So many images are conjured up when you hear the word Tango. Mine has always been the beautiful tango scene with Al Pacino from the movie ‘Scent of A Woman’ when he says “no mistakes in the tango Donna, not like life. Simple, that’s what makes tango so great, if you make a mistake and get all tangled up, you just tango on.”
We are only in BA for not even a day when we see our first tango in the main street mall of Calle Florida. Most promote their tango shows here or in San Telmo. Tango shows are a dime a dozen throughout BA and range from large Vegas style stage shows to intimate restaurant dinner and shows.
It is hard to imagine this passionate dance with origins dating back over one hundred years ago is still a strong influence today. It is not only performed for the tourists but the tango casts a wide attraction to most porteños and age is no discrimination. It is lived and breathed in BA. To finally be in BA and see our first tango made us realise that we cannot leave this place without at least attempting one lesson. Being the left feet, out of rhythm non dancers we are, we task ourselves to master even a few steps. No doubt a one hour lesson is not really doing the dance justice given the years of dedication and discipline people have to learn the tango all over the world.
San Telmo street markets on a weekend is the heartbeat of tango busking. It has so much vibe I would move to BA just so I could visit them very weekend. Retro is all the trend here or perhaps it never left. With the choices of eclectic shops filled with the most interesting treasures, I visualise setting up an old apartment in BA with high ceilings, timber floors, french windows filled with quirky retro furnishings and tinkering around these markets and antique shops every weekend. Ben reads my mine and quotes his usual Ad Fab saying to me “surfaces darling surfaces”. He has tried for years to declutter my clutter on the home front. Now we have everything in storage and living a minimalist travelling life he is secretly hoping that my ways will change.
We venture to San Telmo on our first Sunday and come across a fabulous tango performance through the lure of the smell of bbq choripans (spicy sausage on a roll) and fried onions. This is the 2nd reason we would move to BA, bbq choripans. A Latino version of Bunnings bbq sausages on a Saturday morning. Two tango dancers took to the floor accompanied by two musicians as we sat around on plastic chairs eating our our juicy choripans and watched an incredible performance, all for tips. The nostalgic tango music along with the passion and intensity of this dance makes your hair curl at the back of your neck. Tango music, dancing and the armoma of bbq choripans cooking on the hotplate beside us was a magical start to our stay. No wonder we sat here for hours.
Continuing down the street markets towards San Telmos main Plaza Dorrego, we stroll past an older street entertainer called “Gardel Vive”. A charming character with a beaming persona, his CD player belts out 1920’s tango music as he pulls people from the street to dance with him. I can only imagine he was a professional dancer in his hey day and we watch with admiration his love of the tango which compels him to busk every weekend in his usual spot and bring smiles to passerby faces.
In the centre of Plaza Dorrego we continue to walk around and find a crowd surrounding a group of tango dancers. On the floor is another very charming older porteño, obviously a great performer who proves to his captive audience that he has not lost his mojo. He has stamina, poise and energy and doesn’t tire after each dance as new partners line up to dance with him. Truly amazing to watch and we spend the rest of the afternoon soaking up the gorgeous autumn Sunday afternoon at a bar with a cold cerveza on a balcony looking down at the buzz below us.
During the week we finally succumb to what all the other tourists do in BA and book to see a tango dinner and show. We know that these are geared to only the tourists but it was recommended to us. These shows are pumped out night after night and it is noticeable in their performance routines. So it came as no surprise that we preferred our Tango Sunday in San Telmo. Still, it was a fun night out to treat ourselves and this particular show detailed the history of the tango which made it interesting.
Our last encounter with the tango was going to a Milonga on a Friday night. A Milonga is a tango hall for the locals. They are found all over BA every night of the week. We were recommended one called La Viruta which was close to where we were staying near Palermo. Ben and I booked a table knowing that we would spend most of the night watching but also they hold an hour lessons for beginners before the dances start.
What fun, our first lesson with 20 others started at 9pm. Of course the instructions were in Spanish and our limited travel Spanish didn’t cover dance steps but we managed to watch instead and clumsily tried our hardest to put some tango steps together. An hour later Nobbies thought we could pull off the first half of a tango but the minute we attempted to try in on the main dance floor with others around us, it became complicated to manouvre ourselves without looking like a dodgem car at Luna Park.
By 10pm the beginners sat down and the locals who come here to dance take over the floor. As I mentioned before age is no discrimination in the tango and we marvel at this mix of ages coming together to dance. Tango brings all generations together. We took particular interest in a lovely older man stooped over in his eighties who came up to the table next to us asking the lovely young girls in their early 20’s to dance. Without hesitation each one one of them got up to dance, showing their respect for a master of the art. Immediately his back straightened as he fell into the rhythm of the tango music as he became a new man. Was just beautiful to watch. We were also fascinated how some of the women had their eyes closed; and as in the movie Scent of a Woman, you don’t need eyesight for the tango…just the sense of the music and dance steps…oh and a strong leading male. It was 2am before we departed and the night was just beginning. The milonga was getting crowded and the dance was becoming more serious. Ben and I we were the only gringos in the room now and was obvious we could not master this dance in a night. We went away feeling that we had experienced something special and fun to witness a culture of dancing that brings generations together.
I agree with Al Pacino…there are no mistakes in the tango but in my opinion if you do get tangled up, just don’t do it with porteños around you.
More photos
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Wonderful descriptions you can also go to dance classes again when you Coe home