The Last of 2015 and the First of 2016

New Year's Eve at Sueno Porteno at Club Gricel in Buenos Aires...one dresses in white (at least most of us), brings a little something to eat, and awaits 2016 with food, champagne and tango. Not a bad combination. Julia (Pugliese) Doynel organizes the celebration, and yours truly sat at one of her 'reserved' tables. It is not the normal kind of 'milonga' where dancing is the 'raison d'etre' and agua con o sin gas the drink of choice. New Year's Eve, men and women mingle, friends sit with friends, and the order of the night is: food first, line up at the bar to get champagne (serving staff has the night off to celebrate with family) and then dance tango.

 

 

Gracias...the Leitmotif for all of Julia's milongas. Julia's philosophy is to give thanks to life for everything it brings.

Club Gricel...festive tables and a line up for purchases from the bar

The 'usual suspects' enjoying a sociable evening and night

Cutting La Torta

Ladies and Gentlemen, papusas y guapos, raise your glasses, the countdown has begun....
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-0 - Happy New Year!

No tango, but a bit of crazy conga after the 'brindis' to bring in the New Year.

Eduardo, the remisero designate (designated taxi driver) who transported me back home by 1 a.m. - I was too tired to stick it out until 6 a.m. when the milonga officially would come to an end - with hot croissants compliments of the house.

White upon White

Unos de Los Angelitos en blanco

First Classes of Tango in 2016, why not head for the Galeria Pacifico, the famous shopping centre of th Calle Florida in Buenos Aires. It houses the Escuela Argentina de Tango (NEAT) on the second floor, under glass topped light filled 'galleries'.

NEAT acts like a mini 'university' for tango, teaching all disciplines and varieties of this art form. Many of the best known and respected teachers give regular classes (drop in as well as intensive workshops) according to a monthly fixed schedule.

Not only it the tango school situated here, but the four 'branches' of the upper story of this beautiful building house the 'Centro Cultural Borges' which dedicates the space to various ever changing exhibitions of local (or foreign) artists. One of the exhibitions presently shows work by Korda, the man made famous by his portrait of Che.

Who does not know this photo....

Very few people probably know anything about the rest of his work....

Of course, on Korda's visit to Buenos Aires in 1997, he did what most of us do at least once when we are here...dance tango in the street.

Another arm of the building exhibited works by a local artist - Pablo Kontos, who seemed to be taken by images of various pets and domestic animals.

cats

and dogs

...and horses

An example of a third exhibition of photographs....

Shopping at the Galeria Pacifico

Galeria Pacifico...interior second floor windows...

Elina Roldan, during her milonga con traspie class.
I actually attended two classes, one teaching Canyengue (with Manolo Gallego, still teaching at 83 years young) and one with Elina....3 hours intensive total

 I headed for Cine Lorca, a distance of a few blocks of walking in the heat on Avenida Corrientes.
Once I reached the entrance....I found the cinema closed due to 'corte de luz' - no lights, no cameras, no action. One of so many heat wave related electrical outages that plague the city with annoying frequency. Not so much a problem for cinemas, except the loss of audience, but for the regular citizens who try and deal with no elevators, no air conditioning, no fridges, no open stores in the vicinity...and all that in over 30 degree heat.

 

 Un Tango Mas, my movie of choice, telling the story of tango icons Copes and Nieves, has to wait for another day.

 

Happy New Year....all 365 Days of it!