We arrived in BsAs in the middle of December. What a whirlwind time we have had.
First things first, after many months of traveling, my body decided it wanted a break. So I spent almost a week allowing my body the pleasure of arriving here by not moving quickly or planning to do too much, other than move into my new apartment. Unpacking suircases and figuring out where stuff will live for the next 5 months. It is the arrival tradition.
And a pleasure for me.
I love living in Recoleta. This part of town will always be my favorite as I have lived in this neighborhood for 4 years.
I know where to shop for almost anything from an AAA battery to great wines. Fabulous linen clothing from Italy to tango clothes.
Gluten-free bread to fantastic parrilla.
I know my city well, better than my partner Maximo qho lives outside the city of Buenos Aires, in Lomas de Zamora. Whenever we return to Argentina, he will usually have an unfinished project there. Therefore we are together for the weekend and apart during the week.
We go dancing on Friday nights and Sunday nights together. Friday is at El Beso at the Abrazo Club, run by the fabulous Zoraida y Diego. This milonga is in its 27th year. It’s a usually packed floor with many locals and many foreigners. You can listen to conversations in Brasileños, Italiano, Francés and Español. Reservations are a must or risk be disappointed.
On Sundays, it’s dancing at Sueno Portenyo, running for 16th year by another of my favorite organizers, Julia Doynel. This milonga has a new home in the Almagro section of town at Maza 457. Again reservations are strongly advised.
Both milongas are friendly and with great music. Both these milongas, for me, embody the spirit of Tango in BsAs, as the organizers work hard to make sure everyone is danced and is dancing to good music.
Some Saturday nights, we go to Abasto Hotel on Corrientes. This milonga has a large wooden floor and a mostly older friendly crowd. Or some Saturdays we will to at El Milongon at Club Marapu. The floor here is much smaller and generally more crowded and on Saturday turns into a couples crowd. There are taxi dancers there provided by the club as there are in many of the milongas at El Beso and Sueno Portenyo.
Then there’s dancing during the week, at many different venues, but I think I love El Beso the best as the floor is glorious. It’s a sprung wooden floor, without many divets.
There’s Club Malcom on Thursday nights and Tangotica on Tuesday nights, too. Really friendly places and floors are old composite.
And the list goes on. It’s always good to check Hoy-Milonga.com.
I try to dance 3 or 4 times a week as I live here. I have the luxury of time. I will only go dancing for 2 or 3 hours. I am very happy with this as I get to socialize with some friends and dance with others. Pretty divine.
Living in this city is pretty crazy now. The peso has reached new excessive heights when changed from dollars. Today, I received 1050 pesos to dollars when using Western union.The rate of inflation is approximately 150%.
When you go to the market, you need to bring a brick of money… everything is now 3 times the price of that it was when we left in April.
The price of admission to a milonga is approximately 1750 to 2000 pesos.
A bottle of water is 900 pesos, and bottles of champagne are now a minimum of 12000 pesos.
But once you have danced in the clubs and at the milongas here in Buenos Aires, tango will forever be different for you.
To me, it’s a combination of the places, the people, the music, and the sense of belonging that is created when you live here.
Understanding the nature of Buenos Aires is fundamental for understanding tango.
This is the place where you take a 3 hour coffee.
This is the place where you eat your dinner at 9 pm.
This is the place where you will remember that last amazing embrace for a long time.
This feeling of tango does get etched onto your soul when you live here for more than a week.
When a tanda begins, I like to close my eyes and dance with my soul and not just my feet.
That’s Tango.
