Faces at a Milonga

Los Consagrados, dance venue at 'El Centro Leonesa' on Calle Humberto Primero in Buenos Aires, is where EVERYBODY meets sooner or later on a Saturday afternoon. The milonga starts at 4:30 p.m., when dancing is still possible as only Early Birds populate the tables spread around the best dance floor in Buenos Aires (no cracks) and take advantage of plenty of room to dance 'expansively'. By about 7 p.m. every table is taken and everybody dances; the dance floor feels like a vertical sardine can, where the art of bailar en la baldosa (dance within the space of a square foot)  is the major part of floor craft skills. No room for tango nuevo moves (which would result in multiple collisions and injuries) but good old 'tango salon' or 'tango para la pista' as it is called now. On this particular Saturday the floor happened to be particularly crowded, as the Tanturi Tango Orchestra was providing live music for the dancers.

Women always outnumber men by a large margin at this milonga. The women's section of the milonga seating is in four 'filas' (rows), of which the first one is always reserved for the regular local Portenas who occupy the same seat week after week, and year after year. At times a visitor may be able to occupy a front row seat, if the regular 'owner' is on vacation.

Cristina

Noelia

Ergo, being a visitor (even a frequent one) relegates me to the back forty, which at my height makes me 'invisible' for any 'cabeceos' from the male side of the room. I may just as well bring a matress and go to sleep under my table for the duration of the milonga.

Marcela

But, one is grateful for milonguero friends, who - once they discover one's whereabouts in the back row, come and ask one to dance anyway. In between tandas, lots of time to people watch, which particularly on Los Consagrados milonga is entertaining, educative and revealing.

So without further ado, here is a selection of Faces on the Dance Floor of Los Consagrados.

Nelda

Mario

From Japan

From Holland

Nigel

The longest pony tail on the dance floor, adorned with a rose...

Sonia

Rino

From Rumania

From Guadalupe

 

Not Teatro Colon but Catulo Tango

I do not visit tango shows in Buenos Aires, they are expensive, albeit exhibit great performances of  tango scenario (show tango) and are mostly geared to foreign tourists with deep pockets, who pass through the city for a day, and want to take in the 'authentic Buenos Aires tango scene'.
But I discovered one 'with a difference'. Tango Catulo on Calle Anchorena in Abasto, beside the shopping centre in the famous Gardel district, holds tango shows for tourists on the evenings, but on Sunday afternoons....the place turns into a pena folklorico with all the trimmings.
First one is treated to a three course luncheon (multiple choice main courses) accompanied by wine or 'gaseosas', and then the show begins: Live orchestra, folklorico singers, dancers, drummers and guitar/singing trios and - yes - a bit of tango as well. All of it of high quality - including the luncheon.
I happened to be the lone 'stranger' in the entire place, portenos and visitors from 'the provinces' reacted somewhat differently than an average tourist would to the lively show. People waved, shouted encouragement, whistled in support, sang and danced around the stage and in generally enjoyed themselves as only Argentinians can: they go all out. A good way to spend three hours of a Sunday afternoon, especially as - presently - the entire treat costs no more than 300 Argentine pesos, which is about 20 US dollars, or 30 Canadian ones...I think I'll go again!

 

Tango Rules...

To start things off...here is my video showing some of Wednesday's Sueno Porteno milonga...

 

 

Another memorable tango week in Buenos Aires...

Milonga Sueno Porteno at Club Gricel, hosted by Julia (Pugliese) Doynel, was truly a 'Porteno Dream' with live music,  dancing at an 'alto nivel' (high level) and enjoying the one obligatory glass of champagne...

Milonga 'El Abrazo' hosted by Diego and Zoraida, at Confiteria Ideal, the best known tango venue of Buenos Aires, was unusually full for a Friday afternoon milonga...someone said: finally it feels like the best of Confiteria Ideal again. Not a free seat to be found, good dancers...great DJ

 Even the waiter puts in a little break between serving milongueros at Ideal, here dancing with one of the patrons. Not many know, that when not doing his 'day job' he is a well known tango teacher as well as a maestro of folkloric dancing...

Rumors abound about Confiteria Ideal...changes are said to be occurring by the end of March, hence everybody trying to get in the last few milongas before they happen.
The question is: will it close temporarily for 'renovations' and milongas will resume afterward; will it close permanently as owners are said to be at odds with each other; will it close temporarily and re-open as 'restaurant only' without tango....who knows.
However, everyone hopes, that the place will be fixed up and the daily milongas will start up again.
Being not only a tourist draw (every tourist knows Confiteria Ideal) but a popular dance venue for locals, it would be a sad loss for tangueras and tangueros, some of whom have danced here (and survived so far) since 60 years and more....

Something new (but also quite old) on the tango scene. The milonga 'Patio de Tango' in Manzana de las Luces (the City Block of Enlightenment) has inaugurated a new tango event. The building itself dates back to Colonial times, and was originally a Jesuit Monastery and centre of learning before Buenos Aires was actually founded.
Under an open sky, with a polished tiled floor that is full of cracks, one dances in flat shoes - anything else is inviting trouble.

 Still empty, with a few benches around the edges, el Patio de Tango awaits milongueros.

 From one minute to the next, the patio filled up with dancers, and within half an hour one could hardly move - never mind dance. Albeit, being tango dancers, they start dancing and fill the floor at the first notes of the first tanda of a milonga. There is no waiting for things to warm up...they hit the deck dancing...

Being mostly a younger crowd, I expected to be a wall flower. But no, from the very first tanda I was right in the midst of it. I danced with a shy kid with glasses, his face and shoulders almost covered by a cascade of jet black curly hair...a six foot Rastafarian youngster dancing in sandals....an ethnic kid who said he couldn't dance but guided me through a 'killer' milonga...a couple of dancers whom I knew from other milongas...and people kept arriving and arriving.

Well, it was gratis - except for the refreshments - which I think must have run out after a short while, considering the crowd lining up for them. No problem, outside the venerable old building on Calle Peru, was a long line of tables and chairs spilling over the sidewalk of the street. The local pub equivalent had spread out along the frontages and dancers took their rest out there under a clear (albeit star-less) sky and the fiesta was a success...

With such an overwhelming response on its night of inauguration...there may be more to come....

The Week in Pictures...

Glacier Perito Moreno in Calafate, Province of Santa Cruz in Argentina, has made the head lines today. Every four years or so, a large ice-bridge which forms at the bottom of the glacier, sixty to a hundred meters in height, stages a spectacular collapse. Hard to predict exactly when...but this time around TV cameras and hundreds of tourists were lucky to witness the event.

 

 

Before, During and After...

Going once, going twice.....sold!

A few seconds later - nothing remains of the large icy arch 60 meters in height (equivalent to a 15 story building)

Strolling around El Congreso in El Centro of Buenos Aires, one may see all kinds of 'manifestaciones' - protest marches. This time around, instead of the usual collection of propaganda flags and pot drumming sessions, a rather picturesque collection of protesters: Gauchos of Salta.

I am not quite sure, what they were protesting about, but I think it had something to do with creating a 'Day of the Gaucho'...

 

El Congreso, site of Political turmoil, and back drop to regular protest marches and demonstrations

The only thing missing - Los Caballos

Spurs and all - but no horses!

Sandals instead of spurred boots - one makes concessions in the Big City...

 

On the tango side...the milonga community has lost another long time milonguero Aldo Ferrer, who at about 90 years of age still was a regular attendant at Salon Canning and at Los Consagrados. Elegant, courteous, impeccably dressed at all times, accomplished milonguero...I have danced with him a few times, and saw him a couple of weeks ago at Los Consagrados, still 'cabeceo-ing' successfully to the ladies at the milonga. In his prime years, he was one of the most powerful figures in Argentina, Ministry of Finance, various Ambassador positions etc etc etc...with tango in his blood.

A few days later...he has joined the tangueros in the sky

Aldo Ferrer, here with Julia Doynel, organizadora of Sueno Porteno.

Confiteria Ideal...rumors abound. Some maintain, that the most famous venue of Argentine Tango will be closed at the end of the month for 'renovations' (which are definitely needed), some say, that it will close down permanently, as the group of owners cannot see eye to eye as what to do with the place. If it closes, it will be a huge loss to the City...to milongueros and thousands of tourists, who are drawn to this elegant café (see Last Tango in Paris, see BBC's documentary Confiteria Ideal Tango Salon) to experience 'what Buenos Aires Tango' is all about...

Back to La Boca and Caminito, to have a look what the 126th anniversary of Benito Quinquela Martin's looks like. Well, his statue stand unrecognized by most in front of his museum, which was 'dressed in his colours' to celebrate the day.

 The Museum is 'dressed up' from the ground up...however, for some unfathomable reason - it is closed!

 Behind the colourful curtain , the passage has turned into a pretty tunnel adorned by Quinquela hues

El Caminito at one end of the passage...

...and someone selling what looks like old car seats at the other end...

The City Emblem peeking through the panes of colour....

The only activity connected to Quinquela's anniversary at this time of the day, is a 'paint in' by school children from various La Boca schools

 Some 'works of art' are quite impressive...

Not quite Quinquela, but a beautiful rendition of a sailboat heading into a sea of colour

Lovely Colours in a painting of a Kite...
 

 The Main Attraction....I could not figure out, what drew the attention of all these school children away from their task of painting like a young Quinquela...all of them concentrated on the polluted surface of Riachuelo...opposite direction to the museum...

 Well, floating in the middle of one of the 'camalotes' (floating beds of vegetation) were a few things of beauty, like this water hyacinth...in this photos surrounded by greenery - the oil, the plastic, the garbage, keep a low profile...

 But, the objects of the general admiration were these two 'tortuguitas', pizza sized turtles, who took their ease on one of the many dead logs in this cesspool of Riachuelo. I am not so sure whether the drab grey is their actual colour, or if their shells are covered with an oily coat...but here they were, poking their snouts into the air, which today was rather thick. The odour of Riachuela could make even a turtle faint. How they survive here is a total mystery.

Slick and flat, odorous and ugly, the surface of Riachuelo...separating La Boca from Avellaneda

To return home,  one walks toward the bus stop of Line 152, which goes directly to Plaza Italia in Palermo, my part of town. Waterfrontage here in La Boca is not exactly prime real estate...

 But, even here, without the tourist attractions, the souvenirs, the crowds, there are hidden gems. Just across from the parada (stop) of bus 152, a neglected building in ruins...with this marvellous stone carving on it's façade...hardly anyone notices it, but it tells about the history of La Boca - just as much as Quniquela's paintings do.

 There are many 'raised' entry ways in La Boca...I have not been able to find out the reason but suspect, that Rio Plate may have reached unusual heights at some time, and all usable space is located above the 'high water mark'.

 Seen through a bus window, dozens of architectural marvels in an advanced stage of decay grace La Boca...no one seems to care, that a national heritage is left to die

 Definitely La Boca, note the elevated entry, the depiction of Puente Avellaneda....

 Patriotism is a national past time, and historic hero figures transcend today's division of party politics...wall mural in La Boca

 Bus stop in La Boca.....no signs, no seats, no nothing....you just have to know where it is located..

 Public Works in action.....since years...

 Trucks entering, keep clear....it says. But how any truck could navigate this entry way is beyond my comprehension.

Street Art in La Boca...this one for a Kindergarten...

 We started this post with a protest by Gauchos, we close with another one by different militants. This one takes place at the Facultad de Derecha on Paseo Colon...not sure what for. But, our bus driver takes note, and diverts to the next street (people usually figure out where to catch a diverted bus) and things just roll on...

 Whatever...all these manifestaciones seem to merge together into an incomprehensible whole...

One gets home after a while...at leat these guys were not burning tires top get their point across..

What else to do...but keep on dancing. La Papusas of Sueno Porteno of 9 March 2016