My Big Fat Birthday 2013

A grand and exciting night for me! I am so very grateful to all the friends and students from all around the world who came to La Milonga de los Consagrados to help me celebrate and make my birthday so special!

If you just want to see us dance, skip to the bottom.

 


Ruben and I danced to D'Arienzo's "El Rey"

 


Our Canaro milonga "encore"
 


And, if you can stand a couple minutes more, here's a chacarera:
 

Milongueando in San Cristobal

Ruben and I were invited to the Gala Milonga at the Region Leonesa of Susana Miller's annual Milongueando Festival. We love this ballroom--the home of the Milonga de los Consagrados on Saturday afternoons where we are a permanent fixture. It's always fun to see a crowd that is completely different from the usual Buenos Aires milonga suspects, as it was probably 90% foreigners.

Being there last night proves how no matter if the salon is the same, each milonga has its own personality based on the organizers, dancers, the DJ, the lighting, sound system, arrangement of tables and chairs, and even the tablecloths. It seems weird that it's so, but last night the ambiance was 100% different from Los Cons on Saturdays.

Although we love the ballroom, the event wasn't our cup of tea last night--lights very dim, bad sound, everyone grouped together with no way to cabeceo. There were exhibitions by Maria Plazaola y Ricardo Viqueira, Susana Miller y Chiche Ruberto, with special guest stars, Eduardo y Gloria--the first tango dancers I ever saw when they performed in Tango Argentino at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles in 1986. Now we are neighbors in the barrio of Boedo. Life is funny.

Maria y Ricardo

Maria y Ricardo

Maria y Ricardo

Maria y Ricardo

Susana Miller y Chiche Ruberto

Susana y Chiche

Gloria y Eduardo

Eduardo y Gloria, and me


The well-known guitarist Esteban Morgado and violinist Quique Condomi of Tanghetto, Esteban Morgado Quarteto, and other recordings, took center floor and played several wonderful renditions of familiar pieces. My favorite was the smash-up of Paul McCartney's "Blackbird' with the tango "Uno." Below is a video from YouTube of another performance, but unfortunately it cuts off right after the tango begins. Last night's passionate rendition was so much better than this video, sorry that I didn't record it. I'm also sorry that the photos are not the greatest, the fault of the lighting, distance, the camera, and my lack of expertise. But you get the idea.

Here's the photo of the musicians from my point of view, which was unfortunately the back, but their sound was fantastic and professional, unlike the music for dancing.

The Laws of Tango, Part II: The Music

Here is the second installment of Fernando and Daniel's informative bilingual Tango series on BACast podcasts, which you can download and subscribe to on iTunes.

It's bilingual but not translated, so if you have some Spanish listen hard to the experts speaking rapid Castellano. Less wacky and funny than Part I, there is a lot of information to be had here from pros who know what they're talking about, and they illustrate their charla with music samples. One point that hit home with me is that you can play perfectly a tango from a score, but it still isn't "tango" without a certain feeling, rhythmic emphasis that isn't written down on the sheet music.

Ruben and I enjoyed contributing to The Laws of Tango, Part I: The Dance.
Part III promises to be extremely interesting as it's about tango lyrics and philosophy. Can't wait.

(Don't give up listening because of the rather long commercial at the beginning for the Chili Cook-off on July 1st.) Just endure; it's worth it to get to the good stuff.

The Laws of Tango BA Podcast

BA Cast's Fernando y Daniel are back with their fun podcasts, and this time it's the first of a three part bilingual documentary on the tango: The Laws of Tango: Dance.

 Soon to follow are Music, and then Lyrics & Philosophy.

Ruben and I, Cyrena and Lizzy, as well as Brit Tango Bob were interviewed in their studio, and they even went to Los Consagrados to talk to various "milonga characters."


I hope you will tune in to this informative and sometimes wacky podcast in Spanglish. And while you're on the site, sample some of their previous shows. You'll learn something and get a chuckle as well.

The Church of Tango: a Memoir, published January 21, 2012

Finally.

I started writing this story at the time it began--in February of 1992, when I was so depressed after my husband's death I wanted to swallow all of his left-over meds and follow him into the beyond. So what began in a way as a journal or diary became the chronicle of my road to survival in four countries. And once I made that decision to live no matter what tragedy came my way, I plugged on, through one tremendous loss after another, by dancing. No, not yet had the tango found me, but whatever dance there was at the time came to my rescue. I had always been a dancer, and now I knew dance could save me from despair.

As my adventures unfolded, the manuscript grew and grew. I had to make cuts in events, characters, reflections and realizations. That was the hardest part of bringing this story to fruition. There is so much left out. Who knows, maybe I'll write The Daughter of the Church of Tango, or a prequel one day.

Our students come from all over the world: China, The Philippines, Australia, Viet Nam, New Zealand, Hawaii, South Africa, India, Nepal, Finland, Russia, Israel, Scandinavia, all over Europe, Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Canada and the U.S. And one question almost all ask me is, how did I end up teaching tango in Argentina?

This book is my answer.

Lots of women have come to Buenos Aires for tango, stayed a while, and went home and wrote about their experiences. There are a couple of tango histories available in English, as well as a couple of Buenos Aires milonga guide books. There are self-help books using tango as a way to better interpersonal relationships. There are some novels about tango in Buenos Aires.

My memoir is not like any of them; it is not a "tango book," but a story of survival that cuts across death, cancer, Alzheimer's, loss of home and homeland and cherished heirlooms and possessions, loss of shared histories, of hope for one's children, of hope for the future, of love. But it's also about finding love and unexpected joy. And about listening to the music and dancing.

It can be ordered from the printer online: https://www.createspace.com/3733773

Now available on Amazon and soon as an ebook for Kindle.

La Confiteria Ideal--the Soul of Tango

La Confitería Ideal is the iconic tango salon of Buenos Aires. When tourists and dancers alike pass through the double doors on Suipacha near Corrientes, they feel in their gut they are entering the historic soul of tango.

However La Ideal spent almost all of its life since it was built in 1912 as a pastry shop and salon de te´, and it wasn't until the 1990s that tango dancing became its raison d'etre. The original owners were pastry chefs and entrepreneurs from Spain, who required that the building be constructed of expensive materials from all over Europe.

The French Fleur de Lys became the enigmatic emblem because at that time all of the expensive buildings in Buenos Aires were influenced by French architectural design, albeit La Belle Epoque of a few decades past. For that reason the premises seem much older than a scant century, and also because it is now derelict and decrepit. The gorgeous cage elevator hasn't worked in decades, and the iconic stained glass pastry quiosco glorieta empty but for the occasional tango shoe display.

The gorgeous elevator that hasn't moved in decades

Emblematic empty display case

I will never forget walking up its marble staircase for the first time, smelling the mustiness, the cat piss, the burning incense lit to hide the odors of a building past its prime. I was a beginning tanguera in a culture that had seen very few tango tourists up to then. The milonga habitués looked upon our tour group from America as exotic creatures from another world, as I suppose we were. That's how we viewed the salon and the dancers of La Ideal.

All of this adds to its faded glamor.

Through the decades it was the place to meet your friends for afternoon tea, particularly after work. It became de riguer for the bourgoisie of Buenos Aires (especially the English) to meet there and have their private parties on Saturdays.

The upstairs ballroom was used for special occasions; the ground floor for tea, coffee, and the delicious pastries La Ideal was famous for, as well as live music. It's said that the miga sandwich was invented there as a copy of English finger sandwiches.

Between 1979 and 1981 it was converted into a café-concert with all types of live music, including a famous all-girl orchestra and The Five Latins. The salon has been visited over the years by many celebrities, such as Maurice Chevalier, Charles Aznavour, Mirta Legrand and Daniel Tinayre, Jorge Luis Borges, Ernesto Sábato, Yoko Ono, Sting, Charly García, Diego Maradona, Julio Bocca, Moria Casán, Willem Dafoe, Robert Duvall, María Félix, Dolores del Río, Vittorio Gassman..
 R

It also has been used as a location for all of the tango movies, so first-time visitors feel a déja-vu, of having dreamed this place. As indeed it is the stuff of dreams--many scenes in my memoir, The Church of Tango, take place in La Ideal.

Lots of rumors surround La Ideal, and no one seems to actually know who owns it--some say the government--but the truth is that it is owned by a private organization that receives no government help to maintain this historic structure. (It is managed by Jorge Vieites Rouco.) Unfortunately, it is falling apart before our eyes, even though it is now proclaimed an official Bar Notable. I wouldn't be surprised if one day a foreigner steps in to save it--in the manner of Versailles in France. Sometimes foreigners value a place's heritage more than the locals.

Several years ago the gigantic central chandelier below the skylight on the first floor, worthy of the Phantom of the Opera, crashed to the floor, and I presume never to be seen again.

My photo from '97: see the huge chandelier? Now gone.

And on Oct 12, 2008--the ceiling falls:

Once upon a time there was the Gran Ciné Ideal (recently a porno theater) next door which insured that the confiteria was even more heavily used before and after film showings.

La Confiteria is at the right of the theater.

And a story which I find fascinating:  originally the ceiling of the ground floor was open in an oval shape matching the skylight, and upstairs was a gallery around this opening for people to look down, and for light and the skylight to be seen from below. Years later the stone dance floor was laid down.

Here you can see the oval on the ceiling of the ground floor that used to be open

When I first visited La Ideal and took my first tango classes in Buenos Aires, there was only one milonga there, the Friday afternoon dance of Diego y Zoraida. Now there are more than twelve milongas every week in the same space, with classes from different teachers every day. Another recent change is that Suipacha has recently been made into a pedestrian street.

A visiting tourist might not actually know what tango is, but feels certain that the tango was born at La Ideal, although tango didn't arrive there until the middle of the 1990s, just shortly before I visited for the first time in 1997. I too thought I saw the ghosts of tangueros of dusty years past in the mirrors lining the walls. The building itself has a haunting presence and a life of its own. May it live forever.



The BBC Documentary



Read more: La Confiteria Ideal

Thanks for the Memoirs!

Just as my own memoir, The Church of Tango, is readying itself for publication, there is yet another woman's tango memoir soon to be published in the UK. I guess that proves there is an audience out there. Where are the tango memoirs written by men? There are a couple of excellent books by men, Long After Midnight at the Nino Bien, kind of a non-fiction novelized travelogue by yanqui Brian Winter, and Here At the End of the World We Learn to Dance, a well-written novel by kiwi Lloyd Jones, a prize-winning author.


Now there is Twelve Minutes of Love by Kapka Kassabova, a Bulgarian who currently lives in Scotland, which is being published this month by Portobello Books. Here is the artistic trailer for the book, featuring oil paintings by animation artist Em Cooper, music by Piazzolla, and stage tango moves.
 Do I have a dirty mind or are there ink blot references to a woman's anatomy?


 

I understand why there are so many tango blogs and memoirs, as people are trying to explain to themselves and others the profundity and emotional content of this dance that is inexplicable in words. Men write tango blogs, but as yet no tango memoir. I wish I were a psychologist so I could speculate as to why. And why women feel compelled to share their emotional tango journeys with others.


You can listen to a BBC interview with Kapka, as well as our own Sally Blake, author of Happy Tango: Sallycat's Guide to Dancing in Buenos Aires.

And now I'd better get to work on my video trailer for The Church of Tango! Any ideas for me out there?

Pet Peeve

I already did a series on the embrace:  Holds and Embraces
and Learn by Looking where the woman's left arm is discussed.
The above photo is a recent one of the ever-increasing trend for the woman to grip the man's back like there's no tomorrow, with fingers spread and her shoulder raised. I think it looks hideous--either like she's trying to touch his ass or control him. I see it more and more in the milongas, especially by foreigners and young dancers. When our students ask about it, I say it's just a fad, while hoping it's nothing more than an affected passing fancy.

The milongueros don't like it, and it looks ugly. Why do more and more women adopt this death grip?

The other night I saw a tall woman dancing with a shorter man, and I swear she could have picked his back pocket had she wanted to. Kind of a reverse take on the canyengue posture, which legend has it was used to prevent the woman from lifting the man's wallet.

Canyengue-style embrace

I know styles change in everything. When I began dancing tango in 1997, it was the custom for the woman to look to her right instead of straight ahead as now.

When Ruben dances with someone who tries to "grab his ass" (just kidding), he doesn't let her; he flexes his right shoulder until her arm rises. A woman's left arm should be soft and feminine as it rests without weight or pressure on the man's shoulders.

When teaching the embrace to beginners, I tell them to embrace each other as if they were in love. To me and to most traditional dancers, this is the tango embrace. It doesn't matter if you know the person or not, if you like them or not--it is the position to dance tango.

John y Tania

Tango Lover's Guide to Buenos Aires

Buy on Amazon

Tango tourism is a relatively new phenomenon in Buenos Aires. When I first came in 1997, it was a rarity. We 35 or so Americans were looked on as exotic, and many milongas and milongueros didn't know what to do with us. Luckily we had an expert guide (Daniel Trenner), and for many of us on the tour, it was a life-changing experience.

Since then foreigners from the four corners of the earth have flocked to Buenos Aires to experience the "real" tango in its birth place. Every serious tanguero eventually makes the pilgrimage.

But the milongas are a hidden world. You have to know where they are, which night of the week, what time. There are no neon signs outside saying, "Tango Here Tonight!" That's part of the charm.

But sometimes foreign tangueros get lost. They don't know where, when, what milongas to attend, even if they have a list of them, even if they have all of the free tango magazines in hand.

Because it's important to know what style is danced, the age group, the ambiance, I'm surprised that more tango guides for foreign dancers have not been written. No matter what anyone claims, we all need help to figure out how to spend our time and our pesos when we visit Buenos Aires.

Migdalia Romero has written the Tango Lover's Guide to Buenos Aires: Insights and Recommendations to help the tango tourist make the most of their vacation. One thing I especially like about her book is the Table of Contents, but more importantly the Index, so helpful in finding the information you need that is buried in the middle of the book.

To help keep the information current, she publishes monthly an online guide to changes and special tango events.

Also included is information on tango shows, cultural centers, shopping, restaurants.

Another resource to add to Sally Blake's Happy Tango.

The Only Champion is the Tango!

Ruben and I Dancing Final Round at La Rural in 2006

Two days ago the World Champions of Salon Tango 2011 were chosen at the huge venue of Luna Park in Buenos Aires.

The premier five winners are:

1st Place: Diego Julian Nenavidez Hernandez and Natasha Agudelo Arboleda -- Colombia

2nd Place : John Erban and Clarissa Sanchez -- Venezuela

3rd Place : Brian Nguyen and Yuliana Basmajyan -- USA

4th Place: Mauro Zompa and Sara Masi -- Italia

5th Place: Cristian Andres Lopez and Naoko Tsutsumizaki -- Japon

Unprecedentedly a tie between first and second place caused an exciting Dance-Off to pick the Champions. Here the two couples from Colombia and Venezuela dance three extra tangos at the end of the competition:



Also for the first time in the history of the Campeonato Mundial del Tango del Salon, no Argentine was among the first five.

The judges for the Tango Salon Finals were Maria Nieves, Miguel Angel Zotto, Eduardo Arquimbau, Julio Duplaa (organizer of the milonga Sin Rumbo), Carlos Borquez, Guillermina Quiroga and Jorge Torres. All but Julio Duplaa are known for performing on stage, choreographing, and touring. In fact, Eduardo Arquimbau was in the first tango show I ever saw, Tango Argentino, in the Pantages Theater in Hollywood in the '80s. And then on my first trip here in '97, I saw him perform at the Michelangelo in San Telmo with his wife, Gloria, and also took group classes with them at La Ideal. Maria Nieves, ex-wife and partner of Juan Carlos Copes, is a tango superstar. Guillermina is famous for her work on stage and in film.

The tango championships were created in 2002 to bring more attention to the art form and to bring money and business and more tango to Buenos Aires. It was only in 2001 that the country suffered a debilitating and traumatic economic crisis. "What shall we do to get the country out of the doldrums? I know, we'll have a big fiesta about what we know and do best--along with beef and red wine (and sometimes football.)" An influx of business and tango tourism could only help. And it did.

It began small and standards were lower and fewer. Dance rules were posted but not insisted on. Fewer pesos were awarded. Winners were older.

Then Argentine associations in several countries began to sponsor competitions on their home ground, the winners to get free travel to Buenos Aires to compete in the Mundial. Competitors figured out that it was "good" for them to come early and study with the judges on the panel. Beautiful young women figured out that flirting with the judges while wearing scanty clothing couldn't hurt either. Judges awarded prizes to students, favorites, and sometimes even family members (Maxi Copello the year we competed in the Metropolitano.) Everyone knew that the judging was prejudiced.

Soon the government realized what a great marketing and PR jewel they had in the tango contests, and advertized for participants around the world to come to Buenos Aires to compete. A Tango Festival was added, with free concerts, milongas, lectures, and classes to sweeten the pot. Venders paid to show their wares. It was a win-win situation for everyone. Tango tourism bloomed in August, and local citizens got free entertainment.

This year the pot turned a little sour for some. There was a big fracas in May over whether or not foreigners could compete in the Metropolitano, previously only open to residents of Buenos Aires, a law suit was brought by disgruntled Americans, and the whole city championship nullified. I didn't understand the problem as anyone could compete in the World's in August no matter where they came from.

And then out of 40 finalistas, of which 18 were Argentine, no Argentines finished in the first five of the traditional Tango Salon championship! While all the finalists were beautiful dancers and did a great job on the stage at Luna Park, it's very hard to believe that none of the competing Argentine dancers couldn't do as well. Salon tango has to be improvised, but certainly the three tangos danced in the above video--to popular recordings of famous tangos by Di Sarli, Fresedo, and Rodriguez--were practiced and choreographed, not led. Sorry. Take a closer look.

Diego Hernandez, the Colombian First Place winner, was overheard in an interview saying (smugly) it's as if an Argentine won the Cumbia Competition in Colombia. "Like there's no way in hell that's ever going to happen."

Some of the tangueros and milongueros of Buenos Aires felt like he gave them the finger. (Colombia is famous for its variety of musical styles and high-quality of dancing. Colombia music genres)

And many Argentine dancers feel that the government is giving away their tango. Or rather, selling it.

If Buenos Aires becomes no longer the Mecca of tango, if people can study in Bogota or Los Angeles or Tokyo with world tango champions, why should tango tourism continue to rise along with the high inflation?

From my point of view, Argentina never thinks or plans long-term; get it while you can seems to be the prevailing philosophy of everyone from the lowest to the highest. Planning and saving has never helped them in the past. So they go for the gusto.

'The good news is that this is growing fantastically year after year," a delighted Mayor Mauricio Macri said. Maybe he should think ahead a few more years?

In 2009, tango was declared by UNESCO to be a World's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations.

From the Huff Post:

The 24 members of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Committee of Intangible Heritage granted the tango dance and its music protected cultural status at its meeting in Abu Dhabi.

The designation may make Argentina and Uruguay, which both claim to be tango's birthplace, eligible to receive financial assistance from a specialized fund for safeguarding cultural traditions. It will also help both governments justify using public funds to preserve their most famous export after beef.

This article is illustrated by this one photo only--stage tango, or Tango Gringo. Is this the dance and music (Gotan Project, Piazzolla) that UNESCO aims to preserve as the cultural heritage of Uruguay and Argentina?

I'm wondering what "protected status" means. Here's what Tito Palumbo thinks.

He writes about the UNESCO designation in Patrimonio Cultural Inmaterial, in B.A.Tango, November 2009:   

Money seems to be the reason.

It was considered that Tango is seen as extravagant and exotic
The Minister of touristic culture of the City of Buenos Aires must have lobbied.
A Tango Dance School is mixed up with the milongas.

 The tango phenomenon is very widespread. Luckily, its extinction is not expected in the short or medium term. What appears in this declaration is an interweaving of interests among politicians, individuals with privileges and tango merchants with the intention of increasing their power and filling their pockets at the expense of not only local tax payers but also the entire world's population. The following step will be asking the United Nations for funds. It's none of our business; tango exists and remains despite their ploys to live on its fame!

In a wrap-up article today, La Nacion wrote, that the only champion is the tango:

...the final feeling was that, judging by the criteria of the jury, no 

Argentine fell short of the most important category of this competition,

the Salon Tango category, which is the style (along with the "milonguero")

that locals dance with passion, frequency, and some skill in the vernacular milongas. 

How is it that no one has won anything?, Ask the most outraged... and... no.
 
Of course, the Colombians deserve the prize, but that does not mean that

 the level of local dance has declined or that we are losing the throne.

 What hurts a bit, I think, is that two strangers will see the world

 with "our" flag, because, tango, despite of being a world heritage

 possession, Argentines still feel entitled to maintain custody of

 this beautiful creature which is leaving large dividends for those

 involved, directly and indirectly with it.

As a friend told me, perhaps it is a feeling a bit childish, but

 is something like an "I lend it to you, but do not break it." 

As for my personal opinion, I quote these Argentine sources because I'm a little uneasy to criticize the country of which I am a guest, and the field in which I and my milonguero partner make our living. I am an outsider in Argentina but after so many years and so much attention paid, I must offer my point of view on this huge endeavor, the Campeonato Mundial. ( This post only refers to salon tango. Tango to me is about improvisation, emotion, connection, the embrace--ingredients of traditional social tango de salon, or tango milonguero.)


Money does seem to be the reason. But in the long run, yes, the only champion is the tango!

Now Why is That, Again?

Now is the beginning of the Tango Tourist Season, and foreigners have swooped into Buenos Aires for the World Championships (now there is even a special category for foreign dancers) and this week is the Milongueando Festival.

 We went to the opening milonga last night where the Orquesta Sans Souci with El Chino Laborde sang. (I loved that the first violinist is a girl!)

The apertura milonga of the Milongueando Week was in the Region Leonesa, my favorite salon in all Buenos Aires. The floor was jammed and still all the tables and chairs were full, very Buenos Aires. But everyone was speaking English, the floorcraft was sketchy with either no movement along the ronda or zig zagging around the floor, adornos and embellishments ruled, no cabeceos, and the dancers were all either foreign or touring teaching "celebrities." At times I thought I was back in the States!

I would have loved to ask some of the attendees why they spent all that money on air fare and were dancing with folks from home instead of at a traditional milonga down the street, like Gricel. But anyway, we all were having a good time, which is what counts. (Except when the top of Ruben's foot was stilettoed.)

But today I thought it might be worthwhile to revisit the posts below that addressed the phenomenon a few years back.

If you have an opinion, I'd love to hear it.

Why Indeed Come to Buenos Aires to Dance?

Why Do Some Dancers Bother to Come to BsAs?

The Buenos Aires Glow

Futuro Tango

 Last night in the milonga Nuevo Chique, a group of kids on their winter break from Comodoro Rivadavia (very south of Buenos Aires)  danced an exhibition, showing indeed, that the "future of tango" is bright. Well dressed, well danced, with a lot of respect--bravo Futuro Tango!

Milonguero

Lots of time is spent discussing and arguing in English over various terminology in tango--especially by Americans, and especially on the internet via tango blogs or tango mailing lists.

What style is danced: nuevo, apilado, orillero, Villa Urquiza, del centro, club, milonguero, de salon? To me it's like the monks in the Middle Ages arguing over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

When students are learning a new move, the men often ask, what is the name for this? The tangueros of Buenos Aires don't worry about the names of things--is it ocho cortado, ocho milonguero, or ocho arrepentido? What is important is only how you dance the movement, call it what you like.

And so what/who exactly is a milonguero? Besides a term that is thrown around casually, derisively, or as an honorific?

In other cultures the term milonguero is used almost interchangeably with tanguero--a man who dances tango. But here in Buenos Aires, milonguero  has a special meaning: a man who is married to the milonga. He probably has some kind of menial day job--usually in a factory, or in an auto garage, or as a taxi driver--but every night he is found in the milongas, where he comes alive. He is not a stage dancer, nor a tango teacher--unless he has been coerced into instructing for lack of funds or by (usually) foreigners who want to dance like he does. And he has never taken a tango lesson himself. Tango is his life, not his work. He is famous for using his dance skills to conquer women. If you ask him if he is a milonguero, he will deny it and say he is a bailarine, a dancer.

Milonguero used to be a pejorative term, an insult, as in, "Oh, he is nothing but a milonguero!" Meaning the man hangs out in dance halls, seduces women, and has no real education or profession. A milonguero isn't a doctor, lawyer, engineer, or college professor who dances tango as a hobby. A milonguero is more the dance equivalent of a bar fly--a man who lives to dance, who gets drunk on the tango, and can not live without it.

Because of the history of the word, you can't really call a tanguero in New York or London or Sydney a milonguero, because he hasn't had time to be one, even if his culture allowed it. Most foreign tangueros are professional men with real careers and families and even if there were milongas all night long every night where they live, they probably wouldn't spend all their time dancing at them.

But nowadays, because the best dancers tend to be the ones who have danced the longest, the true milonguero is getting old, disappearing and unfortunately dying off. The modern world doesn't seem to have a place or time for a young man to loiter every night in tango halls, learning by watching the older men. And perhaps today's young men are not inclined to spend years waiting to be great dancers. So they take classes, and after a couple years of classes, they teach classes, because there is always someone who knows less than they do. And then they enter competitions to get a name, and then they take teaching engagements in other countries and are always touring, rarely are they in the milongas of Buenos Aires. No matter what style they say they dance, these men are not milongueros.

Today, to be politically correct, especially when the country's president is a woman, some people talk about milongueras, the female counterpart to the milonguero. But there really is no such thing. A woman hanging out in dance halls every night, meeting, flirting and dancing with strange men, has another name, and it has nothing to do with tango. So the correct term for a woman who dances tango is tanguera.

If you see a guy wearing this shirt, he is not a milonguero.

As times change, as the tango changes, as the milonguero viejo dies off, certainly the meaning of the word will also change. But while we still have real and true milongueros, men who grew up in the milongas and learned and followed the codigos and spent their lives dancing, let's not throw the word around lightly. A few decades ago it was an insult; now it is a compliment, and who knows what it will mean in the future. But while we still have the real live deal in our Buenos Aires milongas, let's save the term for them.

Milongueando en Bariloche!

Ruben and I just returned from a fabulous week of nature and clean air, good food and relaxation in Patagonia.

But the first thing we did in San Carlos de Bariloche was to go to a milonga!

It's held downstairs in the Casino on Sundays, and the night we were there, there was live music from the Bariloche Tango Trio.

A glamorous atmosphere

Milongueros generally aren't that crazy about dancing to live music, because as in this case, valses are mixed with milongas and all sorts of tangos, and there were no tandas as such. Still, this group played very well--especially the violinist. A pleasure to listen to, if a bit difficult to dance to for some. The cabeceo doesn't exist there either.

We danced and had fun, and folks came up to us to ask if we were from Buenos Aires. I had a Caipirinha cocktail, whoo hoo!! (I do miss my cocktails, living in BsAs)

The fabulous violinist

Time to go--big day tomorrow!

The lobby poster

 We were disappointed that there were not more milongas to attend while we were in town, but at least there was this one. It's the "off season" in Bariloche, but anyway, it's not a Mecca for tango. We spent the rest of the week enjoying many of the other attractions that Patagonia has to offer. And I can't wait to go back! Not for the tango but for the natural beauty. (More about our trip coming soon.)

The Universe Speaks!

Anyone who knows me is aware that I am so not a New-Ager, or Self-Helper, or Pie-in-the-Sky Pollyanna. Well, I'm not. I don't read my horoscope, or seldom anyway, or check my chakras, or anything similar. Well ok, I wish on my birthday candles and the chicken wishbone (we don't have whole turkeys here.)





Otherwise I am a conservative and spiritual practicing Anglican/Lutheran, just as I am a conservative and traditional tango dancer.

But I do listen to the Universe every day when it sends me notes.
And the other day it sent me a tango note, yes it did. Maybe you got one too?

Not only are you now dreaming, Cherie, but you're adored. And not only are you adored, but you're guided. A lot,     The Universe

"LEFT, Cherie! LEFT, NOW!!"    (You can sign up for your own Notes here: © www.tut.com ®) And all along I'd been thinking I was only following my partner's leads! In tango, I think we need to "dream" more and release control to our Guide, who adores us for the three minutes we are in the embrace. We women are guided by our partners, and you men are guided by the music and your dreams. And all of us by the Universe! Ain't it grand?

Tango Gods Part 2

I too had my idol growing up as a tango dancer during the last 15 years. Living in L.A. and traveling a lot in those days in order to dance, I took classes with many of the "greats" in Los Angeles and at festivals around the world. I even hosted an "idol" in my home for 4 days before I had to ask him to leave because of his behavior -- no respect for me, the tango, or his students.

The only one I really learned from, the one I respected the most, was Carlos Gavito. He danced the way I felt about the music (like Ruben does.) For me, as a dancer he was without equal. Completely dedicated to the tango, he was a marvelous stage performer as well as social dancer. But he didn't put on airs; what you saw was what you got.

Everyone knew that he had a woman, or two, in every city Forever Tango played. He was open about that as well. He used to say he was married to the tango, which is a cliché perhaps, but so true for so many people.

Whenever he was in Los Angeles, I took his group classes and privates. After a point, he told me that I didn't need any more lessons, nor should I bother with attending local milongas; I should just save my money and go as often as possible to Buenos Aires. I really appreciated his honesty, and respected him not only as an elegant dancer, but as a person. He didn't act superior or all-knowing, as well he could have, and his conversation (always in French with me, for some reason) was sophisticated, funny, and interesting.

Even when he was sick near the end of his life, he still went to the milongas although he didn't dance much socially any more. But it was obvious that the milonga was where he felt at home. I saw him in Gricel, El Beso, La Catédral, La Viruta, Nino Bien--always friendly, warm, respectful, nice, a real caballero. I can't imagine him doing any of the gross, stupid things that I've seen other "famosos" do in public.

To me, Carlos Gavito was a "tango god," who I will always respect in my memory as someone who loved the tango above all else (including money), and who taught me and shared that love of tango with me and all the world.

I didn't know him that well, and I'm sure there are all kinds of tales about him. But compared to the "idols" I wrote about in my last post, those famous dancers who have let fame and fortune go to their heads and are not humble in the presence of the tango or the students who pay them, Gavito was The Man, and always will be for me.

Hero Worship/False Idols

In every field there are famous folks who have become cult figures, from rock 'n roll, to fashion, to sports, to science, to TV, etc.

Tango is among the worst, because everyone has his own style/preference/ideas of how to dance. "You dance who you are," means that there is not just one way to dance, thank goodness. But searching for the right way for YOU to dance can be like following the Holy Grail with one wrong turn after another; like trailing after glamour stars of tango, hoping some of the glitter will fall on you by propinquity.

Students and wannabees look often for quick fixes and "Argentine Tango in 10 Easy Lessons." One of our students told us about a "tango boot camp" in their country where you can learn to dance tango "well" in a weekend or even one day!

Well, sorry to disappoint, but this can't happen. Tango takes its time. I don't care who your teachers are or what they promise before you plunk down your money or how many hours you practice in a weekend; you've got to put in your time. Tango has to "cook" within you.

Often because of media fame or cults of personalities, some dancers are worshiped, not so much for what they do (which can be good or bad or several degrees in between) but who they are. Generally these are dancers who tour outside of Argentina, either performing and/or giving workshops.

The great social dancers of Buenos Aires just dance night after night in the milongas; they don't speak English, they have never left Argentina, no one has starred them in a movie, they haven't won or even entered tango contests, and they haven't danced in a stage show.

When hero worship makes cult personalities of tango dancers, it's usually because of marketing; the media and especially YouTube can make a star of anyone. But if all you know of a person is what you are told by advertising, and what you read/see on the internet or at long distance in a huge tango workshop, perhaps that person doesn't deserve the gifts lavished on them when foreigners bribe them to rub elbows during their trips to Buenos Aires from lands far away. And even more to the point, do not deserve adoration.

I guess I'm getting somewhat cynical after so many years of working with tango, and above all, observing what goes on. Foreign dancers wine and dine the objects of their hero affection, and spend a boatload of plata on private lessons and buying drinks in the milongas, and always paying the taxi. That's fine, really; the foreign dancer gets what he wants--a little prestige to hobnob with the famous and an ability to name drop, and the Tango Star gets free meals, gifts, and more hours of private lessons. There's nothing wrong with that; it can be a friendly recognition that the visiting students probably can afford to do those things more than the locals. The problem begins when it turns to hero worship, when the star can do no wrong on or off the pista.

It's always been hard to separate the dancer from the dance. But worshiping false idols by throwing money at them, especially when the person involved is an extremely bad example of how to behave--meaning not following common rules of etiquette and not being a caballero (yes, I'm referring here especially to men), makes everything bad for everyone except the "hero" who is getting rich off of a false reputation of being a fabulous dancer, teacher, and a perfect person.

I have had occasion to know well a couple of famous touring tango dancers/teachers and they both made fun in private conversations of the foreigners they profited from.

We've all heard the story of Pablo Veron's fisticuffs with a woman at a New York milonga.

And the extremely famous contest winner who socked a woman in the eye when she inadvertently nudged him on the dance floor as he was walking to his table. She had to ice her face and leave the milonga. Ruben and I were dancing right next to this incident in Los Consagrados about a year ago. This is the same famous dancer who announced to his table of friends that no foreigner could ever dance like an Argentine--and he makes his living off of teaching foreigners.

I've heard about the really bad attitude of a famous dancing couple while giving workshops in Australia--leaving the room, paying attention only to each other, etc.

And tales of many male tango teachers seducing their hostesses while being housed for workshops.

Is this professional behavior? Is this worthy of adoration? Or is it all part of the Tango Game?

Some dancers haven't a clue how to teach. Some can't handle the fame and fortune that came to them late in life. Some are just "bad" people who can dance well. And some are ego maniacs with no respect for those who respect them.

But there's something a bit "immoral" about worshiping so-called heroes who behave badly. We can admire their talent--the way they play football or golf, or the way they dance. And that is what should be appreciated, not the whole package of a low-down rude, haughty, superior s.o.b.

Famous tango dancers are famous mainly due to good luck and marketing. If you like the way someone dances, by all means study how they dance. But don't waste your adoration on folks who probably would not take you to the E.R. at 2:00 a.m., especially if you were no longer paying them for privates or inviting them to restaurants.

You can have good professional relationships with your tango teachers and you can have good friends. Only rarely are they one and the same (yet it can and does happen.)

In the States, everyone is our "friend." "I'd like to introduce my friend, Bill," you say to Norm, but you've only known Bill a day. We all have many "friends." In Spanish they differentiate between "amigo" and "conocido," which I think is a great thing to do. In English we rarely use "acquaintance," because everyone is our "friend."

Maybe it's time to think who really is our friend and who is our tango teacher and who is such a perfect person he/she is worthy of worship.