Before I say anything, I want to be clear that Buenos Aires isn't about tango. It is much much more. There is something to be said about those "tango tourists" who come and don't really get to know the city besides a few factoids and tidbits. I will leave my comments about this amazing city at another time, but needless to say, this city's glory and beauty can still exist if tango hadn't existed, and that its beauty plays an important role in giving birth to tango, not the other way around.
First day I arrived I jumped into a class as soon as I got my phone. There was just one other person in the class and so I felt like I got a private lesson for about $6. The follower, however, didn't really understand tango, but still, I learned a lot. I am learning not to let someone else's level determine my enjoyment of the dance or learning from a class. A lesson easily extendible into real life, as almost everything you learn in tango. This took place in the beautiful Galeria de Florida, one of the many beautiful galerias in downtown Buenos Aires. Yesterday's lesson was in some random place 30 minutes walk from where I am staying. I know "30 min" because I actually walked! Thinking it would take me ten minutes to walk. Lesson #2: don't guess who long you will need to walk from a map that isn't to scale and for a city whose blocks you aren't familiar with. Anyway, I was late but they were late too (surprising in a Latin American city? Not!). It was a lesson in milonga at the DNI school. I was hesitant to go to the DNI school because its reputation is teaching nuevo funky out of this world kickboxing sort of tango. But since it was a milonga, I figured, you can't get too weird with it. Wrong! The goal was to do ganchos in a milonga! I don't even do boleos in a milonga, but a gancho! Still, it was fun, and I learned more about my body, rhythm, and broader possibilities. Lesson #3: your mind is always narrower than what the world can offer you, so open it up! Not that I will be doing ganchos during a milonga, but I can, if I want to!
I liked it enough that I went again today, with one of the two directors being the teacher. Her name is Dana Something Something, and she taught a really interesting class about my hips (really "our" hips since there were thirty other people there). It opened up my mind about my hips, that dead zone that doesn't like to do anything but connect my torso to my legs. But they can do so much! And the instructor was kind of funky cool herself. At the end of the class she and one of the teachers danced this modern type of show tango. So beeeeeautiful! I don't care much for show tangle or modernized version of tango, but the way they did it, it was nearly as moving as a classical ballet.
So, so far my experience with classes has been very positive. But I will still go shop around a bit more. I want to take private lessons to really explore more about my own body, my balance, my internal light that is the core of my tango dance. Core of, also, my movements I will be doing for the rest of my life.
As for the milongas, to sum it up, I have had a very positive experience. Part of the reason is that this is the start of the low season and the floors have been rather empty. That's a good thing for me because I can dance less nervously. Also, people seem more relaxed. The whole hierarchy evil prevalent in almost all tango communities (need I mention New York??) becomes less reinforced when there are fewer people milling around. My dances have all been great, though all but one with tourists.
Is that bad? Only if I want to join that ugly hierarchy. No, I don't. I want to go to different milongas and see how people behave in different places. True, that means people won't see me as much (as different milongas have different groups of people), and that means I won't get many dances with the core group. But I didn't come here to live in Argentina for a while, not yet. I just want the experience.
And experience I got! First night was at El Beso, where I have bragged that I danced with a Porteña. Then it was too empty so I moved down the street to a place whose name I've forgotten. I learned that to make cabaceo effective, I need to stand/sit in a lit area so women could see my eyes, if they were interested. I got nice dances too, but the atmosphere was already different. There were actually young people there and they grouped together and shielded themselves like penguins from the "cold" of the old crowd. Last night I was going to go back to El Beso and dance with the old folks, but then a friend of mine from Montreal convinced me to join her at this place that I was recommended to avoid. It's Tango Lab at Villa Malcom. Yes, a tango teacher I respect told me not avoid all these hip places where young people are grouped together. His point was that I could easily get sucked into one of these groups.
For some people, well, for many people, that's not a bad thing. To be part of the hierarchy, to climb up the ladder, so that if you're a girl, you get to dance with the superstars and if you're guy you get to do the same but they, and all of them here in Buenos Aires, are extremely beautiful and sexy. Is that what I want? Admit it! Yes, sort of, I am weak. But not here, not this time, and hopefully never. There's something so immoral, at least demoralizing, about being sucked into, or wanting to be sucked into this kind of hierarchy. And I could see it in Villa Malcom. I could see it even more obvious in the milonga we went to later on, in La Viruta. There were indeed the group or two of Porteños, all beautiful (well, the men were kinda short), all looking like they own the world, that they're God's special truffles.
And yet, my gift from God on these first three days of my adventure in tango mecca is that I am learning and focusing on dancing for the simple purpose of enjoyment. That I can dance with anyone of any level and enjoy it, and the responsibility is on me. It's easy to have a great time with a beautiful superstar tanguera in my arms, but then if that's the only way I can have a good time then tango becomes long bitter swamp of a journey with a sporadic few caramels of joy. It's like I said above about life; it's how you want it to be. If everything in life is about striving for some perfection that defines your happiness, then, it's really not a worthwhile life to live.
I enjoyed watching these superstars dance. I didn't care about reaching out to them, but I did enjoy seeing their spirit, their energy, their beauty in their dances. I enjoyed the amazing atmosphere that none of the milongas in the US I have been to quite matches. The decor, the traditional sensibility. And, wow, the music! I never really understood why in so many milongas in the US DJs insist on playing stupid boring stuff when they haven't figured out what the traditionally tried-and-true stuff yet.
So these have been my thoughts after two nights of milonga. There are more than two dozens of milonga nights waiting for me. I can't wait.
Now, in other news!
- I actually took the bus today! Twice! Didn't get lost or miss my stop, and it was so fun. Now, I am taking another one to my milonga! Saves money and makes the experience so much more rich
- Went to my first and likely last "Spanglish" conversation exchange. It's sort of like speed dating but the point is for people to learn the other person's language, not their likes or dislikes and suitability as a life partner. (Mind you, I have never done speed dating!) I got to know a few Porteños, made my evening quite interesting. But it's so time consuming, two hours! Although improving my Spanish is as important of a goal as tango, I think I will find another way to practice my Spanish.
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