Hola y besitos, chickos y chickas! Laura and Emma declare the first 24 hrs of Buenos Aires a slammin' success. We got back home (to Eduardo's apt) at 6:30 am after dancing at La Viruta until it closed (6 am). Lots of interesting things there -
1) at the end of the night, they turned the lights off and had 2 songs in the dark - muy peligroso, but interesante, and druing the songs the lights started flashing red then blue causing weird shadows.
2) A rousing version of La cumparsita finished the night with people flying everywhere!
3) ran into Felipe (yes the tango teacher PortTango is bringing to Maine Ballroom Dance in September) Everyone must go to his workshop - he's a DREAM.
4) yes, there are just as many bad dancers in BA as there are everywhere else. Everyone is on a learning curve. Bad Porteno dancers just dance badly on the music.
5) We have created a term for over-interested men who hang around discouraging other inviters - "dance blockers". We had a couple last night - Horacio (monopolizing Laura) and Daniel (monopolizing Emma). Laura almost committed the grave error of saying "yes" to "Coffee" and then backpedaling wildly and asking for water instead that she would pay for herself. (he ended up paying for 2 waters). Daniel tried to seduce with chocolate bonbons, ended up having to buy one for both of us. (FYI - saying yes to "coffee" is tantamount to saying one will go home with someone after the milonga)
6) The taxi drivers from last night were both friendly although somewhat incomprehensible. The second was very concerned about our safety with the added bonus of looking like Omar Sharif's dad.
7) We ran into a Vancouver woman called Barbara that I wrote about last year. She is of a vague undetermined botox-ed age and offered a room of her house to rent. (got it covered, thanks). We met her in the San Telmo Mercado buying tomatoes.
8) Yummy restaurant where we had excellent salads (no Porteno in their right mind eat salads) and excellent Chorizo sausage and "bife be chorizo", a specifically argentinian cut. We plan to eat more meat soon.
9) Laura and I will be developing an eyebrow sign to indicate the need for a "cock block", as many Argentine men are not well-versed in the art of subtlety.
Laura remarked on the sordid tenements she saw on the way in from the airport - skinny buildings without windows that look like they have been sliced from a huge grey loaf jutting up ion to the sky. "glauque" as described in France. Walking around in San Telmo, a fairly chi-chi area, the sidewalks are in massive disrepair and graffiti is everywhere. Signs of a still depressed and inflated economy that is causing suffering to the Porteno population. Laura remarked on blue spray-painted block-long signs saying "Clarins miente" or Clarins lies (Clarins is the Buenos Aires newspaper). Evidence of disenchantment with the information system in the city, and probably the political system too. We will research this more, and report back.
On the agenda for today - meet Felipe and Mikae at Plaza Dorrego fo the outside afternoon milonga and the night remains undetermined, but will probably involve another nap and more Parilla.
Abrazos, Laura y Emma, (las hermanas de tango)
Hermanas de Tango Diaries 2008 # 2
Hola Todos!
We spent a lot of time walking around the Congreso area on Sunday afternoon, remarking on the juxtaposition of the decrepit 70's style buildings next to the majestic although sooty gothic colonial style towering edifices on either side of the Congreso. After an afternoon snack of empanadas and a chilly rain storm, we decided to decipher the city's public transportation system. The Colectivo (bus system) is still a mystery to us, Laura is determined to crack the code before we leave. the next best option to return to our digs was the Subte, OMIGOD! The A-train is a remnant of the early 20th century with beautiful wooden seats and window sashes, and ascending to street level, the escalator were also made with wooden slats. Transferring to the C-train was a let down of modern plastic anonymity.
After a home-made salad and a nap (7-9 pm), we were ready for Porte–o y Bailarin. We bought a couple of empanadas for the trip at a little empanaderia which is the equivalent of fast food. Refrigerated empanadas were plopped onto a conveyer-style belt and came out the other side piping hot and ready to go. Yum! Stymied again by the bus system, we walked to Riobamba and had weird coffee and medialunas at a confiteria where Laura's fuzzy gloves aroused much interest from an old couple (still dont know if it was 2 men, or a man and a woman) and our server.
Great dancing at PyB although the back piste de baile is still a smoking area (eyew.) Didnt stop us from spending 4 hours dancing our feet off again. Laura has remarked on the Porte–o leaders habit of scooping the follower into the embrace - she likes this. Bumped into Marcel Veillette - no surprise - he practically lives there now! Laura also re-encountered a Parisian dancer who performed with his new (very pregnant) wife which was a beautiful and interesting and elegant performance. Ended up in bed early! at 4 am.
Besos!
Las hermanas de Tango
Emma y Laura
Hermanas de Tango Diaries 2008 # 3
Hola todos!
Today we move to the apartment in Recoleta. Closer to Avenida Santa Fe shopping and Comme il Faut tango shoes!
During the afternoon yesterday we meandered through San Telmo and discovered the antique district and the temperature is now warm enough to enjoy some artisanale helado (limon/pistache for Laura and Chocolate amargo/dulche de leche for Emma)
Laura has finally cracked the enigma of BsAs colectivo (autobus). We took the bus to Practica X last night (about 45 minute ride) but got to see a lot of the city as the bus meandered through the various barrios. Including the notorious "Once" (pronounce it on-say) that Juan-Ignacio told us to avoid. (sorry Juan).
Practica X was filled with many good young dancers that danced mainly with each other. Those who asked us to dance were mostly foreigners. This is the same experience that I had last time with P-X. I noted that the older milongueros were more adventurous in asking foreigners to dance, where the younger set, although flashier dancers, are not as open.
Last night we were lucky enough to see "las Reyes de Tango" at Salon Canning - reputed to be some of the original members of D'Arienzo's orchestra. The musicians were certainly old enough to be, if this is the truth. Excellent music to dance to!
Laura was asked to dance by a man who she immediately recognized as someone she met in Lyons when she had just started to Dance. A group had gone to a dance festival in Montpelier, and she and Serge had shared the back of a truck instead of a hotel to save money (no no, just camping partners).
Today we clean up, do laundry, and possibly visit Club ZiZek named after the famous Slovenian contemporary philosopher (google him fmi) after checking out Comme il faut (which is luckily open late). More tango shoes here we come!
The weather has turned warm again and is now about in the 70sF with lots of sun - no clouds in sight for the next few days - just smog.
More to come,
Con abrazos, Las Hermanas de Tango,
Laura y Emma
Hermanas de Tango Diaries 2008 # 4
Hola todos,
It has been an eventful couple of days. Not to mention smelly. BsAs is burning. Actually, the campo (fields, countryside) is burning and the smoke is wafting into the city, mostly at night. It give an uneasy surreal rather toxic feel to the place. The car headlights and streetlamps are hazy, and it is difficult to breathe. Apparently at this time of year (march, april), after the harvest, the fields are burned and then turned under, and this smoke travels everywhere. One taxi driver (if we understood correctly) went off on it being about the government and pollution from paper mills, maybe not in that order. Whatever the reason, it feels and smells like a big bonfire is in the middle of the city.
Speaking of taxi drivers, 2 things; 1) We have noticed that they do not like the lines of the road, in fact completely ignore them. This causes Laura some TMJ. 2) We moved earlier Wednesday afternoon and used a taxi. When he asked if we minded that he smoked, we said yes, sorry. Then within seconds, the taxi developed a mysterious ailment and he had to drop us off at the corner. Transferring us to another cab, he then drove away (his car seemed fine to us). We think he just wanted a smoke. One more thing about another taxi driver - Announcing he had Music! he inserted an ancient Creedance Clearwater Revival cassette into his tape deck and proceeded to play for us the most warped distorted toe-curling version of CCR we have ever heard (not that I have heard much). Needless to say, we have have a couple of taxing taxi days.
When we danced on Wednesday night at Confiteria Ideal, the hall was hazy and smoky, but did not seem to faze the locals. We heard Sexteto Milonguero - excellent, and el cantador was muy apasionado. We both had wonderful dances with a young (20s) Patagonian called Martin (where do Patagonians learn to dance like that?!) and closed the place out . It was magical dancing on that beautiful marble floor with only 2 couples- lots of space and the haze gave it an otherworldly feeling. We then took a trip in time down the old wrought iron cage elevator (1 floor) upon leaving. At that time they had closed the huge storefront metal shutter and we had to leave by ducking through the little alice-in-wonderland door cut into the shutter.
With the city still smoking we had 4 am coffee with Enrique, a local dance instructor and learned how difficult it is to make a living in BsAs in this profession. He very kindly spoke slowly and comprehensibly in spanish and had some interesting historia of the dance. We are still not sure however, how China influenced the pre-tango dance Canyenge, but that information may have been lost in translation.
On Wednesday we visited Comme il Faut Tango shoe shop. While we tried on every style in the store and had mountains of boxes all around us, tango royalty descended upon the shop. We had seen promotional flyers for "El Bailarin que conquisto' el mundo" Miguel Angel Zotto with a beautiful tanguera, legs wrapped around him, standing on a globe of planet Earth. (No, this guy doesnt have a ego). Now with his latest female conquest, he conquered Comme il Faut. All the vendadoras hovered and fawned around him, producing coffee and tea and biscuits and we immediately receded into unimportance in the background. Emma did buy some shoes, however - yellow and black confections; muy bonita, y muy caro.
We are now in our new digs in Recoleta (kind of like living on Newbury street - I think we preferred quieter San Telmo) and Laura is busy decoding the new colectivo situation. We are quite close to the large shopping area of Avenida Santa Fe, where street vendors offer the strangest collection of things for sale- feather dusters, magnifying glasses, dish towels, socks, and lotto tickets.
Danced at Club Zizek first on Thursday night, where hip-hop melds with electronic cumbia (loved it) and the crowd is muy joven. A very different scene than the tango salons.
Later, at Salon canning, we walked in on an alternative/nuevo tango tanda (something, we had been told, would NEVER happen). We had already heard some Nuevo at Confiteria Ideal and La Viruta. Other unheard of things that happened last night /this morning was men dancing very competantly with men, and a woman asking Emma to lead after seeing Emma and Laura take a turn around el piste de baile at the end of the night. We closed that place down at 4 am.
oh, one more interesting thing at Canning; Porte–os like to swing dance also, and the DJ played "Hound Dog" as a break. A fairly vigorous swing dance was happening between a guy and his partner. She was wearing a VERY short kilt skirt that just covered her rear end. You can imagine what happened next. One every twist the skirt flew up in the back exposing what Bridget Jones would call "snooker ball bottom" and a teeny red thong. Eventually they were the only two left on the dance floor with the entire crowd either cheering them on (men) or averting their eyes (women) or laughing their asses off (us and the waitstaff and the DJ). The cruel but clever DJ then rapidly chose as the next song "Lets Twist Again" to prolong the event. Ignorant of the show she was giving, kilt girl kept dancing and got a standing ovation at the end by many of the crowd.
Stay tuned - more fun to come - having dinner with Robin Tara tonight after a wine tasting in our old barrio, San Telmo.
besos,
Emma y Laura
Hermanas de Tango Diaries 2008 # 5
Hello all,
Well, we seem to be getting our BA legs under us now with a regular schedule of dancing until 4-5 am, sleeping until 1 pm, having breakfast (yogurt, fruit, dulce de leche-filled pastries) then walking around a bit (OK, that translates as shopping), napping until 8 or 9pm , then having a salad at the apartment (or dinner out) then dancing again. Some variations on the theme, but thats about the way the days go.
We have both been asked for directions by spanish speakers, so I guess it looks like we are Porte–as, and know where we are going, not that we have been able to help anyone. Asking for directions is a lost cause, because Porte–os haven't a clue either, but will confidently point you in some random direction saying "it's that way". Many miles have been added to our perambulations by following misguided directions.
Another weird thing we have noticed about Porte–o habits is the national aversion to making change. Its hard to pay with larger bills anywhere, which makes it difficult for tourists, because the ATM's only dispense 100 peso notes ($33US). No one has change, and if they do, they are loathe to part with it. Little stores can't change 50 peso notes, and so lose business. Cultivating awareness of the condition of money one receives is also a good plan, because taxi drivers and store owners are suspicious of torn or older bills. Counterfeit $ seems to be a problem here. This has made us refuse torn or older bills as well.
Now a brief but urgent note on fashion - please forward to any clothes designer you know.
Unfortunately, the MC Hammer drop-crotch pant seems to have come back into style, making its way even into milongas. Lets hope this deplorable piece of clothing stays in South America. To complete the hopelessly lost in the 80s look, there have been a few horrendous mullets around - YIKES.
A word on the weather - the smoke has now cleared, leaving behind beautiful clear warm days and balmy nights. The smoke from the burning pampas has dissipated. For a link to an article from the Washington Post about it (2 days ago) click here.
We dont know if the wind has changed, or the fires have stopped. Questions to locals yield answers that run the gamut from "I don't know" to "its the government" to "something about paper mills" to "bailamos una mas?"
Our understanding is the following; Farmers have been burning their cattle grazing pasture to convert to soy bean fields. This is to avoid the high taxes imposed by the government on meat production. It is more economical to grow soy beans for oil. It seems short sighted for the government to now arrest farmers for burning fields when they are just responding to the costs imposed on them by the government. Apparently 2 farmers have since been apprehended. No further info is available locally.
We spent yesterday wandering through the Recoleta cemetery, where Laura took pictures of crypt doors, sculptures and the cemetery cats. The cats are fed and cared for daily by some local women and though somewhat scruffy, are seemingly content as they loll about on top of graves. We did find a broken tomb with a broken casket, and a skull with skin peeling off. YOW! Laura took a picture.
Dance-wise, we started the evening with an outdoor milonga at La Glorieta. This puts our little gazebo to shame- About 200 people were dancing and watching in this beautiful marble-floored gazebo. Emma danced the Chacarena with a small Porte–o called called Pablo. The Chacarena is a folkloric partner line dance with swooping arm gestures and circling movements. Very pretty when everyone does it right. La Samba (not to be confused with El Samba- Brazilian) was also danced. This is a very romantic dance with handkerchiefs and smoldering longing looks into the others eyes while twirling said handkerchief about. Not our favorite part of the milonga, but inescapable, as is the much more entertaining Chacarena.
4 more days! We've decided not to sleep any more.
Tomorrow night we will have dinner with Alberto and Laura Migone, friends of Emma's parents, and practice our increasingly able Spanish!
Besos,
Emma y Laura
Hermanas de Tango Diaries 2008 # 6
Hola todos,
Ese es el ultimo diaria de las Hermanas de Tango - boo hoo!
Tonight we have dinner with Robin and go to the newly opened Ni–o Bien. We'll unfortunately have to leave early, as Laura has a 5 am plane, and needs to be at the airport at 3 am. I must surrender the apartment at 10 am, and so must be packed, dressed and hopefully aware of my surroundings by then. My flight is a at 9 pm, but the rush hour traffic and congestion makes me feel I ought to leave at 4:30 or so. I plan to dance a little bit at Cafeteria Ideal in the early afternoon before hitting the road.
A couple of things thatI found to be indispensible in my BA dance bag after a few days: foot roller, TP, water, change (money), 2 pairs of shoes - the ones you start in, and the ones you time out into, travel toothbrush+ paste, (deoderant optional, but probably a good idea).
The past couple of days have been quite fun. Tuesday night we had dinner with The Migones - friends of Emma's Parents. Spirited conversation in many languages was had, and yummy food. Panqueques con dulce de leche topped off the meal. This is a confection you must all experience, although perhaps not to the extent Laura experienced it that day. P con DDL are crepes wrapped around DDL. Earlier Wednesday afternoon on our usual confiteria cafe con leche and food break, Laura ordered this postre (dessert) with her cafe. Little did we know how much DDL and how little panqueque would arrive. About 1/2 a cup of DDL filled an itty bitty crepe, and there were 2 on the plate. oink oink, Laura. I took a picture, and she did manage to stuff down most of them. Imagine her consternation when Alberto proudly presented his own version of P con DDL postre after dinner that night. To her credit, she managed another one. buzz buzz buzz.
That night we went to Catedral - a huge cavernouse warehouse space, very funky and alternative. It has become the word of mouth place to go, but unfortunately the lights are so low, one cannot see a cabaceo, or do a mirada (the "look" a tanguera does to invite a cabaceo), and the floor is very uneven and pitted. Also, because it is so funky, the non-dance community is there in droves, so most of the folks in the room are just hanging around for the ambiance. Makes it hard to dance. We abandoned it after a while and went to Canning.
Yow, more fashion atrocities at Canning. Drop-crotch pants are SUCH a bad idea, and the leg warmers over the tango shoes are not far behind. Pants gathered like a sleeve at the ankles, slit up the side to reveal the top of the conrol top pantyhose, topped off with metallic floral booty dance sneakers was also another real winner. Notwithstanding the questionable moda, some better dancing was had, and we finished off the night at about 4 am.
Wednesday night after dinner with Laura's colleague Eduardo, we went to Dandi in San Telmo and had some wonderful dances there before finishing the night at La Viruta again. The LV crowd was quite tipsy, and I walked off the floor twice in disgust. Luckily there were a few good dancers, so it wasnt a total loss.
Walking off the floor instead of enduring a bad dance has become easier. At Confteria Ideal the other day, Laura had an awful first dance and knew it wasnt going to get any better. After she said "gracias", and tried to leave, the gentleman tried to keep her on the floor. Confiteria Ideal is a lovely venue, though has many touristas, who dont necessarily have the confidence or knowledge that one can say NO. This allows bad Porte–o dancers to take advantage of the fact that they can have full tandas of dances while inflicting discouragement and discomfort on visiting female tangueras. Laura was firm in her resolve to boot this guy, and walked off the floor. Another milonguero watching this interplay gave her a congratulatory gesture and finished off the tanda with her with much better dancing.
Take home message here- if you are going to lead at a milonga, know what you are doing. Do your homework and practice practice practice. Followers - if we put up with crappy dancing after the first song, then the message is sent that its oK to be a bad leader, and that improvement is not required. That being said, I know how hard it is to lead, and congratulate beginner leaders for having the guts to dance at milongas. my advice- keep it simple and musical and connected. Practice the crazy stuff AWAY from the milonga until you are good enought to do it without lots of preparation.
My advice to followers- work on your balance. Leaders cant do interesting things if they are having to hold you up. And stay where you are put. Leaders put you there for a reason. Dont move again until you are led to do so. The leader might be setting up a really interesting move, but if you fly away, youll never experience it. Patience.
Being a follower in tango has taught me to be in the moment, and not project into the future. Ths s extremely difficult for me, and Im always on a learning curve with it. Leading has taught me respect for my leaders. Its darn hard to do. I have become a much kinder follower now that I also lead. I advise everyone to experience the other side of the embrace.
anyway, enough soap boxing for now.
Thursday, we hit Zivals (fabulous music store) and made various music purchases. I bought a cd of the Sexteto Milanguero, a fabulous young group we heard twice here. The cantador (singer) is a guitar-playing muscle-bound tattoo-ridden guy who sings like there's no tomorrow. Muy pasional! They played a version of Milonga de Mis Amores that raised the roof on Salon Canning. It seemed like the song was over, then the bass player started to beat a tattoo on his upright, and then the whole thing got really crazy and raucous and started all over again.
I cant wait to play some on my radio show. By the way, the radio show Fri May 2nd will be a special one, where Laura and I will read some of these tango diaries, and play some of the music we heard form the local orchestras, and talk about our many experences from the past 2 weeks. Dont miss it: Shaken and Stirred: Friday May 2nd, 10:30 - noon, 90.9 or 104.1 FM, or stream it at www.wmpg.org
It has been a lovely, turned around, DDL-filled, foot-ache-inducing, dance-intensive trip. We are finally going in the right direction most of the time when we walk out of the apartment. We discovered that the dearth of change in this country is due to the fact that everyone hoards it, and the gov't doesnt mint enough of it.The general chaos in Argentina seems to be due to a change in government every few years that eradicates what the previous gov't has done. This causes the country to spin in circles. In the midst of this national disorganization, Argentinos drink and dance and drive loco, and generally get along. I hope they can pull themselves out of this general depression which seems to affect not only the economy, but also the mindset of the citizens. They deserve to be able to afford to travel and see the world as Laura and I have been so lucky to do.
I look forward to riding my bike, easting some really good chocolate and seeing all of you again, not necessarily in that order.
Much love,
Emma (y Laura, in absence, and she is on a plane to NYC right now) April 25th, 2008