Café Periódico del Tango

Newsflash: H1N1 in Buenos Aires

2009-07-05T17:32:00.000-07:00

In the present moment, July 2009

Over the last few weeks, the H1N1 situation here in Argentina has taken a slight turn for the worse. As of yesterday, we registered 55 deaths in the entire country, which is perhaps the 3rd highest death rate in the world.

Statistics from the World Health Organisation (update #57, dated 3rd July 2009) for Argentine is standing much lower at 27 fatalities, likely due to the lag in reporting time.

After weeks of indecision, the Buenos Aires health authorities finally made a long awaited decision to close schools and Universities early for a 1-month break, commencing tomorrow (Monday 6 July) instead of the normal 2 weeks winter vacation.

Not so great news - face masks are out of stock, even in the hospitals!!! This has been reported in the local press, and unfortunately the less than reassuring report is indeed true. One of my pilates teachers, a student in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, confirms the lack of face masks. Local pharmacies near my area have also ran out of them.

So perhaps this is NOT the best time to be in Buenos Aires...

SALUD A TODOS (Good Health to All) !!!

Signs you have been Spending Too Much Time in Buenos Aires

2009-05-24T22:19:00.000-07:00

In the present moment, May 2009

A couple of months ago I was talking with a girlfriend, another foreigner who moved to Argentina for tango. While chatting in Spanish, I suddenly realise I don’t know what is the castellano word for “honest”. I realise I hardly had the need to use the word in the 2 years I have been here! Then the revelation come to me with a slight sense of shock - to describe someone as “honest” here seem to carry a slight derisive ring, almost akin to saying the person is Not the sharpest crayon in the box. You know...a fool.

What is happening to my value system??

Perhaps I have been staying too long in Buenos Aires...

So I have put together below a compilation based on my own experience. For those of you tango long-stayers in town, any of the following sounds familiar? ^_^

Signs You Have Been Spending Too Much Time in Buenos Aires

Lifestyle, habits and local customs
~ There is a queue in front of you. The customer being served at the cashier/ticket booth starts to chat leisurely with the cashier for a couple of minutes. You mentally resign yourself to the wait without fretting incessantly or calling the person impolite names in your head.

~ You develop an ability to 1) scrutinise the pavement for uneven or missing tiles, wet patches on the ground, dripping water from air-conditioners overhead in summertime and of course the ubiquitous dog poo, 2) scan shop windows for interesting items, 3) keep aware of the mood of your general surroundings for safety reasons as well as demonstrations in the distance which will necessitate a rapid route change, 4) avoid collisions with pedestrians, since there are always a few in a mad rush... doing so all at the same time while walking down the street at top speed yourself.

~ When walking 4 blocks becomes a piece of cake. Walking 8 blocks is no big deal either. When you first arrived in town you looked for a bus to bring you 4 blocks. I am from a tiny tropical country where its hot and humid, nobody walks.

~ You start to hoard coins. You learn to lie saying “No, I don’t have 50 cents” smoothly, without a guilty conscience. Why? Because NO HAY MONEDAS (There Is No Change), a sign frequently displayed at shops’ cashiers. Due to a black market cartel on coinage, nobody wants to give each other small change in coins.

~ Mentiroso, Mentiroso (Liar, Liar). You are no longer THAT indignant by being lied to, in particular by public service personnel such as the call centre of Telefonica and certain employees of the Consulate of Uruguay. Those said-employees please feel free to contact me.

~ By default you take nothing for granted – you will believe it when you see it happen with your own eyes.

~ You are rather suspicious of any Argentine member of the opposite gender who tries to start a conversation with you, regardless if they are 17 or 70.

~ You can’t see a guy and a girl together without automatically assuming that they are a couple, especially if they are Argentine. Double ditto in a milonga.

~ From time to time, the guy in front of you gets up the bus instead of letting you board first, or takes that seat you were secretly eyeing. You feel somewhat miffed by what you now consider a breech of good manners. In the immortal words of my Italian girlfriend, “Hey, but he is a MAN”. Implying that a real MAN would lay down his life for a lady, what’s a seat or so.

~ Instead of maintaining a discreet and polite blank stare on the train/bus/street, you ignore the dictates of good manners and take a good looooonng look at anything or anyone that catches your interest without embarrassment. The adage “Mind Your Own Business” is on very rocky local grounds, so as to speak.

~ With some contextual help, after 10 minutes of careful listening you actually have some understanding of the Brazilians when they talk. When they are speaking Portuguese. Which is a different language from Spanish.

~ Your overseas tango friends are visiting Buenos Aires again. You are meeting them for a meal and you are running late. Your mobile rings. You know it is them calling you because you still have their mobile numbers stored on your mobile from their previous visit.

~ You have the numbers of various milonga organisers and milonga venues stored in your mobile phone. But you can’t find the mobile number of your real estate guy when the toilet plumbing runs into trouble.

In the Milongas
~ An undesirable guy comes over to your table trying to chat you up in a milonga. You keep him talking on his feet for >20 mins by NOT saying the words “please take a seat”, in hopes that he would go away. And you feel offended when he finally invites himself to sit down without your invitation to do so.

~ In a traditional milonga, you feel it is rude for a woman to reject a guy even though he was uncouth enough to approach and issue a verbal invitation.

~ To avoid giving the impression that you are both leaving the milonga at the same time, you tell your friend, an Argentine guy who is a familiar face on the tango scene, that you will leave first and to come meet you outside in 5 minutes.

~ You didn’t change shoes at the milonga because you are just there to enjoy your friends’ company/you don’t feel like dancing/your feet hurts. You automatically expect that guys should have observed that you are not in your dancing shoes.

~ You went to a practica with an overseas guy friend. You are chatting with each other. You feel insulted on the behalf of your guy friend's male honour when an Argentine guy approaches you to ask you to dance without acknowledging your friend.

Fashion
~ You finally bought yourself a pair of jeans in the “chupin” style. You have always been a devotee of the straight-leg look, and had long ago swear to run a mile from the former style in question. Chupin style – tight fitting, almost sprayed-on look for jeans & pants adopted as the fashionable norm for women.

~ While going shopping, grannies in their advanced 70s next to you ruffle through clothes in colours (bubble-gum pink) and styles more befitting teenagers from the rack that you just skipped over. Your boyfriend’s 60+ year old mother is more fashionably dressed and better maintained than you.

~ 80s music comes on over the radio or telly and you start to enjoy it. Ehmm..that period wasn’t really that bad, was it?

~ You start to think that the mullet hair style actually doesn’t look half-bad for Argentine guys. In general guys would risk looking like a joke spotting a mullet cut...but somehow the look does sorta suits some Argentine ones.

~ You are up-to-date on the current month prices of the various tango shoemakers in town, but you have no idea how your financial investments are doing.

Politics
~ It is that tax time of the year again. An ad from the Argentine government comes on the telly extolling the establishment of the Ministry of Science & Technology - allegedly made possible because the citizens pay their taxes. The tagline goes “Help Your Country Help You” - and you roll your eyes in rabid disbelief. I was a government servant for 8 years in the biomedical sector, and I did believe I have a responsibility to tax payer's money.

~ The government of Buenos Aires embarks on road works and other infrastructural improvements. Instead of thinking “Good job, the government is trying to stimulate the local economy by injecting money into the system to create a multiplier effect”, you think to yourself “So which snout is getting fat at the trough now?”. Line item in budget balance sheet = 20,000 pesos for a signboard, 50,000 pesos for 5 metres of pavement etc.

Food
~ You stocked up >10 different types of chillies/chilli sauces/spicy pastes in your fridge. You are inordinately amused at the locals’ inability to eat anything remotely approaching picante (spicy). You add repeated hyperboles when ordering local version of "spicy" food. This only applies to people from food cultures who like to eat fire ^_^

~ You consider it acceptable that pizzas and empanadas constitute food items to be consumed on a daily basis.

~ You no longer feel guilty about not eating your veggies. For (a) month(s) at a time.

When you return to your home country for visits
~ On the 29-hour plane ride home & for the first week after leaving Buenos Aires, you create confusion by saying “Gracias” instead of “Thank you”. You keep wanting to sprout Spanish in response when people talk to you. In fact, often a Spanish word feels the most appropriate when you want to describe something. No words in your other 2 languages feels exactly right. And that’s quite a lot of words.

~ When you are back home for a visit, you automatically lean in for mutual pecks on the cheek when you see your friends. You are slightly taken aback and feel strangely hurt when they don’t kiss you in greeting.

~ And you just can't wait to return to BA...

Falleció Cacho Masci - another milonguero passed 5 April 09

2009-04-08T22:51:00.000-07:00

In the present moment, April 2009

Earlier on, I was told the cryptic prediction by my girlfriend Maria, that March 2009 will be a difficult month.

"Pesado" she had said...

And it was.

A friend that I have known since I arrived in Buenos Aires 2007 was confirmed with lung cancer. Back in those early days when I hardly spoke a word of Spanish, she was a comforting presence. She is a non-smoker. In February, I had noticed the high cancer antigen marker in her blood test. Between disbelief and trepidation, we visited doctors and labs. Each visit was a further confirmation. A rollercoaster ride of denial, fear, determination, hope, self-doubt, reluctant acceptance, denial.

A draining repeating cycle.

Although I have been involved for years in the biomedical area in my line of work, I never had to accompany a friend through the diagnosis of malignant cancer until now.

I hope that you will make it, my friend!!! You have to...you have to. Life should give you another chance to enjoy what you have. Your true wealth. Because with this trial you have begin to see past the thick curtain of "rolling red dusk" 滾滾紅塵 as we call it.

Back to Buenos Aires tango.

On Sunday, halfway through the evening around 9.30 pm at Lujos at Maipu 444, milonguero Cacho Masci collapsed while dancing. He is the brother of "El Nene" Masci. A crowd of friends and concerned regulars of Lujos rushed to his aid. There were mutterings of his heart condition. Then the ambulance came to ferry him away. After that, nobody had the heart to continue dancing any further. Most people left Maipu 444 in sober spirits. My friends Louis & Janet who are visiting Buenos Aires were in the milonga..

The next night at Gricel, we heard the announcement he had passed away. It is sad to know there will be one less familiar face at my Sunday night milonga.

One hears about milongueros having a happy last dance and passing away. I know it is not a sad manner of passing for someone who spent a lifetime dancing. It is perhaps one of the best way of going for someone who lives for the milonga, to leave happily dancing and surrounded by friends. Furthermore it is a fast way to go, not drawn out and painful like how some milongueros have suffered in their last years. I should be happy for him.

As yet, I can't shake the heavy feeling in my heart.

End of the year, Buenos Aires

2008-12-31T16:21:00.000-08:00

Taken at 19:45 hs, 31 December 2008.

It struck me today standing outside this large doorway. Exactly to the day, a year ago.

It brought me back to that faraway moment, in the dark warm quiet indoors safe from the random burst of firecrackers out on the streets of midtown, roving bands of people celebrating their farewells to yet another ano que se fue, while calling out to the hours newly arrived. Inside, time passed immaterial. Silently oblivious to everything as the world has condensed down to 4 walls and the high ceiling which contained us.

The place behind this doorway where we first met and spent our happy moments is gone now. For a few months now, it has been shut, empty. All the people have left. A handwritten for rental sign is displayed outside the top windows.

Caught up in a moment of lightheadedness from my cigarrette smoke, it struck me suddenly standing there looking at the doorway across the street. In Buenos Aires, time stands still. In stark contrast to the manic heartbeats of the city, the daytime streets blocked with cars and buses spewing summer smog, its tecnicolour nights blurry with movements of passerbys and drenched with Piazzolla's bandoneon calling to the city and the Obelisk.

There is a saying in Argentina everything changes. Having lived and breathed the air, I can taste it, I can feel this saying deep in my bones. Everything changes, non-stop. In such a world of molecular inconstancy, one can only live in the present moment. It doesn't give you a choice. Like my other realisations of this city, I wasn't searching for it in some academic cross-examination. The revelation came from having soaked in the atmosphere, seeing, feeling the same vibrations of fate like the rest of the inhabitants of the city. Perhaps I was plugged into the city's lifeblood through you, my porteno now gone away.

6 years of living in the another southern land in the great continent of Australia hardly left me with this sense of gritty realism and the surreal, bipolaristic interplay between optimism and fatalism that is Buenos Aires and Argentina.

But conversely, perversely, because everything changes, nothing changes in Buenos Aires. Everything stays the same, in some big cosmic joke where the punchline goes over the audiences' head.

The city is impervious to the drama, the highs and lows of the human condition lived out by its people, in this land so abundantly blessed by nature and yet in turn nonchalantly cheated by nurture. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow... a tale..full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

In Buenos Aires, time stands still. At the end of the day, nothing changes, and we are back to square one.

This final sunset means nothing without you, my friend.

Tonight, this last night of the year, a chilly wind blows in Buenos Aires. Too cold for this tropical wanderer to your city.

Heartbreak in Buenos Aires

2008-12-28T20:25:00.000-08:00

In the present moment, end December 2008

2008 in Buenos Aires came and went. The beautiful 2008 dream has ended.

Endling my year with 2 songs from Kill Bill 2 movie end.

GOODNIGHT MOON

URAMI BUSHI 怨み節

~ by Shivaree ~
There's a nail in the door
And theres glass on the lawn
Tacks on the floor
And the tv is on
And I always sleep with my guns
When you're gone

There's a blade by the bed
And a phone in my hand
A dog on the floor
And some cash on the nightstand
When I'm all alone the dreaming stops
And I just can't stand

What should I do I'm just a little baby
What if the lights go out and maybe
And then the wind just starts to moan
Outside the door he followed me home

Now goodnight moon
I want the sun
If its not here soon
I might be done
No it won't be too soon til I say
Goodnight moon

There's a shark in the pool
And a witch in the tree
A crazy old neighbour and he's been watching me
And there's footsteps loud and strong coming down the hall
Something's under the bed
Now its out in the hedge
There's a big black crow sitting on my window ledge
And I hear something scratching through the wall

Oh what should I do I'm just a little baby
What if the lights go out and maybe
I just hate to be all alone
Outside the door he followed me home
Now goodnight moon
I want the sun
If its not here soon
I might be done
No it wont be too soon til I say
Goodnight moon

Well you're up so high
How can you save me
When the dark comes here
Tonight to take me up to my front walk
And into the bed where it kisses my face
And eats my head

Oh what should I do I'm just a little baby
What if the lights go out and maybe
And then the wind just starts to moan
Outside the door he followed me home
Now goodnight moon
I want the sun
If its not here soon
I might be done
No it wont be too soon til I say
Goodnight moon
No it wont be too soon til I say
Goodnight moon

~ by Meiko Kaji 梶芽衣子 ~
Hana yo Kirei to, Odaterare,
Saite Mitanara, Sugu Chirasareru.
Baka-na, Baka-na,
Baka-na On'na no... Urami-bushi.

Sadame Kanashi to, Ariramete,
Naki-wo Misereba, Mata Nakasareru.
On'na, On'na,
On'na Namida no... Urami-bushi.

Nikui, Kuyashii, Yurusenai.
Kesu ni Kesenai, Wasure-rarenai.
Tsukinu, Tsukinu,
Tsukinu On'na no... Urami-bushi.

Yume yo Miren to, Warawarete,
Samete-misemasu, Mada Same-kirenu.
On'na, on'na,
On'na-gokoro no... Urami-bushi.

Makka-na Bara nya, Toge ga Aru.
Sashitaka-naiga Sasazu'nya-okanu.
Mo'eru, Mo'eru,
Mo'eru On'na-no... Urami-bushi.

Shinde Hanami ga, Sakuja Nashi,
Urami Hito-suji, Ikite-yuku.
On'na, On'na,
On'na Inochi no... Urami-bushi.

To dance well, you have to know How To Wait (Part I)

2008-06-26T05:03:00.000-07:00

In the present moment, June 2008

"The most difficult thing in the dance is to wait"

Pablo Retamar

Occasionally during class, remarks casually uttered by teachers leave a lasting impression. These sayings, short, pithy, have the unwavering accuracy of a cobra's strike. They contain one part dance technique, one part philosophy and one part observation of the human pysche. The astuteness, simplicity and elegance of the observations have the blinding force of an epiphany.

These are moments of "wu" (悟 enlightenment) in my dance. In a flash, my mind crystalised into thought what my body has already unsubconsciously understood as a natural result of dancing and learning in Buenos Aires.

Why we Don't Wait when we Dance

There is no Time!
To function in the modern city life, we are almost conditioned not to wait. Existing in a world of high speed super-whiz bang technology, with its intrinsic work pressures, stressed time management, family commitments, there is never enough time. Work assignments with yesterday deadlines, impatient clients, traffic, crowded streets, long queues everywhere for food, to pay the bills, grocery shopping etc etc.

Time is a monster. To parody the saying, we have become Time's Bitch.

Faster! Higher! Stronger!
(apologies to the Olympic Games)
In our minds, waiting often implies = being slower, which in turn leads to = losing out. We are conditioned since young to excel. The competitive world tells us that the early bird gets the worm. We have to be faster (and hence better) than the next person. First product to market. First to reach the finish line.

The flipside of this mindset is a fear of failure. Being faster vindicates that we are not slow, we are not stupid.

The Dreaded Silence
Don't laugh when I say this☺. Majority of us will agree that most people do not handle silence well. It makes people uncomfortable. People feel obliged to make small talk, about the weather, traffic, news of the day, anything! to break the dreaded silence ie. the fear of not knowing what to say to fill up the space. It is the same with people making presentations or giving talks when not behind the safety of a podium, they have the awkwardness of not knowing what to do with their hands.

So from moment to moment in our normal daily routine, we feel we must do something to fill up space once it becomes available.

The problem is that unwittingly, we bring these attitudes and our insecurities even to our leisurely pursuits. This comes across in our dance.

What does it mean to "wait" in tango?
Dancing with someone who has not waited sufficiently feels like this. To use an analogy, it is like speaking to someone who is constantly giving an answer before we have finish speaking the entire sentence up to the full stop.

Let's flip the situation around. To continue in the above analogy, since we did not actually hear the complete sentence from our partner to the very last word, how would we know that we are giving the full response in return?

Of not waiting adequately : "Better" case scenario...
The "conversation flow" between the two dancer is on-going....but with maniacal overtones. Because one or both parties did not wait completely for the step to be fully conveyed before launching off on their own stride, there is no natural ebb and flow from one movement to the next. The movements lack a certain release, so overall there is a physical feeling that the shared dance has a faint echo of tautness.

So it is like this: Picture 2 persons on caffeine-high chatting about their favourite pastime :)

When we dance with excellent dancers, failure to wait completely is our loss since we miss out on the subtle nuances and cadence that makes their dancing so wonderful.

Of not waiting adequately : Worst case scenario...
We respond to our partner well ahead of time. In our rush to response, we did not anticipate that our partner's intended step is not as we had imagined. By rushing ahead (and guessing wrong), we have effectively robbed our partner of the choice of his/her intended next step after this step. Being able to give our partner the freedom of choice when dancing is a very nice thing to share.

Even if we made the right "guess", by not waiting enough, it is very likely the timing between one movement to the next will be out of sync.

Up to this point, perhaps some readers may have made the assumptions that the situations above apply solely to the follower's lapse in not waiting fully for the leader. Or it relates to dancing specifically in either open-embrace, or close-embrace.

In actuality, this quality of knowing how to wait in the dance is equally important, whatever the embrace, for both men and ladies alike.

Why do I say knowing how to wait fully applies equally to the men?

In the event there may be a small handful of unaware leaders out there who routinely fault only the ladies on being too quick on the trigger - leaders, let me tell you a well-known secret

~ You have to follow the ladies too ~

As much as we ladies must follow, leaders in return you have to follow the ladies. You must understand how to wait too, for that just right moment when our movements are complete, before you embark on the subsequent move.

Leaders who rush into the next step, you will produce a slight out-of-sync feeling which will decrease the quality of your dance.

More on knowing how to wait next.
-To be continued-

Newsflash - Trouble in Buenos Aires!

2008-06-17T21:04:00.000-07:00

In the present moment, June 2008

For visitors planning to visit Buenos Aires this week, DON'T. My recommendations - postpone your plans for this week and perhaps for the next week too.

Remember "El Paro del Campo", the footnote in my last entry? El Paro del Campo was the strike by the agricultural sector to protest the rise in exportation taxes by the Argentine government.

The current atmosphere in Buenos Aires aren't so quite nonchalant as previously described. Over the last few weeks, the situation has slowly but steadily deteriorated. Food items like meat, vegetables, milk etc. are running low once again. These dietary stables have been increasingly hard to come by in the city. Of course with food scarcity, rising prices just fuel the overall sense of disquiet in the city.

The escalating tension between the warring factions have spread to the street level. People are still out and about on the streets but the mood is subdued. There is a certain wariness in their behaviour not seen earlier during the food shortage in March. What I mean by "wariness" is that the portenos are being very careful right now about spending money, except where absolutely necessary. It is a reflection of the sense of uncertainty, perhaps in anticipation of bad times ahead. The riots in year 2000 and the following decimation of Argentina's economy are still fresh in people's mind.

With the coming summer holidays in the northern hemisphere, the peak tourist season for European tango visitors to Buenos Aires is fast approaching. My suggestion to visitors and tango friends - it may be more prudent to buy an airticket with some flexibility for date changes. In the meantime, monitor BA's situation closely.

Newsflash, Take Note!!
Strikes / riots are expected in the city centre tomorrow, Wednesday 18 June. For visitors already in the city, venture out with alertness.

We love tango and Buenos Aires. Just remember to keep safe.

"So... what do you eat when you are REALLY hungry?"

2008-05-26T16:53:00.000-07:00

In the present moment, May 2008

For vegetarian (& other visitors) to BA:-

One early afternoon I was in the company of several vegetarian tango friends visiting Buenos Aires. For lunch, we settled for convenience upon a resturant along Av. Sante Fe after a trip to Comme Il Faut, just around the corner 1.5 block away.

Besides myself and another friend, there were 3 vegetarians (2 girls, 1 guy) around the table having lunch. The conversation turned to the topic of finding vegetarian fare in Buenos Aires. When the mozo (waiter) came to take our orders, one of the girls, a Bulgarian with pretty eyes, decided to try her luck to ask for a tomato juice. The expectant mozo, poised with pen and notepad in hand, paused slightly, evidently non-plussed by this unusual request. He gave a polite but definitive reply "No hay!" (There isn´t any). Fruit juices in restaurants here are strictly FRUIT juices. Ask for an fruit juice or what is known here as "licuador" - orange and grapefruit juice are ubiquitous....even peach, banana, apple etc, and you will be fine. Anything else more exotic and you are likely out of luck.

As a devoted red meat lover, I do not perhaps have a proper appreciation of the ordeal vegetarians face in Buenos Aires. My own diet when eating out, consist of an unhealthy but happy regime of pizzas and meat-based dishes, so the lack of palatable vegetarian dishes never bothered me much. My own limited perspective had always been - well, after all, there are always salads on the menu no matter where you go, so perhaps it wasn´t as rough on vegetarians as it has been rumoured.

Granted the choices may not be very exciting, unless one ventures to the finer and hipper dining spots in Palermo or Recoleta. The typical house salad on the menu is an uninteresting mixture of lettuce, tomato and onions with a simple salad dressing. Other common choices available would perhaps be a Caesar or Russian Salad (Ensalada Rusa: potato, egg, carrot and peas with mayonnaise). Plus there are a few vegetarian pastas and risottos too, which seemed decent enough I thought.

Over lunch, we discovered that due to a lack of time to cook in, our Bulgarian friend had been existing on a limited diet of cheese, nuts and bread for the last week. She recounted her comic-tragic experiences in Buenoes Aires being vegetarian:

"I am vegetarian, so I will have to look for vegetarian dishes when eating out in the city" she explained to a porteno.

"Ah! I see, I see" replied the porteno, nodding sympathetically.

"But, what do you eat when you are REALLY hungry?" asked the porteno a few seconds later.

Oh dear. Poor things (I mean the vegetarians).

In case readers suspect the sincerity of the above mentioned porteno, I have heard stories that requests by customers to leave meat (carne) out of the dish may still result in liberal smatterings of chicken and ham. Don´t laugh, but some people here do not consider those 2 items as "carne".

The medley of guidebooks on Buenos Aires mentioned a handful of interesting vegetarian restaurants in the city, scattered around Palermo, Recoleta-Barrio Norte or sometimes in tourist-filled San Telmo.

Put this in the perspective of tango dancers who are visiting Buenos Aires for a few short weeks. Time is a luxury. Days are spent rushing between classes, hunting down shoes and CDs while nights are passed amidst milongas and practicas. Time flies quickly. Most tango visitors I met stayed around the central city area; they have limited time to cook and usually grab a bite outside between tango activities. So unless one makes an effort to make time out to seek out these vegetarian establishments, mouth-watering vegetarian meals will not be daily fare.

My lunch companions and I joked that with the on-and-off (currently ON) food strike affecting Buenos Aires*, vegetarians will survive the longest if we starve. And finally have the last laugh.

For vegetarian visitors to Buenos Aires, if you happen to be in the vicinity of Av. Corrientes & Callao and need a bite, perhaps you could check out this vegetarian restaurant call "La Ciboulette" around the corner on Sarmiento & Callao (Sarmiento 1808):-

Incredibly, this seemingly little known restaurant is actually a vegetarian "tenedor libre" (literal translation: "Free fork". ie. Eat-all-you-want for a set price) with a smorgasbord of vegetarian meals. Perhaps here, vegetarians can finally find a relatively decent selection of dishes. Unfortunately I can´t give a review of the quality, and I hope readers would forgive my lack of spirit as it is not my natural inclination to choose vegetarian establishments for my eating pleasure. Hopefully this little post-it note on the community bulletin board will help to ease the lot of visitors to meat-obsessed Buenos Aires.

Incidentally, this restaurant is also located nearby one of the sites used for CITA (Congreso Internacional de Tango Argentino) held in March every year in Buenos Aires. So CITA visitors can seek out this place when pressed for time during the festival.

The story with the Bulgarian friend has a happy ending. Five minutes later, the same mozo returned to our table and announced the surprising news "Ms, I am pleased to say that we can indeed prepared tomato juice if you like us to bring you one. Would that be fine with you?"

The tomato juice was drank gratefully.

* El Paro del Campo (The strike of the rural area):
In March, the government and the rural sector embarked upon a tussle of war over the proposed rise in exportation taxes of food product. Basically, with the strong Euro and US dollar against the Argentine peso, it is much more lucrative for the large agricultural industry to export home grown products like beef, vegetables, grains etc to Europe and United States. This government wants to raise export taxes and at the same time discourage the outflux of the best products from the country. The agriculturalists struck back against the government by stopping food from coming into Buenos Aires.

The 1st strike lasted for over 3 weeks in March. Beef and pork literally disappeared from the supermarkets shelves. Popular supermarket chains like "Coto" and "Disco" displayed sadly empty "carne" sections, only chicken was left. During this time of "sin-carne" in Buenos Aires, I saw portenos poking with dismayed expressions at the packets of chicken left on the supermarket shelves, which they either bought with a lack of enthusiasm or simply walked away from. You can tell which food "groups" come first for the porteno taste buds :)

In April, a truce was finally agreed upon between the warring protagonists, so the blockade lifted for 3 weeks in April while the government and the agriculture sector engaged in more talks. In early May, talks broke down and the agriculturalists went on their 2nd strike to continue their protest. As I type, apparently today the negotiations took a turn for the worse. Bit of a debacle...

This time round, the supermarkets and wholesalers are prepared. They stocked up on food during the truce in April. Readers will be glad to know that to date in Coto and Disco, the shelves are flushed with Carne, Pollo (chicken) y Verdura (vegetables).

The Big Bosses of Tango: ANIBAL TROILO

2008-05-04T21:27:00.000-07:00

In the present moment, May 2008

Some folks are addicted to the news, to events currently happening. Que paso?? Take my parents for instance. News on the telly, news on the radio, news articles in the newspapers. News in my country, news overseas, news from all round the world. Such are daily fodders of life for my parents, who are rivetted to news on an hourly basis.

Conversely, I am inordinately fond of documentaries and given any excuse, will consume them in large qualities like popping candies. The calm and factual voice of documentary-telling, when juxtaposed with the colourful stories unfolding infront of one´s eyes, is a fascinating combination which gives me hours of viewing pleasure. There lives a bit of the historian in everyone:)

Los Capos Del Tango: Anibal Troilo
Finally I have the opportunity to watch the DVD tango documentary "Los Capos Del Tango: Anibal Troilo". The word "Capo" is used to refer to the Head of an organised crime syndicate, a.k.a The Big Boss.

The nickname given to Troilo by his dad was "Pichuco", and affectionately, Troilo is also referred to as "El Gordo" ("Gordo" means fat). Since Anibal Troilo passed away in the month of May (18 May 1975), I though it is rather apt to feature this article during this month.

If you are a fan of tango music, you will know of the unassailable status Anibal Troilo occupies today. He is Argentina´s national hero of tango music. Troilo is known as "El Bandoneón mayor de Buenos Aires" (The greatest bandoneon of Buenos Aires).

The day of Troilo´s birth (11 July 1914) on 11 July has been dedicated as the National Day of the Bandoneon in Argentina.

The sphere of influence of Troilo´s mark goes beyond that of tango music for dancing, although Troilo was always intent on his dancing audience. His warm personality that inspired goodwill and loyalty from those that knew him, his vision in arrangement and most of all, his talent as an orchestra leader for orchestrating and elevating tango music to a complex and symphonic level made Troilo the national tango icon that he is today.

For fans of Troilo, we can enjoy the elegantly designed official website of Anibal Troilo at http://www.troilo.com.ar/ The Spanish version contains a fascinating wealth of information on Troilo, while the English and Japanese versions are in brief.

"El Bandoneón mayor de Buenos Aires"

I previously read that Anibal Troilo adored his mother above all else. So the documentary began fittingly with these words in the voice of his bandoneon:

"It is me, your bandoneon, I am talking to you Anibal Troilo, from Solera and Gallo*. The one you used to take to the movie at Corrientes and Medrano** as a boy.

The same bandoneon your old mother bought, with the coins she used to keep in the closet, and it was on her account that my plaintive tunes were sadder on the opening night of "Alma de bohemio" ".

* Solera and Gallo are streets in the barrio of Palermo in Buenos Aires. The area is also popularly known as Palermo Soho, for its resemblance to the artistic vibes of Soho, NYC.

** Similarly, Corrienties and Medrano are 2 cross streets along Avenida Corrientes, at the Subte (train) station Medrano (B line) in the barrio Almagro.

The documentary recounts that Troilo´s love affair with the bandoneon started young; he convinced his mother Doña Felisa to purchase his first bandoneon when he was 10 years old. In his youth, Troilo was influenced by 2 renowned bandoneonists, Pedro Maffia and Pedro Laurenz. The duo at the time were part of Julio de Caro´s sextet. Another major bandoneonist who shaped his style was Ciriaco Ortiz, whose orchestra Troilo played in before starting his own.

Troilo made his debut on 1 July, 1937 with his own orchestra tipica. Among his musicians was the pianist Orlando Goni while Francisco Florentino was his singer. With this pairing, the orchestra played rhythmic, very danceable music. Later on with singers such as Alberto Marino and Floreal Ruiz, the orchestra developed a more melodic style with less driving compass.

How Troilo played his bandoneon

"No hay tango viejo ni tango nuevo. El tango es uno sólo. Tal vez la única diferencia está en los que lo hacen bien y los que lo hacen mal."
Aníbal Troilo

(There is no old tango or new tango. The tango is one. Perhaps the only difference is in those who do it well and those who do it badly.)

Troilo´s stage presence is a distinctive one. He sat quite still and played with quiet and plaintive eyes, staring lost in internal conversation with his bandoneon. The classic signature look is Troilo playing with his eyes closed, head slightly tilted, double-chin pursed and rapted in phrasing the bandoneon chords. Above I have included a CD cover that captured this signature look of Troilo´s.

It was said that Troilo had a relatively understated and retrospective style. Paradoxically, his control and fine balance allowed his bandoneon music to convey poignancy, subtleness of emotions and richness of texture.

In the documentary "Los Capos Del Tango: Anibal Troilo" there was a description that I particularly liked of Troilo´s style. In an interview with the bandoneonist and arranger Pascal Mamone, he described a tremendous sweetness in the Troilo sound. He said, "There was one thing about Troilo, he would play a note... which will perforate your heart"

The description in Castellano: "Hacer una nota que te perforaba tu corazon"] - what a marvellously beautiful and poetic turn of phrase!

Pascal Mamone was borned in 1921. He was taught by his idol Pedro Maffia and later joined his orchestra in 1942.

Recommendations of "Los Capos Del Tango: Anibal Troilo"
If you are interested in knowing more about Anibal Troilo, one of the greatest celebrity of tango music, this DVD would be an excellent source of interviews and archival material. The tone in the DVD documentary is slightly academic, so I would recommend this DVD as a must for Troilo fans and lovers of tango music who are already versed in the major tango orchestras and various musicians.

For fans of old tango movies, there is even an amusing scene from "Tango Vuelve a Paris" (Tango Back in Paris, made in 1948) showing Alberto Castillo together with Anibal Troilo, in animated discussion about taking Paris by storm with their music, in the same way that Pizaro, Canaro, Arolas and Gardel had made their triumph marks before.

So far there is only 1 other DVD made in this series, Los Capos Del Tango: JUAN D´ARIENZO. I was told that the directors had planned another DVD on Osvaldo Pugliese but apparently the effort stalled in the negotiation of production rights.

Information on the DVD:
"Los Capos del Tango: Anibal Troilo" was produced for Solo Tango and contains approximately 93 mins of play in total, featuring 60 mins of material taken from interviews and visual material of Solo Tango archives. In addition, it comes with an extra 30 mins consisting of 3 musical videoclips of Troilo and his orchestra tipica. Non-Spanish speakers would be pleased to know that while the language medium used is Spanish, English subtitles are included!

"Maria de Buenos Aires" turns 40

2008-04-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

In the present moment, Apr 2008

The coming 8 May 2008 marks 40 years of the première of "Maria de Buenos Aires", an operita work of Astor Piazzolla in collaboration with the poet Horacio Ferrer that became known around the world.

It is a surrealistic song cycle-like story told in 2 parts, recounting the life and death of Maria, who came from the slums of Buenos Aires to the city, fell to the seduction of tango and became a streetwalker. After her death, Maria was condemned to hell - of the city of Buenos Aires itself. Her shadow wanders through Avenida Corrientes, the epicenter of cinemas and theatres in Buenos Aires.

"Maria de Buenos Aires" was the first collaborative work between Piazzolla and Ferrer, the start of a partnership that left compositions from "Balada para un loco" to "Chiquilín de Bachín", "El Gordo Triste", "La ultima Grela" and many others.

The operita premièred on 8 May 1968 in the Sala Planeta, located at the streets Suipacha and Paraguay in the microcentro of Buenos Aires, with Piazzolla (bandonenon) and Ferrer (narrator): sang by Amelita Baltar and Hector de Rosas, Hugo Baralis and Antonio Agri (violins), Nestor Panik (viola), Victor Pontino (cello), Kicho Diaz (bass), Tito Bisio (vibes), Cacho Tirao (guitar) and Arturo Schneider (flute).

The operita was released in September of the same year under the recording label Trova (LP Trova TL-20/2).

It has been reported that Maria de Buenos Aires will form part of the next season of the Colon Theater, which herself will turn a century old this year.

The above has been partially sourced and translated from the publication "La Portena Tango", Buenos Aires, Issue No.45, April 2008.

Writer´s notes:
1. During his lifetime, Piazzolla struggled for recognition for his avant garde creations to be regarded as tango by the country that gave birth to him and his music. The acceptance came perhaps slowly, and not until his works shot to fame overseas before this land took their prodigal son to their embrace. Maria de Buenos Aires was one of the key works that led to his resounding success around the world, that came to know of Astor Piazzolla and tango.

2. Since my arrival in Buenos Aires almost a year ago, the grand Theater Colon has been stubbornly barracaded behind scaffoldings for renovation works.

I heard that the reopening of Theater Colon is scheduled for May 2008! Although this remains to be seen. Renovation works of heritage structures can be notoriously tricky to manage.

3. The Trova re-issue is a double CD 5013 & 5014 (1993, Argentina).

La Revancha Del Tango! Reloaded

2008-04-18T21:07:00.000-07:00

In the present moment, Apr 2008

Musings for fellow tango pilgrims to Buenos Aires.
Imagine this: -

Living next door to your preferred place of milonga patronage? Be it either El Beso, Maipu 444 or Salon Canning, Villa Malcolm or perhaps, the swinging La Viruta. How cool. How absolutely wonderful that would be, you say?

In all innocence, I had envisioned living in super-close proximity to the milongas to be a most marvelous thing. Due to either the size of my small country or (much closer to the truth) having very lazy bones, I have some reticence towards commuting. To make the dreary trudge back from the milongas, especially at the late hours when sleep calls, is entirely lacking in appeal. I confess there had been more than a few times that I changed my mind and opted out of venturing out to the milongas, upon thinking of the “distance” of the return trip in the wee hours of the morning...

[Yes, yes, many of you would be first to point out that I left everything behind to come here halfway around the world to dance tango. But at 4.30 am in the morning with tired eyes and feet in the aftermath of hours of dancing, things appear in a somewhat different light…. ]

When the opportunity to relocate back to the area of Av. Corrientes came along a couple of months ago, I was eager and full of hope. This area held great familiarity since I first settled down here when I arrived in Buenos Aires mid-last year. The frequent haunts of my routine life in Buenos Aires are all located within the convenience of a 4-block radius. My favourite tango music shops, favourite pizza places and the essential ice-cream store that I can’t do without. Same goes for my yoga classes.

Even when I subsequently moved to another barrio in a nicer district for six months, I never cut my umbilical links with the hectic streets around Corrientes. Regular as clockwork, I always came up with some reasons to return and make my rounds every couple of days.

Back to my story. I remembered thinking to myself almost gloatingly back then... ... SO... not only will I return to familiar grounds of Av. Corrientes, on top of it all I shall get to live next door to one of the most popular downtown milongas? What an unexpected bonus! No more traveling! I was delighted at the delicious idea of popping back next door upstairs to a nice comfortable bed, night after night of dancing.

Just shows that flights of fantasies are fine and well…. Reality “es otra cosa” (reality is another thing). Admittedly in my sheer enthusiasm, there were a couple of factors that I had blindly failed to consider in assessing the suitability of my current place. Firstly, the apartment is “frente”. This is the local realtor speak for an apartment facing the front of the building. Usually such apartments are sought after over another apartment without a forward aspect. Secondly, the apartment is on the first floor.

Two innocuous details by themselves. When the building is next to a dance club that plays music almost every night “till late” (remember, this is the Buenos Aires concept of “late”), together, they become a deadly combination.

What is bad tango music? The tongue-in-cheek answer is that it has nothing to do with the orchestra. “Bad” tango music is ANY tango music that won’t go away when you are trying to get some sleep. It could be your favourite orchestras. No matter. After a number of wakeful nights with earplugs in place, lovely tango music no longer inspires one to put on those uber-chic Comme Il Faut stilettos and dance the night away. Instead, the four walls of one's room seem to reverberate with strains of the infamous “I will always love you” by Whitney Houston, co-starred Kevin Coster in the movie Bodyguard.

La Revancha Del Tango!
(The Revenge of Tango!)

From nights of “observation", the tango club next door plays a certain style of tango music. The theme is lyrical, with a soothing tinge. Like a defining signature, De Sarli puts in an appearance without fail, putting his stamp of endorsement on the evening. Often present is the Tanturi and Campos pairing and other times his other singer Castillo who sings with “arrabalero” gusto, the accents of the barrios. In with the lyrical mix is Calo of course, Demare, an occasional De Angelis, some lyrical Troilo with Fiorentino. Fresedo also lends well to the mood here. As evident, on the whole nothing overtly frantic.

I can’t resist a final Parthian shot. Imagine this: D'Arienzo at his irresistible, manic best would wreck havoc on the languid mood with his picado music. Antz Pantz, off your chairs everyone!

Postnote #1:
Sadly, the new place has no internet which has been disruptive on this writer’s impulse to blog en vivo (live). A big sorry to friends who wondered what happened to the news ??

Postnote #1:
This blog was written purely tongue-in-cheek, inspired by nights of tango music next door with no OFF switch. A situation entirely due to the writer's own making for letting enthusiasm over-ride commonsense. This writer still loves tango music. Dancing to tango music in the milongas of Buenos Aires still gives her goose-bumps (see earlier entry “Ah, the music!” upon arrival in Buenos Aires). Here, tango music sounds unbelievably sweet and intense, more dizzily intoxicating than the golden bubbles in champagne.

Let this dancer immerse in your champagne bubbles, tango!!

The In-s, Out-s & In-Betweens of the Embrace

2008-02-25T19:59:00.000-08:00

In the present moment, Feb 2008

After these months in BA to date, what have I observed about the makings of a good embrace?

My thoughts today are not focused on the technicalities of the embrace: such as the merits of full chest-to-chest vs. a v-shape chest contact, or which direction the heads should face etc etc.

What I am interested in is a lot simpler than the complex dissections found in some of the forum discussions.

Before starting on this topic, here is a interesting observation about the ambience of the traditional milongas here. In striking contrast to the rushed pace of this frantic, restless city, nobody is much in a hurry in the milongas in Buenos Aires (at least among the portenos). Veteran milongueras, the women strike leisurely poses and nonchalant-charm. Perhaps taking extra care not to betray any anxiety or desperation for a dance.

Nobody starts dancing the second the music starts. Everybody chats amicably for a bit while waiting for the couple ahead to start off on the tango merry-go-around.

This attitude of unhurried composure is directly translated into the tango embrace.

Starting the Embrace: The In-s
The first step is moving into each other’s embrace peacefully. An air of quiet reassurance from the man says to the lady, come to me and trust me.

The leader sense that the lady has settled physically into the embrace before moving off. Leaders, if your partner has not settled into your embrace before you decide to move off, the jarring sensation would be felt immediately by both. A surprising start is perhaps not the best foundation for the tanda ahead.

Todo Tranquilo para Bailar I (For the Men)
Setting this tone of calm for the dance is important. Maestro Javier Rodriguez once said in a class, the gentleman should hold the lady in his arms like a baby during the dance.

What does Javier mean with this analogy? Think about about how it would feel. We would hold a baby securely in our arms, not in a tentative or frail manner (as if the baby will drop from our arms at any minute). Yet the hold is gentle, since we are not attempting a strangle-hold on the (poor) baby.

During the dance, we would take care to create a comfortable environment. Not to unduly startle the baby with sudden movements without adequate preparation to mark the move. The baby feels safe, secure and happy. Likewise gentlemen, it will be so for the ladies!

Todo Tranquilo para Bailar II (For the Ladies)
Ladies, the man has many responsibilities to take care of to dance with us. It is not an easy task. The important thing for us ladies is to remember to be relaxed in the embrace. By this, I don’t mean that the body turns to jell-o. While in this relaxed state, the core muscles sustaining our middle remains active. We hold ourselves and our own axis.

Tension or nervousness will be transmitted to our partner and make the man’s job to lead harder. This is very easily felt in the embrace. Vice versa for the men, of course.

Relax the mind so that we can better listen to what the men is communicating to us. Since I am a strongly visual person, it is my personal preference to close my eyes to reduce visual distractions. At least here in Buenos Aires, porteno ladies young and older keep their eyes open, or close as they please. So there is really no “rule” about this.

Beware the In-Betweens!
Leaders, don’t latch onto your partner throughout the break between songs in a tanda. The dance is over after the song ends. Now is the time to make social chit-chat, especially since the milonga is a social occasion to get to know your dance partner.

More importantly, doing so often implies an intimate intention. Not even real life couples hang onto one another for dear life during the break between songs within the tanda.

Ending the Embrace: The Out-s
Coming out of the embrace is a natural and mutual separation between the man and the woman. There is nothing very challenging or profound about it.

Once at Maipu 444, I danced a tanda with a tango visitor who had a most disconcerting way of dropping the embrace so fast, it felt as if we parted before the last note has ended for each song. Since this visitor cabaceo me for another tanda later, I concluded that the dancing was not objectionable.

Although I am sure he didn’t meant to be rude, his style of rapid separation gave the impression he does not know how to take care of a woman’s feelings or understand the mutual sharing during the dance.

It is possible to sense many things about our partner during dance. The overall impression I received from this gentleman is that the woman is simply a means to an end to dance tango.

Frankly, this is a terrible thought.

So what is the fundamental ingredient that makes an embrace?

Besides dancing close-embrace, I have had some excellent dances here in Buenos Aires in either open or semi-open embrace too, with shared mutual connection and enjoyment. There is no faking this feeling.

My final thoughts on the embrace is this:

Just because a couple choose to dance in close embrace does not automatically equate to a connection. This is merely form. It is what you give to one another and to the dance, genuinely. This is essence.

The Great "Lady Day" Part II: Tango Thoughts

2008-01-28T19:01:00.000-08:00

In the present moment, Jan 2008

This is a blog about Lady Day, but it lead me to think about tango, or the pursuit of any art form in general.

It is natural that in our undertakings, those who excel at their art inspire us towards their greatness. Their inimitable style, grace and creativity give us fresh hope and energy. They become our role models, their accomplishments represent a path to follow suit in their footsteps.

In tango, many of us dance wanting to be someone else. Needless to say the same phenomenon occurs here in Buenos Aires, locals and visitors alike. Dancers spent their time following a particular tango celebrity, trying to emulate their dance style, steps or even the way of dressing.

To me, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to spend so much time and energy, only to become a clone of someone else. At best, we become a very very good copy of the tango celebrity.

So what is wrong with being a very very good copy?

For one, you will always be "second-best". Why define your own limits with someone's yardstick?

At worse, it will be akin to living a lie that you may never have the courage to emerge from.

The top tango maestros have strongly individualistic styles. They are iconic figures in tango not only because of their technical competence but because their dance is their own and nobody else's. They reached their level after many years of dancing and exploration to develop their dance.

The difference is to learn from them, instead of setting your heart to be like them. The best teachers will show you the means to become free in the dance. Don’t undo this gift from them.

So, if you have decided or you feel that tango is an important part of you, then perhaps take a look at what Billie Holiday said about her singing. At what other people said of her singing. In Charlie Parker's words: "Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn."

So live it, experience it. Have courage to find your own path in tango.

What is the first step to achieving this?
When you dance, dance with honesty. This way you will find your own dance in tango.

The Great "Lady Day": Part I

2008-01-21T09:10:00.000-08:00

In the present moment, Jan 2008

My language exams seem a faint memory, I am fully enjoying my holidays. Even pleasurable activities like writing in this blog were left aside in the festive mood of December. Christmas passed in the midst of celebrations and a new year started in Buenos Aires for me. A new year comes with new hopes.

My thoughts turned to Lady Day for this entry and the next.

Billie "Lady Day" Holiday

I don't listen to much jazz. Billie Holiday is by far my favourite singer, although I admit I listen to her because the emotions are so raw in many of her songs. So paradoxically, I only listen her once in a blue moon.

I came across on this website some writing about Billie Holiday. It was taken from the book "BIG STAR FALLIN' MAMA - Five Woman in Black Music" written by Hettie Jones. Here is a section on how Lady Day sang:

"One day we were so hungry we could barely breathe. I started out the door. It was cold as all-hell and I walked from 145th to 133rd..... going in every joint trying to find work....... I stopped in the Log Cabin Club run by Jerry Preston... told him I was a dancer. He said to dance. I tried it. He said I stunk. I told him I could sing. He said sing. Over in the corner was an old guy playing the piano. He struck Trav'lin and I sang. The customers stopped drinking. They turned around and watched. The pianist... swung into Body and Soul. Jeez, you should have seen those people - all of them started crying. Preston came over, shook his head and said, "Kid, you win."

Billie Holiday was not quite seventeen then; it was 1932. Before she was done singing in the summer of 1959 many more people had cried over her Trav'lin All Alone and Body and Soul. There were popular songs, as were most others she sang, and a lot of other people recorded and performed them. But Billie transformed them. She was a jazz singer; she put the blues inside and made each song her own. She thought of her voice as an instrument: "I don't think I'm singing, she explained. "I feel like I'm playing a horn... What comes out is what I feel."

A lot of different feelings came out of Billie's horn - she sang for over twenty-five years, in the United States and Europe as well. She could be gentle, funny, sarcastic, heartbreaking. Her honesty about feeling was what made people cry; she found it hard to lie. Astonished critics cried: "'She appears to mean every word she is singing" and "You believed every word she sang." There were some words about which Billie was especially believable. People told her no one sang "hunger" like she did, or "love." She sang what she knew, a first rule in playing jazz as Charlie Parker explained it: "Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Billie said simply, "You just feel it, and when you sing it other people can feel something too."

These are some quotes by Billie Holiday about her own singing:

"I can't stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession, let alone two years or ten years. If you can, then it ain't music, it's close-order drill or exercise or yodeling or something, not music."

"If I'm going to sing like someone else, then I don't need to sing at all."

"I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That's all I know."

"If you copy, it means you're working without any real feeling."

And finally, this quote -
"No two people on earth are alike, and it's got to be that way in music or it isn't music."

Brazilian Carnival in a Car

2007-12-06T18:29:00.000-08:00

In the present moment, Dec 2007

The final exams for my current Castellano course is next week. (Hmm, Freudian, I typed "curse" by accident).

Exams always send me into a spin. Despite the many years I spent happily cultivating the pleasures of smoking, I can go a week without having a ciggy with less distress and fewer manifestations of edginess, than the same period leading up to exams.

This entry is recognizably falling into the above mentioned behaviour. A somewhat flippant by-product in attempts of self-distraction from the real task at hand.

Here is another entertaining advertisement that has been showing on telly for a couple of weeks, courtsey of Ford EcoSport.

A parade float as a car? Hmm. But a parade float full of writhing Brazilian beauties gyrating to the pulsing rhythms of samba? A dream car! It could be a most appealing proposition to own and drive around in this dream medium of transportation. But what happens when the honeymoon period is over?

Find out from this clip below. The song by Brazilian singer Luis Caldas is in Portuguese. This time, I wasn't able to find if the lyrics are amusing accompaniments to the advert itself.

Part I of "Brazilian Carnival in a Car":

Well, cars do get dirty with all that exposure to the elements. So the owner will have to wash this car too. Oh, yummy assignment. Or, is it?

Find out in the follow-up clip:

Part II of "Brazilian Carnival in a Car":

Looks like the Brazilian Carnival in a Car is now up for grabs at the car dealership. Any eager takers?

The light side of What's up in Buenos Aires

2007-12-06T17:39:00.000-08:00

In the present moment, Dec 2007

Proves there is always a light note to every bad situation.

I heard an amusing story relating to the current inflation in Buenos Aires. Today after our Castellano class at the University of Buenos Aires, my classmate who is a really nice and friendly guy from Brazil, told me about his encounter on the weekend:

Last Saturday night, my classmate went with 3 friends to a cafe restaurant to chill and hangout over a couple of drinks. They ordered a big bottle of beer (Quilmes, perhaps) to share. The bottle of beer costed 4 pesos.

An hour later, they decided it was time to order another bottle. The same waiter came and served them the same beer as their first order. This time, the waiter presented them with a bill of 5 pesos. So my classmate and his friends questioned the waiter, has there been some mistake?

The waiter answered no, sorry there is no mistake. Indeed the price of beer has gone up in the hour between the previous order and the current. Increible!! Hilariously so.

Talk about galloping inflation. ☺

A Final Quip
My Brazilian classmate finished his anecdote on this note - it was lucky he and his friends didn't order the subsequent beer more hours later. Who knows what the price would have been by then!

What's up in Buenos Aires? Everything!!!

2007-12-01T12:22:00.000-08:00

In the present moment, Dec 2007

I can't keep silent on this topic any longer. The long-term "immigrants of tango", foreigners who gave up their lives in their country and moved to live in Buenos Aires for tango, spoke up on this topic on their blogs many months ago.

Inflation in Buenos Aires has been rampant this year. I can't say about the rest of the country but I certainly experience the ill effects and how it impacts the everyday life of the residents of BA. Over the years, I had weathered several cycles of economic recessions in 2 countries as well as seen the incredible property boom in Sydney starting in 1994. Sad to say, none of my experiences prepared me for this.

Since I arrived in Buenos Aires, the prices of everything have gone up and up while I watch google-eyed and gap-jawed.

Here are some examples of my own experiences, which I imagine barely scratch the surface of what the portenos are suffering:

1. Milongas and Classes
In June, the entrance fees to downtown milongas were generally 8-10 pesos. Barely 2 months later in August, the prices increased to 13-15 pesos. You could postulated that the increase was timed to catch hold of the high-tourist season in August. I am waiting for the next hike. With luck it will only come during "MEGACITA 2008".

Correspondingly class fees have gone up from 10-12 pesos to 15 pesos and more, in a matter of 3 months. Some classes are now 20 pesos! Within a 4-month period, I have seen 3 price adjustments in one of the schools where I take my classes. Admittedly, small adjustments each time but in total they amounted to a 50% increment...

I think more and more teachers will join the trend of holding tango seminarios. These are special topic classes apart from the regular classes, and tend to be priced higher than normal classes. The rational for charging more is that the seminarios concentrate on thematics topics, and are not held regularly. The top-notch maestros charge in US dollars or Euro.

2. We all need to Eat
I started patronising a restaurant near my place in the last 4-6 weeks. Prices have gone from 7.50 to 8.5 pesos and 8 to 9 pesos within this short period. The lady boss told me that she couldn't help the price hike since the cost of the ingredients have risen to levels she can't absorb. It is a struggle for her to stay afloat.

The prices have risen 3 times in my favourite ice-cream store. The small-size cone cost 3 pesos in June and increased to 4 pesos at the end of July. 2 weeks ago in mid-Nov, it became 5 pesos. If anyone out there reading this thinks, "oh no big deal, still cheap actually", I shall resist the urge to inflict GBH and gently highlight the maths - its a 66% increase.

One crazy week in early Oct, the prices of tomatoes rose to a staggering 15 pesos per kilos while the portenos watched with the same incredulous disbelief as the day on 9th of July this year when snow fell from the skies of Buenos Aires for the first time in more than 80 years. Admittedly, the "tomato price crisis" could have been a political maneuver in the weeks leading up to the grand election of Argentina. The portenos breathed a collective sigh of relief post-election, as the price of tomatoes returned to some semblance of normality.

3. Tango shoes
Barely 1-2 years ago, Comme Il Fauts were still the priciest tango shoes in the BA compared to the other brands. Generally speaking, CIF shoes were at least 30% more expensive than their competitors, depending on the brands in question. The gap has narrowed significantly.

Neotango shoes are now only 10-12% less than Comme Il Fauts; prices for Aurora Lubiz's shoes are in the same league. Tangobrujo shoes cost as much as CIFs.

My highest arched eyebrow, with a chichi flicker of a smile, must be reserved for Darcos shoes. Some may recall their prices back in 2005. Well, ladies, right now their shoes cost "3%" less than CIFs.

Darcos has been engaged in aggressive promotion of their shoes. They have been churning out a range of flashy and colourful shoes in their blatant aspiration to be like CIF. I guess their present prices are a reflection of their high self-esteem. Four points of contention for me:

i) Strong-arm tactics in the shop
"The problem of many tourists is this. Don't go around to the other shops and compare and compare. You will just be confused."
- oh com'on, don't insult my intelligence. I have been a shopaholic for many more years than they have been selling shoes.

ii) Creativity, donde esta ??
- many of the other brands have their own distinctive look or some unifying characteristics for their shoes. I appreciate and respect this quality. For me, Darcos shoes lack this distinction. They are fairly pretty but empty-headed. Put in another way, they are obvious, sin imagination. Third-rated chic.

iii) Rampant overcharging
- all the tango DVDs at Darcos are selling at 60 pesos. In other music shops, some DVDs are less than 40 pesos. Making a decent profit is one thing, highway robbery is another. Or perhaps they need a better supplier.

iv) Badmouthing the competition
"We make shoes in the shop, we know shoes. We fix shoes with problems that customers bring us from other shoe shops, from Comme Il Faut etc"
- sheer bad form. I have been to many shoe shops in the city and I know a few of their salespeople well enough. Nobody has ever badmouthed their competition specifically by name. My belief is that quality speaks for itself.

On the other hand, their shoe quality has seen a fair amount of improvement over the years compared to those that I owned previously. To be fairer to Darcos, one can't be all talk and no action. So I bought a pair of shoes to test them out properly. Let's see how they go.

Do excuse the digression from the main topic of inflation in Buenos Aires.

It is one thing for the cost of tango shoes or tango classes or ice cream to rise 20-50% over 6 months. It is another thing for basic necessities to rise every couple of months. The same trend is happening to rent, food and other necessary expenses such as electricity, laundry bills etc. In the lead up to last month's grand elections, the BA government officially logged the inflation at such a laughable rate that I can only describe the attempt as "infantile". See Bloomberg report . The portenos would be laughing even harder in derision, if not for how tough living in the city is becoming. Of course salaries remain low, so many people have to work 2 jobs or more to make ends meet.

...What more next?
It is one thing to experience a minimum 20% price hike. It is quite another to watch the prices spiral upwards without knowing if there is an end in sight, or a slowing down of the inflation. I quitted my safe, stable job to come to BA and I am just surviving off my savings. Frankly, it is a daunting experience to watch your money shrink at this rate.

In a perverse kind of reasoning, I am beginning to think it is better to buy that CD or shoes that you want now, than to wait for a rainy day! ☺

New addition, 6 Dec '07
The ever increasing heap of straws on the Argentina camel's back:

Yesterday, the government of Argentina announced a 20% price increment for all trains and buses starting from 1 Jan 2008. Granted the cost of public transportation in Buenos Aires is relatively affordable compared to other international cities. Granted that the last price hike was 7 years ago. Nevertheless, it is still an "overnight" jump of 20%. I am sure many portenos would like to see such a jump in their salaries too.

This announcement came after the October grand elections in Argentina. Monday 10 Dec has been designated by the government as the day of ascension for the soon-to-be PresidentA Cristina K.

Is this an "untimely" jump in transport cost? Should the price hike come at this moment, adding to the already relentless overall burden borne by the people? Some commentators may say in rebuttal, well, is there such a thing as a "good time" for an increase in the cost of living?

All sounds too familiar, doesn't it? Hey, "Mr Brown" look over here to this side of the world, can? The favourite dish in Argentina is the asado (meat BBQ). Any inspiration for a song? (This is an in-joke; only my countrymen will understand. Apologies to other readers, its really too complicated to explain)

Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay

2007-11-25T16:02:00.000-08:00

In the present moment, Nov 2007

Last Wednesday was time for my visa run across to the border once more. This is my 2nd trip to Colonia, Uruguay. Both times I chose Colonia de Sacramento over the capital, Montevideo because its closer. The two visits can't be more different. The first time I visited Colonia, it was raining heavily. Gray, windy and freezing cold. We sought refuge in a restaurant and I saw nothing.

This time, the skies over Colonia were kissed by sunshine. Blue and clear, with the warm blue of your lover's eyes, the corners crinkled with a smile. It is simply, beautiful.

It took 3 hours from Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires to Colonia de Sacramento in Busquebus. The fast version makes the crossing in an hour. I took the normal vessel which is more than comfortable. Besides, there is no hardship in spending 3 hours on the waters on such a day like this.

The historical quarter of Colonia del Sacramento, located at the tip of a peninsular and surrounded by water on 3 sides, was declared as a UNESCO heritage site in 1995. The historic portion of Colonia is reminiscent of old Lisbon, built in the Portuguese style of houses and cobblestoned streets.

As I am writing this, "La Sirène rouge" (The Red Siren) is showing on telly. The quick glimpses of a small Portugual coast town was reminisence of what I saw in Colonia.

Colourful houses on winding streets.

The Rio de La Plata is so wide that the town appears to be coastal.

Colonia de Sacramento was founded in 1680. It was the only Portuguese settlement along Rio de la Plata and for years was at the frontline of the turf struggle between Spanish Argentina and Portuguese Brazil around the Rio de la Plata region. Similar to the British and Dutch squabble for colonial supremacy in South East Asia in my part of the world.

Understandably so. Who would want to give up land under your feet and skies over your head as magnificent as this?

Up the road. Just a normal weekday lunch with friends and family.

Beautiful day, beautiful people. MOUTHWATERing cars.

To me, bougainvilleas are the stunning visual extravaganzas of the Mediterranean.

It also reminds me of home. Of the bougainvilleas we have in our garden of this exact colour, in the house of my Papa and Mama.

A totally charming cafe restaurant slightly off the main section of the historical quarters.

I must try it the next visit.

My visit to the Museo Del Azulejo (Casa Portuguesa), The Tile Museum. Inaugurated in 1988, it is a typical Portuguese construction of the 18th century. The walls, a beam and part of the floor are original. The collection houses French, Catalan and the first Uruguayan tiles. The Museo is not big and the tile collection fits into 2 small rooms. Perhaps some visitors may be disappointed. But I enjoyed the visit. Look what I saw!

El Azulejo en la Arquitectura
Rioplatense en los Siglos XVIII y XIX (18th and 19th Century)

Catalan
Valenciano
Maldonado
Napolitano
Pas de Calais

I was able to take photos of these few tiles because at first I didn't see the sign that photos were not allowed :P

Azulejo estannifero de archilla modelada, sellada, pintada con oxidos de estano, cobalto y/o managaneso, con plantilla calada, mano alzada y/o arista, Francia, 1840-1900.

Such tile decorations were all the rage during the era, used widely to beautify walls, floors, windows etc. I was told that the tiles were imported into the country through Montevideo and then to other cities and town. The winds of fashion changed at the turn of the 20th Century, and inevitably the importation stopped.

Here are the seals of the French tile makers.

I only got as far as the French tiles before I was caught with my camera. All the tiles shown above are French.

The tile plaque of Paseo de San Gabriel. You can see a prevalence of such tile works throughout town.

Other tile works showing maps of the town and the Rio de La Plata.

Colonia de Sacramento revisited
Colonia de Sacramento is a lovely place, a perfect getaway from the hustle and bustle of Buenos Aires. Before I visited, some reviews said there are not much to see or do in Colonia.

Perhaps, if what you are looking for are a checklist of "sights" to cover. However if you just want to enjoy the feel of a relaxed Sunday afternoon by the sea free from the urban jungle, a day out basking in the sunshine dining with friends and family and enjoying life, this is where you can come, any day of the week.

The "riverview" proved too tempting, I spent the rest of the afternoon outdoors at the restuarant El Torreón relaxing with my cigarettes. Such are the pleasures of life.

Final note for the road

The day in Colonia was exactly what I needed to relax and take my mind off weightier worries. A old dance injury made a reappearance a month ago. The first time when it happened 2.5 years ago, I was out of action a good part of 6 months. Thinking of the slow recovery and struggle I had to go through to regain strength in my foot makes me shudder. To date, my foot has not recovered. I still can't wear heels.

I hope, like my experiences in visiting Colonia, my foot injury will once more see the beautiful sunshine after the rain.

A Whole Heap of Tango Festivals

2007-11-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

In the present moment, Nov 2007

Recently it seems that everywhere I turn, I am surrounded by a dizzy array of upcoming tango festivals in Buenos Aires. Likely this is a growing phenomenon compared to before. Below are just a few.

These festivals work in the favour of visitors with limited time in BA. Classes and performances by tango maestros lined up to maximise time and with sufficient English to make them accessible to visitors. Of course usually the workshop fees are higher. Nothing comes without a price, as we all know.

Just finished is "Pulpo Tango Week", 10-17 Nov 2007. Organiser Norbeto Esbrez's nickname El Pulpo means The Octopus. Look for the cute octopus icon on the festival website and follow it to Norbeto's website. You can see videos of his dancing and the reason for his nickname.

New addition, 20 Nov '07
Next up are 2 festivals held at almost the same time, but with different market segmentation.

1st is the "1st Festival Internacional de Tango Queer in Buenos Aires", 26 Nov - 2 Dec 2007.

The motto of the festival is "bailar tango sin que los roles esten fijos al sexo de quienes lo bailan", which is to dance tango without fixing the roles according to gender" ie. the exchange of roles in the dance "(Intercambio de Roles)" .

The website says this is why the festival is not oriented exclusively to same sex partners, but to all those who support this approach and promote the respect of this diversity.

I find this concept very interesting and am supportive of it. From time to time, one wonders what could be the lines of tango evolution in the next douple of decades? A possiblity could be the mutual influence and interfusion of "styles". A more lateral prediction on the "next big trend" in tango could be this interchangeability of roles during dance. I am laying down some money on the latter ☺

The 2nd is the " IV Festival Bailemos Tango in Buenos Aires" from 25 Nov - 2 Dec 2007, organised by Johana Copes, daughter of Juan Copes. The festival promises a bit of everything, tango performances and classes, shopping tours, ranch visit, gaucho's traditional show etc. Appears to be styled in the manner of BA tango "package" tourism organised by teachers from home countries of visitors and also offered by some local tango professionals.

The months of November and December are peak tourist seasons in BA for visitors from United States and other countries. Likely the above 3 festivals were timed to coincide with this traffic.

height:130px;margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_fvQXLnroR0k/Rz_NjnNlP7I/AAAAAAAAAII/N6-j74fGIZw/s200/P1020503+new.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5134048111930720178" />Next in line for December is the "Maraton de tango" held at the city of La Plata about 60 km south of the city of Buenos Aires. This is a tango campover on the weekend of 8-9 Dec 2007.

There don't seem to be a website for this event, so I have posted photos of the brochure and contacts of the organisers. This event may be targeted at locals rather than visitors. At least not visitors who don't speak the language.

For milonguero dancers, the "2nd Internacional Encuentro of Tango Milonguero" will be held from 11-18 February 2008. This festival is spearheaded by Susan Miller and Maria Plazaola as well as other well known milongueros. This would be my festival of choice if I was a visitor to BA, not primarily because I like the style. How do I put it delicately...some of these milongueros have many many years of experience...

New addition, 24 Nov '07
I confess my reservations about adding news of this particular tango festival, "X Festival Buenos Aires Tango", which is to be held from 22 Feb - 2 March 2008. The website for the upcoming festival gives the date and nothing much else at this stage, not surprisingly so since its still a few months away. You can go to the festival website for 2007 to have a look at the festival activities. The reason for my reluctance to list this information is because I heard an unconfirmed rumour that it may not take place to avoid clashing with MEGACITA 2008. Will update once there is a more reliable source.

The blockbuster tango festival in BA is undoubtedly CITA (Congreso Internacional de Tango Argentino). Next March is the 10th anniversary of CITA - "MEGACITA 2008", 15-25 March 2008! Just imagine the avalanche of visitors descending on the city.

The promotional material says "Singles welcome and guarantee to have a partner at no extra cost". I wondered how the organisers were going to manage this until I saw on the website it says there will be taxi dancers at every milonga. Put on your meters, radio taxi dancers!

For those visitors staying on after MEGACITA 2008, the "Tango Festival for Ladies" organised by Mariposita will be held on 23-30 March 2008. Festival exclusivo de technica para la mujer with clases de technica, clases especiales, milongas, practicas and shows.

Va a llegar Un Monton de Tango Festivals en Buenos Aires!

Son Mias! (They Are Mine!)

2007-11-09T21:43:00.000-08:00

In the present moment, Nov 2007

From time to time, I will scribble about the mishmash & knickknacks that catch my attention in Buenos Aires. Its impossible to live in a new place and not relish the interesting stuff that cross one’s path.

Fresh, exciting and often, irreverently hilarious. Just one whiff of such an intoxicating concoction, and I am hooked like a junkie.

Por favor: May the divine powers save me from ennui & mind-numbing mundanity…

Well, this week the newest commercial for Cervesa Brahma (cervesa means beer, Brahma is the brand) started showing on telly. It shows a young guy walking down the streets hand in hand with his girlfriend, while he passes by throngs of beautiful women. We hear the thoughts that run through his mind…

I did a search and found that the lyrics go roughly like this:

Sos mía, soy tuya! en casa tengo Brahmas y el kamasutra. Soy tuya, policia, colegiala, enfermera. Son mías, yo puedo con todas tranquilas… Son tuyas, tu suegra reclamo tu anillo (this line I am not sure)… Somos tuyas, te esperamos todas en la ducha… Soy viuda, heredé una fortuna y es tuya! Son mías, Japonesas, Francesas e Inglesas… Somos tuyas, sabemos lo que a vos te gusta, soy tuya, hago todo lo que a vos te gusta… Mi amor! ¿en qué pensas? en Nada!…

Here goes another attempt at translating:
(please pardon the mangled bits)

" Guy: You are mine..
Girl crossing street: I am yours! At home I have Brahmas and the Kamasutra.
Girl, quick-change artist: I am yours, policewoman schoolgirl, nurse!
Guy: They are mine, I can with all in calmness…
Café crowd chorus: They are yours, your mother-in-law claim your ring…
Girls in the gym: We are yours, we all wait for you in the shower…
Swanky mature woman: I am a widow, inherited a fortune and it is yours
Guy, about the girls on the bus: They are mine, Japanese, French and English…
Girls outside café: We are yours, we know what you like
Girl from posterboard (in my opinion prettiest girl of the lot): I am yours, I do everything that you like.
And finally, his girlfriend: My love! What are you thinking?
Guy: Nothing!… "

While the theme may not be anything exceptional, the hilarious lyrics along with the cheeky approach produced a most amusing result. For some reason, most beer commercials worldwide are brimming over with creativity and wit :P

It may be tempting to generalise that commercials say a lot about the country. However to date, having lived here for only 5 months, with limping language skills to boot, certainly does not entitle me to make any kind of observation about Buenos Aires culture worth two hoots.

...and thanks to drawing the short straw in the gene pool (a sad case of alcohol intolerance), I can’t even describe to you what Brahma beer taste like…

What I can say is this. Many young guys and girls walking down the streets of the city of Buenos Aires are attractive. It is apparent some degree of effort has gone into their appearance. Looking good is important to portenos young and old, male or female. The attractiveness quotient here is high, perhaps a lot higher than the other cities I have visited. Either that or I am susceptible to the good looks of the Italian & Spanish mix ☺

More than this on another day perhaps!

MENTIME Que me Gusta

2007-11-06T16:25:00.000-08:00

In the present moment, Nov 2007

Milongas in Buenos Aires are social occasions and more, they are opportunities for bouts of lighthearted flirtation or potential romances. Ladies who have danced in BA would have discovered, Argentino men will shower any fairly decent-looking gal (regardless of age and race) with a flurry of compliments. The Italian blood runs deep ☺

I had a few, usually from portenos old enough to be my father. There are a couple that I remember which went more or less like this:

Case 1
"Your eyes are so pretty. I want to take a photo of them and keep it in the shirt pocket, next to my heart."

My private reaction
awww…how rather sweet. Especially said by an above middle-age porteno who dance the most divine valses.

Btw, I would have dissolved into laughter if the same lines came from a younger guy, Argentine or not.

Case 2
"How well we dance together. I want to enter the Campeonato Mundial with you!"

My private reaction
a fit of hilarity when I finally understood...

Actually for Case 2, I didn’t understand exactly what he said at first - I thought he asked if I came to BA for the Campeonato Mundial de baile de Tango (World Tango Championship) held in August yearly. I kept replying in broken Castellano "No, no, I didn't come to BA for the championships". My porteno partner (another above middle-age gentleman) finally had to ask my girlfriend to translate for him and by then, he was rather exasperated at the “waste” of his fulsome compliment :D

Now, there is an amusing column featured monthly in the tango magazine B.A. Tango with the title

MENTIME
Que me Gusta
Frases lindas que dicen los hombres en la milonga.

Which translates more or less into:

LIE TO ME
Because I like it
Pretty lines spoken by the men in the milonga.

This monthly column features the submissions by female readers, who are the likely recipients of these chat-up lines in the milongas. Those published get 2 free milonga entry tickets!

Here are a few inventive or interesting ones:

"(To xxx): The next time my wife asks me for a public retraction of the flattering comments I tell you, I'll get divorced and marry you"
"(A xxx): La proxima vez que mi esposa me pida una retraction publica por los piropos que te digo me divorcio y me caso con vos"

(March/April 2007)

“You are so pretty that when I look at you, I take a wrong step”
“Sos tan linda, que al mirarte me equivoco el paso”
(...hmm.. useful for men with more charm than dancing skills?)

“With your dance and joy you entered my life, and I don’t want to lose you”
“Con tu baile y tu alegria entraste a mi vida y no quiero perderte”

“To dance with you I have to line up, but the wait is worth the prize”
“Para bailar con vos hay que sacar numero, pero la espera vale la pena”

(May 2007)

“I want to dance the last set of the night and take with me the perfume of your skin”
“Quiero bailar con vos la ultima tanda de la noche y llevarme el perfume de tu piel”

(August 2007)

You may think these lines are corny or just right down silly. But judging from the title of the column in B.A. Tango, obviously the delivery is done correctly by the portenos :D

P.S/ My intial interpretation of the title was incorrect, so it has been rectified.

Female embellishments: Part II

2007-10-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

In the present moment, Oct 2007

Living up to her reputation as a mature and experienced dancer, Milena Plebs offers good advice on the attitude towards adornments (see preceding blog). It sparked off my own thoughts.

Many women are concerned about making beautiful and as many embellishments as possible. One reason of course is it an aspect of preening in the dance, the natural desire to look asethetically good. The other motivating factor is another aspect of preening, of showing that yes, I am capable of making these technically challenging moves. So hence, I am a better dancer than those who do less "moves". The desire to prove oneself in this manner gives rise to the anxiety mentioned by Milena.

Looking deeper into this topic: now, exactly what are female embellishments?

For me, the answer is - embellishments are one way of expressing the female voice in the dance.

The Female Voice
To me, embellishments are important in this context only - in that it is my expression of what I feel from the music. It is the female composition on the music.

One doesn't add embellishments in the dance "just because one can". We are not Sir Edmund Hillary climbing Mount Everest here. Women who understand this point are the wiser.

So, why do some embellishments done by one dancer seem so marvellous, while embellishments by another dancer are at best ho-hum?

Because the best embellishments seem exactly right for the section of music that it was done for. In short, embellishments are born from the woman's musicality and creativity.

A Question of Substance
Expressing myself in the dance is important.

For a start, remember that adornos are only one way of having a female voice. For the woman, there are other means of self-expression in the dance than making "visible" adornos. For example, the quality of my movement. The feel of my body in the mood of the music. Personally speaking, these qualities matter more to me than adornos, because my dance partner can feel these transmission from me, whether dancing in close or open embrace. It is the bodily pleasure in the dance that I want to enjoy, that I want to give back to my partner.

When I was young, I once read that Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923), celebrated french stage actress, had a quality of voice that she could bring her audience to tears by reciting the alphabet. This statement was etched into my mind, although it was many years later that I fully savour its meaning.

The female maestro who I admire can transmit beauty in the dance simply by moving. Its not even her walk. Its how she moves. It is her.

Style is nothing without substance.

Now, what about the actual adornos themselves?
Adornos are nothing without musicality.

To train to do adornos cannot be separated from learning to express one's musicality. Perhaps, the only way to develop musicality is to dance and practise a lot. Most importantly, really listen to the music when you are practising the adornos. Listen to different orquestas, recognise the sentiments expressed in the music, experiment with how it feels on the music when you do different movements and how to time the movements.

But how to gain the ability to execute the move?

Thats what those tough technique exercises are for. They train your body in the movement, before one attempts it in the practica. Then, practise till the adornos do not interfer with your partner and the dance.

This is what Milena Plebs meant by "It is good to work on decorations so that they form part of the global dance, without interrupting the energy by doing them and keeping the connection with the partner at all times."

Finding Your Own Voice
In the first 2+ years of my dancing, I was almost stubbornly anti-adornos. From the start I believed I need to concentrate on the fundamentals long and hard. I felt the embellishments can come later on. My reasoning was that if I have the fundamentals, it shouldn't be very difficult to pick up the embellishments at a later stage.

Much later on, from doing technique exercises and from watching female dancers with excellent musicality, I started adding simple adornos to my repertoire. True enough, the simple ones were not terribly difficult to pick up (I didn't say I am doing them well).

What I discovered to be more important and challenging is to express them to the music. To grasp the right timing, with embellishments that are appropriate for the sentiments of the music, within the framework of the dance proposed by my partner. In short, finding your own musicality.

For myself, often I find enough gratification in expressing my joy in the music by quick rythmic taps to accent points in the music, rather than feeling it is essential to pull off something complicated and showy. Because my primary goal is to enjoy the music with my partner, respecting that my partner has a musical composition in mind, and to be in time for what is proposed so that the musical dialogue flows back and forth between the two of us.

At the end of the day, Milena put it best in her advice to us ladies:

"A time arrives when one relaxes, no longer worried about how many and how various embellishments one does, and paradoxically, they (the embellishments) begin to flow naturally, they respond to an inner security and an enjoyment of the female dance role."

Her concluding statement "I believe also that, many times, less is more......."

What about for the Men?
By the way, many of the same aspects apply to the men too.

Doing a lot of figures (no matter how well you lead them) and embellishments do not equate to musicality in dance. At best it was exercise on the dance floor. At worse, not only are you ignoring the music, you are ignoring the musical communication that I am trying to have with you. To put it in a not-so-nice way, you are actually "dancing" only with yourself.

Female embellishments: Part I

2007-10-19T22:45:00.000-07:00

In the present moment, Oct 2007

This Sunday 21 de Octubre is El Dia de la Madre (Mother's Day) in Argentina. It is not intentional on my part but this month's musings have a strong female favour.

My thoughts on the subject of female adornments was sparked off by Milena Plebs, who wrote her views on this in her column in this month's El Tangauta:

"When taking tango classes, women request a lot to be taught embellishments. That is to say, the foot movements added by women, that are not, specifically, a response to the movement proposed by the leader"

"I perceive a lot of anxiety in a great number of the women attending our classes to learn to do embellishments. Many, pretty, varied and complex as possible!"

Milena Plebs, Page 35, Oct 2007 issue of El Tangauta

Milena went on to explain that early in her career, she too was preoccupied about how many decorations she was able to "put in" when dancing, feeling that her partner always "did more" than her... (since) the responsibility and complexibility of the creative part and the leading of the dance lies with the man.

Then she says "It is a priority to work on the basic technical facets of tango before devoting ourselves to decorations. Without a good base, balance, connection and response to our partner, we are not prepared to beautify our dance." She points out there are 2 groups of female embellishments: those done by the woman during the dance that should not interfere with the man, and those during the moments when the man pauses, giving opportunities for the woman to do embellishments.

Milena continues "It is important to be alert to the environment and to grasp the timing in the dance floor, so as to not over-extend ourselves.....without interrupting the energy by doing them and keeping the connection with the partner at all times"

"Choose the ones that feel comfortable to you, and it is better not to repeat or copy what others do.... At times one can see women that do too much, perhaps that is part of the anxiety that I mentioned before.."

And finally, her observation is this:

"A time arrives when one relaxes, no longer worried about how many and how various embellishments one does, and paradoxically, they (the embellishments) begin to flow naturally, they respond to an inner security and an enjoyment of the female dance role."

For the Ladies (Women’s technique classes)

2007-10-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

In the present moment, Oct 2007

Technica para mujeres
There are a number of group women’s technique classes held regularly around Buenos Aires. I will list the most popular ones. These classes range from fairly well attended to very crowded.

By comparison, there are far fewer men’s technique class. Harder working ladies perhaps? :D

Besides your dancing shoes, do bring socks along too because often the classes will switch between the two. Although dance sneakers are ok, some teachers prefer their students work in heels if possible. Heels can be more technically demanding of course.

Try to wear pants instead of skirt to class. Choose comfortable stretchable clothing. I won’t recommend jeans for this reason.

You can get some ideas for adornments from the exercises lead in class. But beyond a brief explanation perhaps, don’t expect the teacher to break down “the how” of the adornos.

Aurora Lubiz
Aurora’s energetic classes for women technique at Escuela Argentina de Tango (E.A.T) appeal to ladies young and older. Pint-size Aurora lead the classes through a series of adornos exercises. Often a bit too crowded for my preference.

Carolina Bonaventura
Classes at Mariposita attracts a fairly young crowd. Carolina pays a lot of attention to working the core to build strength, so be prepared. Well, strong lower pelvic muscles are always good for women. Male readers, just take the statement at face value. Please.

Caroline starts 3 classes for women technique per week from Oct. She says the Monday class will be the most technically challenging. Wednesday class is intermediate in difficulty level while the Saturday class would be the “easiest” of the lot.

Rosana Devesa
Besides exercises, Rosana’s women technique class carries a relaxation component which is influenced by her background as a professional therapist.

I like Rosana’s class. The approach and energy is different from most other women’s technique class. She is my teacher in the milonguero style.

D.N.I
Twice-weekly women’s technique class at D.N.I are popular and crowded. I often think the premise is simply not large enough to accommodate the sheer number of devout D.N.I followers!

Tangobrujo
Once-weekly class is lead by the female teachers at Tangobrujo on a 4-week rotational basis. Each teacher has her own style of leading this class. For example, one teacher may decide to work on a thematic basis eg. working on boleos. Another teacher may lead strengthening exercises instead.

See A Handful of Handy websites for details of the schools above, and how you should go about getting the current class schedule for each.

The Women of Tango

2007-10-09T15:04:00.000-07:00

In the present moment, Oct 2007

From time to time, there are defining moments in our journey.

Today, the women of tango walked into my life. The female singers I mean.

Before today, beyond a cursory acquitance, my familiarity with the female singers of tango was sadly limited to Ada Falcon (see the section on “Yo no sé que me han hecho tus ojos" in Música del Alma). I don’t know why I never felt the urge to expand my repertoire beyond the male singers. Sometimes, things fall in place naturally when we are ready for it.

Well, earlier today I was happily shopping for tango music and chatting to the nice lady helping me in the shop. For some reason, one after another, female tango singers kept popping into the picture. Starting with Ada Falcon. Next came Azucena Maizani. Then Mercedes Simone. A while later, a record was playing and I managed to identify Libertad Lamarque singing. No mean feat since I can count on my 2 hands the number of times I have heard Libertad Lamarque.

Finally, the lady bought out a CD “Se Va La Vida – Tango Ladies, 1923-54”. It has the range of era in tango music that I like. I even liked the cover. Sadly the CD was a bit pricey so I didn’t get it.

Inspired by the appearance en masse of these grand dames of tango in a single afternoon, I came home and looked up the singers on Todotango and sampled their songs respectively. I enjoyed the write-up on the singers, the descriptions of their voice and what characterized their singing. I have added the links, you can read about Rosita Quiroga, Azucena Maizani, Mercedes Simone, Ada Falcón, Libertad Lamarque, Nelly Omar and Tita Merello.

In particular, 2 anecdotes from Todotango caught my attention. The first was a piece of “tango tabloid”☺. Many singers of bygone eras also starred in movies. The same phenomenon happened in the East. Anyway, Libertad Lamarque starred in over 20 movies in Argentina. During one shooting, a harsh argument arose between Libertad and the actress Eva Duarte. It was said that after the incident, difficulties to Libertad Lamarque’s career sprang up and she had to emigrate to Mexico. And yes. This is the same Eva who latter married a man named Juan Perón. At the time of the “fight” she was already linked with the future “El Presidente”. Read about the woman Eva Perón loved to hate in "Two Tough Dolls".

The second was a touching letter to Rosita Quiroga from Yoyi Kanematz of Japan, a lover of tango music, written in 1970 in his anticipation of Rosita Quiroga’s visit to Osaka. It holds an account of what tango music meant to the author in the last days of World War II.

Grand ladies of tango, I shall enjoy getting to know you better in the coming days.

A Handful of Handy websites (a.k.a How to get info in Buenos Aires II)

2007-09-25T20:14:00.001-07:00

In the present moment, Sept 2007

I was distracted by the coming of Spring!

Now to continue from where I left off.

Salon Canning – Well, actually it is the website of Parakultural. Of the hugely successful milonga organizer Omar Viola who holds the Monday, Tuesday and Friday milongas at Salon Canning (also a Saturday milonga at San Telmo, Peru 571 since April ‘07).

Information is updated regularly. The month’s coming attractions are all laid out, with line-up of performers and teaching schedules pre-milonga. Not sure who performed 2 Fridays ago?? Find them in the archives of recent months’ events.

Escuela Argentina de Tango (E.A.T) – school with a large assortment of popular teachers such as Aurora Lubiz, Jorge Firpo, ‘El Flaco” Dany etc. Many salon style teachers, a few nuevo style teachers. Main website is on the spartan side. But wow, the downloadable monthly schedules are good!

Now expanded to 3 venues - Galerias Pacifico, Rodriguez Pena 1074 and Recoleta (new, Aug/Sept ‘07).

The main venue is at the Centro Cultural Borges at the upmarket shopping mall, Galerias Pacifico, in the microcentre (cross streets Viamonte and San Martin). The school is slightly tricky to find but you will get there at the end after transversing a few galleries in the Centro Cultural Borges.

I can't resist a mention of the building itself. Galerias Pacifico is a historic building from the late 1800s in the style of Bon Marche in Paris. After falling into disrepairs, it was renovated to the present form and re-opened in 1992. Above is a photo of the famous glass ceiling of Galerias Pacifico.

D.N.I – Pablo Villarraza y Dana Frigoli’s hugely popular school on Av Corrientes. 4 main pairs of teachers including Pablo & Dana. Of the "schools", DNI is probably the most cohesive in terms of similarity of dance/teaching style. The other “schools” are more teaching venues with a loose medley of teachers, like a box of chocolate assortments.

Practica X – popular venue in Abasto for practica on Tuesday nights. Frequent haunt of nuevo style dancers and many nuevo teachers. Well updated website.

Porteno y Bailarin – downtown milonga venue notable for its 2 adjacent dance floors. On the other side of Av. Corrientes from El Beso, 2 minutes stroll. Okie website but sometimes late with info. Well, at least the past month’s archives are available.

There are 2 other popular school/venue to look out for:

* Mariposita – boutique hotel & teaching venue in San Telmo. Another loose assortment of teachers, but not exclusively of nuevo style. For example, Milena Plebs of classic salon style held classes from Jun-Aug ‘07. Unfortunately the teaching schedule is not available online at the moment.

Leti, mother of Carolina Bonaventura is often the de facto manager of the estudio y hotel. And yes, the place is the brainchild of mother and daughter Bonaventura.

* Tangobrujo – Classes held upstairs, shoes and clothing shop downstairs.

Assortment of nuevo style teachers, including Gaston Torelli, Federico Naveira & his sister Ariadna Naveira, Matias Facio & Kara Wenham etc.

Website has nice flash animation. But sadly thin on info besides the address.

For Mariposita and Tangobrujo, you have to look at El Tangauta for the monthly teaching schedule. Even then, its better to get hold of those “slips of paper” (See A Confetti of Paper )

If I come across other useful websites, will add those later.

New addition, 30 Sept '07
La Viruta - the swinging tango nightclub scene of BA, at Armenia 1366 in Palermo. Its said that many a tango wedding were made on its dance floors ☺. DJ Horacio Godoy (brother of Mora Godoy) is one of the organisers, kingpin teacher and a-larger-than life personality in the house.

One either likes it or not. Regardless, La Viruta is part of the tango scene. Frequented by all, from milongueros like "El Flaco" Dany to the young nuevo tango crowd. At La Viruta, you will find nuevo teachers dancing adjacent to absolute beginners. Personally I think that is why navigation is notoriously poor.

Entry is waived on Friday night after 4.00 am, so its a popular spot where the night ends for many dancers winding down the big night out with friends or waiting for Saturday breakfast.

Undeniably a popular venue for nuevo tango classes. Salsa & rock & roll also part of the repertoire. Information on the website for classes is updated.

From the link on this page, go to the La Viruta website. Either click directly on "Tango.milonga" on the mainpage or navigate further to the tango section, by going to the sections on "clases", "shows" and "novedades". The monthly seminario "specials" are listed under the latter.
New addition, 2 Oct '07
Above I have added a photo of the event poster this month at La Viruta. You can click on the photo to enlarge it for easy reading. Every month I will update the photo so that dancers from outside of Buenos Aires can lay their hands on this info.

New addition, 3 Oct '07
Hmm. This piece is taking on a life of its own.

La Marshall - Wednesday nights after 22.00 hs at Maipu 444 in the microcentre. Same sex gay & lesbian milonga but the crowd is not exclusively so. An interesting constrast, La Marshall is held at the same venue as the traditional milonga Cachirulo on Saturdays. Website is updated.

In Sept '07, La Marshal held its own Campeonata de baile (Tango Championship).

==========================================================
Basic Spanish for the non-English websites
==========================================================
Lunes - Monday
Martes - Tuesday
Miercoles - Wednesday
Jueves - Thursday
Viernes - Friday
Sabado - Saturday
Domingo - Sunday

1. If you see "de 21.30 a 0.30 hs", it means from 9.30 pm to 12.30 am. Buenos Aires often use the 24-hour time format.

2. "A partir de 19.30 hs" means from 7.30 pm onwards.

3. "Toca" means playing of a musical instrument or orchestra.

Spring comes to Buenos Aires!

2007-09-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

In the present moment, Sept 2007

Friday 21 September was El Dia de la Primavera, the first day of Spring. Spring Day! Hurraay!!!

Spring Day was also El Dia de los Estudiantes. On this day, school was out for University and high school students. Masses of young happy people gathered at the parks of Palermo for a day of fiesta in the outdoors, having picnics, music, chatting to friends. Basically having a great time in celebration of Spring. This congregation at the parks of Palermo is a tradition here.

On the streets of Buenos Aires, many young women clutched sprigs of flowers as gifts of spring. It was a sunny day, filled with heaps of sights, movement and sound. The vibrancy of Spring and general revival of life in the city was infectious. A kind of euphoria filled me. The terrible winter in BA has lost the battle, its cold talons, my imprisonment for the last 3 months no longer torments. My body felt free at last!

In addition, the language barrier was beginning to lift slowly. I understand enough in the tango classes to make it an enjoyable experience once again. The way is free to take more classes.

This 2-fold sense of liberty fill me with hope for the future. Suddenly, I had a feeling. These coming months in BA will be some of the happiest days of my life...

A Confetti of Paper (a.k.a How to get info in Buenos Aires)

2007-09-14T22:04:00.000-07:00

In the present moment, Sept 2007

At some milongas and practicas in Buenos Aires, one is hit with a shower of slips of paper with information about upcoming events of the milonga, other milongas, clases & seminars, advertisements on shoes, clothes, apartment for rental etc etc. The list goes on.

Rather than being a total waste of paper, these slips are a useful source of information. Because often they are the only means of getting the most updated news on a monthly basis, short of actually dropping into the establishment. Or calling up to ask, especially if the option isn’t available for the linguistically challenged.

In this age of internet penetration, we rely heavily on websites as an essential source of getting info. But Buenos Aires doesn’t work this way. Some teachers, milongas or shops do not have a website. Or more often the case, the info listed is outdated. Here in Buenos Aires, that means last month’s info. Be warned about this, because this month’s schedule is likely to be different.

One has to understand a basic fact of the Buenos Aires tango world. Events are often planned from month to month and not 2-3 months ahead. It is just how it works here, so accept it.

In other cases, some websites have simply stopped working. As one of my friends here, a Korean girl named Rey says “all the info one needs is found HERE in Buenos Aires”.

So for tango visitors coming to Buenos Aires without time on your side, look out for these confetti slips of paper. In addition, arm yourself with the tango publications big and small (see previous post La Primera Vez). Else you should pop in the shop or school to get the new schedule for the current month. By the way, there is a scrabble to get the 3 larger tango magazines “El Tangauta”, “La Milonga” and "B.A. Tango" in the 1st week of each month. Yes, the mags are not released at the end of the preceding month. Or at least they only become widely available in the 1st week. Everyone zealously guard their own copies at this time ☺

But a word of warning, in case some readers takes these 3 tango magazines as the absolute tango bible guide. Although they cover the main scope of information, it is not a total comprehensive listing. Or, on occasion the current month’s schedule published is not accurate. For "El Tangauta", it is better to rely on the schedules published by the schools or the personal adverts of the teachers. The schedules listed via days of the week under the section "Tango Guia/Clases" can be invalid.

Just to illustrate the extent of variability, the teaching schedule for 2 popular schools of tango, DNI & Escuela Argentina de Tango, changed month to month since I have arrived. Why? Because teachers are going overseas for teaching and festival assignments. Otherwise they have just returned after months of teaching abroad. Understandably the timetable has to shift accordingly.

Occasionally, changes to the teaching schedule/venue happened after the monthly submission deadline for adverts to the tango magazines. You could double check the overall schedule with teachers or the establishment once you are there for classes or milongas. People are generally patient with such questions. Better yet, just ask for the updated schedule and you will be given yet another slip of paper to add to your growing collection of paper heap.

Despite of what I said at the beginning about websites, there are some good ones. That's for my next entry.

Footnote: If all fails, you can always download your monthly copy of El Tangauta online ☺

New addition, 2 Oct 07
You can also check out 2 other tango publications online:

La Milonga Argentina - Sadly (because its really quite colourful) its drawback are 2-fold. The online issue is at least 1 month late. And mostly in Spanish.

Punto Tango - The pocketbook guide. Issue is updated! ...though all in Spanish.

Ah, the music!

2007-09-05T21:40:00.000-07:00

I am slightly surprised by my response to the music in the milongas in Buenos Aires.

In Buenos Aires, I experience tango music much more strongly than I ever had before. Here in the milongas, my feelings for tango music are intensified 2-3 times over. Before one jump to the conclusion it is due to the musicality of my porteno partners, let me say that I do experience this musical high when I am simply sitting out a tanda listening to the music.

Is it due to a particular venue then? But I had the same experience at different milonga venues such as at El Beso, Salon Canning and Maipu 444 with different DJs. Of course it goes without saying these milongas have talented DJs who direct the flow & ebb of music with consummate skills.

How does it feel like? In one word, I would describe it as “overwhelming”. Literally it feels like the music is expanding inside of me like a balloon, ready to burst out from the chest. I have the same experience, the same “soaring” emotional reverberation when listening to a great operatic aria.

What surprised me most was that I felt this emotional rush frequently when listening to Jorge Duran, one of the singers of the Di Sarli orquesta. Alberto Podesta remains my favourite Di Sarli singer, for his voice’s sotto voce quality and longing hue. I was never fond of Jorge Duran. His characteristic barrel-like voice I always found too loud and rather lacking in delicacy of emotions. So imagine my surprise when time after time in the milongas here, I would be swept away when a Duran-Di Sarli tanda comes on. I don’t even own a single CD of Duran’s singing. Yet often I can identify Duran-Di Sarli’s songs with certainty. In fact, I would experience the emotional response and then come to the realisation that the singer is Duran.

A quick aside. Among the Podesta-Di Sarli songs, “Otra noche” comes close to the same dramatic intensity. Di Sarli’s “Buenos Aires”, sang by Roberto Florio, is fairly dramatic but I find Florio’s voice in the song too thin and lacks Duran’s booming richness to give the same intensity. The end result just come across as slightly hysteric.

So why do I experience tango music more intensely here?

Does it boil down simply to first-rate DJing in the milongas? Or is it the emotional energy given off by dancers? Perhaps decades of tango music have seeped into the very pores of the walls and in the air that we breathe, in this city where tango music was born. I don’t have an answer. All I know is that there is a special quality in the Buenos Aires milongas that give extra emotional intensity to tango music.

It makes the overall experience for dancing, truly larger than life.

THIS is why we come to Buenos Aires.

El Beso: Part II

2007-08-27T22:54:00.001-07:00

The next night, we were back at El Beso again.

At El Beso, the dancing level is generally high. El Beso has a different style of dancing compared to Salon Canning on Monday nights. Proportionally as many, or more great dancers. But in a different style. For want of a better description, more milonguero in nature. High boleos are led rarely. Adornos are done with quiet and sexy elegance, without the overtly “look at me!” flashiness that I personally don’t find too appealing. Explicitness usually don’t hold my attention for very long.

A likely reason for the difference in style is that El Beso is not very big, its dance floor is probably only a fifth the size of Salon Canning. Of course, as with other milonga venues in Buenos Aires, El Beso on different nights have a slightly different flavour and age group depending on the organizer for the night.

El Beso’s layout is squarish, which I find is more conducive for the cabaceo vs. a rectangular room. The lighting level is well adjusted, sufficient for eye contact but yet slightly muted to generate an air of coziness and calm.

Colin (and Loretta) is an El Beso enthusiast, ascribing the place as a temple where devotees can always return to reaffirm one’s faith☺ It is a favourite hangout of many milonguero dancers, ranging from “youngish” to middle age and those in their sixties. Salon-nuevo dancers who frequent the place tend to accommodate their dancing style to El Beso.

I was feeling slightly bolder tonight, having talked myself into a sense of conviction that the cabaceo will become easier night after night. After 2 or 3 decent tandas, I was more relaxed and decided to look with a tentative smile in the direction where the older milonguero dancers sat. One of the balding gentlemen smiled back and raised his glass in a friendly salute. I smiled back, and accepted his cabaceo invitation for a dance. “There, that went quite well” I thought to myself as I got up to dance. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

The balding gentleman was not very tall, around my height. To my relief, he spoke some English. In Buenos Aires, people usually chat during the pauses between songs within the tanda. It is part of the socialization ritual and offers an opportunity to get to know one another. My near non-existence Spanish made the break between songs a rather laborious experience, so it was good I could communicate with my current partner.

“ De donde sos? Japon? Corea?” he asked.
“ Ah, I see!” he nodded when I replied. “I know your country.”

I was surprised and rather pleased. Outside of Asia Pacific, most people have no idea the exact location of my small country and usually mistaken it for a city within China or India.

From our conversation over the next couple of songs, I discovered this gentleman not only knew my country is in tropical South East Asia, he also knew that we have a community of tango dancers. This was most unexpected. A niggling thought began to lurk in the deep recesses of my mind but I refused to even entertain it.

At the end of the tanda, I asked my partner the only question that I had not asked so far. You would have thought it would have been my first question.

“My name?” he repeated my question.

“Cacho” he replied with a jovial smile. “My name is Cacho Dante”.

Rendered speechless, my own smile now frozen, I returned to my seat under Cacho’s accompaniment. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

Epilogue

Cacho Dante is a well-known milonguero. About 15 or so years ago, Cacho Dante together with Susana Miller and Anna Maria Schapira began to promote the style of dancing tango the way it was danced socially in the milongas of Buenos. You could say this movement spearheaded the awareness of the milonguero style to communities outside of Argentina.

Cacho Dante’s article “The Tango and Trapeze Acts” was inspirational in the early days of my tango journey. His views, so eloquently expressed, were affirmation of my vision of tango, which remained largely unchanged until the present.

The reasons for my chagrin in the above encounter were 2-fold. Firstly, I was feeling rather self-congratulatory about my success with the cabaceo and how I accepted the dance with what I had thought was nonchalant confidence. Haha. H.a... Secondly, Cacho Dante is no stranger to dancers in my community who gravitate towards the close-embrace /milonguero style. My friends and teachers have taken many lessons from Cacho Dante. Not recognizing him is like an apprentice not recognizing the grandmaster, for the lack of a better comparison.

I confessed that for a couple of weeks afterwards, I studiously combed the pages of tango publications to look at photos of well-known dancers, taking pains to memorise what they look like!

P.S/ If you want to know what Cacho Dante looks like, see Page 14, August 2007 issue of El Tangauta. Full frontal, full colour, BIG photo.

El Beso: Part I

2007-07-31T15:39:00.000-07:00

That night, we made our way to El Beso at Riobamba 416.

El Beso’s entrance and stairway is an immediately reminder of its name. Coated not in vermillion or burgundy, but in a shade of true red.

It was a Tuesday night milonga at El Beso, Un Morton de Tango, organized by Osvaldo Natucci and Osvaldo Buglione. The room was not filled to capacity, as June is typically a quieter month off the peak tourist seasons in Buenos Aires. Later I also found out that like myself, the portenos are not fans of the cold (de sangre caliente! one milonguero said to me tongue in cheek) and some responded to the onset of a surprisingly cold winter this early June by staying home.

I was intent on observing the dancers at El Beso, to identify good dancers and also those who would not suit my dancing preferences. In general, I prefer to dance in close embrace. I find it distressing in particular if the leader choose to open up the frame in mid-dance to do open figures, so I am always keen to avoid such experiences.

Loretta, Colin and I chatted to catch up while we watched the dancing. We had a good vintage point with front row seats. Regardlessly, I kept losing track of milongueros who I particularly enjoyed watching once the tanda finished and the crowd return to their seats en masse. My eyes furtively scoured the room, skittishly shunning any accidental eye contacts. Oh dear, what did he looked like? Was it him? Or him? Or..was it him?

After a while, I received verbal invitations from a couple of the younger men in the room. Again like my opening dance at Salon Canning, the first question that I was asked both times – do you not dance? The first invitation I declined with apologies, and felt embarrassed immediately. Because El Beso is a relatively small setting, unlike Salon Canning, it is very obvious for the leader when he has been turned away. Even though it was the men's choice to risk a verbal invitation, my rejection will result in a public loss of face for the man, and it didn’t feel good to do so. The cabaceo originated in the milongas of Buenos Aires for a good reason. The code of inviting and accepting dances via cabaceo serves a very necessary function while preserving social conviviality. I find it a graceful and effective system, and it works to the advantage of both men and women.

Not wanting to go through causing more public rejections, I accepted the 2nd invitation. To my relief, the dance turned out well.

I was keen to put a stop to any further verbal invitations. The only logical conclusion and solution is for me to actively accept some dances via cabaceo. Even more than ever, I felt my eyes to be dangerous weapons which I lack control over. There were no safe directions where they can rest unmolested. Special protective visors required, por favour. With a feeling of desperation like a punter with a last roll of the dice at the roulette tables, I simply casted my eyes in the general direction of the row of tables on the adjacent end of the room where the men sat.

My eyes fell directly onto the path of a milonguero gentleman. In all honesty, I don’t know who was more surprised, him or me. This time I forced myself to hold the locked glance. The milonguero gentleman paused, then asked silently, “bailemos?” Yes, I nodded. There was a hint of disbelief in his expression. We got up to dance but he didn’t appear all that enthusiastic. I knew then that likely he had followed up with the invitation out of politeness, since a younger lady asked and he happened to be caught in an unguarded moment.

My milonguero partner has a precise way of leading with tiny marcas which was yet comfortable. The tanda playing was a mellow one. He danced calmly and very smoothly to the music, and shortly, I relaxed into peaceful, melodic contentment with the music and into my partner’s embrace. By the end of the 2nd song, my partner was also smiling and nodding as we attempted conversation. By the 3rd song, it seemed he has completely forgiven me for any transgression. We parted at the end of the tanda. The feeling of warmth and contentment stayed with me.

“So! How was it??” Colin asked when I returned to the table. “You know, I have not seen him dance with tourist women!” I found out that my partner is a regular milonguero at El Beso. Not only does he dance only selected tandas for the night, he is selective about his partners. It is then that I understood that I had “invited” one of the more exclusive milongueros to dance with me.

Later, from one of the tango mangazines, I found out that the milonguero gentleman’s name is Abel. Always elegantly dressed, in a slightly raffish way. With Rat Pack cool, like an Italiano Frank Sinatra or Sammy Davies Junior.

He is one of my favourite milongueros to watch, I enjoy seeing his style on and off the dance floor. In particular, I am always fascinated by how he does amazingly supertight hiros on the spot, one after another, smoothly, calmly in control. I see Milonguero Abel often at the traditional milongas. He never has a shortage of older, but always pretty and sexy women to dance with. He does not often dance with young women, even the Argentine ones. At least as far as I can tell, unlike some other milongueros, I have not seen him dance with young tourist women.

The tanda with Milonguero Abel was a fortuitous accident on my part. But it would seem I have some ways to go with the cabaceo yet…

Con Amigos

2007-07-30T22:18:00.000-07:00

Serendipity and friendship appeared hand in hand the next day after my first milonga outing in Buenos Aires.

An email from a good friend, the vivacious and charming Loretta, came out of the blue. Loretta and her community in Hong Kong have just finished orchestrating an exhilarating round of workshops and milongas for the visit by young maestros Javier Rodriguez & Andrea Misse. This year in May, Javier & Andrea made their first stop for their Asia tour in my own community (see here), followed by the cities Hong Kong, and then Seoul. Not surprisingly, the response to Javier & Andrea was overwhelming in all 3 countries. Classes were sold-out; legions of fans in each community turned up in full force for the milongas held for Javier & Andrea’s visit.

News from Loretta filled me with delight. Loretta, together with Colin from Australia, have arrived in Buenos Aires for more dancing in the aftermath of Javier & Andrea’s workshop! I first met Loretta and Colin when they visited Singapore a couple of years ago, and we have remained friends ever since.

I couldn't believe the spot-on timing for their visit to Buenos Aires, since I didn't tell them I was coming here. It couldn't have worked more beautifully. Tango and friendship comes naturally. Being surrounded by friends in the shared enjoyment of a milonga is like having your extended family around you. A decent dance floor, great music, good dancers and good friends. What more can one ask for?

La Primera Vez

2007-07-20T23:35:00.000-07:00

Early June, 2007

The first few days after I arrived in Buenos Aires were clouded with jet-lag. Lamely, I would dozed off before 9.00pm. On the 5th day, I was resolute tonight I shall venture out to the milongas in Buenos Aires!

So on Monday night, I took out a gold and lace top and dressed with some care. I decided to head out to Lo De Celia as my first milonga in Buenos Aires, since the down to earth atmosphere may be a good place to initiate my entry. I was filled with some trepidation on the way there. Will I be able to communicate at the basic level? Get a table, order drinks, ask questions?

Finally, I reached Humberto 1° 1462 and rang the doorbell. There was no response. I suddenly noticed the 1st floor of the building was dark. With dismay I realize that there is no Monday milonga at Lo De Celia. The information I found on the internet was outdated. Newly arrived, I hadn’t manage to get hold of any of the popular milonga guides such as El Tangauta, La Milonga Argentina, Buenos Aires Tango or even the myriad smaller publications like Diostango, the tango pocket guide Punto Tango etc.

I hailed a cab to go back home, with a sense of anticlimax. On the way back, the cab driver convinced me that instead of heading home, the place to be on Mondays nights should either be Salon Canning or Club Gricel.

Slowly, I walked through the doorway of Salon Canning on the other side of town in Palermo, just before the midnight hour. Despite my trepidations about the inability to communicate, I was shown to a seat in the front row without much ado. As I walked pass the tables to my seat, it must be my overactive imagination; it felt as if many pairs of eyes are looking in my general direction. After a furtive scan of the room, I saw a couple of other Asian faces. 2 guys in their twenties or thirties. No other Asian females. Perplexed, I thought to myself, aren’t the milongas in Buenos Aires filled with tourists? So why am I the only Asian female at this popular milonga…

I watch the dancers with fascination. So many good dancers! A mixture of all ages and a smaller proportion of milongueros. A face in the crowd popped out – I spotted Osvaldo Natucci. The distinctive way that he danced was unmistakable. With a “tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick” energy that seem to have an almost compulsive edge. As if the world moves at twice the speed for him than for everybody else.

It was a pleasure to watch how the dancers are dancing to the music. Like a lost traveler upon sighting an oasis in the desert, I was so eager to observe and absorb everything on the dance floor. Since I had no great intentions of dancing, I did not change into my shoes. Well aware that the invitation to dance was conducted via cabaceo in Buenos Aires, I was careful not to look at anyone directly in case I inadvertently solicit or accept a dance. Occasionally I stole glances around the room and my eyes slided immediately away from any men that made eye contact with mine. To those who initiated verbal invitations, I declined gently and excused myself on the grounds that I shall change shoes later.

A friendly English girl who has been in Buenos Aires for the last 4 months struck up a conversation with me. We enjoyed an entertaining chat about her experiences at the milongas since her arrival.

3 odd hours passed in a flash. An Argentine who knew my new English friend came up to our table. He was middle-aged, dressed in a black jacket with modern cutting and style and spotted an earring in his ear. Even I did not understand the words, it was clear from his gesticulations and expression that he was aware I have not dance the whole night - does she not dance? Yes, I do. So! He was insistent that I must not spent the night without dancing. My excuse of the shoes failed to work this time. I was nonplussed. My friend whispered that perhaps I should entertain this invitation just once to give face to this particular gentleman. Feeling somewhat at a loss, I changed into my shoes and danced a Pugliese tanda.

Immediately after, another dancer more casually dressed struck an invitation and I was on the dance floor again. It was clear from the beginning that I was dancing with a salon-nuevo style dancer. Of course he must be equally aware that I dance milonguero-style. He turned out to be an excellent leader, with very clear lead with full contact of his chest. I felt secure in his embrace, I could feel he waited for my full transfer of weight and firm contact with the ground from one step to the next. I enjoyed a figure-intensive tanda, fairly exhilarating in view that it is out of my usual repertoire of dance.

This was how I ended my first milonga in Buenos Aires at Salon Canning in the wee hours of Buenos Aires. In a good mood but somewhat confounded. One can’t just sit out the night and watch the dancing in the milongas of Buenos Aires, no?

Shoe-Fleur: a footwear fantasty!

2007-07-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

Besides tango, my passions have always been elements of renaissance beauty and intellect. What I refer to is the co-existence of art, intelligence and creativity in various combinations. Such was the magnificence of the Renaissance period. It is also the source of my love of oriental art, from Song furniture to peachbloom ceramics of Kangxi era.

Witness the existence of beauty. Beauty without the additional element of intellect is still undeniably beautiful of course. Beauty inspired by the creative spark, is to imagine the statue of Venus de Milo awaken with the kiss of life. Imagine the warmth of her milky skin, the supple strength in the column of her legs, her soft breath perfuming the air as Venus speaks...!

Day to day, I hope for such moments. To become hyper animated. When it happens, I am in the gripe of excitment beyond control. Captivated in wonderment. My mind is stimulated by the concoction of chemicals rushing through the bloodstream. It comes to life in a frenzy, the neurons in my brain firing in ten thousand million tiny gun salutes. The rush of emotions and the senses. Mmm, yes.

Today, it was an article on the work of photographer Michel Tcherevkoff which delighted me: "Shoe-Fleur: a footwear fantasty".

Using flowers and leaves as raw materials, Michel Tcherevkoff fashioned them into a collection of shoes, transporting them from the relms of fantasy into book form "Shoe-Fleur".

He decided to craft each invented shoe from a single variety of flower or plant:

“I decided early on that I wouldn’t mix different types,” he says. “Every shoe and handbag [most of the shoes in the book have matching purses] would be made from one particular plant or flower.”

The delicate beauty of the shoes and whimsical delight of his creativity is entirely wondrous. The whimsicality makes the girl in me smile with great glee. While the sheer wit of his creations appeals to my intellect and femininity.

From September 6, the collection of prints from the book will be exhibited at the Museum of Art and Design in New York.

It makes me wish for a moment I had relocated to New York instead of Buenos Aires :D

El Sur: Meanderings on the Southern Passage. Part II.

2007-06-27T20:58:00.000-07:00

Inside the plane, the hours stretch ahead and merged together with an unwavering indeterminacy.

To this traveler crossing the great expanse of continents, an article "Save the Last Dance" in the onboard flight magazine “Going Places” heralds the impeding arrival of Buenos Aires like a shimmering mirage of the promised land of milk and honey. The article highlighted the tango revival and renaissance in Buenos Aires, the reason for transporting myself along the southern passage to the other side of the world.

I found an interesting tidbit in the article about Carlos Gardel, a name synonymous with tango music. Carlos Gardel is THE Tango Superstar of mythical proportions - Elvis Presley, Beatles and Frank Sinatra all rolled into one. Gardel perished in a plane crash when his plane caught fire in Medellin, Colombia in 1935. He occupies an unassailable place in the hearts of Argentines, together with Evita Peron, Diego Maradona and myriad patron saints adopted by the people.

Gardel’s tomb is at the Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires, buried next to his mother. His tomb is a shrine that is to this day covered with flowers and offerings.

The article says among the many plaques that decorate the place, there was an inscription dated 1984 “From Medellin, Columbia, Gustavo Gaviria Jaramillo brings you this message of admiration”. Gustavo Gaviria of the Columbian Medellin Cartel, used to be number two in cocaine trafficking with his cousin Pablo Escobar until he was killed by police on 11 August 1990.

My thoughts hopscotched back to my Papa & Mama, close kin and friends once again left behind. The sentiments are contained in the above card “The Journey of a Thousand Miles…”, handmade by a close friend. Enclosed inside are the 2nd half of the saying and well-wishes by her and another friend. It is symbolic of a friendship spanning over twenty years and 6 different countries between the three of us at different stages of our lives. It is symbolic of all friends in my life, past and present.

To my family and friends, I am sharing this part of my life with tango for now. But with you remain where my heart is.

El Sur: Meanderings on the Southern Passage. Part I.

2007-06-14T00:13:00.000-07:00

The plane drifts endlessly above the blue and white expanse on my southern crossing to the other side of the world. As it takes me further away from family and friends and my life for the last 9 years, memories of another great southern continent began to resurface. Memories of friends in Sydney where I spent 6 years of my life.

Looking back, my first “contact” with Argentina was in my first year of University. Her name is Marcela O. A tall girl with a ready grin, with dark brown ringlets bouncing as she talks animatedly. She was Aussie born. Marcela and Anna Nyugen, a Vietnamese girl, were benchmates next to us in Chemistry 101 class. My own partner was the coolest 5’8 blonde chick with brains, Sally D’Zwan, who has an Australian mum and a Dutch dad.

One day, Marcela mentioned in passing that her parents are not from Australia. They came from Argentina. She told me her parents were students who fled their country in the 1970s, because of their protestations against the government. This was my first knowledge of Argentina’s military regime during that period. Latter when tango entered my life, I learnt more of Argentina’s dark years and the scars that the horrors of the “Desaparecidos”, or disappeared ones, left on the psyche of its people till the present day. Every Thursday afternoon at the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, the “Madres de la Plaza de Mayo” hold a march in remembrance. Their symbolic white headscarf denoting universal motherhood and anguish at the loss of their children and grandchildren who disappeared during the junta years.

Recently someone told me that the Argentine law has always favoured women in this country. For example, women are entitled to half of her husband’s assets in a divorce. Her assets prior to the marriage remains in her ownership. Suddenly, I recalled that the tragedy of Ada Falcon (see Música del Alma, Jan06 posting) came about because Francisco Canaro was unwilling to part with half of his fortune if he divorced his wife to be with Alda. This was back in the late 1930s. Canaro was fabulously wealthy.

Marcela, I am finally in the capital city of the country that your parents left many years ago. I don’t know if they were from Buenos Aires or another part of Argentina. I wonder if I have walked past someone related to you on the streets of Corrientes…

Intermission: Tres Esquinas (Three Corners)

2007-06-03T17:01:00.000-07:00

In May 2007’s issue of tango magazine El Tangauta, I finally found the last piece of the puzzle of a song that has special meaning for me.

In an article on Page 40, Tres Esquinas is translated as “Three Corners’. What does the name means? I found out that Tres Esquinas was the name of a station of a train line that no longer exists today in Buenos Aires.

The song Tres Esquinas first came upon me in the tango documentary “Tango, Baile Nuestro” by Jorge Zanada. I have been dancing tango only a few months then, and have no idea what was the name of the song. The grand orquesta of Angel D’Agnostino y Angel Vargas meant nothing for a while yet. Those marvelous revelations came later. What I knew was that the song was beautiful and echoingly evocative. It occupies a special place in my heart. Until today it never fails to struck a deep chord within me.

I watched “Tango, Baile Nuestro” over and over, rewinding continuously to the scenes with clips of social dancing in Buenos Aires circa early 1980s. That is a story for another time perhaps. In one of the scenes, Tres Esquinas was the song playing when the veteran portenos danced around a big dance floor resembling a basketball court. This is of course Club Sunderland, the milonga located in the barrio of Villa Equiza in Buenos Aires. Music and its associations with our memories have great evocative powers. At any time, no sooner do I hear the melodic opening of Tres Esquinas, am I transported to another time and era.

“Yo soy del barrio de Tres Esquinas, Viejo baluarte del arrbal…”
(I am from the neighborhood of Tres Esquinas, old bulwark of the suburbs…”)

El Tangauta

The sweet, sweet soaring strains of violins playing the refrain followed by the echoingly notes of the piano brings an upwelling of emotions and moisture to the eyes. The tears do not fall because this song is redolent of nostalgia and not heartache. Nostalgia is a quality of longing for those times past, often tinged with regret, yes, but with the air of acceptance. Who else has any other choice but to accept the past? We look back at the past as if watching images flashing silently past on the surface of an old mirror, the fleeting images indistinct and yellow with age. The pang will always be there. The rest has dissolved into a million shimmering pieces, long since seeped away with time.

Before the turn of the twentieth century, the last train left from the Tres Esquinas station and by middle of the century, the station was demolished.

El Tangauta’s article put it well. The tango remained.

Footnote: Tres Esquinas station was located at Paseo Colon y Venezuela in today’s area of Monserrat in Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires Tango

2007-04-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

National Geographic Feature: Buenos Aires Tango

"Inspired by his own coverage, photographer Pablo Corral Vega filmed this short documentary with Pocho Alvarez on the allure of tango. Join him at his favorite haunts in night-loving Buenos Aires."

Video: Tango de Buenos Aires

Inspirado pela sua própria reportagem, o fotógrafo Pablo Corral Vega filmou, com Pocho Alvarez, este curto documentário sobre o fascínio do tango. Acompanhe-o aos seus locais preferidos da notívaga Buenos Aires.

Photographer Pablo Corral Vega also filmed the superb National Geographic Tango issue in December 2003, titled "And Still They TANGO". This was at a time when Buenos Aires was coping with the worst of its economical woes after the crash of the Argentine peso. Since then, life may not be exactly rosy but the portenos have sprung back with their irrepressible appeptite for living.

Tango, and keep your soul alive through thick and thin.

Salon Canning by monteleone

2007-02-17T19:32:00.000-08:00

" El proyecto se trata fue realizado en Marzo del 2006 en el marco del Festival de Tango de Bs. As. y con motivo del 50 Aniversario del Salón Canning. El motivo de esta obra es reflejar el clima de la Milonga en un conjunto de imágenes que perteneces, atemporalmente, a la espesura del aire que se percibe es ese espacio. Las fotografías que se exhiben de fondo, pertenecen a la muestra “Mirada de Tango”. "

Monteleone

This piece of artwork by Guillermo Monteleone was created in March 2006, and displayed at an art exhibition at the Salon Canning. The composition was created to mark the Festival de Tango of Buenos Aires, and specifically, to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Salon Canning last year.

The massive photo mural simply titled "Milonga", measured 13 metres by 3 metres, graced the entire back wall of Salon Canning. It is composed of a montage of dancers at Salon Canning. The effect is a re-creation of the live atmosphere of the milonga, by transfixing the shining, ephemeral split second that is vibrating with the essence of that moment, forever suspended in time.

Besides the glorious hangings of tango masters Claudia Codega & Esteban Moreno lining the walls of Salon Canning, Claudia & Esteban are also featured on the dance floor on the left side of the room. Other famous tango dancers can also be found in the mural montage. How many can you find? :)

Emocións: Claudia Codega / Esteban Moreno

2006-08-29T04:25:00.000-07:00

"...It could be seen in her hips and in her mouth; she was made for tango..."

Julio Cortázar
From Monteleone's exhibition "mirada de tango"

The photograph showed 2 pairs of feet delicately touching in mid-walk. One can imagine Claudia & Esteban moving lingeringly over the dance floor to the strains of DiSarli. Podesta's singing blends in with the muted room.

The air is filled with her. Her deep glaze, her lips, her magnificent hips. Her one look is more highly nuanced than any overdone display of sensuality. By her walk alone, she sets the heart alive and beating, sotto voce.

Her tango allure is special, because it is part artistic creation between Claudia and Esteban, and part arising from the essence of the woman that she is.

She is imbued with an aura, a rare screen presence like the silent movie stars of old. The beauty of her performance is that Claudia expresses the unspoken words, those veiled underlying emocións, by the subliminal use of her body language.

For those familiar with eastern cinematography, she is the western equivalent of Maggie Chueng's iconic female form clad in cheongsam, moving in slow suspension in Wong Kar Wai's movie "In the Mood for Love".

Claudia Codega.
Esteban Moreno.

She is an arthouse screen siren gliding in his arms; they were made for tango.

Claudia & Esteban: mirada de tango by monteleone

2006-08-19T03:09:00.000-07:00

Photography exhibition June/July 2003
Paris

This was a photo exhibition by Guillermo Monteleone shown in Paris. Photos of tango masters Claudia Codega and Esteban Moreno filled the walls. Some photos appeared posed at landmark locales in Paris while others captured Claudia & Esteban during performance. To capture a moment of beauty in mid-dance is my yardstick of good photography. To forever record an image of the inner essence of the person, the live ambience of the place, the magic of that instance in time.

What enraptured me was the text by renowned Argentine writers Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar and Leopoldo Marechal accompanying the photos of Claudia & Esteban.

The writings were ardent and expressive. The beauty of the words, the emotions evoked, made the heart race and took one’s breath away.

“…la primavera de Buenos Aires y la mujer de mi develo se habían manifestado juntas…”

“…spring in Buenos Aires and the woman of my sleeplessness had manifested themselves together…”

Leopoldo Marechal

“…Verla, no daba sueño…”

“…Seeing her made sleep vanished…”

Jorge Luis Borges

“…ibamos juntos a los bailes, y yo los miraba vivir…”

“…and we would go to dances together, and I would watch them; they were alive…”

Julio Cortázar

This is my favourite because of the sentiments expressed in this verse:

“..al verla fui entendiendo que yo no sabria mirar otra cosa en adelante, porque mi contemplación nacía en ella y en ella se quedaba, sin retorno…”

“…when I looked at her, I gradually understood that I would not be able to look at anything else from then on, for my comtemplation was born in her, and stayed in her, without return…”

Leopoldo Marrechal

“…la abrázo como para siempre…”

“…he embraced her, as if forever…”

Jorge Luis Borges

Postnote: On the topic of great photography, our good friend Johan Khoo, now relocated to Kuala Lumpur, has this wonderful gift.

La vida es un tango

2006-05-22T02:44:00.000-07:00

How does one explain the intimate and private tango experience?

On the rare occasions when compelled to explain to friends and family what tango means to me, I struggle to find the words to describe how it feels and its significance. At these times, attempts to articulate tango would be overwhelmed by a wave of emotions cancelling out coherent speech. Hence the world of tango, which has taken over my nights and days, remains a mystery to those closest and dearest.

A saying which resonates with me is the description "La vida es un tango". Everything is in the tango. It can lent itself as a mirror to see oneself with clarity if one fears not the discovery. It is the internal and external journey of life's experiences.

Above all, tango is the people of Buenos Aires, its history and culture, the past and future, who are its living and evolving legacy.

Real people, real tango. Perhaps this is the root of my fascination with the social dance floor of Buenos Aires. It matters not the age, it matters not the aesthetics and technique. Danced by people to music steeped with the purity of depth and breadth and height of their whole selves. It is beautiful, because it is real.

Tango of the people - my true inspiration and love of tango.

Mayo

Música del Alma

2006-01-15T23:57:00.000-08:00

What is tango without tango music? Tango music and tango the dance is an intertwined experience for me. Tango music elicits a deep instinctive response from the inner core that will not be denied.

There are many tango songs that I enjoy dancing to, most of them from the Golden Era up to the Fifties. Among the assortment of much-loved pieces, I find the few songs listed below entrancing and worth a special mention.

Este es el rey
The opening section and refrain of this song is bold and audacious as befitting the title. Trust D’Arienzo to concoct this big, brassy exciting piece!

Ella es así
The milonga by Edgardo Donato is totally wicked and irresistible to dancing feet. Exhilarating!

Siete Palabras
Some songs wait for tango dancers to complete the picture. Such was the case for Siete Palabras by Di Sarli. Maestros Julio Balmaceda & Corina de la Rosa’s performance on the tangoaficionado website clinched it for me. The plucking notes are magic.

Champagne tango
I confess a certain preference for late Di Sarli – rich, deep and emotive. There is something very alluring and sensuous about the soaring melody of this piece. Indeed, the golden notes tingle on the palate like fine champagne. Oh, to have the grace to glide to the Champagne tango!

Tres esquinas
This song by Los Dos Angeles (Angel D’Agnostino & Angel Vargas) always conjures up scenes of the Buenos Aires social dance floor for me, in particular Club Sunderland. Vargas’ singing is a perfect counterpoint to the echoingly nostalgic tune.

Yo no sé que me han hecho tus ojos
Ever since I watched the 2003 tango documentary of the same name (I don't know what your eyes have done to me) directed by Sergio Wolf and Lorena Muñoz *, this vals has embedded itself into my mind. It is sung by late tango singer and diva Ada Falcón with music and lyrics by Francisco Canaro. The documentary traces the life of Ada Falcón, her doomed relationship with Francisco Canaro and her subsequent withdrawal from society at the height of her fame. Ada Falcón was famous for her green eyes.

When I listen to Canaro’s songs, many have a characteristic sweetness, but often it is a bitter-sweetness of heartache and broken love affairs and not the sweetness that you find in pieces, say, by Osvaldo Fresedo.

Even though I am not a particularly lyrics-driven person, the lyrics of “Yo no sé que me han hecho tus ojos” reads like an impassionate love letter, the words in the setting of the haunting tune are unforgettable given the background context. Devastating.

Yo no se que me han hecho tus ojos Translation

Yo no se si es cariño el que siento,
yo no se si sera una pasión,
solo se que al no verte una pena va rondando por mi corazón...
Yo no se que me han hecho tus ojos que al mirarme me matan de amor,

yo no se que me han hecho tus labios que al besar mis labios,
se olvida eldolor...

* Footnote: "Yo no se que me han hecho tus ojos" was awarded the Best Latin America Film Ward

Quejas de Bandoneon
This is the definitive song for me. The signature piece by Anibal Troilo incapacitates me every time I hear it, the experience is so overwhelming that it makes my insides clench tight. The full orchestra sound and powerful bandoneon swells bring to mind a grand passion/story that spans across the years. Its full intensity is interspersed with achingly sweet sections of the bandoneon. Finally, the ending comes and goes without regret.

I first heard the song in the tango documentary “Tango, baile nuestro” by Jorge Zanada. It contains a seminal performance by an old couple to Quejas de Bandoneon which is so fitting I doubt I would ever see another equal to it. I should stop trying to dance to this song, it is completely beyond me to express it.

Una nota dulce - Enero

3rd Taipei Tango Festival 2005

2005-09-29T22:06:00.000-07:00

First meeting – Thursday 15 Sept – Opening Milonga >

My arrival at Chiang Kai Shek airport at 5.30 pm was uneventful, followed by a smooth 1-hour bus ride into Taipei city. I checked into Erin Hotel at 7.30 pm and started to get ready for my first milonga in Taipei.

The Erin Hotel was strategically situated close by to the Shi-Dai Dance Studio where classes were held and within 10 mins taxi ride to the milonga venues of the Taipei Tango Festival. I descended into the basement bar and restaurant club Barrio at 8.30 pm, ravenously hungry after half a day of travel from Singapore. The Barrio has a cozy, intimate atmosphere with a nicely back lit bar area and a dance floor on the small side for the crowd tonight. It struck me as a place you could be comfortable hanging out with friends, and even in the intimate company of a Latin lover. Quizas, no? :)

Many dancers, both local and international participants at the tango festival began to arrive. The dance floor filled with elegant dancers and ladies dancing with expressive embellishments. Besides a stint in Sydney and Tokyo, and not withstanding the tango visitors transiting in Singapore, this was my first full-blown tango exposure outside of my country. I observed with interest the Taipei dancers as I have heard about the high level of dancing for a young community which only started in 2000. What caught my attention was the manner that the advanced Taipei leaders moved to the music. Slowly, sinuously and almost suspended from one fluid moment to the next. They led as if they had all the time in the world on the dance floor with their chosen lady in the shared abrazo. It gave the dance floor dynamics a particular energy at once deliberate and natural. This, I thought to myself, is dancing. Not the frantic, florid movements of other dance floors, with men and women in a rush to reach some unknown goal. Tango is not dancing a race where the winners get a prize upon reaching the finishing line. No adulating fans, no rapturous applause. Only the sweet reward of silent, intimate conversation between two bodies in motion. The sweetest drug of the senses tango dancers will spend a lifetime chasing.

I made friends with a friendly Taipei tanguero who introduced me to her friends. I danced a couple of tandas before an excited buzz fell over the club. It was time for the introduction dances by the 3 pairs of masters from BsAs: Esteban Moreno & Claudia Codega, Damian Esell & Nancy Louzan and Julio Balmaceda & Corina de la Rosa.

Elegantly spectacular, each pair of dancers with their unique style and personality transformed the dance floor and transfixed the eager crowd. The sexy and chic pair Claudia & Esteban danced with classical elegant footwork that came across with almost cerebral intensity. Claudia is surely the thinking woman’s tango role model. Damien & Nancy danced with youthful energy and lithe grace. This golden couple charmed everybody with their friendliness by the end of the festival. It was Julio & Corina’s turn. Their personalities dominated the dance floor, they moved as two continuous halves of a whole, each completing what the other started. It was as if their bodies carried within them the pure resonance of generations of dancers from BsAs who lived and breathed tango. This is the vibrating resonance I have seen from clips of the BsAs dance floor. Julio & Corina transported BsAs onto the dance floor of Taipei Barrio club that evening. I can easily watch them all night.

I danced a few more tandas before the evening drew to a close at 1.00 am. Quick round of kisses in farewell to newfound friends before returning to my hotel.

Next movement – Friday 16 Sept – Party Night

The next morning dawned and I prepared for class with anticipation. Those who know me would be familiar with my night owl tendencies. Perversely, all my class from Friday – Sunday began at the first 11.00 am slot. My quota of two classes per day would have been modest for the more able-bodied. However, two classes everyday on top of a recurring foot injury, with four continuous nights of dancing at the festival was in retrospection, my personal limit.

The Taipei Tango Festival had built itself a solid reputation over the last 3 years of inviting only first rate teachers. The 3rd Festival was no exception. The boom of overseas participants was standing testimony to the Taipei Tango Festival’s success. For this 3rd Taipei Tango Festival, Japan sent a 50-strong contingent, Hong Kong came with 19 dancers, Korea had 10 dancers, several of whom took all available class slots and attended all 4 milonga parties. Shi Li Pai! Power! There were 6 of us from Singapore, not large but decent for a community with less than a hundred dancers in total. Overseas participants made up at least a third of people at the Taipei Festival, the remainders were Taiwanese dancers. Most classes I took had an average of 20 couples, and the Taipei organizers even had to turn away people from oversubscribed classes. I am glad I signed up early for my classes!

My classes were mixed levels of level 3/4/5. There was also a beginner’s package with level 2/3 classes pegged at newer dancers and advance level 5/master classes for the truly initiated. My experiences at the classes were excellent and I gained many important insights on tango over the 3 days. My favourite class was conducted by Julio & Corina on the anatomy of the movement. Corina spearheaded this class and led very useful exercises to isolate and loosen up bone and musculature, concentrating on the feet, ankles and hips. Our bodies felt limber and released from tension for the 2nd half of the class. With the sense of calm and harmony in one’s body, it was easy to move in this state. I began to experience the concept of contramovimiento at the heart of Julio & Corina’s teaching and dancing. I could extend my stride with little tension in my body and hips. It was something I had never experience before, with my body’s predilection for accumulating stress and tension. I felt borne again at the end of the class. Strangely relaxed yet sensorially receptive, as if I had just spent the last hour and a half at a spa instead of working hard at a tango class.

That evening, the 2nd milonga Party Night was held in a huge dance hall at the Taipei Youth Activity Center. It was still fairly early when I reached the milonga after 9 pm, dancers were still streaming in after dinner. The lighting was a little bright at first, in contrast to the typical intimate setting preferred by most tango dancers. All was put right once arrangements were made to switch to blue lighting. The hall was at once imbued with a blue glow which provided visibility yet flooded the room with a novel, almost avant-garde atmosphere. Cool intensity, slow burn.

I was delighted to bump into my friends Colin and Loretta from Sydney and Hong Kong on the dance floor. We became good friends after the pair visited Singapore tango community the year before. One of the pleasures of dancing tango is the chance to meet up with good friends wherever you go, be it Asia, Europe or BsAs. The world is your playground with the tango mecca at the heart of Buenos Aires. Just as pilgrims on the holy Haj circumambulate around the Kabba seven times in religious ecstasy, tango dancers circulate anti-clockwise on the dance floor of Buenos Aires in facsimile, experiencing their own private unison of harmony and joy.

I had a number of dances that night. A personal observation on the Taipei leaders I had the opportunity to dance with, since I was on Taipei home ground after all. Irregardless of the level of my partner, from decent to advanced, the Taipei leaders struck me in the way they listened to the music. The best experiences for me had always been in experiencing the musicality and expressiveness of my partner. Not in the fancy execution of steps in a showcase of technical expertise, although of course experienced leaders transmit with great skill a seamless lead to create a joyous and comfortable dance experience for their partners. The Taipei leaders had more than a fair amount of musicality in their makeup and were at ease in expressing themselves musically. Was the Taipei tango scene a magnet for the artistic and musically inclined, I wondered to myself? It seemed that way, or at least it was my good fortune to experience.

The milonga was interspersed with tandas of salsa, meringue, a chacarera dance and an impromptu lip sync performance by the inimitable Corina de la Rosa which wowed the crowds. The combination of musical events gave the party the right mix of energy and fun for dancers to let their hair down on this 2nd night. Everyone had a whooping great time.

In the mood – Saturday 17 Sept – Chinese style milonga

I went to my classes feeling a little worse for wear the next day. Too much dancing, too many late nights, too little sleep and too many cigarettes!

The day passed quickly. I was looking forward to the Chinese style milonga at Leofoo Hotel that evening. I took out my favourite eggshell blue vintage Cheongsam from the 1960s and put up my hair for the evening. A few finishing touches to my toilette before I completed my assemble with vintage pearls and brooch set. It was happening again, I could feel the subtle shifting in mood and bodily nuance to that bygone era of glamour and elegance.

The Leofoo Hotel was already packed with dancers in a wide array of Chinese styled costumes when I arrived late; I scanned the restaurant to look for my friends. There was a single early bird couple on the dance floor. A scant ten minutes later, as if responding en masse to some unheard signal, seventy percent of dancers milled onto the dance floor. What had appeared to be a good-size room suddenly shrunk to elbow room proportions. Mr Koji Kyotani, renowned bandoneon player from Japan, stepped up the intensity on the dance floor with masterful renditions of Pugliese pieces. The atmosphere was primed for performances by the visiting international dancers. The show opener was by our host and organizers of the 3rd Taipei Tango Festival, tango dancers Daniel Liu and Stacy Jou. Followed by 2 sets of dancers each from Japan and Hongkong and a pair of dancers from Korea. Japanese dancers and tango teachers Akiyoshi & Noriko Tanada pulled off their performance with split second precision that was amazing to watch. This was the Japanese homage to perfection, achievable only by hours, days and months of pure hard work.

There was a sense of completion at the end of the evening as months of preparation culminated in this one night for the international dancers. The restaurant was filled with people chatting animatedly and taking photos with friends and the masters as keepsakes of this special night.

Finale – Sunday 18 Sept – Grand Milonga with Masters show

Oh, a note here to readers who are waiting for descriptions of the many attractions of Taipei. You can stop looking, there aren’t any here. Nada. Simply because I didn’t manage anything else except slept very little, took classes, smoked and danced tango in equal proportions. The vague feelings of regret (National Palace Museum) and guilt (Taipei 101 Tower was nearby) would have to be remedied on a future trip.

I shall launch directly into the Grand Milonga on the evening of Sunday 18 Sept. I was ready early and went ahead to the Sheraton Hotel to secure a table for our group. Imagine my surprise when I saw the long queue of people who were already waiting patiently at the entrance of the Sheraton Ballroom. This was the night every dancer had been waiting for!

At 7.30 pm the ballroom doors opened to admit streams of people dressed to the nines. Good-looking men impeccably dressed to melt feminine hearts. Beautiful women drifted past in clouds of soft perfume, sheathed in silks and gorgeous high heels, with charming smiles that lingered in their eyes as they danced with the men. Live tango music by the iTango Orchestra began to drift through the ballroom. In no time at all, three hundred elegant dancers circled the dance floor, dancing with shimmering restrain and grace. The dance floor was the biggest and most crowded I had experienced, yet conversely, the sense of privacy between two people was intensified. Enveloped in this sea of dancers, I entrusted myself into the embrace of my partner.

The moment we had all been waiting was almost upon us. The air was thick with anticipation as the MCs paid acknowledgements to the guests of honour, officials and patrons of the arts gracing the event before announcing the Masters Show.

The room dimmed.

The silhouette of Claudia & Esteban emerged from the shadows, Claudia’s footwork sublime in classical poise and acuity. Her feet weaved a subtle, smoldering allure as the couple danced across the floor. Their tango was pure sophistication with velvety depths.

With the entrance of Damien & Nancy, there was an abrupt change in mood. The petite figure of Nancy struck one pose after another with increasing sensual intensity as she approached Damien. The couple embarked upon a sizzling performance that must have raised the ambient temperature by a few notches.

Finally, Julio & Corina appeared on the floor. This magnificent-looking couple’s aura and presence was undeniable. Their carriage was supple with that special resonance as they swirled around, like a pair of alpha lion and lioness circling one another with grace and power. A tour de force performance indeed!

The dance floor was quickly reclaimed by dancers as the Masters Show ended.

To my amazement, four hours of dancing at the Grand Milonga passed in a blur. Surrounded by the husky seductive vocals of the lovely singer Cat Peng, I lost my bearings on the dance floor early in the evening. I can’t tell how many times we had circled the room, since everything had since merged into sensory moments in time. The only thing that mattered was the sweetness and magic of tango all around us.

Full moon on Taipei

Incredibly, as if 4 days and nights of tango were not enough, at the end of the Grand Milonga, hardcore tango dancers piled into various cabs to continue dancing under the stars at the park. It was bright with the Mid-Autumn full moon as I looked up at the night sky – what an unusual and memorable way to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.

As tango music filled the night air, the mood was languid and filled with contentment as we danced into the wee hours of the morning.

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I shall end by according much credit to the hard work by the organisers in making the 3rd Taipei Tango Festival a fabulous success. Thank you for giving us such a wonderful tango experience.

Taipei, goodbye until next!

Belinda Tang
Sept 2005

Una nota dulce - Septiembre