Buildings on the opposite side of the street are mirrored in the multi story glassed Portal.
A food court, that rivals classic Belle Epoque palaces.
Toronto Eaton's Centre in Belle Epoque style without the geese....
But the secret treasure of this 'shopping centre' is the vast Centre Cultural Borges. It takes up the entire upper floors, around a central atrium (at the bottom of which is the food court) and
with several 'wings' of various theatres and exhibition halls, learning centres and galleries.
Who is Jorge Luis Borges (besides being the name of the street where I live in Buenos Aires)?
Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) was a half Jewish and half English Argentinian, educated in Europe. His writing was influenced by works of Cervantes, Kaftka, HG Wells and the Jewish Kabal. A mix between truth and myth, part essay, part story, his ficciones (fiction) is paradoxical and thought provocing. Some stories offer a metaphysical twist on Argentinian issues, many underline the idea of reality as perception, and present a world of multiple realities.
Part of his work has been translated into English (Death and the Compass, Streetcorner Man, Lottery of Babylon, The Circular Ruin). Through him Argentinian writing reached an international readership between 1960 and 1970.
He turned blind during his latter years.
Being a cat lover, a poem about the enigma of Cats...
Glass Roof of the Gallery Pacifico, where the Centre Cultural de Borges expands covered by crystalline arches.
A glass sculpture suspended from the centre cupola is so fine, that is is barely visible, except for the glints of reflected sunlight on hundreds of thin glass panels.
Strolling through one of the many halls, dedicated to various ever changing exhibits, I find an interesting version of a 'connected man'. We all know these little 'USB ports'...
The rodent of conflict...
City Dog...
City arteries?
Spectres behind a dwelling?
In another hall, a more whimsical exhibition, dedicated to 'we don't carry that size', a parody on body image, size, weight obsession, as well as obesity issues...
Here a scale, with the invitation of 'Step up' on the bottom, ice cream, do-nuts etc on the side, and 'Dare' in the weight indicator.
Rouge et Noir?
Senora X and Fear...
Fascinators..
Size matters, even in the choice of food bowls...
Painting of Peanuts...
Of course, there is a theatre for Tango Shows and Flamenco, with performances scheduled almost every night. Interesting to see how elegance of salon tango contrasts with provocativeness of show tango, dressed in nothing but body paint. Filete (the painting style) in motion...looks more like dressed curvy filet of veal maybe?
One wing of the uppermost floor is dedicated to the Escuela Argentino de Tango (www.eatango.org), strictly used for schooling with an extensive curriculum for recreational and professional tango dancers (show artists or teachers). The rooms are bare, except that walls are covered in mirrors as they are in a regular ballet school.
As I mostly travel with a pair of tango shoes sequestered in my bag, I took advantage of one of the classes scheduled at this time: Rythm and Leads - just right.
Here I am, first one to sign up, cooling my heels in an empty school room (everything here starts at least 15 minutes later than advertised).
Those mirrors are unforgiving....every mistake is obvious to one's own critical eyes. A step may FEEL as if correctly executed, however, the mirror does not accept that kind of self deception. Elegance of movement is an elusive goal, especially if aged legs neither look nor want to move like they did a few decades ago...
Well, one may hope for the time when technique mastery may veil some physical shortcomings. The door to learning is hardly ever closed for good...there is esperanca for improvement.
