[Tango-L] Dancer Profile in Buenos Aires

[Lois Donnay]

Do you have any idea how much work this would be? If you want to get
this kind of personalized service, go to one of the people who help to
escort you around to the milongas as well as the city. This is a must if
you have not been to Buenos Aires several times. (One of those people is
Janis Kenyon.)

It is quite unfair to ask those who have worked and paid for knowledge
to just write this down for your convenience. This kind of experience
doesn't come for free, and it is priceless if you are in Buenos Aires if
you want a decent tango experience. Don't shortchange your time
there-work with someone who can save you time, embarrassment and money.
I have seen more than a few people go all that way and get only a tenth
of the experience they could if they worked with someone knowledgeable
there.

Lois Donnay
Minneapolis, MN 


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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