Lo de Celia Tango Club

The space was formerly known as Re-Fa-Si (which was named after the tango by Enrique Delfino). In fact, Marina Palmer mentions dancing at Re-Fa-Si in her book, “Kiss & Tango,” on page 111. I danced at Re-Fa-Si for the last time in January 2000, just before it closed due to the death of the owner.

Celia Blanco took over the space and spent months renovating it for her grand opening on July 14, 2000. I lived three blocks away on Virrey Cevallos and Carlos Calvo at the time, so I went to dance as many as four nights a week. At first, Celia’s was open only on the weekend, but eventually there were milongas on other nights.

I consider Lo de Celia my second home, and I know others who feel the same way. The staff sets this milonga apart from all others. Claudio is the security guard at the street door. Mario collects the entradas. Olga, his wife, manages the coat checkroom. Dario greets everyone and controls where everyone sits. Johnny and Rosario are the friendly waiters. Daniel Borelli is the best deejay of all the milongas in Buenos Aires. Silvia is the friendly attendant in the ladies’ room who takes care of everything. Celia is always there to make certain that everything runs smoothly.

I have a reserved table on Wednesdays in a corner next to the bar. It’s convenient to check with Daniel for the name of an orchestra, etc. Here’s the view from my table. The two men seated in front of the bar are Roberto Angel Pujol (left) and Orlando (right, who died two years ago). Lo de Celia (corner of Humberto Primo and Entre Rios) is the place I enjoy dancing more than any milonga in Buenos Aires. And the best thing is it’s only nine blocks from my apartment.

 

 

Tags: milongas