Dancing in Buenos Aires

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After arriving in Buenos Aires, on March 4, we immediately took up residence at the Casa Maria Tango and got swept up in various festivities. I feel sometimes like this is a river that I jump into when I come here. There is always something happening -- someone is leaving, or someone is arriving, or it's someone's birthday, or we're all going dancing .... it's wonderful and exhausting at the same time. Sometimes I just have to say "no more parties" and rest!

After a successful trip to the US embassy in the morning to order my new passport, we returned to the house and had a tango lesson, then a goodbye party for a couple from Barcelona, Gloria and Miguel. They danced an interesting kind of tango that they called "Tango Deportivo" i.e. "Sporty Tango."

On Wed Mar 5, we had another tango lesson with Cacho in the morning, with a focus on posture and technique. We bought some groceries and fixed lunch here, then went to an afternoon milonga at “Salon Canning” in Palermo.

I'm getting lots of opportunities to dance. I'm learning how to negotiate the "cabeceo" or how to make eye contact with a potential dance partner from across the room.
http://www.easytango.com/dance/Cabeceo

In the dances here, men do not ask women to dance directly. Rather, people make eye contact, hold it, then raise eyebrows and nod if they want to dance. They meet on the dance floor. It's hard to learn to do this accurately and everyone makes mistakes at first -- thinking that they've been asked, when actually it's the person behind them. Very embarrassing! The trick is to not get up until the man approaches and you can really be sure that he's asking YOU to dance!

I love the "Milonguero" style that is danced here.
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~tango/Articles/2004_Milonguero.pdf

It's much less flashy than the salon style that many people in the US and Europe dance. It's much more about the connection between the partners and interpretation of the music. You have to get used to being very close because the milonguera style is danced chest to chest. Also the dance floor tends to be incredibly crowded.

Here is a Youtube clip of a demonstration of Milonguero Tango in the Salon Canning where we danced this week. http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzh-accjq1M

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Photos

Fiesta!
Casa Maria Tango, (l to r) Daniela, the secretary, Niki, a guest from Australia, Cacho, our tango teacher, and Miguel, a guest from Barcelona.

Farewell to Gloria and Miguel
We drank champagne and ate hors d'oevres.

Tango Deportivo
Gloria and Miguel demonstrated their favorite style of Tango.

More tango deportivo
It's hard to capture it in still photos ...

Comments

[Rocio]

Thanks for the cultural lesson!
Hola, Muchas gracias por la leccion cultural! Fue muy interesante leer como un hombre le pregunta a una mujer para bailar... en algunas partes de Mexico tambien asi lo hacen! It is hard and it feels very awkward and it is very embarrasing... I remember that! Thank God that I forgot about this. Remember, keep smiling and be willing to make mistakes... this will take you so long... Big hug, Rocio

[catherine crain]

Hola Rocio!
Que placer leer tu comentario! Espero que todo te vaya bien! Besos -- Catherine