, Dolores from Argentina, Ines from Italy and a good follower from England. It was Tango Cherie's b-day and we danced a Vals together. My friend Josefina, Tango and Art showed up with a girl friend. Josefina and I danced a few tandas together and I danced the Chacarea and Pasa Doble tandas with her friend.

Second Tango lesson with Osvaldo and Coca

2011-06-03T15:40:00.002-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Friday, March 25, day 45

I went to my second class with Osvaldo and Coca Cartery, Tango Lesson with Osvaldo and Coca. I like their teaching style, first you dance for a while to get warmed up and then they show you a very simple step to work on. This week they showed us a 5 quick beat forward collect back collect move. For the leader it goes like this: Right foot forward outside partner, Left foot forward collecting, Right foot back, Left foot back collect, Right foot forward outside partner again. This move is more frequently seen danced to milonga music, but it works quite nicely with Tangos also.

In the following clip Ricardo Vidort demonstrates this move at around 1:07 into the video, Ricardo Vidort and Vilma Martinez. He is dancing with Vilma Martinez at Centro Regional Leonesa. After he does the 5 steps he ends with 2 more quick steps into the cross.

2011 Favorite Buenos Aires Milongas

2011-05-30T18:26:00.003-10:00

There were a couple of changes from last year's My favorite Buenos Aires Milongas post.

Sunday night at El Beso continued to be a favorite. Dancing at El Beso is a bit like performing in front of a crowd of professional judges. There are lots of dance instructors in attendance looking for students. It can be a little intimidating to get up and dance at the beginning of a tanda, but the flip side to that scenario is that it's about the only time there is much room to dance. There are usually more young dancers than at most traditional milongas.

Monday nights have two very enjoyable milongas. Last year's favorite Lunes de Tango at Club Gricel was edged out this year by El Maipu at La Nacional. I didn't discover this milonga until toward the end of my trip, but it seemed like there was a little bit higher quality of dancers Monday night at La Nacional, quite a few of the dancers from La Nacional head over to Club Gricel after El Maipu closes.

I don't have a favorite Milonga on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, both nights are good at El Beso. The one time that I visited Nuevo Chique on a Tuesday was very enjoyable. Wednesday night at La Nacional is also fun.

La Cachila milonga at Club Gricel promoted by Juan Lencina and Daniel Rezk is still my favorite Thursday night milonga.

Entre Tango y Tango at Centro Regional Leonesa continued to be my favorite Friday night milonga.

Los Consagrados became my favorite Saturday milonga, even though when I still had enough energy I'd something visit Juan Lencina at La Nacional on Saturdays also.

So many fantastic milongas to choose from in Buenos Aires. If you are planning a trip and need a place to stay, check out: Buenos Aires Tango House Video.

All roads lead to Buenos Aires

2011-05-29T22:39:00.003-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Monday, March 21, day 41

I received a e-mail from a reader of this blog named Allan, saying that he read that I was planning to shoot a Tango documentary in Buenos Aires. He had worked on documentary films for six years and was interested in helping me. My video project was taking a backseat to dancing, but this contact inspired me to become a little more motivated to develop my idea. I set up an appointment to meet with him the next day for a brain storming session that ended up lasting 5 hours. He shot the footage of an interview with Alejandro Gée, Definition of Milonguero.

That night I went to Club Gricel and had a wonderful time dancing with an international array of dancers from: Argentina, Japan, China, Singapore, Canada, USA, France, Italy, Germany, Greece and Lebanon. Toward the end of the evening, an English speaking fellow came up to me and attempted to tell me how much he liked the way I danced in broken Castellano, he didn't realize that I am from the US.

Milonguero trainee

2011-05-27T17:46:00.002-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Sunday, March 20, day 40

I was suppose to meet my friend Barbara at a language exchange gathering but ended up at the wrong location, so I headed back to San Telmo frustrated. I had heard that there was a Practica at Plaza Defensa and thought I'd check it out. There were only a few people there so I went back home to rest for a while.

I made a reservation for the Sunday night milonga at El Beso. When I arrived I was seated toward the far end of the row that begins at the end of the bar. The seats closest to the bar are for the ranking Milongueros and as you get farther from the bar the dancers with less seniority are sat. After thinking about it a few weeks, I realized that it is as if I am a trainee working on an apprenticeship to become a Milonguero. I've always preferred to dance as much as possible at the Milongas and watch Milongueros dance on YouTube. JanTango, Know Your Tango Music gave me the idea that there is much to be learned by watching the Milongueros at the milongas. It is true that you can absorb a lot by being attentive to everything going on in the milongas.

I had another wonderful night dancing Tango, and the most memorable tanda of the night was with my friend Vivien, Can short women follow tall men? to the orchestra of Juan D'Arienzo.

Here is a picture of Vivien with Jorge at Casa Tango Angelitos, Casa Tango Angelitos party more fun than a Milonga...

Tango bloggers in Buenos Aires

2011-05-21T07:07:00.004-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Saturday, March 19, day 39

I had already met and danced with Tango blogger Cherie, tangocherie, but this was the day that I met two other fellow Tango bloggers JanTango, Tango Chamuyo, and Sally Cat, Sallycat’s Adventures.

I arranged to meet JanTango, Know Your Tango Music at Lo de Celia Milonga. She had informed me that Lo de Celia had free admission until 6 PM on Saturdays, so I jumped on Colectivo 126 and went to meet the woman that has been living her Tango dream in Buenos Aires for over a decade.

Lo de Celia has a mature crowd of dancers and I discovered that most of the women there were kind of short. I didn't sit next to Janice because this is a traditional milonga and unless you go as a couple, men and women are seated separately to facilitate cabeceo. I danced a couple of tandas, went over and introduced myself to Janice and made my departure.

From Lo de Celia I walked four blocks to Los Consagrados Milonga. I was already becoming a regular at this milonga and felt more at home than at Lo de Celia. I sometimes like to joke that Los Consagrados is a milonga for tall people, and that you have to be tall to get in. I went over to say hi to Cherie and Ruben, TangoCherie and Los Consagrados Milonga and it turned out that Tango blogger Sally Cat was sitting at their table. Sally Cat has written a book about Tango which can be purchased through her blog. I danced with Sally, and since I go by the name of Patricio in Buenos Aires I gave Sally Cat a Latina nickname Salinda, which she seemed to like. I also danced with Cherie, Vivien, Florence and Victoria. I danced the Chacarea tanda with Margarita, Fantastic month of Tango.

Asado with Pedro Sanchez

2011-05-13T07:06:00.002-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Friday, March 18, day 38

Last year while in Buenos Aires, Pedro Sanchez, Private Tango lesson with Pedro Sanchez told me that he sometimes hosts asados at his home in Boedo, and that he would invite me to come. On this year's Tango adventure I was fortunate to attend two of these unforgettable events. An Argentine asado is a social gathering of friends and family, centered around a barbeque feast. Pedro invited an international group of Tango dancers: Vivien from Singapore, Ines and Angelo from Italy, Helen from New York, Jeff from Boston, Justin from Seattle, Jorge and Roberto from Buenos Aires.

Pedro is a great cook and some of the menu included salad, beef, chicken and fish with excellent wine and dessert. It was truly a meal fit for a King, and everyone had a wonderful time. Afterwards we jumped into a couple of taxis to Club Gricel to finish the evening dancing Tango.

Thursday night Milonga in Buenos Aires

2011-05-08T12:49:00.002-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Thursday, March 17, day 37

On Thursday nights I always go to Club Gricel because my favorite promoter Juan Lencina, Juan Lencina, The Heart and Soul of Tango in Bueno.. is there. Watching Maestro Lencina dance is very entertaining. It's not as if he is trying to put on a performance, but the way he feels and interprets the music are very unique and fun to watch.

I danced with several of my regular partners and the best tanda of the night was a Vals with my friend from Singapore Vivien, Can short women follow tall men?. Another fantastic evening dancing Argentine Tango in Buenos Aires Argentina!

Navigational skills in the Milonga

2011-05-03T12:04:00.001-10:00

Muchachos Comienza la Ronda

One Friday night while dancing at the Entre Tango y Tango Milonga, a French dance partner Eva got kicked and immediately started yelling at the man that was leading the woman that kicked her. A couple of weeks later while at El Beso another French dance partner Canella got kicked twice during one tanda and she also yelled at the man leading the woman that kicked her. As a Tango leader I knew that those problems could have been avoided if I had been more protective of my dance partner.

After those negative experiences I decided to make a more conscious effort to protect my dance partners by trying to avoid putting them in the line of fire. In an effort to improve my navigational skills, I went back and reviewed the only article on the Internet that gives detailed advice on the art of navigation in the crowded Buenos Aires Milongas. This tutorial can be found on the Tango and Chaos in Buenos Aires
website.

Up until this point I had spend most of my time dancing in the interior space on the dance floor. There is usually more room to dance there than on the perimeter which is known as the ronda. The problem with dancing in the interior space is that many of the dancers there are less experienced and don't pay as much attention to navigation. So even though there may be a little more space to dance, the dancers take up more space and you are more likely to get kicked. Usually the better dancers dance in the ronda.

After writing a draft of this article I found myself still committing dumb navigational mistakes. They usually occur when I am moving to my right and there is a blind spot created by my dance partner. It is very embarrassing to bump into other dancers, and you are definitely not making any new friends by doing so. I must continue to concentrate on improving my navigational skills.

Buenos Aires Tango House Video

2011-05-01T05:55:00.004-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Wednesday, March 16, day 36

I had a mild bout with a cold and ended up missing a few Milongas in order to stay home and rest. During my off time, I was reading the manuals and experimenting at home with my new video camera, recorder and microphone. While still in Honolulu, I had decided to shoot a Tango video documentary during my stay in Buenos Aires. I hadn't taken the time to test my new camera package yet and decided to contact my friend Alejandro Gée to see if he would be interested in having me shoot a promo video of his Tango House called Casa Tango Angelitos. Alejandro liked to idea and we scheduled my first shoot.

I had met Alejandro through Pedro Sanchez, Tuesday Night Cachirulo Milonga at El Beso and had attended a mini Milonga at Casa Tango Angelitos in February, Casa Tango Angelitos party more fun than a Milonga. It is really a great place for visiting Tango dancers to stay in Buenos Aires. The video was shot without a rehearsal and with only one take on the main level and one take upstairs.

If you, or someone you know, are planning to visit Buenos Aires, I highly recommend that you stay at Casa Tango Angelitos. You will be instantly immersed in the Buenos Aires Tango scene. For contact information go to their Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1456547237#!/profile.php?id=100001678884806.

"You've been taking Canyengue lessons"

2011-04-30T09:23:00.001-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Monday, March 14, day 34

Monday nights I go to Club Gricel to dance Tango. Barbara, my friend from Ohio, was celebrating her birthday and we danced a Canyengue rhythm tanda and she made the comment "You've been taking Canyengue lessons". I guess she was complementing how I was dancing. I have never taken a Canyengue lesson, but enjoy dancing to that type of Tango music. On my first trip to Buenos Aires, two years ago, two different friends expressed interest in taking Canyengue lessons, but I wasn't really interested. I don't particularly like the hunched over embrace that some dancers assume when Canyengue tandas are played.

Los Consagrados Milonga

2011-04-27T17:19:00.001-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Saturday, March 12, day 32

I had another fantastic time dancing at Los Consagrados Milonga, . It was my friend Gabriella from Patagonia's last day of her Buenos Aires adventure and I was sad to see her go, "Gloria" sung by a woman. I danced Chacarea with Margarita, Two great Saturday night Milongas, Salsa with Vivien, Can short women follow tall men?, and Canyengue with Cherie, TangoCherie and Los Consagrados Milonga.

I have a friend named Maria from La Plata that I always see at the Sunday night Milongas in El Beso,Susana Molina promotes Sunday nights at El Beso, who came to Los Consagrados for the first time. She is a little younger than most of the other dancers and I jokingly made the comment that Los Consagrados no tener caballeros joven guapos como en El Beso (Los Consagrados doesn't have young handsome gentlemen like at El Beso), since my Castellano vocabulary is very limited, this made her laugh.

Tango and Art

2011-04-25T07:26:00.003-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Thursday, March 10, 2011, day 30

On the final night of my first Tango adventure in Buenos Aires, two years ago, I arranged to meet my friend Josefina Di Candia at Benita Milonga in San Telmo, All good things must come to an end. While we were there Josefina took a photograph of the Tango orchestra El Afronte. Josefina is an artist and painted a picture of El Afronte, and that painting was featured at the Tango and Art exhibition in the Recoleta barrio, that I attended the opening to.

After I left the the exhibition I headed to Club Gricel and Josefina arrived later. I had a great time dancing with many of my regular partners and also with Josefina.

"Gloria" sung by a woman

2011-04-24T08:06:00.004-10:00

I was suppose to meet my friend Vivien at the PractiMilonguero, but by the time she arrived, the dancing had finished, so we headed to Nuevo Chique Milonga. The Milonga was packed because of the Carnival holiday.

While I was sitting out a tanda, a song that I love but have never heard at a Milonga before came on. It is very rare that you will hear a song at a traditional Milonga with a female singer, I think this may be the first time for me, besides "To tango tis Nefelis" by Haris Alexiou, which is a Tango Nuevo song sometimes played after La Cumparsita, Private Tango Lesson with La Boca Street Performer. In fact I don't think there is a single song with a female singer in my entire 1000 Tangos Para Bailar collection. However this version does feature a female singer. The name of the song is "Gloria", and if you click on: View my complete profile, you will see an audio link to the incredible TodoTango web site with this haunting version of the song written in 1927, with music by Humberto Canaro, lyrics by Armando Tagini, and recorded in 1952 by the orchestra of Donato Racciatti, and the voice of Nina Miranda. To read more about "Gloria" follow this link: http://www.tangoandchaos.org/chapt_4music/2gloria.htm

The most memorable tanda of the night was with a beautiful dancer from Patagonia named Gabriella. We danced a Vals tanda, with an instrumental version of one of my favorite Vals "Luna de Arrabal" by an orchestra that I didn't recognize. At the end of the Milonga the remaining dancers all clapped for the DJ, whose name is Dani Borelli. That is also rather unusual, but I believed it was well deserved.

PractiMilonguero

2011-04-21T09:30:00.004-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Tuesday, March 8, day 28

While still living in Honolulu I decided to buy a high definition video camera and shoot a Tango documentary in Buenos Aires. I contacted JanTango, Know Your Tango Music to ask her if she would be interested in being interviewed. She declined and recommended that I contact a gentleman named Chan Park who had already begun a similar project. I contacted Chan and found out that he promotes a Tuesday Practica for Milonguero style dancers, so I decided to go by and check it out. Along with Monica Paz they give advice to visiting Tango dancers about some of the codes of the traditional Milongas. During this session they talked about the cabeceo, Cabeceo in Buenos Aires Milongas. It's important for the woman to wait until the man comes over to her table before getting up, this is to ensure that he is indeed inviting her to dance and not someone sitting behind her.

After discussing Milonga codes and dancing for about an hour, each week they interview a different Milonguero. Here is a link to their highly recommended blog which has the interviews, PractiMilonguero's Blog. The stories that these Milongueros tell are very inspirational. For more information, contact Practimilonguero on Facebook.

Carnival Holiday

2011-04-20T20:24:00.004-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Monday, March 7, day 25

There are quite a few holidays (known as feriado) in Argentina this time of year and Carnival holidays are March 7 & 8. Most workers are off, so the Milongas are busier than usual. There are several Carnival day outdoor celebrations all over Buenos Aires. I headed to my favorite Monday night Milonga at Club Gricel. I got there kind of late and it was standing room only, so when I wasn't dancing, I was leaning against the bar.

One of my favorite dance partners named Danye is from Greece, and was celebrating her birthday with a few friends. I kept busy on the crowded dance floor all night, and had a very enjoyable evening.

"Do you know what the secret to life is?"

2011-04-05T10:14:00.004-10:00

The other day I happened to catch the film City Slickers on TV, and rediscovered a classic movie scene with Jack Palance, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of an old cowboy nicknamed Curly, and Billy Crystal, who played a city dweller on a dude ranch vacation. Mr. Palance's character had a theory on the secret to life which is very simple, "One Thing, just one thing that really matters in life. You stick to that and everything else don't mean s*#t." Crystal's character replies "That's great, but what's the one thing? Palance replies "That's what you've got to figure out."

The secret to life is to find the one thing that you love to do and then do it. For me that one thing is dancing Tango. One of the reasons I love Buenos Aires is because there are so many people here that are on that same quest.

La Cumparsita at El Beso

2011-04-03T12:42:00.003-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Sunday, March 6, day 24

Last year I had a regular practice partner, was practicing almost every day, and taking one or two Tango classes a week at El Beso, La Academia Tango Milonguero. On Sundays, I would arrive for the lesson at 8 PM and then seldom stay at the Milonga past around 1:30 AM. This year I don't have a practice partner and I've only taken three lessons in eight weeks, so I have more energy to dance at the Milongas.

I arrived at El Beso at 10 PM and was having a great time dancing to almost every tanda. At around 2 AM I was feeling a bit tired and was thinking of leaving when I saw that my Tango Angelitos friends, Casa Tango Angelitos party more fun than a Milonga Alejandro, Jorge and Vivien had made a late arrival and were at the bar. As it turned out I stayed and closed the place for the very first time, dancing to La Cumparsita with Vivien.

Two great Saturday night Milongas

2011-04-01T08:48:00.004-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Sat., March 5, day 23

In the My favorite Buenos Aires Milongas post, I wrote that La Nacional was where I enjoyed to go on Saturday Night, but after the great time I had at Los Consagrados Milonga the week before, it has now become my favorite Saturday Milonga. I mentioned in the Fantastic month of Tango post that dancing with a Portena Milonguera named Margarita at Consagrados had been one of the most enjoyable experiences of February, and I was very anxious to dance with her again. I let her know how much I enjoy dancing with her, and now sometimes when we dance she hums along to the music which adds yet another dimension to the pleasure of dancing with her. It kind of feels like holding a cat that is purring.

After Los Consagrados Milonga I still had enough energy to walk over to the Milonga co-promoted by my favorite Milonguero Juan Lencina, Juan Lencina and Milva Bernardi. As I walked along San Jose street, a Tango tourist from Vancouver somehow appeared next to me at a stop light and we started a conversation. I had seen him arriving at the same time I did at Los Consagrados and thought he was a bit under dressed for a guy in his 60s, wearing Jeans and a T-shirt. As we walked he started to express his dislike for what he called fat old man Tango that is danced in Buenos Aires. I told him that I dance a skinny old man version of that style. At some point he said that the women in Vancouver are better dancers that the women in Buenos Aires. I thought that he had to be kidding and said well of course. As we continued our conversation I realized that he wasn't kidding and started to develop a strong dislike for him. I guess he had an entirely different experience at Los Consagrados than I did. I was somewhat relieved to discover that he wasn't going to La Nacional and was pleased that I didn't have the misfortune of seeing him again. He probably headed to the Practicas where he might have felt more comfortable.

By the time I arrived at La Nacional, I was a bit tired from dancing at Los Consagrados, so I ordered my first cup of cafe con leche of the trip. I paced myself more than usual and was happy to sit back, soak in the beautiful music and watch for awhile. I danced with an attractive dancer named Gabriella on vacation from Patagonia, who looked like a younger version of Susan Sarandon. We conversed in Castellano, but I didn't understand a lot of what she was saying. I danced with several other regular partners and had a very enjoyable evening.

There was actually a premiere of a new location for another great Saturday night Milonga called Cachirulo at Villa Malcolm that night. They lost their previous home at 444 Maipu and now have the new venue. I heard from several dancers that the first night was very crowded.

$20,000 worth of Tango lessons

2011-03-30T06:56:00.005-10:00

I have always been a bit reluctant to spend money, especially when it comes to dance lessons. Over the years I have spent countless hours watching dance performances and instructional videos in an attempt to learn to dance in a cost effective manner. Here I go again with my obsession with number crunching Confessions of a Arithmomaniac.

So let's take a look at approximately how much money that I've spent to learn to dance ArgentineTango: Instructional videos, $150, Private lessons (7 hours) $425. Group lessons (approximately 50) $300. Milongueando 2009 Tango Week in Buenos Aires $400 (12 lessons). That comes out to around $1275. Now you are probably wondering how I came up with the $20,000 figure that attracted your attention to this post.

Let's just say that I spent $18,725 learning about the cultural aspects of Argentine Tango. I'll elaborate a little on those expenses. Three round trip plane fares to Buenos Aires approximately $4500. Castellano lessons $400, Affordable Spanish lessons in Buenos Aires. Nine months rent in Buenos Aires $3000. $150 for 40 CD Tango collection,1000 Tangos Para Bailar. Food and miscellaneous expenses for dance shoes and clothing covers the rest. Oh and I almost forgot to add the most important expenditure of all, somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000 in admission fees to the couple of hundred Milongas that I have attended.

Was it all worth it? Yes, absolutely, you can't really put a dollar value on the incredible experiences I have had exploring the infinite variations of this mystical dance.

Confessions of a moneda troll

2011-03-26T07:36:00.002-10:00

If you are a Tango tourist on a one or two week vacation in Buenos Aires, you probably won't need to ride the colectivos to save a few dollars, but if you plan to stay for a couple of months, saving the money that you'd normally pay for taxis can add up. If I take a colectivo to and from the Milongas 6 nights a week, I spend about 15 pesos worth of moneda. Last year when I'd go to the bank to get my weekly spending cash, I'd stand in line and they would give me only 3 pesos at a time worth of moneda. If I took a colectivo to and from the bank that pretty much wipes out the moneda I acquired. So rather than going to the bank, I now have another method for getting coins.

You have to be a little sneaky and have an strategic plan. For instance, there is a store around the corner that sells bottles of water for 2.75 pesos, if I go in with two 2 peso bills and just buy one bottle of water a day, I get 1.25 pesos back, which is enough for a one way trip to a Milonga. If I was to pay for that same purchase with a 5 peso bill, I'd probably get a 2 peso bill and only .25 moneda back. The larger bottles of water usually cost somewhere between 3.50 pesos to 4 pesos. If I just buy one and give them a five peso bill, I get at least one peso of moneda back, there are no one dollar peso bills.

The trick is to keep plenty of two and five pesos notes on hand and to use them wisely when making purchases at the corner markets. Merchants will often ask you if you have the correct change, so don't let them see what you have, just say no and hand them the amount that requires that they give you moneda. It's a bit of a hassle to buy one item at a time and going to several different markets, but when you come home with 5 or 6 pesos worth of moneda you feel a sense of accomplishment, and you are ready to roll into the Milongas.

Merchants probably have a name for people like me that come in on a regular basis for moneda, something like Moneda Troll. Sometimes if you just ask nicely saying that you need moneda for the colectivo they will give you a little bit.

The bank with an instant teller that I went to this week, Banco de La Nacional Argentina on the corner of Carlos Calvos and Bernardo de Irigoyen, usually has very long lines inside, I have waited for over an hour at another San Telmo bank to get a few pesos of moneda. On this particular day we had some rain and inside the bank the lines were short, and I received a odd looking 100 peso note that looked a little suspicious from the instant teller, so I got in line and waited just a couple of minutes. To my surprise, the bank teller gave me 30 pesos worth of moneda. I felt almost as if I'd won the lottery.

Loving the Tango embrace

2011-03-23T13:48:00.003-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Thursday & Friday, March 3 & 4, days 24 & 25

It's wonderful the way some women surrender to the embrace. On Thursday night at Club Gricel, My favorite Buenos Aires Milongas I danced with a lovely Italian dancer named Ines who immediately melted into my arms. She was willing to share her passion for Tango from the moment we embraced.

At Milongueando 2009, Milongueando 2009 first day of Tango lessons I learned a very simple step from Alicia Pons. The man leads a basic side step to his left, opening the embrace slightly (Alicia would say a rather sad goodbye as she demonstrated it) and then the man collects his right foot to his left, leading the lady into a forward cross step as they close the embrace again (at that point Alicia would say a happy hello). This step can be quite enjoyable with someone that you have a good connection with, even though sometimes when you are loving the embrace, you may hesitate to open the embrace for even those two steps.

The following night at the Entre Tango y Tango Milonga I danced with an attractive Portena that does not have a lot of experience. We danced very simply and we had a very nice embrace and it turned out to be one of the best tandas of the evening for me.

Tuesday night Milongas: Cachirulo vs. Portena y Bailarin

2011-03-21T10:35:00.003-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Tuesday, March 1, day 23

My third trip to the Cachirulo Milonga at El Beso was not as fun as the first two visits, Tuesday Night Cachirulo Milonga at El Beso. There was a noticeable imbalance of men to women. One of the benefits of dancing in Buenos Aires is if you are not enjoying yourself at a Milonga you can usually leave and go to another one. I danced a few less than memorable tandas and decided to head across Corrientes to the Porteno y Bailarin Milonga.

I had only been to Portena y Bailarin once before and that was two years ago, Porteño y Bailarin Milonga. I was seated directly behind the table of Flaco Dany, El Flaco Dany and Maria Plazaola and Osvaldo and Coca Cartery, Tango Lesson with Osvaldo and Coca were seated in an adjacent front row table. I felt a bit self conscious dancing in front of some of the most famous dancers in Buenos Aires. I didn't initially see any of my usual dance partners from other Milongas, which made the cabeceo process a little more challenging. When a Vals came on I invited an attractive Portena to dance and after one song she seemed pretty bored, I guess she wasn't very impressed with my dance skills. Later I spotted a friend from Gricel that likes to dance Canyengue rhythms with me and we danced a couple of tandas together.

There was a rather stylist Milonguero with white hair that seemed somehow familiar to me. After I got home that night it dawned on me that he was Jorge Garcia, the brother of Flaco Dany Garcia. Jorge Garcia is featured on the Tango and Chaos web site, Tango and Chaos in Buenos Aires .
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I had an enjoyable evening at Porteno y Bailarin, but no outstanding tandas. I will probably head back to Cachirulo the next time I dance on a Tuesday night. I feel more at home at El Beso, but it's nice to know that there is another great Milonga on the next block.

Fantastic month of Tango

2011-03-18T10:01:00.006-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Monday, Feb. 28, day 22

February is the shortest month of the year, but I think I danced the most Tango tandas of any month ever in those 28 days. The month started in San Francisco at El Valenciano, San Francisco Milongas and ended in Buenos Aires at Club Gricel, Cool Milongas of Buenos Aires: Club Gricel. It's hard to believe, but I hadn't danced a single Milonga tanda the entire month, until the last night at Gricel, and that was because when I heard the first song, I mistakenly thought it was Canyengue.

Toward the end of that last night at Gricel, I danced rather interesting Vals and a Canyengue tandas with an attractive young Portena Nuevo style dancer. She was taking very large back steps which brings you down toward the floor more, and was squirming her torso around quite a bit, but she was able to follow me well and was definitely not rigid. She seemed rather amused and pleasantly surprised by the way I dance. I have the impression that they don't play many Vals tandas at Nuevo Practicas and I asked her about it and she agreed.

I had many wonderful tandas during the month. Two of the most memorable were with mature Portenas, Margarita at Los Consagrados, TangoCherie and Los Consagrados Milonga and Maria Claudia at Cachirulo, Vilma Martinez. There's nothing like the feeling of dancing to a Tango that you love with a woman that fits you like a well tailored suit, and floats along like a feather.

One final fabulous Vals tanda was with a Russian dancer at the Casa Tango Angelitos, Casa Tango Angelitos party more fun than a Milonga. We were the only couple dancing at the time and at the end of the tanda everyone in the room clapped. We were surprised and elated.

Susana Molina promotes Sunday nights at El Beso

2011-03-17T04:58:00.003-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Sunday, Feb. 27, day 21

I stopped by La Milonga del Indio at Plaza Dorrego hoping to dance with Norma, my dance partner from 2009, unfortunately she wasn't there. I did see a woman that I had danced with at Los Consagrados Milonga the night before, and we danced several tandas together. The Plaza Dorrego Milonga has many dancers that don't have much regard for navigation, so it's a bit chaotic on the dance floor. I stayed for about an hour and then headed to El Beso.

Susana Molina is the promoter of the Sunday night Milonga at El Beso. At 10 PM a line of dancers starts backing up around the bar, and Susana is very busy greeting and finding the right seat for everyone. The regulars have priority, and making a reservation helps your chances of getting sat where it's easy to view other dancers for cabeceo. I finally had the confidence to invite Susana to dance and we had an enjoyable tanda.

TangoCherie and Los Consagrados Milonga

2011-03-14T06:37:00.006-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Saturday Feb. 26, day 20

We receive busloads of readers each week thanks to a link from Tango Cherie's blog, tangocherie. I finally had the opportunity to meet and dance with fellow blogger Cherie and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Cherie invited me to the late afternoon/early evening Saturday Milonga at Region Leonesa called Los Consagrados. I usually go to Juan Lencina's Saturday Milonga at La Nacional, My favorite Buenos Aires Milongas but made an exception so I could meet the dancer behind the blog. Region Leonesa is an incredible ballroom, possibly the finest actively being used in Buenos Aires. I had been there the night before for the Entre Tango y Tango Milonga which has more celebrity dancers but the dance floor is much more crowded than on Saturday at Los Consagrados, which feels a bit less formal, like a very large family gathering.

Even though Cherie and her companero Ruben had a full table of guests, they graciously made room for me to squeeze in. I knew that I wasn't going to Wow Cherie with my dance skills, after all, I think I read on her blog that she and Ruben made it to the finals one year in the Luna Park Tango championship. However I did feel challenged to show how committed I am to Tango. I waited for a Vals and invited Cherie to dance. After dancing one song she said, you really like Vals don't you and I replied, no I really love Vals. I recently read the following quote from a post entitled "Delirious Milonga - The Prequel" on an excellent Tango blog called: My Tango Diaries: "...the most important part of tango - the part no one can see, but your partner can feel, and that's the love of the music and the dance. Everything else is secondary to that." If that is true, then I think that I am on the right track.

I was introduced to a couple from Hong Kong named Keith and Sunshine that were also sitting at Cherie and Ruben's table. I recognized them from Milongueando 2009 Tango Week in Buenos Aires and had seen them again last year at the Milongas. I had fun dancing a Canyengue rhythm tanda with Sunshine. I had the pleasure of dancing with several Portenas that skillfully followed my lead, and several of my regular partners from other Milongas.

I had a great time at Los Consagrados which has now become one of my favorite Buenos Aires Milongas.

Casa Tango Angelitos party more fun than a Milonga

2011-03-12T18:39:00.006-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Friday Feb. 25 day,19

I was introduced to a Porteno by the name of Alejandro Gée from my friends Pedro Sanchez and Jorge Orlando. Alejandro is a dance instructor with a two degrees in clinical psychology and enjoys the challenges of combining cultural and psychological aspects of Tango with basic techniques in his dance classes.

Alejandro recently launched a spectacular short term residential rental space for visiting Tango dancers called Casa Tango Angelitos, named after the famous Tango Angelitos Cafe on the corner. I was fortunate to be invited to a Tango party at Casa Tango Angelitos and had a fantastic time. I met and danced with several excellent followers from around the globe. It was actually more fun that a milonga because I got a chance to have lengthy conversations with almost every woman I danced with. At around a quarter till 4 AM I was ready to go home and was given a free ride by a well known Milonguero named Osvaldo Centeno who also does transportation to and from the airport.

A few days later my friend Vivien arrived from Singapore, Can short women follow tall men? and she is now staying there. I highly recommend Casa Tango Angelitos for International Tango dancers visiting Buenos Aires. They can be reached on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1456547237#!/profile.php?id=100001678884806&sk=info .

Memorable tandas

2011-03-11T20:06:00.001-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Thursday Feb. 24 day,18

I made an effort to try out the Thursday night Milonga at Nino Bien but got there too early and there was a lesson happening, so I jumped back on Colectivo # 126 headed to the Milonga hosted by my friend Juan Lencina at Club Gricel.

I had the good fortune to dance with a very attractive tall young Portena, who could follow me perfectly. Once the crowd started thinning out, I danced a fantastic Vals tanda with a rather rambunctious but fun Loca China, named Juliette. I had seen her at the Milongas for quite some time and she never seemed interested in me, but I could tell that she was now ready to Tango because earlier in the evening she winked at me while I was dancing with someone else. After that I danced a tanda with another excellent follower and we continued the close embrace for the entire tanda. This was the third consecutive Milonga where I had danced with a skilled follower and we continued the embrace between at least two songs, Muchisimo gracias JanTango.

Muchisimo gracias JanTango

2011-03-11T08:13:00.000-10:00

JanTango has an enlightening Blog called Tango Chamuyo which I have written about before, Know Your Tango Music . Much of what she writes about is fundamental information you don't receive in dance classes. I recently read a post on her blog that I highly recommend entitled Milonga 101: The breakaway, http://jantango.wordpress.com/2011/01/08/milonga-101-the-breakaway/ .

The crux of the article is that men should wait for the woman to break away from the embrace at the end of each song, because sometimes the woman wants to savor the moment, well men love to savor the moment too. JanTango does not advocate staying in the embrace when a piece ends, but allowing the woman to breakaway first.

Milonguero's secret weapon

2011-03-09T06:23:00.009-10:00

Last year my Portena dance partner kept insisting that I start using cologne, and told me that it was one of the Milongueros secret weapons. I am not a big cologne fan and hadn't owned any for many years. My attempts last year to find out which one to buy in order to smell like a Milonguero were not very successful. I ended up buying some cheap stuff and used it very sparingly.

This year before I returned to Buenos Aires I came across some rather strong smelling cologne that reminded me a little of an incense smell from the 60s, it's named after the plant that it's made from called Vetiver.

When i looked up vetiver incense online, http://www.incensemania.com/vt10.html I found the following notes about the plant: Vetiver incense fragrance from Padmini - Vetiver has a heavy, woodsy, earthy and sweet scent. It is a base note in perfumery. Vetiver helps to calm tension, and reduces anxiety, stress, and depression. It has a balancing effect, and helps to stabilize energy. Deeply relaxing and calming. Helps to concentrate, organize scattered thoughts and overcome intellectual fatigue. Also known as Khus-khus in India, it is a perennial grass, native to tropical Asia, Haiti and Indonesia.

I doubt that any Milonguero uses Vetiver cologne, but I have my own style so why not have my own smell. If any or all of the promotional hype about vetiver is true, it's no wonder I am getting excellent results at the Milongas. I recently received an email from a freind that wrote: "From what I've seen on the faces of the women you dance with in the milongas, everybody looks VERY happy! Whatever you are doing, keep it up!" Maybe cologne really is the Milonguero's secret weapon!

Vilma Martinez

2011-03-07T05:43:00.004-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Tuesday Feb. 22, day 16

I had so much fun at the Tuesday night El Beso Milonga known as Cachirulo the week before that I was anxious to return. I danced two tandas with an outstanding Portena dancer named Maria Claudia and we stayed in close embrace between some of the songs, I am loving the passion for Tango that the followers in Buenos Aires bring to the dance floor.

Later in the evening, I sent the cabeceo to a woman that hesitated to accept, but decided she would give me a shot. After we danced a song or two and had a couple of short conversations, she complemented may Castellano and said I danced like a Milonguero Argentino. By the end of the tanda, I had forgotten her name and asked her again, and she said Vilma, Vilma Martinez. It seemed a little unusual that she mentioned her last name, but a few minutes later it dawned on me who she was, she is a famous Argentine Tango dancer and she danced in a video with Ricardo Vidort posted on this Blog.

After awhile I went up and told her that I knew who she was and that I had watched her video with Ricardo Vidort around one hundred times. If I had known that she was a famous dancer, I probably wouldn't have had the confidence to invite her to dance, but I'm really glad that I did.

Vilma Martinez is available for private Tango, Milonga and Vals lessons in Buenos Aires. Her e-mail address is vilmatango@yahoo.com.ar, by telephone she can be reached at 4722 4758 or her cell number is 15 5842 4722.

Here is a re-post of the video featuring Vilma Martinez and Ricardo Vidort dancing to the song El Centerro, I believe the orchestra is Juan D'Arienzo . I want to thank the talented Milonguero Alejandro Gée ,who had the pleasure of touring the United States last year dancing with Vilma Martinez, for sharing this fantastic video with the world Tango family.

Late night at the Milonga

2011-03-05T05:48:00.002-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Monday, Feb 21, 2011 - day 15

I am having a hard time getting to the Milongas before 11 PM and have discovered that getting there late can have its advantages. On this particular evening I was at Club Gricel and at around Midnight, I took an extended break during the raffle, and the following Swing , Milonga, and Pugliese tandas, but by then a lot of the dancers had headed home and the dance floor opened up.

I had memorable tandas with several different excellent followers. I committed the embarrassing faux pas of tripping one of my regular dance partners named Anise and we came frighteningly close to falling. Luckily we didn't go down and we both had a good laugh about it, but hopefully I learned my lesson to be more careful in the future.

While dancing with a new partner named Chandelle from Madagascar, I experienced for the first time a continual close embrace between songs. Neither of us broke away at the end of the first song, and we began to dance the next song from the same position that we ended the previous one. I could feel her heart pounding and this was an exceptional enjoyable sensation.

It was my Polish friend Eva's last night in Buenos Aires and I didn't want to see her go. We danced a couple of late tandas together. She commented that for an American I wasn't all that bad of a fellow, or something to that effect.

By the time I left I had spent all of my physical and mental energy and contently hopped on colectivo 126 back to San Telmo.

Nestor Ray and Silvina Vals

2011-03-02T07:25:00.003-10:00

In my last post I mentioned the incredibly beautiful Vals entitled Viejo Porton, the version I have on my Buenos Aires Milonguero CD is by Maestro Rodolfo Biagi. One of my YouTube favorite dancers is the legendary Nestor Ray, Nestor Ray and Patricia Garcia. After discovering this Tango dancing genius, I was greatly saddened to learn that he passed away at a fairly early age. I think that the videos on YouTube of Maestro Ray confirm that he was one of the great Milongueros of his time.

I would like to thank Alberto Paz of Planet Tango for generously sharing this piece of Tango history with the world Tango family. I have visited his web site, http://www.planet-tango.com/ many times for English translations to some of my favorite Tango songs. I recently read that Maestro Paz has had some serious health issues and hope that he has recovered fully. Life is too short and for those of us that love Tango, we need to fully appreciate each step every time we float onto the pista.

In this video Silvina Vals does an excellent job of following Maestro Ray to the the classic Biagi Vals Viejo Porton.

Academia Nacional Del Tango

2011-02-28T13:05:00.006-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011 - day 9

I am in the research and development phase of assembling a Tango video documentary. I contacted a Tango historian named Christine Denniston after finding her highly recommended web site called The History of Tango.com: http://www.history-of-tango.com/index.html. She has also written a book called "The Meaning of Tango". She suggested that a great place to start my research was the Academia Nacional Del Tango, so I walked over there.

When I arrived, I was delighted to discover an incredible museum filled with memorabilia from the history of Tango. I was also pleasantly surprised to find the Orchestra that I have written about so many times, Sexteto Milonguero, Sexteto Milonguero, practicing there. They were working on a song that sounded very familiar to me, and at the time, I thought it was Romance de Barrio, because that is the Vals I always associate with them. But after thinking about it, it dawned on me that the song was actually Viejo Porton, a beautiful high speed Vals that is on the first Tango CD that I have ever owned.

I took lots of pictures and had a thoroughly enjoyable visit. I highly recommend that all Tango dancers visiting Buenos Aires stop by this cultural treasure. I am not sure what hours they are open to the public, but for a list of their schedule, check out their web site: http://www.anacdeltango.org.ar/.

833 Ave. de Mayo
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tel: (54-11) 4345-6967/68
acadnaltango@speedy.com.ar

Therapeutic Benefits of Argentine Tango

2011-02-24T09:11:00.004-10:00

The close embrace is the essence of ArgentineTango, distinctly identifying it as the most romantic social partner dance. It is through this contact that the man transmits energy into and receives energy from the woman, an extremely pleasurable sensation. The embrace is similar to hugging a friend or loved one.

While dinning in Buenos Aires two years ago, I saw a mother cuddling a baby to her breast, and since then I have believed that one benefit of theTango embrace is to give each partner unconscious subliminal feelings of security much like infants being held by a parent.

Usually when you hug a friend it lasts for only a few seconds, where as the Tango embrace lasts for the length of a 4 song tanda, with 30 second conversation breaks in between each song, so you get around 8 minutes of hugging during each tanda. There are around 6 tandas per hour, which adds up to 48 minutes of (HPH) hugs per hour that you dance at the milonga. That’s a very healthy dose of embrace therapy.

This article was orginally posted May 18, 2010 at: http://proyectosantelmo.wordpress.com/?s=therapeutic+benefits+of+tango

Madame Ivonne

2011-02-23T07:55:00.002-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Monday, Feb. 14, 2011 - day 8

Saturday night I went to La Nacional and Sunday to El Beso. Monday night I headed to Club Gricel, My favorite Buenos Aires Milongas.

Madame Ivonne, music by Eduardo Pereyra, lyrics by Enrique Cadicamo, recorded by the orchestra of Ricardo Tanturi with the voice of Alberto Castillo, is a sad song about a beautiful young French girl that moved to Buenos Aires after falling in love with a man from Argentina. As she aged, her dream was shattered and she became a Madame of a brothel. Two show dancers gave a humorous performance portraying Madame Ivonne as a woman wearing too much makeup, a gaudy dress, and more interested in her cigarette than her dance partner. Her male counterpart played the frustrated leader with a hard to manage follower.

This was my 8th night in a row dancing at a Milonga and I ended up staying home the next two nights recharging my batteries.

Tango Lesson with Osvaldo and Coca

2011-02-21T13:51:00.002-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 - day 5

I walked over to 1557 Tacuari for a group Tango lesson with World Tango Champions Osvaldo and Coca Cartery, Osvaldo and Coca Cartery.

They immediately pointed out a couple of things I need to work on: relax my upper body, and improve my fluidity of motion. I enjoyed the class and intend to become a regular there every Friday. After the lesson I made the mistake of walking through a rather dangerous section of the Constitution barrio on my way to the Milonga at Region Leonesa, My favorite Buenos Aires Milongas. Next time I will take a colectivo or alter my route.

Region Leonesa is in a very large dance hall with a powerful sound system. I had an enjoyable evening dancing Tango and Vals. I have yet to dance a Milonga tanda since arriving in Buenos Aires. I am much more confidence in the other two dances and want to conserve my energy. With the right partner and on a uncrowded dance floor Milonga can be fun, but with the wrong partner and in a crowd, it is a bit of a chore.

The sweet life

2011-02-17T11:57:00.000-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Wednesday and Thursday Feb. 9 & 10, 2011 - day 3 & 4

I cannot believe that I've already been back in Buenos Aires for 11 days. Time goes by so fast here that its extremely important to stay for more than a week or two, if at all possible. Last Wednesday night I went to the La Nacional Milonga called Mi Refugio. I was surprised when they played a Chacarea set and anxiously joined in. My Chacarea skills were more than a little rusty. The following day I received a thank you e-mail from the promoter Atilio Veron for attending the Milonga, which made me feel welcomed.

Thursday night I went to La Cachila at Club Gricel. I was seated next to an attractive French friend named Christina, there are many dancers named Christina in the Milongas, perhaps one day I will dance with President Christina Kirchner.

My last two tandas were as different as night and day. The first one was with a woman that was leading her own steps and hanging on me to the point that my necktie was choking me. At the end of the tanda she told me in Castellano that I need to take dance lessons. I was about ready to leave but couldn't end the evening after that comment, so I found one last partner and we danced together quite well. She kept insisting that I should be a dance instructor.

The following night I did take my first dance lesson of the trip with the Winners of the 2004 World Championship Osvaldo and Coca Cartery, Osvaldo y Coca Campeones Mundial de Tango 2004 bailan Vals.

Inspirational words from Carlos Gavito interview

2011-02-14T11:35:00.000-10:00

Happy Valentine's day everyone!

I have linked to a insightful interview by ReporTango, http://www.reportango.com/RT/Home.html with the legendary Argentine Tango dancer Carlos Gavito in recent posts. To read the interview in its entirety go to, http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~tango/Articles/Gavito.pdf.

Here are a few excerpts that I find inspirational:

Stage dancing is done to sell tickets, while social dancing is done for you own enjoyment.

A good Tango dancer is one who listens to the music.

We dance the music, not the steps.

... we are painters, we paint the music with our feet.

The dancer that dances slowly does it because he is 100 per cent sure that what he does is perfect.

There should never be a rush to do a step, we should enjoy it while we are doing it make it last, dwell on it. ...pause and do nothing for awhile, enjoying the moment and then go on and do something else.

In Tango you can't be preoccupied with the steps, you need to express your emotions while listening to the music.

Tuesday Night Cachirulo Milonga at El Beso

2011-02-11T04:59:00.002-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Tuesday Feb. 8, 2011 - day 2

Last year I didn't have a favorite Tuesday night Milonga. I usually stayed home and rested. Since this was only my second day back in Buenos Aires, I was raring to go dance Tango. Two different friends I talked to during the afternoon (Chan and Keith) recommended the Cachirulo Milonga at El Beso.

When I arrived I immediately saw my Milonguero friend Pedro Sanchez at the bar, Pedro Sanchez navigating the crowded pista at El B... . We became friends after I took a private lesson from him last year, Private Tango lesson with Pedro Sanchez. Pedro was kind enough to tell his female friend sitting next to him that I danced very well and she accepted my invitation to dance. The dance floor was very crowded, but the dancers were mostly very advanced which made navigation much easier.

This was my first visit to Cachirulo and the fact that I danced almost every tanda with excellent followers, and was able to sit with Maestro Sanchez,most of the evening made it another fantastic evening in Buenos Aires!

Hola Buenos Aires!

2011-02-09T04:19:00.006-10:00

My 3rd Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Feb. 7, 2011 - day 1

My first night back in Buenos Aires was gloriously spent at Club Gricel's Monday night Milonga, Cool Milongas of Buenos Aires: Club Gricel. I jumped on my old pal colectivo # 126 and was there in no time. I was pleased to see several different friends that I have mentioned on this Blog. I was very eager to get onto the dance floor because it had been 8 longs months, and I arrived later than planned. My first tanda was with a woman I had danced with before. It turned out that by the time I got my dance shoes on, there was only about 30 seconds left in the last song of the tanda. My dance partner didn't seem to be anxious to dance the next tanda with me, so I went back to my seat which was in the front row on the pista.

An attractive woman walked over to my table and it turned out to be one of my original friends from my first Tango adventure Akiko. I was introduced to her by my Castellano teacher Silvina, Projecto San Telmo and during the first week of last year's Tango adventure, all three of us went together to a wedding and afterwards to dance Tango at Salon Canning. Akiko was with two friends visiting from Japan and I danced with both of them also.

I saw my favorite Milonguero Juan Lencina, Juan Lencina, The Heart and Soul of Tango in Bueno. He promotes the Thursday night Milonga at Club Gricel. During the last 8 months I studied a video of Maestro Lencina social dancing, over and over and feel that my emotional interpretation of the music has improved from absorbing the principles of his rhythmic intonations.

I was lucky to dance a Vals tanda with Diana, the mysterious Portena. We are both slim and seem to float across the dance floor together. This was my favorite tanda of the evening. When the Salsa tanda came on, I had fun dancing with Alejandra, my very short Portena amiga. I also danced with Barbara my friend from Ohio. The evening was a happy reunion, and a perfect first night back, dancing Argentine Tango in the city that I love.

San Francisco Milongas

2011-02-07T11:46:00.008-10:00

Las Milongas del San Francisco

I had never flown into San Francisco, only driven there several times over the years from Los Angeles. I was very impressed with the Sky Train unmanned shuttle service at the airport. It took me right to the rental car check-in, and I was off to my sister's house in Sonoma, 50 miles north of the city. My last visit was in 2006 for the Bay Area Salsa Congress. L.A. is a better Salsa town, but when it comes to Tango San Francisco has the edge.

This was my first venture into the San Francisco Tango world, and fortunately there is a very helpful website called http://tangomango.org/ that lists all of the Tango dancing locations in the entire area, and several other cities. All of the Milongas that I attended were in the Mission district. I arrived late Sunday night, and on Monday night I went to La Cumparsita Milonga. It is held in a very nice dance hall and the quality of the dancers was quite good. I was especially impressed with their skill dancing Milonga. La Cumparsita was rather sparely populated, but the people were friendly and it was an enjoyable evening.

Tuesday night's Milonga is called El Valenciano and the dancers there were excellent. I had the unpleasant experience of having one of my first dance partners politely thank me after two songs of a tanda and sit down. I'm not sure if she didn't like my embrace, or some of the moves I was leading, or the fact that I tried to speak castellano to her, and was stumbling to construct a sentence. When I went back to my table, an amiable fellow named Leo had joined me, when I told him what had happened, he joked that you haven't lived until you' ve been shut down like that a few times. He told me that there were many Tango instructors on the pista. I got over it quickly and danced almost every tanda after that. I highly recommend El Valenciano for Milonguero style Tango in San Francisco, and with some Nuevo Tango dancers also. They even finished the night by playing a Salsa song.

Thursday night at Club Verdi was very well attended, maybe 100 dancers. Many of the same people that I had seen at El Valenciano were there plus quite a few intermediate level dancers. Shortly before I left Honolulu, I had a dream that I was at a San Francisco Milonga and it was packed full of women with a desire to dance Tango, Club Verdi was very close to that dream.

Friday night at Monte Cristo was not as exciting as Club Verdi or El Valenciano, but it was also a very entertaining evening. As I was getting ready to leave the woman that had taught a class earlier introduced herself and said she had seen me around and wished she could have danced with me. That made me feel good, and I look forward to the opportunity to dance with her, when I return to San Francisco at the end of May to live.

San Francisco is a beautiful city and a great place to dance Argentine Tango. I made many new friends and expect to see several of them in Buenos Aires. I am writing this post as I fly to the Tango capital of the world Buenos Aires, Argentina for my third annual Tango adventure! Will you be joining us?

Corazon Encadenado, Chained Heart

2011-01-25T14:06:00.002-10:00

Chained Heart

One night at Club Gricel while I was dancing, a song came on that I didn't recognize but instantly became attached to. I eventually figured out that it was either by the orchestra of Julio de Caro or Francisco Canaro. I started to search for it in my 1000 Tangos Para Bailar collection and was very happy when I found it. The name of the song is Corazon Encadenado, Chained Heart, by the Orchestra of Francisco Canaro. I included it on a favorites CD for our daily practice sessions. Once I returned to Honolulu, I made the following video with pictures of Silvina and some of the San Telmo restaurants we visited, and laid the music to the song under it.

My first trip to Colonia, Uruguay

2011-01-24T12:56:00.008-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Monday , May 3 2010 - day 90

My 90 day tourist visa was scheduled to expire so I got up early and went to the immigration office. The year before it had been a very easy process, Renewing 90 day Tourist Visa in Argentina this year was a different story. I arrived at around 8:45 AM and was told to come back the next day, because they only take 50 people a day and they already had their daily quota. I told them that my visa was scheduled to expire that day and needed to renew it. They didn't care and insisted that I return the next day.

Plan B
I headed home to get on my computer to investigate the process of going to Uruguay to renew my visa. I found a company that I had heard of called Buquebus, in Puerto Madero which operates several ferries a day with round trips to the quaint little sea village called Colonia just across Rio de La Plata. I booked a 12:30 PM departure, with a 4:30 PM return, it cost under $100.The ferry had the capacity to hold several hundred passengers and was very comfortable. For ex-pats that live in Buenos Aires this is a ritual that is required every three months.

I spent a couple of hours in Colonia walking up and down the main street and having lunch. The prices in the restaurants were higher than the prices at my usual hangouts in San Telmo, but it is a lovely little town. I have heard that sometimes the agents that stamp your passport can be rude, but these fellows joked about my last name McClure being the same as one of the characters on the The Simpsons TV show, http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Troy_McClure. I haven't watched The Simpsons in years and was not aware of who Troy McClure was until I Googled him today for this post. I think that the idea for the character is hilarious. The Simpsons is hughly popular in Argentina, it is broadcast in Spanish. There are Simpsons billboards and Simpsons t-shirts all over Buenos Aires.

I was back in San Telmo in time to have dinner and rest before heading to the Monday night Milonga at Club Gricel, My favorite Buenos Aires Milongas.

All good things must come to an end, or do they?

2011-01-21T12:24:00.002-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Tuesday, April 27, 2010 - day 84, & Thursday day 86

The end of my glorious Buenos Aires adventure was rapidly approaching. I was not looking forward to leaving Tango paradise, in fact I was dreading it. I was teaching Silvina how to lead because she was interested in opening a Tango dance studio, and we were practicing every day. I decided to call my employer in Honolulu to request a one month extension to my vacation. It was my supervisor's day off, so I spoke to his assistant, and she said that I was needed back at work by the beginning of May as originally planned, but to call back two days later and talk to my boss.

After that telephone conversation I wasn't very optimistic about my chances of extending my Tango adventure. I called back two days later and was pleasantly surprised and delighted to hear my boss say yes to my request to take four more weeks off! I was ecstatic! It's hard to find the words to sufficiently describe how incredibly elated I felt! It was if I had just won the lottery, or been granted another wish from the genie in Aladdin's lamp. Four more fantastic weeks of Tango in Buenos Aires! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I made the phone call, I was already dressed and ready to go to my favorite Milonga of the week, Thursday night at Club Gricel, My favorite Buenos Aires Milongas. I hopped on colectivo 126 and was once again magically transported into the realm of close embrace Argentine Tango. How sweet it is!

Can short women follow tall men?

2011-01-20T12:33:00.008-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Monday, April 19, 2010 - day 76

Monday night I went to Club Gricel and invited a lady from Singapore named Vivien to dance Salsa. We hit it off and from then on whenever a Salsa tanda came on at Gricel I would seek her out to dance.

Vivien is an excellent Tango dancer and living proof that short women can dance Argentine Tango in close embrace with tall men. The top of her head is below my chin which helps me concentrate on keeping my head up. The fact that she has been dancing Tango for 6 years explains why she is able to dance with anyone that can lead. She is the type of follower that fits you like a shirt, About Milonguero Style Milongueando 2010. Whatever I lead she always follows. She has a delightful personality and we always laugh a lot in between each song.

I saw Vivien on a slow Wednesday night at La Nacional Milonga, My favorite Buenos Aires Milongas and as I was arriving she was getting ready to leave. She was upset that the Milongueros were looking at her but not sending the cabeceo. She decided that if no one invited her to dance after three tandas she would go to another Milonga. I convinced her to stay and danced a tanda with her. After that she got several invitations to dance. Sometimes if the regular dancers at a Milonga haven't seen you dance they hesitate to invite you.

Sunday night at Club Gricel

2011-01-19T12:24:00.001-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Sunday, April 18, 2010 - day 75

I decided to check out the Sunday Milonga at Club Gricel, Cool Milongas of Buenos Aires: Club Gricel and was surprised to see a very light turn out. Usually on Mondays and Thursdays there were around 150 dancers there, however on this particular Sunday there may have been 40. I was lucky to meet three new arrivals from England and danced a couple of tandas with each of them. After that I decided to leave and went to El Beso, Tango at El Beso.

Lujos Milonga at El Beso

2011-01-17T13:13:00.001-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Thursday, April 12, 2010 - day 72

I was dressed and ready to dance earlier than usual and decided to check out the Lujos Milonga at El Beso. I arrived around 7 PM and it wasn't very crowded. I danced a Vals with a lady from England that had been coming to Buenos Aires every year for the last decade. She told me she was pleasantly surprised by some of my steps. I later found out that she had known the legendary Richardo Vidort, Ricardo Vidort and Myriam Pincen but he had told her that she was too tall for him. I saw lots of familiar faces from the Traditional Milongas, but none of my regular dance partners. I only danced one other tanda before deciding to head to my favorite Thursday Milonga at Club Gricel where my friend Juan Lencina always makes me smile, Juan Lencina, The Heart and Soul of Tango in Bueno... I know many Portenas, and had another fantastic night dancing Argentine Tango.

Should women learn how to lead?

2011-01-14T12:34:00.003-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Friday, April 6, 2010 - day 66

Silvina and I walked over to the Friday night 444 Cochabamba Milonga, Platonic dance partners. To our surprise, my English friend Andrew was having a birthday celebration there with some of his Nuevo Tango dancing friends. At times some of the ladies were leading their male partners. Silvina had expressed a desire to learn the man's role because she is interested in teaching Tango. We would spend many practice sessions over the coming weeks working on her role as a leader. I had mixed feelings about helping her learn how to lead , but it was kind of fun having her maneuvering me around the room.

In the traditional Milongas of Buenos Aires you seldom see a woman leader on the dance floor. On another blog I once read that two woman dancing together were asked by the organizer to get off the pista. Even though I was taking lessons from Susana Miller and Maria Plazaola at El Beso, I don't recall ever seeing either of them or any other woman dancing as a leader at that Milonga. The author of the Tango and Chaos web site has expressed his opinion that women leaders will never match the men's skill navigating on the crowded dance floor because that is a skill that can only be learned by dancing thousands of tandas. In a interview on the Internet I read that Carlos Gavito once said that women shouldn't learn how to lead, he believed that you don't have enough time in your lifetime to learn how to follow well, http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~tango/Articles/Gavito.pdf.

If women want to learn to lead there are certainly people that are willing to teach them. I am a firm believer that at the Traditional Milongas men should lead and women should follow. At smaller out of the way venues like the 444 Cochabamba Milonga if women want to lead, I think that's all right.

Lovely evening at Club Gricel

2011-01-13T11:57:00.001-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Thursday, April 5, 2010 - day 65

Silvina and I practiced dancing Tango in the afternoon and that night she met me at Club Gricel, My favorite Buenos Aires Milongas. We had an enjoyable evening dancing together. When we decided to leave, I left her at the table and went to the restroom to change into my street shoes. When I returned to the table she was gone. I wasn't sure if she had gone to the restroom or was dancing. Eventually I spotted her on the dance floor dancing to a Milonga tanda. I later found out that the fellow she was dancing with came to the table and asked her to dance. Silvina doesn't care for the cabeceo ritual and actually prefers to be asked. I explained to her that it is usually the worst dancers that go to a table and ask a woman to dance in the Milongas of Buenos Aires, but she still prefers a verbal request.

Sueño Porteño Milonga

2011-01-12T13:59:00.003-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Wednesday, April 5, 2010 - day 64

My dance partner Silvina decided to take a week off from practicing, so I had more energy for the Milongas, and went seven nights in a row. In the meantime I started taking Castellano lessons at Proyecto San Telmo for the first time on this trip. After the Castellano class we practiced Tango.

That night I decided to check out a Milonga that I had heard about but had not been to called Sueño Porteño. The timing of my arrival couldn't have been worse. After I paid the cover charge and went in, I found out that there was a orchestra coming on to play Swing music. I stayed for less than 10 minutes and decided to bail and headed to my usual Wednesday night Milonga La Bruja at El Beso.

In an earlier post I mentioned that the last day of March in Buenos Aires had a New Year's Eve feeling to it for me, Last day of March at El Beso Milonga. Once April arrived the Tango tourist numbers significantly decreased and all of a sudden it seemed like there were many more Milongueros than Milongueras at El Beso, making it harder to dance every tanda. That was the reason that I ventured to Sueno Porteno earlier in the evening. When there is a gender balance at the Milongas it nice to have fewer people crowding onto the dance floor, but without the balance its more challenging to successful execute cabeceo, and the beautiful empty spaces on the pista are like a mirage and I feel like I'm stranded in the desert.

Club Gricel Lunes de Tango

2011-01-11T13:14:00.001-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Monday , April 3, 2010 - day 62

Monday nights at Club Gricel are organized by Patricio and Adriana Febbroni. I was pleased to find that my friend Juan Lencina usually attends also. I'm not sure why it took me two months to finally check out this very popular Milonga.

I usually don't particularly care to see dance performances when I go to a Milonga. I don't think the majority of Milongueros want to watch a show either and performances are fairly rare at the traditional Milongas of Buenos Aires. But on this night there was a rather special performance. The young members of this Argentine Tango dance troupe all had Down Syndrome. They put on a very entertainment show with the men acting macho and the women coy and feminine. Their performance was well received and I had the chance to congratulate one of the dancers as we both waited for colectivo # 126 after the Milonga.

My Tango Bible El Tangauta

2011-01-10T13:34:00.003-10:00

When I arrived on my first trip to Buenos Aires I didn't have a clue where to go to dance Tango, but it all magically came together thanks to the Buenos Aires Tango Publications. I still have one of the four monthly issues of El Tangauta from that first trip. I literally devoured the other three issues and they started to disintegrate, because I always kept them with me and ceaselessly thumbed through them.

The four issues from my second trip are my sentimental souvenirs. I especially like issue # 185, February 2010, El Tangauta - El mundo del tango / The world of tango with a picture of the incredible embrace of Javier Rodriguez and Andrea Misse on the cover. In that issue Luz Valbuena, El Tangauta editor, wrote a very moving tribute commemorating the loss of both Pedro Tete Rusconi and Osvaldo Zotto. On page # 32 there is a more detailed tribute to Tete written by his dance partner Silvia Ceriani. On the following page is a short but very sweet tribute to Osvaldo Zotto by Comme il Faut shoe store with an excerpt from a Jorge Luis Borges poem entitled "Alguien le dice al Tango": "....Buenos Aires no te olvida, Tango que fuiste y seras." These emotional tributes are followed by an interview with Javier and Andrea which provides a fitting glimpse of two current torch bearers and also conveys strong sentiments for the love of Tango.

In the Bicentennial issue #194, Luz Valbuena passionately promises a revolutionary new format in her crusade to spread the Tango gospel. Tango has a unique way of expressing the human experience simultaneously penetrating the mind, body, emotions and spirit of those that worship it. El Tangauta will undoubtedly continue to shed light on the myriad of mysteries that Tango embodies.

Saturday Night Milonga at La Nacional

2011-01-09T17:45:00.001-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Saturday , April 3, 2010 - day 60

During the second half of my trip, La Nacional became one of my favorite Milongas. The dynamic Juan Lencina is the co-promoter and many of the dancers from the two other Milongas that he organizes, Tuesday night at 444 Maipu Milonga, Juan Lencina, The Heart and Soul of Tango in Bueno... and Thursday night Milonga at Gricel also go to La Nacional on Saturday night.

That night I met a very short Portena dancer with a feisty temperament, I think she is about 4' 6" tall. Since I am almost a foot and a half taller than that, we did not dance in close embrace. Even though there was a significant height difference, she was still able to follow me very well. She seemed to know everyone at La Nacional and sometimes traded barbs with some of the Milongueros in-between songs.

The DJ played a Salsa tanda, and I had met a dancer from New York and figured she might also be a Salsa dancer. I was right, and even though I dance L.A. Style on one, and she danced New York Style on two, she was able to follow most of the patterns that I was leading. I will be visiting La Nacional frequently when I return to Buenos Aires next month.

Friday Night at Club Gricel

2011-01-07T12:24:00.001-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Friday , April 2, 2010 - day 59

I had such a good time a Gricel the night before that I decided to check out the Friday night Milonga there, and I wasn't disappointed. I saw a mysterious blond Portena dancer named Diana that I had danced with a El Beso one night. I had only seen her once at El Beso and she was only there for an hour or so. She was surprised that I remembered her name. Because she is quite thin I called her flaca. I joked that since we were both slim that we could squeeze through the tight spaces on the crowded dance floor. This was another very enjoyable evening dancing Argentine Tango in Buenos Aires.

Club Gricel la Milonga del 126

2011-01-06T12:46:00.001-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Thursday , April 1, 2010 - day 58

I had only been to Club Gricel twice during my first two months in Buenos Aires, but during the month of April I started going there twice a week. I ride colectivo # 126 to Gricel and this was when I really started to consider the 126 my friend. If I was running a little late for one reason or another, the 126 would always be there within a couple of minutes and I'd be at the Milonga in no time. Thursday night my Milonguero friend Juan Lencina, is the co-promoter at Gricel and I was instantly in a great mood the moment he greeted me at the door, and I think that Maestro Lencina has that same effect on most of the dancers that attend his Milongas, Juan Lencina, The Heart and Soul of Tango in Bueno... .

On this evening I was seated next to the door with several mature Milongueros. One of them named Charles spoke fluent English and was quite friendly. I would see him again several times at Club Gricel and later he introduced me to the owner Hector Chidichimo, Cool Milongas of Buenos Aires: Club Gricel who was also very friendly.

There are several reasons that I like Club Gricel, one is I get to see Juan Lencina there, another is I like the floor plan. If you don't see any prospective dance partners sitting near you, you can easily circle the entire club with the possibility of making cabeceo with a prospective partner. There are lots of friendly Portenas there that are willing to dance with Tango tourists like myself.

Club Gricel is one of My favorite Buenos Aires Milongas . I will probably visit there on my first night back in Buenos Aires.

Last day of March at El Beso Milonga

2011-01-04T12:52:00.004-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Wednesday , March 31, 2010 - day 57

I love February and March in Buenos Aires. I don't have a care in the world besides which Milonga to attend each night. Once April arrives, the shadow of my eventually departure from Tango heaven starts to loom it's ugly head, and I begin a slow decent from the clouds. So March 31 is a little like New Years Eve for me. I headed to one of my favorite Tango playgrounds, El Beso for a dance lesson followed by the Milonga known as La Bruja, Wednesday Night Tango at El Beso: La Bruja.

Sometimes when I'm on my way to a Milonga I think about friends and relatives that are no longer living and dedicate the night to them. It's important to appreciate the gift of being able to dance Tango, especially in Buenos Aires. I was feeling euphoric while dancing a tanda with my friend from La Plata named Miriam, I told her how happy I was to be dancing with her, and she replied that she was only there to dance. I guess she thought I was coming on to her. I was only savoring each moment of the last night of March dancing Tango in Buenos Aires. I was also following the advice of Pedro Sanchez, who always has a table on the corner of the dance floor at La Bruja, to have fun, Private Tango lesson with Pedro Sanchez.

When you show up in the right frame of mind to one of your favorite Milongas it's easy to have a fantastic time. This was one of many memorable evenings at El Beso. Nights like this make all the time and effort invested in learning to dance Tango pay off. It's the Pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow.

Sexteto Milonguero at Salon Canning

2011-01-03T11:45:00.001-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Tuesday , March 30, 2010 - day 56

I had been to see Sexteto Milonguero seven times on my first trip to Buenos Aires and had a fantastic time at, Sexteto Milonguero at La Catedral Milonga the month before, so I decided to check out their show at Salon Canning Milongo.

Salon Canning is a very popular Milongo, but is one of my least favorite for several reasons. First of all it is not very convenience to get to from San Telmo. Colectivo #29 takes you to about 9 blocks from the Milonga, but from there you have to take another colectivo, a taxi or walk.

Getting a drink is always a challenge, they have the slowest drink service of any Milonga that I have attended in Buenos Aires. I think there are only two waitresses for somewhere around 150 people. If you go to the bar, even if the bartenders aren't busy they tell you to order from a waitress. I bring a bottle of water in my backpack and if I can't get a drink, I'll start to drink my own water.

As one blogger has accurately written, the dance floor at Salon Canning is a mess. Perhaps because the shape of the dance floor is more like a square than a rectangle causes problems for defining lanes to dance in. A lot of the dancers like to do space hogging moves that inhibit a healthy flow. The area in the middle of the pista is rather chaotic. The dance hall is large making cabeceo difficult unless you walk around, and the floor plan is not conducive for making casual walks looking for dance partners.

Sexteto Milonguero came on around 1:15 AM and played their usual set, which includes many songs that I have become attached to. I didn't have any trouble finding dance partners even with the aforementioned limitations, and enjoyed the performance. If you haven't been to Salon Canning, I would recommend going and judging for yourself. They quite often have live orchestras, and like I said, it's a very popular Milonga which means there are lots of dancers.

Private Tango lesson with Pedro Sanchez

2011-01-01T12:35:00.004-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Monday , March 29, 2010 - day 55

In an earlier post I mentioned the extraordinary navigational skills of Maestro Pedro Sanchez, Pedro Sanchez navigating the crowded pista at El B... I had been studying his dance performances on YouTube for quite some time and decided the least the I could do to show my appreciation was to take a private lesson from him.

In an interview with Juan Carlos Copes in this month's issue # 194 of El Tangauta,

El Tangauta - El mundo del tango / The world of tango Maestro Copes is quoted as saying that one of the hardest things about Tango dancing is to make it look easy. Maestro Sanchez certainly accomplishes that. To look at this video one might think that dancing Milonguero Style Tango is a simply task. Anyone that has studied this dance knows that is far from the case.

Pedro had me show him what I could do by dancing with his assistant Allison, Afterwards he showed me a sacada, which was a basic move that I needed work on. I practiced it and by the end of the lesson I could do it. After the lesson he gave me this valuable advice: "Have fun, dance Tango with your whole body, and develope your own style". I occasional watch this video before going out to a Milonga. Sometimes it takes months or even years for the subtleties of a Tango lesson to sink in. I find it extremely helpful to videotape and review what I have learned.

I look forward to seeing my friend Pedro Sanchez at El Beso and Centro Region Leonesa when I return to Buenos Aires in February. Pedro and his teaching assistant Allison are dancing to the Ochestra of Juan D'Arienzo and the song is Nueve de Julio.

Carlos Perez and Rosa Forte at Villa Malcolm

2010-12-29T12:49:00.003-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Friday , March 26, 2010 - day 52

My dance partner wanted to take a Tango lesson from the legendary Maestros of Salon Tango Carlos Perez and Rosa Forte at the Villa Malcolm Practica known as Tango Cool. I wasn't terribly enthused about taking a Salon lesson or going to a Practica, but couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend an evening dancing with Silvina.

Maestros Perez and Forte have trained many of the couples that have gone on to win the Salon World Tango Championship. They are very low key and friendly and the class was well attended. They taught 4 mini patterns which I consider to be at least 2 too many. I did manage to incorporate one of the moves into my repertoire which made the lesson a success for me. As I think about it, there was another move that I may eventually incorporate into my Tango vocabulary.

After the class we stayed for the Practica. I am still a little baffled about how people keep from kicking and bumping into each other when they insist on taking up so much space on the dance floor with their park and perform patterns. I don't recall hearing a Vals tanda, and that alone would be enough to discourage me from returning to Tango Cool. Villa Malcolm is a very popular Practica and I don't think anyone would notice or care if I didn't return.

Silvina likes Tango Cool, maybe because the dancers there are closer to her age than at the traditional Milongas, Tango Generation Gap in Buenos Aires. Silvina's Proyecto San Telmo Tango blog, Show Tango, Social Tango, Tango Nuevo is a great place to find day to day listing for Nuevo Tango events.

100 Pesos a day spending cash in Buenos Aires

2010-12-28T13:33:00.004-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Wednesday , March 23, 2010 - day 50

As I have mentioned before, I am a numbers freak, the medical term for my eccentric behavior is Arithmomanic, Confessions of a Arithmomaniac. I looked at my Buenos Aires daily expense log and noticed that it was 4,998 pesos after 50 days. At today's exchange rate that comes to $25.14 US per day. That doesn't include clothing expenses, I bought a black suit, a white shirt, and a pair of street shoes. It also doesn't include the rent, which for me was $350. US a month. What it does include is food, Milongas and transportation. I mostly traveled by colectivo so that expense was usually only 2 pesos and 40 centavos a day, which is around .60 US. As the summer weather came to an end and it started getting colder, I started taking taxis home from the milongas more often and my budget started to go over 100 pesos a day. Not only is Buenos Aires the best place on the planet to dance Tango, for visiting Tango dancing tourists it is an incredible value. Here's a link to a previous post on the cost of a 3 1/2 month Buenos Aires Tango vacation: Tango Dream Came True for a Fistful of Dollars.

Tango Negro

2010-12-27T13:10:00.005-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Sunday, March 21, 2010 - day 48

After the Tango lesson with Susana Miller, About Milonguero Style Milongueando 2010 I stayed for the Sunday night Milonga at El Beso. At the Buenos Aires Milongas the tables are usually very small, with several chairs around them. They really pack the dancers into small cramped spaces, so you sit next to two or three other dancers of the same sex. On this particular night I was sitting next to a black man from Africa named Emmanuel. It was quite comical how we both struggled with our Castellano but were able to strike up an immediate friendship.

Emmanuel has a very outgoing personality. I called him Senior Tango, he liked the name and thereafter that's what he called me. I would see Emmanuel quite frequently at El Beso and Club Gricel over that ensuing weeks and we'd always make each other smile.

You don't see a lot of black dancers in the Milongos, in fact you don't see many black people in Buenos Aires at all. The origins of Tango have been traced to black slaves from Africa and their decedents, but somewhere along the line these people mysteriously disappeared. In an article from El Tangauta - El mundo del tango / The world of tango #189 page 14, Juan Carlos Cáceres stated that his music was influenced by his studies on the African origins of tango, and he wrote a popular Milonga song called Tango Negro, http://www.todotango.com/english/las_obras/letra.aspx?idletra=3704 . The lyrics lament the fact that the Americans changed Tango and took out the drums.

I recently had the good fortune to take a Milonga class from a living descendant of the original black Tangueros, Facundo Posadas, Facundo Posadas Milonga Workshops. This was the only Tango lesson that I have taken outside of Buenos Aires in almost two years. Masestro Posadas makes the very challenging Milongo appear very easy.

La Nacional Milonga

2010-12-25T12:34:00.005-10:00

My second Buenos Aires Tango adventure, Saturday, March 20, 2010 - day 47

Looking back it seems hard to believe that this was my first visit of year to La Nacional Milonga. I had been there only once on my first Buenos Aires adventure the year before during Milongueando 2009, Tete and Silvia Milongueando 2009. After entering the lobby of an old Art Deco building, as you walk up an elegant stairway to a smaller upstairs lobby you begin to hear the sweets sounds of Tango. You pay your 20 peso admission and as you open the french doors into the dance hall, you are instantly immersed in Tango energy which produces a strong adrenalin rush. The promoters greet you as you enter and take you to a seat. I was greeted by Roque Iaria who co-promotes the Milonga with Juan Lencina, Juan Lencina, The Heart and Soul of Tango in Bueno... who also came over and said hello. The Saturday night milonga is called "JR en La Nacional" because J and R are the first name initials of the two promoters, Juan and Roque.

I felt a little self conscious as I was being seated because it seemed like everyone was looking at me and it was rather bright inside. It feels like you are walking onto a stage. Unlike other Saturday night milongas like Sunderland Club La Milonga Del Mundo, Saturday night at La Nacional does not have a date night feel to it and there are lots of single dancers. I think there were more women than men there that evening because even though it was obvious that I was a tourist, I didn't have any trouble finding dance partners.

I was pleased when a salsa tanda came on. It can be challenging to find a partner that can follow any but the most basic salsa steps at a Milonga. Milongueros love to dance Salsa, all those serious looking faces break out into big smiles as the Salsa rhythms begin to pulsate, but few seem to take Salsa dancing seriously so most dancers are content to bounce around to the music.

I had a very enjoyable time at La Nacional and it became one of My favorite Buenos Aires Milongas.