Finally a little relief from the heat. Buenos Aires is experiencing on of those common 'unusual' weather patterns, most of the world seems to see now: here in the summery south - a cold wave!!! Morning temperatures in Buenos Aires at 11 degrees (almost feels like British Columbia), and the Beach Resort of La Plata is down to 5 degrees. Not so good for all the vacationers, who stay away from the water in droves. All the breach huts are empty, nobody around, and whoever braves the elements does so dressed in Winnipeg Style clothing.
No problem, great weather for tango...as one does not have to worry about steaming dance halls.
After recuperating from the aftermath of flying forever, and doing a bit of jet lagging, time to get down to business: Tango!
For a warm up I went to Confiteria Ideal, for a lesson with Pablo Nievas y Valeria Zunino. Mostly visited by beginners, however, the teachers have quite a demanding set of dance exercises which even challenge a somewhat more advanced dancer. So, a good introduction to the local scene....in more ways than one.
The class participants were mostly beginners, as was obvious by the prevalence of rubber soled sneakers (useless for tango) and a lot of flying lower limbs.
Half way through the class, an obviously pretty well know dancer joined in, who was greeted with delight by the teachers. Seems that this young chap sometimes assists with the lessons.
Well, one look by yours truly, and the poor guy had no chance...he was the only good dancer in sight - apart from Pablo and Valeria, the teachers.
I was assigned to this young Adonis by the teacher...and the basic lesson material went by the wayside. This young man and I just nudged the dance level ever higher.
Young (mid twenties) Arturo, that is his name, comes from Brazil, but speaks Spanish perfectly, was not only pleased but positively delighted to dance something more but the basic 2x4 of tango. Well, so was I.
Lithe and smooth, long black hair in a ponytail down to the waist, liquid brown eyes, polite and respectful as can be toward an elderly lady...and a great dancer. Very much adhering to the formal etiquette of tango, he asked 'con permiso' each time a dance started.
So, my first outing onto the Tango Scene turned out to be pretty good. Apart from getting my watch band caught in the thick black hair of his long ponytail and pulling a few strand out at every ocho, we glided through caminatas, ochos, saccadas, forward ganchos, barridas, voleos, molinos and whatever combination thereof with great aplomb. My 'adornos' passed muster, but the teachers made me execute them with a little more 'umph' than my version.
With all that, I may have enough courage to visit El Beso tomorrow. El Beso is the newly re-opened Tango venue of rather demanding standards. One shall see.....
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| Pablo Nievas y Valeria Zunini in one of their publicity photos taken in Caminito in La Boca. These moves are NOT seen on a decent dance floor. |
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| Pablo and Valeria in one of their more showy dance moves... |
