Con Alma y Vida

Our friends, Helena y Carlos, inaugurated a new afternoon milonga last night at La Salsera in Almagro. The last time I was there was years ago when it was home to the gay milonga, La Marshall which since moved to Independencia, and now is in Maipu, where it's been for a few years.





There was entertainment by a couple who danced two tangos and a milonga.

WARDROBE NOTE: Please notice the white suede soles of Alejandra's tango shoes--they glow in the dark and were very distracting. If you have such soles on dark shoes, please have them dyed black.









Con Alma y Vida
Yatay 961
Fridays 17:00-22:00

Memories of Chateau Rodney

I went to see The Ugly Truth the other day, (or La Cruda Verdad, as it's called in Argentina.) It's a cute and bland date movie and the only reason I went to see it was because it was filmed at where I lived for six years in Los Feliz (Hollywood, Ca.)

I'm not surprised it was used as a movie set--the two apartments of the lead characters--because the 1926 Monterrey-style building was so special. There are six townhouse apartments in a horseshoe shape around a central courtyard. When I moved in in 1995, it was a little shabby but because of the quality of building in those days, it was still elegant and comfortable. The apartments have hardwood floors, the original tile kitchens and bathrooms, stained-glass windows, balconies, and archways. They didn't have dishwashers, garbage disposals, or room for the refrigerator in the tiny kitchen--it had to go on the back porch. There were little doors built in the walls by the back doors for the milkman to leave a bottle of milk; my neighbor Marita used it as a cat door.





See Phoebe, the Expat Cat?

But apart from the homey and beautiful construction, the building has a very special vibe. I'm not surprised that it appealed to the location scouts.

When I lived there, all the neighbors became family, and the events and parties and the love that went on there was out of a dream. It was just what I needed at the time. I recently recovered from drastic treatment for breast cancer, and I had just returned from living in France, where I had buried my husband. I had already lost my beautiful family home in Los Feliz a couple of years before.

I really felt the magic of Chateau Rodney, as we called it, and when I most needed it. The Universe provided a place of love, connection, and fun for an unlikely assortment of Hollywoodians, who bonded permanently.

I think all of us wanted to stay there forever, I know I did, but the building sold in 2001, and the new owner tripled the rent, which none of us could pay. So we were forced to move on in our lives--me to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. But whenever I'm in L.A., all of us former neighbors try to get together, as we did last July, and it always feels like it was just yesterday that we gossiped, griped, and drank cocktails together in the courtyard.


Of course, for the movie they pimped it up a lot. I mean, the lighting alone was spectacular, and it made me wish we had used more of it while living there. Also it made me wish I had taken more photos. But I'll never forget the good times there or the lifetime friends I made.






This is the door to my old apartment; see the address?





Here most of us are in 1995, celebrating my birthday in the courtyard.







And here we are at one of our favorite hangouts, ChaChaCha, in July 2009.

I'm glad I saw The Ugly Truth, because the memories are so beautiful.

Tango Rosarino

Ever since I started to dance tango way back when in Los Angeles, I had heard about tango in Rosario--mostly I suppose because at that time Rosario's Orlando Paiva was the tango teacher in L.A.

So long overdue, Ruben and I decided to check out tango Rosario, and soon we were sitting on a comfortable bus for the short (4 hours) trip.

We left on a Sunday so as not to miss our favorite Buenos Aires milonga, Los Consagrados. And because we were invited to attend the Sunday night milonga, Las Chirusas, which is at the Cafe Flor, Mendoza 862.

A charming old house, Cafe Flor has an indoor area with a stage and an "outdoor" dance floor for smokers. Both floors are old decorative tile. The crowd was mostly young, and almost all the women held their left arms low and lower on the man's back. Because of our discussion on this after the Campeonato post (see comments), I was paying strict attention. I wish I could have taken photos, but restrained myself. (I feel another post on this topic coming on.)

What I enjoyed most about Las Chirusas was the music. Nothing special about the selections, all old-guard, but the sound was just perfect in the small room, and I heard new things in the old songs.




























In between milongas, we took a long walk by the river, where Ruben looked for places to fish. Unfortunately it was cold, wet, and windy, so we gawked at Rosario's famous monument to the flag (huge and macho and built in the style of what I call Fascist architecture).























Monday night we taxied to La Buena Medida (Buenos Aires y La Rioja) for tango and malbec with our new friend from Las Chirusas, Hugo. The organizer, Hernan, was friendly and the ambiance in the old historical cafe was relaxed and fun. The floor was also old decorative tile, and a bit heavy in all the humidity. I wished I had worn my smooth leather soled CIF's from the night before.

BTW, the "milongas" of Rosario are very informal, and the cabeceo almost unknown.

























And so we had our two nights of Tango Rosario. Next time I want to plan to be there on a Tuesday, when Las Chirusas has a big milonga at the Ex-cine Carlos Gardel (Ov. Lagos 790), which has a wood floor, is large and I hear, gorgeous.















View from our lovely room at the Urquiza Apart Hotel.