Buenos Aires basics (Popular tango moves 3)

This is the third (of three) reviews for the moves we worked on in my intermediate tango class these last six weeks. As I have said before, we learned moves that were led on me hundreds or thousands of times on my most recent Buenos Aires trip. All of them are moves that are simple in concept, work in small spaces, can be done in closed or open embrace, and and are fun to do; but that have subtle tricks to make them work better.

Left turn with rebound step

Although I commonly think of this as two separate patterns, they were often combined in Buenos Aires to make a nice, compact turn with a quick, quick, slow; quick, quick, slow pattern in the music. 

Leaders:

• Lead a rebound, forward on left, back on right for yourself; back on right, forward on left.
• The traditional timing is quick, quick BUT make sure you are using the rebound! Don't truncate it to be on time. Remember, to adjust the follower's step size works much better. The magic "la marca" allows you to reduce the size of the follower's step by keeping her/his foot more under the body.
• Lead a left turn. Make sure you rotate in place and keep the the spiral in your torso so that the follower keeps doing a grapevine.
• The traditional timing on the turn is slow, quick, quick, slow.

A lot of leaders in Buenos Aires did two rounds of this before exiting, even though we usually  made it all the way around in one set. Of course, traffic didn't move very much on the dance floor. Here in Portland, with leaders zooming down the room, you might want to only do one set so as not to get run over!

Followers:

• Do a back on right, front on left rebound. Make sure you complete this movement before beginning the turn around the leader (don't make a triangular movement; return to original spot!).
• In your turn, make sure that each step is completed by finishing the push off with your toes the way we've practiced. This allows you to arrive on balance so that you can slow down or speed up as the leader asks.
• For your back cross step, use those hips! This is a swivel and then push off move--don't swing your feet for momentum.
• Traditional move: four step turn, side step with right, back cross with left, side step with right, front cross with left.
• Traditional timing: slow, quick, quick, slow. When you add it to the rebound, the entire pattern is: quick, quick, slow; quick, quick, slow.
• In Buenos Aires, I was expected to deliver this timing. If I waited to be told the timing, dancers felt I was going too slowly. Here, where many leaders lead all-slow versions of turns, it may take some adjusting of this traditional timing.

Adorno for right and left turns for followers

• Between the back cross and the next open step in a turn (right or left), allow your knees to rebound against each other as your legs pass under you. If you are doing a right turn (clockwise), the free leg doing the adorno is the left; to the left, it is the right leg.
• This LOOKS like you are doing an ankle adornment, with the free foot sliding in front of the support leg, and then going into the side step, but if you concentrate on the ankles, you may trip yourself (ask me how I know this!).
• This adorno has the added bonus that it helps you arrive on axis better during your back cross steps in the turn.
• Remember to keep your hips back while you do the adorno. If you lock your knees while your dance, or bring your hips forwards, you will not be able to make this move look as good, and may trip the leader (luckily, I do not know this from my own experience!).

Walking circles clockwise

Of course, you can do these the other direction as well. And in crossed system. However, the clockwise, parallel version was the one that guys in Buenos Aires tended to lead.

For those of you also in my milonga class that I co-teach with Robert Hauk, this should look familiar: we did it in the winter session of the milonga class! Here in Portland, Robert, as well as Steven Payne,  lead very sweet circles like this, but no one else really seems to. In Buenos Aires, I had this led on me more frequently.

There's only walk technique involved here. Doing the porteno walk (see the Tango Fundamentals review sheet in the right column, top page under PAGES), simply walk in a big enough circle that the follower walks backwards instead of pivoting in place on the dance floor.

Simple way to get going: Take a side step as if doing a salida, and then walk forward. This gets you into the nice, connected twist that will keep the follower from stepping in front of you. Keep herding the follower towards the center of the circle; go all the way around; continue line of dance.

Buenos Aires basics (Popular tango moves 2)

Ocho cortado turn

Because ocho cortado has two distinguishable parts (rebound bk/fd and step; rebound sd/sd and step), it  lends itself to endless variations of the type that I call fillings: imagine the ocho cortado as really yummy bread with various things in the middle. A favorite is inserting a right turn into the ocho cortado:

1. Execute the first rebound (bk/fd for follower, fd/bk for leader) and the step (fd for follower, bk for leader), so that the follower steps to the leader's right/inside track.
2. Turn is follower's open, back, open, front steps. The traditional timing, which I advocate, is slow, quick, quick, slow.
3. End with terminal rebound and close of ocho cortado (sd/sd rebound, with circular component): follower rebounds left/right and closes in front with left, like going to the cross; leader rebounds right/left with a VERY SMALL step, focusing more on making the rebound circular for the follower in order to aid in closing into the cross. If you want to exit in parallel, the leader shifts weight onto the right while leading the cross.

Ocho cortado with sacada

The step above can have a leader's sacada (displacement/replacement) through the first open, or side step, of the turn in step #2 above. This makes the turn have a more dynamic feeling. It may be sacrilege to suggest this, but I think that a lot of milongueros with whom I danced this move in Buenos Aires, did this move by accident! Some of the older dancers did not have very much flexibility, and instead of twisting to the right to initiate my turn, they stepped through my first step to build momentum :-)

• The leader can do this with either foot, but it is easier to use right foot because it's already free.
• Remember that you are leading a turn, and your torso needs to continue to tell the follower to travel around the perimeter of the circle; do NOT abandon the follower to move yourself.
• The leader's step needs to go towards where the follower had been: towards the follower's right foot placement of the open step. 
• Once you land in the new location, remember to remain upright! If your axis tilts, this makes the turn very hard for the follower to complete elegantly.
• Followers: this version of the turn is a bit harder than a completely stationary turn because the center of the turn moves while you turn around it. Keep your own axis upright, and everything will go better.
• End with the standard second half of the ocho cortado.
• If sacadas are new to you, look at my posts about sacadas.

My favorite variation to end ocho cortado turns

If you are bored with the turn above, try removing the second half of the ocho cortado (rebound sd/sd and step) from the pattern, and exit the turn a different way. This is the step we've been working on perfecting in the Portland intermediate class recently. This truncates the follower's turn to the first two steps, open and back, and exits linearly

Exit on follower's back cross step

1. As the follower lands on the back cross step of the turn, LIGHTLY (remember la marca?) lift so that the follower stays on that foot (her/his right).
2. Allow the follower's hips to unwind. Followers: this is a fun place to play with an adorno!
3. Release the lift.
4. Exit.  I prefer walking to the cross in crossed system because as a follower, twisting back the other way is not very comfortable.

Trouble-shooting this move

As I watched the class learn this move, I realized that many people try to follow the steps exactly, even if the weight distribution and balance are not working. It is much more important to be on balance here than to remain perfectly in place. May I suggest:

• Followers: Make sure your turn has strong, balanced hip movement. If you swing your leg to make turns, don't! Your hips are the motor of the turn, allowing you to keep a tight, elegant, on-balance giro around the leader. This will  keep you the same distance away from the leader, helping both of you balance.
• Leaders: If you don't twist easily or you tend to fall over when you twist your torso, consider taking an extra step--or two, or three! When the follower lands on the back step and you lift lightly, move over in front of them (a baby calesita), rotating around the fixed point of the follower's axis, until both people are on balance and facing down the line of dance to exit.

Good luck and have fun!

Buenos Aires basics (Popular tango moves 1)

The advantage to both leading AND following tango, is that I can steal moves from folks I danced with in Buenos Aires, and bring them home to YOU! My intermediate tango class on Wednesdays at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (5340 N. Interstate, Portland, OR) will be learning these moves during this six-week session. We'll do a new one each week, so feel free to come drop in and dance!

Ocho cortado

There are many ways to do ocho cortado, but there are some fundamental elements that must exist for the ocho cortado (or ocho milonguero) to happen:

1. Follower is led in a back-front rebound step (R foot back, L forward). This is ONE movement, like a basketball hitting the ground and returning. Does the ball stop for a moment at the ground? No! It flexes and returns (just like the follower's body).
2. Follower is led to step through to the leader's outside track (leader's right) with the right foot.
3. Follower is led in a side-side rebound step (left-right), ending in a front cross/close. This should have some circular motion around the leader to make the move easier for the follower and conserve space.

Notice that the ocho cortado is based on the follower's footwork! As the leader, I could hop up and down, as long as the follower gets these messages: rebound, step through, rebound, close. However, most of us prefer a bit more structure, so here are the leader's steps for the linear ocho cortado:

1. Leader does a forward back rebound (left, right).
2. Leader steps backwards with the left, while leading the follower through to leader's right side.
3. Leader does a tiny rebound side-side, but most of the movement is circular, so that the follower's rebound goes around the leader, not away, out into space.
4. Leader completes move by stepping in place (or near there, depending on the variation) with the right foot, ready to begin another pattern in parallel system (or doesn't switch and is in crossed system).

Most of the arguing about how to do the ocho cortado here in Portland centers around whether the ocho cortado should be circular or linear. THERE IS NO CORRECT VERSION; linear vs circular is a decision made on the dance floor, depending on the space available.

Common mistakes in performing an ocho cortado:

1. Abandoning the follower's first rebound step to "make room for the follower" by tucking your free foot behind yourself. Your follower doesn't need you to get out of the way, s/he needs you to lead clearly.  Easy Fix: If you are going to make a circular ocho cortado, make sure the follower is completing the rebound (i.e., headed back towards you) before you pivot. No fix is needed for the linear version: if you were walking correctly, your foot is already behind your other foot, ready to receive the rebound.
2. Pulling the follower to your side to make sure they know this is a forward step after the rebound. Your follower needs to stay connected to your center, not your shoulder, so this pulls the couple off balance.  Easy Fix: Check your first rebound. You get the momentum to carry the follower forward by completing the rebound. Don't think rock step; don't think check step: think REBOUND. Stay connected with your energy, but allow the follower's body to rotate against yours if she needs more room for her hips.
3. Stepping open to catch the follower and send her back to the other direction to close. This usually makes the follower's "rebound" step into a yee-haw cowgirl, knees locked attempt to finish the step.  Easy fix: Make your own rebound step TINY (if you tend to fall over here, stand on both feet and just rotate!), and focus on making the follower's side-side rebound have a slight circular quality to it, around your center. Use the follower's momentum from the rebound to catch him/her and reverse direction.
4. The enormous, yee-haw! version of the ocho cortado seems to start from a big, enthusiastic first rebound. A lot of guys have complained to me that they feel the followers charge through the middle (creating the "on the shoulder" orientation of the couple), and that they are forced to take a big step to catch the follower, in order to save the move. Yes, sometimes it is definitely the follower's auto-ocho-cortado that creates problems. But if you are leading, you get to choose to fix that!  Easy fix: take a small first rebound step. This should make the follower's forward step through smaller, AND result in a smaller side-side rebound. Whatever the energy of the beginning of the ocho cortado, the rest will mirror that. YOU are in charge, leaders!

Linear ocho cortado

Having said there is no correct version, full disclosure time. I prefer the linear version of this move as a follower. Too many folks have abandoned me in the middle of my first rebound in order to tuck their right foot behind and start turning, without having told me what to do! Yes, I can SEE where they want me to go. Am I being difficult in requesting that the leader LEADS me to dance? I don't think so. When I follow, I want to feel clarity, not see it :-)

As a leader, I don't even think what shape I need. I focus on making the first rebound the right size for my space on the dance floor, and then only move circularly when I have no space behind me. I rarely plan ahead for more moves, but let the end of the ocho cortado dictate what comes next (and yes, fourteen years ago, there was often a pause there because I couldn't figure out what to do next!). The energy of the dance makes the choreography, adjusted for space.

Where to find more information

An excellent source of review of some basic variations on ocho cortado is Oscar Mandagaran and Georgina Vargas' Rhythmic tango DVD. I like their explanation of the basic ocho cortado as well.  I think it's Chapter 11 on changes of direction, traspie timing and the ocho milonguero; and several chapters after that for the variations.

If you are coming to my class April 4th in Eugene, we'll learn three to five new variations to add to your dance. I just realized today that I'm teaching on Easter. Hope some of you show up anyway!

More cool places to go and stuff to do in Buenos Aires!

I keep thinking of information about Buenos Aires and adding it to my blog. Here is another installment.

Shows

As I never seem to have money available for tango shows (and prefer dancing to watching), I had never been to a tango show in Buenos Aires before this year. However, my main teachers, Oscar Mandagaran and Georgina Vargas, are kick-ass stage performers, along with being fabulous dancers in the milongas. I went to the show at Esquina Carlos Gardel to see them. Most of the sweet young things (SYTs) were pretty to watch. Oscar and Georgina were amazing--ever think you saw fire and smoke sizzle off of performers? I think I did!--and Pocho Pizarro did his famous broom dance, which was even better than on YouTube. He had as much stage presence as all the SYTs put together! If you like to watch show tango, or if you have non-dancing friends headed for Buenos Aires, this is a classy place to have dinner and enjoy the show, and other folks told me that they consider this the best show in town.

If you are going to be in Buenos Aires for long enough to contemplate taking nights off to do things other than dancing, check out the great programs at the Centro Cultural Borges, Viamonte, esq. San Martin. There are great shows there (and tango classes, etc.). I didn't get to see the entire flamenco show featured in January and February, but I was lucky enough to see some of the performers from Entre Mi Sangre Y Mi Tierra when they showed up at TangoQueer to promote their show. WOW! Some of the best flamenco dancing I have seen. Centro Cultural Torcuato Tasso, on Defensa, also has shows and classes, again quite reasonable in price.

Food

My favorite place to eat in Buenos Aires is Pedro Telmo, Bolivar 962, in San Telmo. It has good pizza, empanadas, baked pasta, etc. It is inexpensive and filling. However, the reason it is my FAVORITE place is because of La Negra, the proprietor. She's getting up there in years (no idea, but she reminds me of my grandmother), and she is everyone's Mama. I spent three months eating lunch there almost every day (close to my dive hotel, cheap, warm) about ten years ago. La Negra bossed me around, fussed if I didn't eat all of it, and generally made me feel happy and cared for during two cold winters.

Confiteria La Opera, Av. Corrientes 1789 (Corrientes y Callao) was the closest cafe to where we stayed this time. I remembered their yummy coffee from my other visits, and they have free Wi-Fi (email downloads!), so we made this our standard breakfast coffee place. They happily adjusted their omelettes to my traveling companions request (combining the ham and cheese omelet with the omelet with verduras), and got used to seeing us at all strange, random hours of the day and night. On our last night in Bs As, we told the waiter they wouldn't be seeing us until our next visit, and he refused our tip and brought us each a free glass of wine. Very unexpected, as they are nice, correct waiters and stayed out of our hair for the most part.

Chiquilín, Sarmiento 1599, esp. Montevideo, is open from noon to 2 am every day. It is more expensive than the other places we went, but it was nice to play hooky from tango for a night and pig out. I had the bife de lomo, medium rare; a salad; wine; and flan (my usual). I can't remember how much it cost, but it was above budget, and worth it! My travel companion happily checked email, as there is free Wi-Fi.

Gijon, Chile 1402 (Chile y San Jose), is a neighborhood parrilla. It was stuffed full of folks from the neighborhood, watching the football game and eating. The price is right (MUCH lower than the other parrillas we went to) for good food. The wine sucked, but we ordered the house wine, so . . .  The flan was delicious, as was the salad and steak I had. Warning: closed on Sundays!

Chan Chan, Hipólito Yrigoyen 1390, is a neighborhood Peruvian restaurant. The food was cheap and delicious. It's just around the corner from La Nacional, and we went after dancing. Our friends had been there many times, and the entire wait staff kindly served us and waited until we were done (the absolute last to come in and order) with patience and friendly smiles. I had amazing fish stew. If you like Peruvian food, you will love this place!

Quorum, Combate de los Pozos 61, is right behind the Congreso building, and has an all-you-can-eat format, including salads, cold cuts, veggies, a dessert bar (flan oh my god), and a HUGE grill at the back. Phone for reservations: 4951-0855. Prices are reasonable but not cheap (32-43 pesos a person, depending on day of the week and whether it's lunch or dinner, with reduced prices for kids) and the food is very good.

Is it OK to write about restaurants that I wish I had visited? Sarkis, Thames 1101, is a WONDERFUL Arab and Armenian restaurant that I visited years ago with an Argentine friend. We debated going there this time, but ended up at a different place due to time constraints (see next). It is not super cheap, but you will end up eating so much that you hurt, if you like this kind of food. Yummy yummy yummy!!!!

Bodega Campo, Rodríguez Peña 264, was our chosen spot to meet this year because it was between our houses and both of us had appointments afterwards. This was not amazing, but the food was good and the price was, too. It has a western feeling to the decor, a tango show in the evenings (a strange combo), and a good wine cellar. The empanadas were not on the menu, but were produced when we requested them (very good!), along with salad. My friend says that the locro is very good here (a bean stew with unmentionable cow innards in it that tastes wonderful and looks a bit strange to this ex-vegetarian).

Music

I admit it: I love Zival's, on the corner of Corrientes and Callao (subte stop: Callao). It didn't help that I was staying a block away. I'm still impressed with myself for limiting the number of CDs I bought!

What I love about Zival's is the knowledgeable staff. I walked up to ask questions about good milonga CDs, and the counter person called for another guy to come over. I told him what I already had, and he made some suggestions to augment my collection. He could tell me what CDs they had, whether the sound quality was good or not, and was able to find them for me in about a minute. Wow!

I also like their system (installed since my last visit) that allows you to listen to every cut on most of their available music. This really helped in selecting music for my sweetie, who prefers electronic tango music (not my strong point). I listened to ten albums before choosing two. I now hear those two albums daily ;-)

I wandered into several other stores and bought music, but only Zival's had someone who knew tango well (I'm sure other stores do, too, but not the ones I went to!). You can order from Zival's online (see link above).

Books

If you are looking for something to read, and don't read Spanish, toddle over to one of these two bookstores that stocked with English books:

Rincon 9 and Junin 74 (both named after their addresses)

They appear to cater to teachers of English, English and American literature (and also current fiction) and children's books. I found some nice books on Buenos Aires architecture and social history for my sweetie. The store personnel speak at least some English, and are VERY helpful.

Ways to get from the airport to the city

Vicky Ayer's friend, Luis, arranged for our transport to and from the airport. I don't have his phone number, but Vicky can set you up with him. His son took us back to the airport, and was very chatty and nice.  Luis' friend, Graciela Guido, picked us up; she also runs her own airport pickup and rents an apartment in Palermo Soho to visitors. She seemed really nice, although we did not see the apartment. I don't think she speaks any English, but we had a rolicking conversation in Spanish. You can contact her at ipedeargentina @ hotmail.com or 1540639799 (mobile) or 4573-5597 (land line).

Street Art

One of the artists displaying their wares along Humberto Primo in San Telmo, caught the eye of my traveling companion. You could see that the artist had talent (which I can't say for all of the artists selling there). Mirtha Ruix paints and does india ink and paint works. She is also a teacher. I couldn't find any pictures of her work online, but if you go to the street fair, look for her portly husband selling paintings/india ink work that involves pretty cats, women, etc.

Luggage

If you buy too many pairs of shoes, you may find yourself shopping for luggage (in the end, we fitted everything in, but it was close). Pinco Pinco, Av. Corrientes 2250, was your standard Once retail/wholesale kinda place, but the owner was both helpful and funny ("Buy some luggage, feed my children! Stimulate the economy!"). He gave honest opinions about the quality of the available bags (if you want super cheap, this is it; if you want something that will last, this medium price bag is better made than the one you are looking at, etc.).

Cheap pants and Tshirts

Basicos, Rivadavia 2297, had pants, skirts and shirts for very reasonable prices (30 pesos for a Tshirt, with 3.8 pesos to the dollar). They were not very friendly, but if you need some more clothes, there they are. I really like the harem-style pants I bought there. They do NOT have a changing room, but you can exchange sizes (they looked at us, handed us clothes, and the clothes fit--no need to exchange).

The gay milongas and the shifting of tango practice in Buenos Aires

Looking at my list of milongas, I thought I had remembered all the places I had visited. Then, last night, someone at the milonga asked me if I had led in Buenos Aires, and I realized that I had forgotten a venue: Tango Queer. 

For those of you who have read my thesis on gender roles and leading in Buenos Aires, you will understand both my excitement and my frustration at finding the Bs As tango scene changed. I studied the phenomenon of women leading in milongas, and wrote my thesis about dancers' views on gender roles, masculinity, femininity, and why women braved a lot of resentment to lead in traditional milongas.

What I found after studying the milongas in 1999, 2000 and 2001, was that a small percentage of women led in the milongas in order to attract foreign business possibilities; as the Argentine economy tanked, they needed a way out that was offered by tango. Couples had the upper hand, as foreigners assumed that both lead and follow roles could be taught; men had second place, as most people assumed that, if you could lead tango, you could teach how to follow it. Single women had to fight very hard to get invited to teach abroad on the merits of their tango technique because many dancers assumed that a woman would not be able to teach how to lead tango.

Now, in 2010, I saw NO women leading at traditional milongas. True, I did not visit ALL the milongas that exist. However, I attended several of the same milongas that used to have women leaders (1-2% in most milongas). Where did all those (fabulous) women leaders go? As far as I can tell they moved to a less stressful environment: the gay milonga.

A gay milonga in Buenos Aires means a gay-friendly milonga, but it might be more accurate to say a milonga with relaxed gender roles. Women lead women; women lead men; men lead men; and men lead women. Although I used to lead everywhere (and got in trouble with Tete for dancing with his girlfriend, Sylvia, at El Beso), I found that this time, I only led at Tango Queer.

If you are just learning to lead, you might consider attending the gay milongas: everyone is friendly, many dancers who are leading are not leading well, and there is an air of learning/experimentation that feels non-judgmental. One of my female friends from the USA who enjoys leading, attends many gay milongas because she feels that she gets to dance with a higher level of dancer than she does in the regular milongas. She also says the dancers at the gay milongas are more willing to dance with an older woman (and one who can lead well) than at other milongas.

Peru 571 was marked incorrectly in the milonga guide as Peru 71, so make sure you show up at the correct address! It's upstairs in San Telmo, with a pretty rugged floor (not as bad as La Catedral used to be--no actual holes), variable music quality/danceability, and a clientele that varies from raw beginners to BEAUTIFUL couples (one couple really stood out, with the best male follower I've seen out dancing in Bs As ever). This is a seat-yourself venue, so make sure the chairs you possess are not already claimed (I had to get mine back from an enterprising couple after a tanda).

Unless you are actually uncomfortable around same-sex tango dancing, go check out some of the gay milongas. Along with afternoon dances, the late night meat market scene, and neighborhood clubs, these are definitely a distinctive flavor of Buenos Aires tango.

Buenos Aires milongas, tips for 2010

I meant to blog from Buenos Aires, but forgot my blog password (so much for automatically logging in from a different computer).

Although this was my fourth trip to Buenos Aires, it had been a long time since #3. I was eager to spend more time in one of my favorite cities. I was excited about getting to dance seven days a week. I was scheduled for a bunch of private lessons with my favorite teachers, Oscar Mandagaran and Georgina Vargas, and I felt ready to bite off a new chunk of technique.

I accompanied a friend on this trip, so our choice of milongas was a combination of looking for high quality dancing, low numbers of tourists, and an older clientele who would ask women to dance who were older than twenty ;-) 

My choices for milonga attendance were also based on looking for the older dancers who started to dance before dance classes were popular. So many of my teachers have died in the past ten years (this year, Omar Vega and Tete, as well as a few of the milongueros I like to dance with), that I wanted to learn as many steps, tricks, and personal style details as I could by dancing with "the geezers" while they were still around to dance with me.

As the popularity of milongas changes constantly, we relied on advice from our teachers, friends and other dancers to decide where to dance each night. What follows is a synopsis of where we danced and what I liked/disliked about those venues.

Porteno y Bailarin, Riobamba 345, 11 PM to 3 AM

(Tuesday)

Porteno y Bailarin is only a half block away from Avenida Corrientes and 1.5 blocks from the Callao subte (subway) stop, tons of bus lines and millions of taxis, as far as I can tell.  It's centrally located and easy to get to. Cost: 18 or 20 pesos (sorry, I forget!).

Why we went there: I knew that this would not be the crowd we were looking for, but Jose Garafolo (the organizer of P y B) was one of my first teachers, and I wanted to say hello. II enjoyed catching up on the last few years and dancing a VERY fun tanda with him; I wish I had had time to go back and dance there again.

Who was there: This crowd had more foreigners than most of the places we went; perhaps 40-50%. It was a mixed bag of ages, from very young to tottering. There were a few hotshots doing open embrace, many close embrace dancers (square and V embraces), and a few who combined both styles as space permitted. The floor was not very crowded, but it still took navigational skills to dance there because of the small floor size.

How did the evening go: It helped to be greeted with enthusiasm by the host: we started dancing almost immediately. A few men thought I looked familiar and invited me to dance. After I danced a set with Jose later in the night, I didn't sit down much until we left.

Notes: The space was small enough to see almost everyone in order to cabeceo(for those of you who don't invited others to dance with this eye contact and nonverbal invitation: you aren't going to dance very much in Bs As unless you practice!). It was a bit dark, compared to many of the other milongas we attended, so I needed to put my glasses on each time I sat down to make eye contact ;-)

Other places to dance on Tuesdays (recommended by my teachers): Maipu 444, from 7 PM to 1 AM (see review below).

Maipu 444, 7 PM to 1 AM

(Tuesday)

Maipu 444 is close to the Florida subte stop, or the Pellegrini/Diagonal Norte/etc. stop at the Obelisco. It is of course bus and taxi friendly as well. Right downtown, you can go shopping on Calle Florida just a block away if you get there early.

Why we went there: Several friends recommended Maipu 444, and I was curious, as this milonga had not been open the other years I had gone to Bs As.

Who was there: This crowd had some foreigners, but was mostly Argentine, most from age forty on up.

How did the evening go: We had been advised to go early (I suggest reservations here for sure), so we showed up before 8 PM and got decent seats along the front edge. Both of us danced a lot that evening, despite the challenge of a few "pods" of men who would look at us, and then look away for the first few hours. The floor is small enough to be able to cabecear almost anyone in the room (we were at the opposite end from the bar, and there were a few tables at that far end where we could barely see the occupants enough to tell if they were asking us to dance). The lighting is good. The people were nice. The level of dance was variable, and we found that many of the men were at a lower dance level than we were! I'm not used to Argentine men apologizing for their lack of dance level--this was new to me.

Notes: Go early, or you won't get a table.  Also, there is a very yummy pizzeria nearby, on Corrientes as you head towards the obelisk (Palacio de Pizza?) with delicious baked things and flan to die for.

La Nacional, Alsina 1465, 8 PM to 2 AM

(Wednesday)

La Nacional recently reopened, and it was great to see how much nicer they have made this space, especially given the lovely (but slippery, so beware!) floor. This milonga is in the Congreso area, walkable from San Telmo or the Corrientes corridor; near the Congreso subte line and, of course, buses and taxis.

Why we went there: Oscar and Georgina recommended this milonga as a place with good dance level, good floorcraft, and good manners. Also, the seating is men on one side, women on the other, with mixed tables for couples and groups on the ends. This makes it easier to see potential partners, and makes for more possibilities for dancing.

Who was there: This crowd had foreigners mixed in, but I danced almost exclusively with Argentine men. One or two dancers opened up into bigger moves when there was room, but almost everyone stuck to close embrace dancing (both square and V embraces).

How did the evening go: This was one of the most enjoyable places I danced. Even the first night, I didn't sit out very much. We were placed in the third row back of chairs, but both of us are experienced at cabeceo, and managed to get invitations even when being blocked by the ladies in front. Some of the men who invited me to dance that night frequented many of the other places we danced, so I began to build my dance card.

Notes: The floor is quite long, and it is harder to catch the eye of men on the ends of the space if you are in the middle. HOWEVER, being in the middle of the long sides of the room is much better than being stuck in a corner. The floor is slippery, so bring your shoes with suede bottoms! Even with shoes wetted with water, you will slide here if you are not careful. Make reservations with Atilio Veron, the organizer, if you want a nice seat: 15-5963-1924.

Other Wednesday night milongas that came well-recommended: La Milonga, Humberto Primo 1462 (where Nino Bien is on Thursday nights), 6 PM to 2 AM; Sueno Porteno, San Juan 3330, from 7 PM to 3 AM.

Lujos, Riobamba 416 (El Beso)

(Thursday)

Even though the name of the milonga on Thursdays is Lujos, almost everyone just called the space El Beso.  It is a few doorways away from Avenida Corrientes and 1.5 blocks from the Callao subte (subway) stop, tons of bus lines taxis.  It's centrally located and easy to get to.

Why we went there: My teachers said that the level of dance on Thursdays was very high. Years ago, I frequented El Beso with Tete's vals class (we ate dinner after class and went to El Beso each week). In addition, my friend had heard of El Beso, and it was on her list of places she wanted to dance.

Who was there: Tons of Italians, and a lot of portenos, with a sprinkling of a few other foreigners. Mostly the forty to seventy year old crowd showed up, although with face lifts, I figured out ages from the wrinkles on women's backs!

How did the evening go: I felt like a piece of wallpaper. We got stuck in the back row, against the back wall. Because of the shape of El Beso, there is NO space for the tango sharks to circle, looking for partners, except near the entrance and the bar (the other side of the room). Men who happily danced with me at other venues looked right through me at El Beso: not a regular? Forget it. I got some mercy dances from nice guys I already knew, but apart from that, I had to wait until the second or third song of a tanda to get invited to dance. When I described the evening to friends, they said, "Si, El Beso, es un lugar MUY exclusivo" and explained that it was important to be seen there dancing well, so folks didn't take as many risks inviting unknown partners to dance.

Notes: El Beso was the darkest place we danced, and it was difficult to make eye contact across the floor, even though the floor is not large. Take a group with you, or be pushy and try to get a front row seat. I didn't notice that the level of dance was higher than elsewhere, but El Beso has that reputation.

Other recommended places to go on Thursdays: Nino Bien, Humberto Primo 1462 (see review below), from 10:30 PM to 4 AM; and La Cachila, La Rioja 1180 (Club Gricel), from 8 PM to 3 AM (see review below).

La Cachila, La Rioja 1180 (Club Gricel), 8 PM to 3 AM

(Thursday)

Go to Gricel on the bus or by taxi. It's a bit further out than some of the more central milongas, but it should not run you more than 12-20 pesos, unless you are way out in Palermo or Recoleta.

Why we went there: We promised to meet friends, and so went back to Gricel, despite mediocre experiences there the week before (on another night).

Who was there: This was mostly an older crowd (I'd say 50+), with some foreigners, but mostly Argentines out in force.

How did the evening go: This was one of my few experiences in Bs As of becoming one with my chair. We were placed in the back row of a front table, despite the protestations of the Argentine woman in the front row, who had hoped to keep the seats for friends, despite not having made reservations. We had a chilly reception at best. We could see five or six men from where we were seated, most of whom were foreigners also relegated to the corner. After dancing with them, we pretty much sat until giving up. Our friends didn't show by 9:30, so we left for Nino Bien (see below), which happily made up for this early evening experience as a piece of sculpture.

Notes: Gricel is not my favorite venue. It is a bit dark sometimes, and it's hard to see down the sides of the floor due to the pillars between tables. It's easy to see across the room, but not with dancing couples, so you have about one minute to score a dance at the beginning of the tanda, and then you will probably sit until the next tanda.

Nino Bien, Humberto Primo 1462, 10:30 PM to 4 AM

(Thursday)

Nino Bien is a long-running, famous milonga. It has been my choice for Thursday evenings for all of my trips to Bs As; so it was wonderful to walk in on a Thursday evening, greet Luis (the organizer, who looks exactly like he did when I first went there in 1999), and settle in for an evening of dancing.

Why we went there: We tried Gricel earlier in the evening, and had been seated in a horrible place, with almost no men in sight. I looked at my friend and said, "Let's go to Nino Bien" and off we went. We wanted to DANCE! and I knew we would at NB.

Who was there: Everyone was there, old, young, foreigners, regulars, even a camera crew who were filming for something (it was not explained, nor was it obvious).

How did the evening go: Great! We both recognized a lot of people from other milongas, and danced with them. However, we also got invited to dance by men we'd never seen before. By the time we left (right before a milonga set), I'd been asked to save the next milonga set for a specific guy--by four different men! If my feet hadn't been done (too much shopping and milonga #2 for the night), I would have stayed to figure out who to dance with.

Notes: Order dinner at Nino Bien! I had the best calabaza torta (squash quiche-like thingie) that I have EVER tasted. There weren't many choices, but we noticed that many early comers had ordered dinner, and so were encouraged to give the menu a try. Lovely! The difference between dancing at this venue in the "afternoon" and "evening" mainly seemed to be the steering skills of the dancers. Almost no one crashed in the afternoon milonga, but in the evening, I had several people run into me, and had one partner run into another couple. The level of correct manners is higher in the earlier dancers, too.

Entre Tango y Tango, Humberto Primo 1462, 6 PM to 2 AM

(Friday)

Entre Tango y Tango is at the same place that Nino Bien is held Thursday nights. It is walkable from San Telmo or Congreso, but be aware that I saw streetwalkers in pretty much every direction from the building after the sun went down; you may prefer to take a taxi! It's easy to get to by bus or taxi, and the subte is not far away.

Why we went there: I had heard from many of the men I danced with, that this was the best place to go on Fridays. As my friend had stomach flu (I succumbed a day later), I went by myself. I wanted to dance where my teachers said the best level of dance and floor craft were.

Who was there: I was one of the youngest people at this milonga, but there was a fair mix of 30- to 70- (or 80-) somethings. Many were from Bs As, although I saw the Italians from the night before, a few Japanese, and two Oregon guys there.

How did the evening go: I had been told to go early to get a good seat, so I arrived around 6:30 or 7 PM. I was given a front row seat at a table halfway down the room--choice territory. I danced almost every single tanda the entire evening. I was joined by three French ladies at some point, and gamely tried to keep my Spanish and French segregated into separate languages, one for dancing, and one for my table. I left around 11:30 only because I had promised to meet a friend at another dance; otherwise, I would have stayed until it closed. This was one of my most enjoyable evenings of the trip.

Notes: I love Nino Bien's dance space. I know it by heart from months of dancing there, so it feels like home to me. The floorcraft is great, if you avoid the middle row, who play chicken with the oncoming traffic. The floor is one of the best in Buenos Aires, the room is elegant, and the clientele polite but not snooty. I owe a debt of gratitude to the kind waitress who gave me change for the taxi (I tipped her well at the other milongas where I saw her after that).

Paracultural Salon Canning, Scalabrini Ortiz 1331, 11 PM to 5 AM

(Friday)

Salon Canning is only a few blocks off of Avenida Cordoba. It's almost a 20 peso taxi ride from San Telmo/Congreso, but there are many buses that can take you across the city for much cheaper (1.10 pesos at this moment).

Why we went there: I was meeting a friend I had not seen for ten years. Since I had elected not to get a local cell phone, our communication had been spotty, but I figured I'd look for him and dance for a bit if he didn't show up.

Who was there: This crowd was quite different from the one at my usual milongas (a friend had labeled my choices "the geezer milongas"). Many of the crowd were 20- or 30- something, mixed in with the regular up to 80-somethings. There were a LOT of foreigners. There were people trying to dance open embrace in a space designed for close embrace, and there were quite a few traffic issues on the dance floor at any given time.

How did the evening go: The air conditioning was broken that night (someone told me it had burned up?), and it was HOT and HUMID. It was so humid that pivoting one's shoe on the dance floor was difficult--and this is one of my favorite dance floors in Bs As! I came back from my first tanda to find my friend seated at the next table, by coincidence, so I was able to catch up with him and continue to dance with other men. This was the only place I danced where most of the people who invited me to dance were foreigners.

Notes: The evening milongas are a different beast than the "afternoon" milongas that usually end around midnight.  I've done the evening thing for a few visits to Bs As, and decided not to follow that route this time, in order to focus more attention on my private lessons. It felt good to be back in my old routine for an evening, but I found that I prefer dance with the "geezers" more than with beginner- to intermediate-level Europeans.

Other places to dance Fridays that are recommended by friends/teachers: Lo de Celia Tango Club, Humberto Primo 1783, 10 PM on; Sin Rumbo, Jose Tamborini 6157, 10 PM to 4 AM (out in Villa Urquiza, "nice for a group or a couple"); and La Baldosa, Ramon L. Falcon 2750.

La Nacional, Alsina 1465, 8 PM to ? (brand new milonga)

(Saturday)

As I mentioned above, La Nacional is easy to get to on foot, by bus or taxi, and relatively near the subte.

Why we went there: I was out of commission with the 24-hour version of a stomach flu our first Saturday night, but my friend attended La Nacional with some other friends of ours. Despite having a less than stellar night the first time (she estimated that it was 3- or 4- to 1 ratio of women to men), we chose to go back the next weekend, in order to meet friends and go out to eat afterwards.

Who was there: The Saturday I attended, many of the dancers were Argentine, sprinkled with a few French and Italians, as well as a few Americans (mostly us and our friends). The age range probably started at 30- or 40-, but most dancers were probably in the 50-70 range, with an enthusiatic 80-something pointed out to our table.

How did the evening go: I was not in the mood to put myself out and invite dances that night, so I sat in the back row of our table with three Argentine women, and gossiped until they huffily left for other milongas ("Why should we pay 18 pesos to get in, and then not get to dance?!" exclaimed one of them as she left). The male-female ratio was much closer to 50-50 than the week before, and many dancers were now familiar, so my friend danced a lot, and I danced when I felt like dancing.

Notes: Again, beware of the slippery floor! This is a good place to use small steps, even if it is big enough to have space to really MOVE. At no time was the dance floor so crowded that it made dancing difficult, but one foreigner told me he felt intimidated by the lack of space, so take or leave my opinion. They have good empanadas and tostados if you get hungry.

Other places to dance Saturdays: Saturday is traditionally date night, so you often see folks you thought were single, showing up with wives and husbands, or dates. When I was spending longer periods of time in Bs As before, I usually chose to go salsa dancing on Saturday nights, or to go out for dinner with non-tango friends. However, if you are on a short timeline, or just can't stop for an evening, have no fear, dance is still available: Cachirulo, Maipu 444, from 6 PM to 3 AM (according to books, but at 7:30 PM, there was still no music playing when we stopped by to check it out before going to La Nacional); Milonga de las Morochas, Riobamba 416, from 10:30 PM on (I used to go to this in years past); or Lo de Celia Tango Club, Humberto Primo 1783, from 11 PM to 4 AM.

Torcuato Tasso, Defensa 1575, 10 PM to 3 AM

(Sunday)

Torcuato Tasso was my old stomping grounds, being the nearest milonga to where I used to stay in San Telmo, back in the old days. This milonga is no longer free on Sundays, as of a few months ago :-(  but our teachers said they were going there, so we joined them.

Who was there: This was the most mixed group we encountered, all the way from non-dancers who were goggling at the dance floor from their tables, to teenagers in jeans, to full suits and spiffy shoes on older dancers, to tables of foreigners. The level of the dancers also varied from pitiful to amazing.

How did the evening go: This was a very uneven evening. I danced with a young Canadian who was a very new dancer; some Argentines who had danced for many years, but were definitely intermediate; and my teacher, who is one of the best dancers I've ever encountered (maybe the best). I had never encountered an Argentine who yells one's name across tables to dance because of being situated BEHIND me--I ended up ignoring him because it annoyed me, but accepted a very fun chacarera set with him later.

Notes: Torcuato Tasso's floor has not improved over the years: it is still rock or polished cement, or some other surface that gets nasty when wet and makes your feet hurt (funny, I never cared about that ten years ago!). I still like the space because it has so many memories for me. I once danced right next to Shakira on this dance floor, and one of my two witnessed fights on tango dance floors happened here, too. If you are looking for a good dance experience, this is not a sure bet.

Other places to dance on Sundays: A Puro Tango, Scalabrini Ortiz 1331, from 6 PM to 1 AM (see review below); La Milonga de Susana, Ramon L. Falcon 2750, from 6 PM on; El Beso, Riobamba 416, from 10 PM on; and Porteno y Bailarin, Riobamba 345, later on.

A Puro Tango, Scalabrini Ortiz 1331, 6 PM to 1 AM

(Sunday)

Again, Salon Canning is easy to get to by taxi or bus, but it's a walk from the subway.

Why we went there: My friend had not come with me to Salon Canning the Friday before, and she wanted to see the famous milonga. It was our last night in Bs As, and I thought we would be able to get some good dancing in.

Who was there: This crowd seemed to be almost completely Argentine, apart from the gorgeous Brazilian girl and her boyfriend who came in to watch and got dragged onto the floor to try tango (for the first time, I would guess). The age of my dance partners averaged around 60+ and most of the folks there were dressed nicely and started to clear out around midnight to go home.

How did the evening go: This was one of my best dancing nights in Bs As. I had one of the best Pugliese tandas of my entire Bs As career that night, with a quiet, older man who seemed either embarrassed or taken aback when I told him that. The level of dance was better than many of the places we had gone, but the level of "pickup" was higher: in several cases, I considered ending the tanda early because of the deep interest my partner was displaying in me (and not my dance, I don't think). I also had a great chacarera set (three! not two! three chacareras!), which is always a highlight for me, the former crazed international folk dancer.

Notes: This was one of my favorite places to go to "afternoon" dances when I frequented Bs As in the early 2000s, and it still is. Even sitting in the last row before the shark circling area, we barely sat down the entire evening. If you can dance well, you will get to dance here. Over and over and over.

Lunes de Tango, La Rioja 1180 (Club Gricel)

(Monday)

Lunes de Tango is at Club Gricel, which is a bit further out than the other milongas we attended (up to Plaza Miserere and hang a left). It is reachable by bus or taxi, but I wouldn't walk it if I were you.

Why we went there: Mondays are a day with fewer milongas, but we still had two possibilities that were suggested. We agreed to meet our teachers there, but ended up sitting at a women's table, while they sat together at a couple's table.

Who was there: This crowd was mostly Argentine, with a few Americans, Italians, French and one Spanish guy who kept appearing wherever we danced (nice dancer, actually!). The age range was pretty much on the older side, with most folks looking 50-70ish.

How did the evening go: This was not our best evening, but we had pleasant women at our table (Argentines), a table of guys on each side who ended up dancing a lot with us, and a position at one of the entry/exit points for the floor, so the men who wanted to dance with us knew where we were.

Notes: Gricel is long and skinny, with pillars around the edge of the dance floor. This makes it much harder to make eye contact with about half the tables, so, unless you are strategically placed, you have to make so with those you can see. There is space to circulate between the floor edge tables and the ones along the wall, so some men do the shark circling thang, but I still had no idea who was at the other end of the room.

Other places to dance on Mondays: Parakultural Canning, Scalabrini Ortiz 1331, from 11 PM to 4 AM.