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)

P.S. July 6, 2009: I was watching the documentary film, Tango: un giro extraño by Mercedes Garcia Guevara last night which includes a scene with Kely and her student at a tango shoe shop.  It was an unexpected surprise to discover Kely in the film.

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 Alberto 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 wife of more than twenty years, Eufemi Delsa (aka “Porota”), even though she can no longer dance .  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 Club 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 an uncle of 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.

Antonio Busto

September 29, 1936  –

I took this photo of Antonio at Salón El Pial in December 2003. Yesterday I seized a moment in Plaza Bohemia to ask about his life in tango.

Antonio started dancing when he was 14 or 15 years old, practicing with other boys in the neighborhood. His favorite orchestras are Anibal Troilo (with Fiorentino) and Osvaldo Pugliese. It difficult to talk about the milongas without making comparisons about the way they were and the way they are today with so many foreigners. His says there is so much mediocrity in the milongas. He mentioned the places he went to dance in his younger years: Club Buenos Aires, Club Oeste, Club Premier, Club Social Rivadavia, and Palacio Rivadavia. Everyone danced well in Club Buenos Aires, his favorite place. He is sorry to see men wearing zapatillas in the milongas. Although he says that many foreigners dance well, they are completely changing the milongas of Buenos Aires.

Throughout last night, I enjoyed watching Antonio on the floor, dancing simply and being in the moment with his partners.

Quiere tomar un café?

For those of you who need a translation of the above, it says: Do you want to have coffee?  This is a question in the milongas worth an explanation for those of you who haven’t yet visited Buenos Aires.

You have danced more than a couple tandas with the same man.  It is getting close to the end of the milonga.  You have been engaging in brief conversation between dances about the music, etc.  Since you understand the language somewhat, he decides to see if he can take things a bit further by inviting you for coffee.  You are flattered that a man who you just met for the first time wants to invite you for coffee.  You don’t have any plans after the milonga, so what’s the big deal?

You accept his invitation at the end of a tanda.  He tells you he will meet you outside on the street corner.  You feel that’s a strange way to meet him. Afterall, he seems interested in getting to know you, so why won’t he be a gentleman, wait for you to change your shoes in the ladies’ room, and then walk out with you?

Ladies, a man who invites you for coffee is inviting you for more than just coffee.  You need to learn about Argentine men and why they go to the milongas.  In a previous posting, I explained how three tandas with the same man to means you are together or at least interested.  If you continue dancing all night long with the same man, he is going to interpret that you are interested in something more. You shouldn’t be surprised when he invites you for coffee or dinner after the milonga.  It can start there and go as far as you want it to go.

When two people agree to leave the milonga together, they do so as discreetly as possible.  The man returns to his table, pays his bill, and walks out of the milonga to wait for her around the corner, away from the entrance to the milonga.  She waits until he has left the premises so that they aren’t seen walking out together.  She goes to the designated meeting spot, which could be the corner to take a taxi to another location.

My partner and I had a similar arrangement on Friday nights at the beginning of our relationship.  We arrived alone at the milonga.  We sat separately in the milonga.  We danced with others.  He sat at a table with other milongueros.  At the end of the night, we decided when we had danced enough.  He walked out of Club Gricel and waited for me to arrive at the corner before we went to his car.  Anyone who paid attention could see that we were leaving at the same time, but we didn’t walk out together.  After several weeks of seeing us dancing together, it was obvious that we were a couple. 

If you find yourself interested in having coffee after a milonga, you now know the rules.

Tango trance

This word has been used to describe a state of mind which tango dancers experience.  If they haven’t found it, they seek it.  If they have, they want it all the time.  They talk about a feeling of floating or not knowing where they are.   Tango dancing has become an addiction or obsession to many for this reason.  It provides many with an experience or connection that they haven’t found in other activities in life.

A few years ago I was going to dance tango regularly and had the opportunity to listen to a variety of orchestras and become familiar with them.  The right combination of tanda and partner could result in a divine feeling of pleasure by surrendering to the moment. At times I was glad that my partner was there to guide me back to my table. I had my eyes closed so as not to be distracted by those around us.  I wanted to concentrate and feel what my partner felt in the music. I never felt I was in a trance.  I wanted to be present. 

Tango requires us to be in the present moment with our partner.  If we are distracted or allow our minds to wander, we aren’t present.  And our partners can feel it.  It is a discipline in a way, a different level of awareness that we can bring to tango that we don’t necessarily have in the course of busy lives.  We can develop our level of presence when we dance in an embrace. 

If we feel disconnected from life in general, tango brings a different perspective.  We can’t avoid connecting in the embrace and being present in the moment.  This isn’t a trance–it’s being in a state of awareness.  We can take that awareness to everything we do.

__________

trance: a hypnotic state resembling sleep in which a person is unable to move or act of his or her own will.

Ten-minute relationship

The milonga is where men and women can meet for the first time without introduction. Tango is the main agenda.  It begins with a glance across the room. Eyes meet. Heads nod. Two embrace one another for a ten-minute relationship and then part.

Tango offers a way to know others first with a hug.  Talking about what we do, where we live, etc. isn’t important.  The body expresses everything.  We even get to know ourselves better.  Tango changes us.

Tango is a temporary relationship that requires trust.  We agree to those terms whether we know it or not.  We open our heart to a stranger.  We can be changed by the experience.  We can feel something deep in our soul.

No other dance can compare with tango.