[Tango-L] Dancer Profile in Buenos Aires

[Deby Novitz]

And now from someone who lives here, dances with a professional dancer, 
sits and listens to the discussions of many professional dancers, here 
is my 2 centavos.

I am offended by people who think that tango in Buenos Aires is all 
about old uneducated men who learned to dance from their fathers, 
womanizers who lust after the money and bodies of foreign women,  and 
teachers who throw their business cards at anyone resembling a tourist.  
Yes, those people are present at milongas along with the "gatas" (the 
woman who lust after the money of the foreign men), drug dealers, and 
occasional transvestites.  Are they the majority?  NO!

Every milonga has its composite.  Every milonga is different.  You want 
to go to a milonga where there are all tourists, the usual suspects with 
their hands out, you can find them.  There are milongas where I am the 
youngest person by 20 years or so.  You can find milongas in the barrios 
of Avellaneda, Flores, and in Banfield, (home of Osvaldo and Coca) 
Quilmes, and Lanus.  There are places where the people who live there 
get together, rent a social hall and simply dance.  Anyone who pays the 
2 or 3 pesos can come in.  Gricel on Monday and Fridays is loaded with 
people who are professionals and not only do they dance, they dance 
well.  Tango is danced in Rosario, Cordoba, Corrientes, and other 
provinces.  Not like Buenos Aires, but it is danced.

I have met a very diverse group of people in the milonga.  The milongas 
reflect the people of Buenos Aires.  I know women and men who are 
architects, lawyers, and doctors.  I know one man who splits his time 
between here and Mexico.  He has two businesses, one in each country.  
One man is a well known Cardiologist.  He comes to the afternoon 
milongas around 6 or 7 with a group of other doctors.  They dance to 
unwind from a stressful day. Roberto has a pilot who works for Lufthansa 
who is his student, another owns two casinos, another is a plastic 
surgeon.  Mimi has a student who owns a large software company here in 
Buenos Aires. I teach English at two large insurance companies.  My 
students in both companies introduced me to fellow managers who either 
dance tango or are learning. My dentist says I have inspired him enough 
to maybe try to learn. There are people who come from more humble 
backgrounds, people with little or no education.  All of us dance 
together.  Tango is no longer the dance of the lower class, uneducated 
person.  Today tango is danced by people of all backgrounds. 

When I meet people who live here, Argentines, they are charmed that an 
American dances tango.  Many ask me about classes.  They tell me how 
they watched their grandparents dance and now they want to learn.  I 
have not met anyone who has denied they dance tango when they actually 
do.  That is an attitude of the past.  I have friends who hate the 
music, just as I could not stand Perry Como and Lawrence Welk.  It is 
not because they think the tango is beneath them in social class.

Again the question; What do you find in the milongas?  Last night was 
the first night that I was able to dance in the milonga.   When Roberto 
and I stopped between songs, we were rushed by people on the floor with 
tears in their eyes.  I was overwhelmed by the emotion.  People were 
happy to see me dancing again.  All night people came to the table to 
hug me and tell me they were happy to see me without crutches and a 
happy face, not one full of pain.  I write this only to tell you about 
the warmth and good feelings I have when I go to the milonga.  None of 
these people are my friends outside of the milonga.  I have known some 
of them for 5 years or 6 years, some for a lot less.  People who care 
enough to not only wish you well, but they mean it.  You can find 
ugliness anywhere.  But for me, it is something different.  So that is 
what I find in the milongas...and found before I came to live here.