After eleven years living, dancing, teaching tango, and writing in Buenos Aires, I came home to L.A. in 2014, where I'm reconstructing my life.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

What Happens in Buenos Aires Doesn't Stay in Buenos Aires!



I so love blogging! Unbeknownst to me, I was waiting for it all my life.
I try to be discreet in what I write. I know the tango world is small, not only in cyberspace, but also in milongas everywhere.

It's part of the fun of going to a milonga in a strange part of the world and seeing people you know and recognize.

Here in Buenos Aires one feels every tango dancer we've ever known will one day walk into a milonga where we are waiting for them.

And you know how people talk in the milongas; well we have to do something while we're waiting to dance, right? So we chat--about the people in the milonga! What they're wearing, how they're dancing, who is hooked up with who, who went home with whom. It's only natural. The men like to brag about the ladies, and the women try to keep "that" part quiet. But still.

Tango bloggers around the world seem to think that nobody knows who they are, or who they're writing about. But I can't tell you how many times I've read on blogs from Asia to Europe about people I know from the descriptions, and often I've read about myself!

Then sometimes when the authors realize that people know what's what, they sneak back in later and change the archives.

Just remember that what happens here on vacation just might make somebody's blog.
Ojo!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just got a polite email implying I was slandering a band when they found my (not bad, just meh) review of their CD. So I guess it's also fair to say in a correlary to your statement, that what happens in a blog doesn't stay in a blog either. :)

I guess the internet is creating a whole new world of social awkwardnesses and ways for a person to their foot in their mouth.

Anonymous said...

I totally think of "tangoing and telling" as a woman thing, not a man's. Just witness the overwhelming preponderance of woman tango bloggers breaking down each and every milonga with a full-on "he sucked, he ruled."

b-

Anonymous said...

I heard there is a famous tango called grisel which happens to be my name. I was wondering if you would know if there is any truth to this. I was told by an Argentian gentleman.

tangocherie said...

Hi Natalia,
I put a comment on your blog about the review thing. Gosh, when I just wrote about several tango shows/couples and linked to their own promotion, I got tons of flack. So be it. Our blogs are our opinions and ideas. Listo.
The net would be pretty bland if we couldn't write what we wanted.

tangocherie said...

Hey b,

I am SO NOT in agreement with you here. I read lots of tango blogs and the men as well as the women bloggers write about who they danced with last night and how good/bad they were. What's wrong with that?

If they say, "I danced with a tall skinny guy who absolutely had no rhythm and made my back hurt dragging me around the floor," so what?

And maybe a man might complain on his blog, "I danced with a short blond woman who hung on my neck and couldn't follow worth beans," so what?

Maybe if that person recognizes him/herself they might take some lessons. There are too many bad dancers who can always get dances and so don't seek to improve.

You're just thinking that it's a woman thing because of that lousy book, "Kiss & T..." (too bad to be named nere.)

My point of the post was that dancers in milongas should behave as if they were being filmed or written about in the next day's tabloids. Because they just might be.

tangocherie said...

Hi Gricel,

Yes, there is a famous tango, Gricel, for which the well-known milonga, Club Gricel, is named.

It's an uncommon first name for women in Argentina; more usual is Gricelda.
It's possible that Gricel is a nickname for Gricelda.

Anonymous said...

Cool a club that ha smy name.:) My name is uncommon everywhere I go. my mother had a knack for unsual names. :)

NYC Tango Pilgrim said...

Cherie,

Sitting in the milongas in BA these couple of days, I realized that people aren't blind. They do talk and sometime laugh at certain behaviors on the floor. I do too but more of a smirk.

People are entitled to their own opinions. And it's not just a woman's thing. I am a guy, and I have my opinions about different women's embrace, feeling in the dance. And I talk to others about it too. There is nothing wrong about that. I say what I see and think. It is a free world, thank god.

I always enjoy your blogs.

Anonymous said...

It makes me wonder if anyone has ever written about me!