Adios, maestro

I was browsing the internet yesterday morning to catch up on tango events in the city when I read “Adios, maestro” with a photo of pianist Emilio de la Peña.  I gasped and was stunned for a moment.  Yet another member of Café de los Maestros has left us. 

As I write this post I am listening to one of Emilio’s compact discs.  It’s the one I heard every Sunday morning at Tango nada más in Chicago after the milonga had ended around 4:00.  Thanks to Bob Dronski for introducing me to this master pianist’s album.  I never reached his level of playing, but I appreciated his perfection and style.  I bought a copy of Emilio’s first CD “Tango New Expresion” from Bob and played it regularly. 

I met Emilio after the awards ceremony in March 2008, when he and the other members of Café de los Maestros received certificates for their participation in the best tango album of 2006 which won a Latin Grammy.  He said he didn’t consider himself a pianist because he worked in industrial machine design most of his life.  He introduced me to his wife and children in front of the Academia del Tango and gave me his card. 

A few months later I learned that Emilio was playing solo piano at Jazz & Pop, a tiny club in downtown Buenos Aires.  I was the first to arrive and seated myself where I could watch Emilio’s hands on the keyboard.  He invited a female singer for a few numbers with him.  He played several of the arrangements I know so well from his album.  What a privilege it was to be in the room while he played.

In February I learned that Emilio was doing a series of Sunday concerts in March at Notorious.  It was the music he recorded for his final compact disc, “Este tango es otra historia,” which has been recorded but not produced as yet because he didn’t have the financial resources.  I regret not attending one of those Sunday evening concerts. 

Emilio studied piano from an early age, but had to go to work in difficult times.  Finally when he retired at 66, he dedicated himself to tango, teaching, and recording.  Last month, the city council recognized him as an outstanding personality in tango culture.  He was scheduled to perform at the Festival Buenos Aires Tango in August.  www.delapena.com.ar

Emilio may have been scheduled to appear with Café de los Maestros in London on June 26, but he suffered a heart attack last week and was hospitalized at the time of his death.  He was almost 80 years old.

Tango’s icon

Carlos Gardel is synonymous with tango to porteños.  He was born December 11, 1890, in Toulouse, France and arrived in Buenos Aires with his mother Berta Gardés in 1893.  They lived in various neighborhoods.  From 1925-1926, Gardel rented an apartment on the second floor at Rincon 137 in Balvanera, about a block from Café de los Angelitos on Av. Rivadavia, where he lived with his girlfriend Isabel del Valle.  His last residence was the house at Jean Jaurés 735,  now the Museo Casa Carlos Gardel, in the Abasto neighborhood which he bought in 1926, and lived with his mother. 

Gardel was also a dancer.  The details of his death on the airfield in Medellín, Colombia are varied.  Many will be gathering today at his tomb in Chacarita Cemetary to pay their respects to Carlitos, who died June 24, 1935.

Club de Tango

During my first visit to Buenos Aires in 1996, our tango tour group was taken on a special tour of tango sites by Oscar Himschoot.  I remember that the Palais de Glace in Recoleta, where young porteños danced in the 1920s, was one of our stops.  During another trip in 1997, I visited Oscar’s tiny office on Paraná in San Nicolas from which he edited his monthly magazine Club de Tango and fulfilled orders for books, scores, and compact discs from tangueros around the world.  The two-room office contains posters, cards, DVDs, CDs, books, sheet music, and Club de Tango magazines.

Oscar was working on compiling a book of milonga lyrics.  He completed it before his death in 2005, but it hasn’t been published.  His wife and granddaughter have that project in hand.  Oscar found approximately 1,500 milongas for his book. 

There are others  like Oscar Himschoot who love tango so much that they continually investigate it.  One has to step outside the milonga in order to find them.

One of Oscar’s most popular books is El tango: la pasión del 2 x 4.  Ediciones La Llave S.A. printed 100,000 copies of this 80-page booklet in 2000.  I bought it recently at Club de Tango, along with the book he co-authored with Ricardo Ostuni: Los Cafes de La Avenida de Mayo.  The former has 19 chapters giving a brief synopsis of tango’s origens, the bandoneon, lunfardo (one of Oscar’s favorite subjects), the first tangos, the singers, the 1940s, the tango in movies, etc. 

I had been searching years in book stores for El Tango en la sociedad porteña 1880-1920 without success.  After attending a lecture by Dr. Emilio Santabaya in May and hearing how highly he recommended the book, I set out to find it.  The publisher Hector Lucci listed Club de Tango as the source.  I went for a visit and requested a copy.  Two days later, Oscar’s wife Hilda called that she had obtained the book for me.  It has been published in larger print by Abrazos Books, although it hasn’t been translated to English.  I admit that I was stunned by the size of the book, but the larger type font meant more pages.  It is the definitive work on the early history of tango taken from public records by Hugo Lamas and Enrique Binda. 

You can visit Club de Tango at www.clubdetango.com.ar and when you are in Buenos Aires.  Hilda is there from noon to 6:00 to personally attend to customers.

Ten commandments of milongueros

After ten years of listening to men who are married to the milonga, I have compiled what I believe to be the ten commandments of milongueros.

1.  Thou shalt always dress well.  A milonguero bathes and shaves before the milonga. A pressed suit, clean shirt and tie are his uniform. Trimmed hair, shined shoes, and scent of cologne complete his attire for the milonga.

2.  Thou shalt dance one’s own style.  A milonguero is a self-taught dancer with his own style, who can dance elegantly with any woman and make her happy.  A milonguero has learned by observing others, but he never copied them.  

3.  Thou shalt dance well or not at all.  If there is no woman with whom he can dance his best, a milonguero is content to listen to the music and observe the dancing.

4.  Thou shalt dance for yourself and your partner.  A milonguero dances what he feels and transmits that feeling to his partner.  He doesn’t dance to perform or for applause.

5.  Thou shalt treat women with respect.  A milonguero never approaches a woman at her table nor greets women while entering the milonga. 

6.  Thou shalt invite a woman to dance from the table.  A milonguero uses either a tilt of the head or movement of the lips to invite a woman to dance.  The invitation is subtle and not obvious to others in the milonga.  Once his invitation is refused by a woman, he will not invite her again.

7.  Thou shalt not dance with another man’s partner.  A milonguero takes time to observe the floor for several tandas so that he knows if a woman he wants to invite has a commitment with another man.  This is not always obvious since they are seated separately, but dance only with one another.  A milonguero has learned patience.

8.  Thou shalt dance in the floor space available.  A milonguero dances compactly without interfering with others dancing.  If he touches other dancers, he quickly acknowledges it by raising his hand. 

9.  Thou shalt not dance consecutive tandas.  A milonguero dances only when he is inspired by the music.  He can wait hours to hear his favorite orchestra or a certain tanda that inspires him to dance.  A milonguero prefers quality over quantity. 

10. Thou shalt not be seen leaving the milonga with a woman.  A milonguero arranges to meet a woman on the street.  He always leaves the milonga alone, just as he enters it.

Roles in tango

Adriana Pegorer presented her investigation, Performing Gender: Tango in the Milongas of Buenos Aires, in a video conference for Body, Movement and Dance in Global Perspective, Hong Kong in July 2008.  Her presentation in three parts is recommended viewing to understand the cultural surrounding tango in Buenos Aires.  I found it interesting.

Clara Raquel Lamdan

December 24, 1939 — April 26, 2009

She was known in the tango world as Kely.  She looked as good as ever the last time I saw her  in Centro Region Leonesa when we had a conversation during the first anniversary of Atilio’s milonga in February.  I was so happy to see her.

Here is a nice video tribute  compiled by Alberto Paz.

Kely and Tito Palumbo (La Trastienda, April 1998)

Club del Vino

A tango dancer from Europe encouraged me not to miss the concert on Saturday nights at Club del Vino.  It was 1997 during my third visit to Buenos Aires.  I found another foreign woman who was interested in joining me, so I went to get half-price tickets the afternoon of the concert.  In those days, it was thirty dollars for the concert not thirty pesos.  We were both on a budget. 

We arrived before the starting time of 22hs. and were pleasantly surprised to be seated all the way down in front at the edge of the stage.  These were the best seats in the house for us.  We could see the musicians up close, smiling back at us during the concert.  And what a concert it was.

Today, while rummaging through some old files, I came across the program I saved from that memorable night in September 1997 at Club del Vino in Palermo. 

Nestor Marconi has been in charge of directing the Orquesta Escuela del Tango Emilio Balcarce since Balcarce retired for the second time two years ago.  His son Leandro is following in his footsteps playing tango on piano.

Nelly Omar is 98 and gave a concert at Luna Park at the beginning of May.  She was the muse of Homero Manzi.

Antonio Agri is gone, but his legacy remains in the hands of his son Pablo who continues in his father’s tradition on violin. 

Horacio Salgan was last seen on stage when Café de los Maestros performed in Teatro Colon in August 2006.  He’s in his 90s and has passed the torch to his son César who has released a compact disc of his father’s unpublished piano works: Raras Partituras. 

I’m glad I took that dancer’s advice and attended the concert.  Club del Vino is closed.  Salgan no longer performs.  Agri is gone.  It was a night I will remember with tango’s greats.

Carlos Anzuate

Delsa Cerallo, Margarite Guille, Carlos Anzuate (photo B.A. Tango)

May 21, 1930 –

Carlos called to invite me to his birthday celebration this Saturday at Club Glorias Argentinas in Mataderos.  He still manages to go dancing on the weekend with his partner of more than twenty years, Delsa (aka “Porota”), even though she can dance no more.  They were Saturday night regulars at Club Bailable Juvenil, and their photo was prominently displayed on the wall.  He and Porota have known each other for more than 60 years.

Carlos grew up in the neighborhood of Almagro and learned to dance from an early age by observing others at family parties.  Boys had to graduate to wearing long pants before they could attend dances at 18.  Carlos went to the first Club Almagro located on Gascón between Sarmiento and Cangallo (now named Tte. Gral. Juan D. Peron), before the second Club Almagro on Medrano organized dances for which it became famous.  He also danced at Club Oeste, Club Atlanta, and Club Buenos Aires. 

I have danced only once with Carlos.  He invited me to dance jazz with him at Glorias Argentinas in March.  Maybe he’ll invite me again on Saturday. 

Contrary to what a famous website on milongueros says about Carlos, he is not related to Facundo Posadas.  He told me so himself.

¡Basta de planchar!

When it comes to sitting all night without being asked to dance in the milongas, these are the familiar words heard from many women.  There are usually more women than men in the milongas, and usually there are men seated during tandas–something women don’t understand.

There was a time when attending group classes before a milonga was the only way to meet potential partners for the milonga.  During the past several years, agencies have sprung up in Buenos Aires for the sole purpose of supplying male partners to mainly single women over 40 to dance in the milongas.  The going rate is $30 USD per hour for a minimum of three hours per night for a hired dance partner. The women don’t have to worry about the cabeceo and can spend more time dancing than sitting.  One of these experienced tango taxi dancers averages 20 clients each month.  That’s a very good income by local standards.  A man can work five nights a week and fewer hours than a regular job, but still earn enough to have a comfortable living.  All he needs is to know how to dance, have a wardrobe of suits and shoes, and speak some broken English to get by.

Foreigners travel to Buenos Aires to dance with Argentines.  The number of tourists in some milongas often outnumber the locals.  Some have chosen the taxi dancer route to insure they will dance with an Argentine.  It must be worthwhile because a new agency opened last year and another one this month.

I’ve seen a particular taxi dancer working for the past three years in the milongas.  His dancing is passable, but has clients who continue to pay for his services.  I saw him this week with one of his regular clients.  They sit together, but it’s obvious to everyone that they are not a couple; she may be thirty years older than he is, she seems content in dancing all night with him. 

I have tried to convince my milonguero friends to consider this work for themselves without success.  Many could certainly use the money.  They would have to dance with women with whom they didn’t enjoy dancing.  It’s simply not worth it to them.  They go to the milongas to dance with whom and when they want to dance.  Milongueros don’t want to share a table with a woman, least of all a foreign one.  It would be obvious to everyone that they are being hired for their services.  No amount of money is worth it to them.

The foreign women who sit at my table have no problem in being invited to dance.  I advise them on the codes and customs in advance and point out potential partners.  It’s their job to do the rest in order to dance.  I will not obligate any man to dance with someone, although others do so regularly.

Many equate not dancing to having a bad time at a milonga.  Of course, I attend a milonga with the intention to dance.  If there are no men with whom I care to dance, I enjoy listening to the music.  I have done my share of planchar (to sit out a dance) at milongas.  One tanda with a milonguero is more than enough to keep me happy for the night.

Once upon a time . . .

Women didn’t undress at the table in a milonga.  Nor did they apply makeup, arrange their hair, or change their shoes for all to see.  They once entered a milonga as a theater, where everyone made an entrance at the door. 

Two nights ago, I saw a young foreign woman escorted to her table during a tanda.  She carried a backpack and wore lots of clothing for the cooler weather.  She peeled off a jacket.  Then she removed a sweater over her head.  She was oblivious to those around her.  She was about fifteen steps from the ladies’ room where she could have gone to change, packed away her clothes, but instead she changed her clothes in a cramped space at the table.  She wore high black leather boots and then removed her socks.  Women on either side of her returned to the table while she was in the process of putting on her shoes while bending over.   I watched the whole process in amazement.  No one pointed her in the direction of the ladies’ room.  I wanted to ask her if she saved valuable time getting dressed at the table rather than in private. 

Those who play tennis or golf would never change their shoes on the court or course–they do that in the locker room.  Actors and performers change into costume in a dressing room. 

The milongas in Buenos Aires no longer have the atmosphere of elegance and formality they did ten years ago.  Once upon a time, there was respect for others who went to dance.  Everyone was well-dressed because they had respect for the tango.  The fantasy of the milonga has been washed away by the flood of tourism.