[Tango-L] Dancer Profile in Buenos Aires

[jeff byrnes]

Hi Deby,

Would you please mind putting some names on the milongas you mention and
categorize them, by say, age of dancers, style, tourist traps, etc.? I plan
a visit to Buenos Aires and such a list would come-in handy...

Thanks,

Jeff

On 8/1/06, Deby Novitz <dnovitz at lavidacondeby.com> wrote:
>
> 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.
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