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From Art Installations to Tango Floors: An Explorative Narrative

Life as we know it is all about security and changes.

We live our lives with a certain mundane jadedness from our daily life experience creating our point of view. We bath in the same manner daily. We dress in the same manner. Do put your right foot shoe on first then left one. Or do you do the oposite, left then right?

Occasionally, we need to be jarred out of this mundance life and woken up. The start of the new year is an excellent time for new beginnings. In this vein I offer this essay.

One of the unspoken

One of the unspoken tenants of the artworld is to shake things up, to create change. to create a reaction, but not all art is meant to do this.

Some art is about beauty
Other art is about geometry
While others encourage tactile interaction.

Art sometimes is very ugly and oversized.

We recently went to see the show at La Pedrera of work by Cristina Inglesias. I was not familiar with her work. She is a Spanish artist living in Madrid working as a sculptor, mixed media artist for many years. These artworks are created on a grand scale. Organic in nature defining the spaces of nature while limiting and sculpting our viewpoints. The materials used were not disclosed, but based on experience the mediums are bronze, copper sheeting, resins, fiberglass and glass.

On the upper floors

On the upper floors of La Pedrera, our eyes are drawn to the long, narrow, suspended, woven metal sculpture that defines the room. Showing us the positive and negative space in our surroundings.

There are wall photos printed on mammoth copper sheets, and then these intimate bronze water feature pieces.


Her works are about the geological collisions and erosion that shape the environment.  Here, water wells are dynamic, with the water rising and sinking, much like the tides, but they are confined to a bronze and marble box. Mimicking nature.

We spent about 90 minutes looking at and absorbing the show. We were the only folks there for most of the time. Although a family of four from China, I think, found themselves a bench and sat, and communicated with the outside world on their phones 
The only other attendee of the show was a middle-aged woman who was undoubtedly an artist, as she was very observant, putting her hands on the pieces, which was definitely encouraged. The works are supremely tactile.

The gallery space

The gallery space is located on the second floor of the famous Gaudí-designed building La Pedrera. This space is owned by the foundation, the Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation, which offers tours of the building. All monies go to support activities by the  Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera. “We have a dream: we want to improve people’s quality of life by generating opportunities that positively transform society.”

My partner, Maximo, who is not a big fan of contemporary art, enjoyed the show as much as I did.

As in life, there are situations in the art world where we are drawn to observe the work intimately. Looking at the intersection of lines, looking into corners. Touching the edges, watching the water ebb and flow in their marble and bronze enclosures.


These regimes all serve a purpose. They are meant to awaken our eyes and feelings to the world around us. To see the beauty and to consider how we react to these new stimuli.

By now having read this far

By now, having read this far in the story, you are likely asking yourself what is going on here. Why are you spending so much time on artworld observations?


A fact that,  you might not know is that I was the director of a contemporary art gallery for 35 years and  I feel strongly about supporting and viewing culture.

Now you can ask, How does this relates to tango? As this is Blog that is about the art of traveling and dancing tango.

First and foremost

First and foremost, in my observation, tango is a dance of the heart, one that fosters a poignant connection with your dance partner. It’s an emotional and physical connection. Tango is an artform.

Traveling extensively to dance Tango, we have danced in Argentina, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, France, Germany, Turkey, the United States, Canada, Jordan, and Spain. With this in mind, I suggest that we have some experience in tango, whether it involves dancing or simply sitting at a table and observing.

We have attended Encuentros, Marathons, Festivals, and numerous local milingas.

The following descriptions and observations are made based on our travels and experiences.

Many countries develop

Many countries developed their own style of tango, but this will depend on the age of the dancers. For instance, in Istanbul, the younger generation wants to showcase all the steps they have learned and move quickly no matter what the music. They do crazy things like a high gero kick in a crowded space. Watch out, I have seen them draw blood with their heels. While in the same city, some middle-aged dancers prefer to dance in a traditional close-embrace Argentine tango style. The range of music varies depending on the style of the DJs and the venue.

In Italy, we went to an Encountro where it was almost impossible to get a tanda. I have danced for many years, but here I didn’t know anyone except my partner, Maximo. To attend an Encountro, one must register promptly when the registration process opens, as attendance is usually limited to fewer than 150 dancers. Many individuals get qualified to attend this event by applying early and using their Facebook or Instagram page as their calling card, demonstrating proof that they have danced a close-embrace tango. These events can be very cozy and friendly affairs.

In the Encuentro world

In the Encuentro world, many people know each other from previous encounters. In some situations, people only dance with those they already know. There is a stronger dance connection in an Encountro, as the number of attendees is much smaller and the genders are more evenly represented. Having attended a few, I have found this to be true. The level of dancing is a bit above average, and the embraces can be pretty delightful. With a smaller group of people, it’s somewhat easier to meet and make new dance friends.

Festivals often feature well known maestro couples who offer classes. They perform tango demonstrations nightly typically in the evenings and late at night. Many students attend classes that mainly  focus on learning new steps or patterns. These events, in my experience, attract a varied group of dancers, ranging from those with little experience to those who are very accomplished. At these events, there is no pre-qualification for admission to the Festival; you need to pay for all your classes and milongas in advance. Typically, accommodations are offered at a discounted price, making the experience more enticing. Attending your first Festival with your group of friends is advisable, as city  festivals typically attract between 400 and 700 people.

Lastly, there are the Tango Marathons

Lastly, there are the Tango Marathons; where one can dance tango all night long, and continuing until dawn the next day. Milongas typically begin in the evening at 10 pm finishing up at 6 am. Another milonga takes place in the late afternoon from 3 pm until 7 pm. No maestros are featured. No classes or workshops are held. There is not as much gender balancing when selecting admissions, either.
Many experienced dancers attended these events, trying to make sense of it all as its three or four days of continuous dancing. The event may be both, an adventure and a homecoming.

However, for me, my favorite places to dance tango are the local milongas, where you have the chance to meet the people who live in that city. We have had frequent happy interactions in many of the smaller cities in Turkey, such as Izmir and Samsun. In France, it was Toulouse. In Spain, notable cities include Granada, Valencia, and, of course, Barcelona.

In tango, it’s vital

In tango, it’s vital to pay attention to the music, your partner, and the floor. As in any of the aforementioned Encountros, Festivals, Marathons, or local milonga, it’s essential to put your best attitude forward. Leave the shopping list at the door, the bitchiness too.

Have a glass of wine, sit, and watch the world of dancers go by, in your mind speculate as to which dancer would be delicious to held in their close embrace. Perhaps they are someone you know or yet someone more exciting because you don’t know them. Maybe this is their first visit to this milonga. You can help them to enjoy a new place, a new embrace, and a new tanda. You can get out of your confort zone.

After all, every time you dance with someone, whether a new partner or an old one, the experience will be different. Make it shine.  Make it unique.  And allow the music to enter your body. You dance with all your corazon.

And after all is said and done

And after all is said and done, perhaps you will feel a little different, perhaps a bit brighter or lighter.

A little bit more alive!!.

Go do something out of your comfort zone, whether an art exhibition or a movie.  Catch up with an old acquaintance.  Try sone new out. Let me know how it went by sending a comment!

Enjoy life to it’s fullest after all we are not practicing life, but living to the fullest.

Abrazo

Links:

https://cristinaiglesias.com/es/obras/

https://www.fundaciocatalunya-lapedrera.com/en

https://www.barcelona-life.com/barcelona/gaudi

https://www.edenart.com/news/why-is-art-important

We begin anew
Changes
The Magic of Change

We begin anew

Happy New Year to all!

With the start of the new year behind us, it’s now time to consider the interests in our daily life.

From my perspective, the requirement for culture is predominant for us. We need to know the town, its history, and its culture. Whenever we travel to a new city or country, we always visit the local historical museum and the art museum, in addition to finding a cafe or restaurant.

With this passion in mind, we have embarked on this cultural undertaking in Barcelona.  Last year, while living here, we visited many different types of museums, including art, historical, and cultural. We will continue this project, as I just googled and found that there are 124 museums in the city. The variety of museums is wide-ranging, encompassing history, art, horror, and chocolate.

A while ago

A while ago, we visited the MOCO Museum. We took the bus and it took us 30 minutes to get there. This small, privately owned art museum is located in Ciutat Vella [old town], Barcelona, near the massive Pablo Picasso Museum.

Visiting museums

Last year, while living here, we visited many different types of museums, including art, historical, and cultural.

This year we continue this project, as I just googled and found that there are 124 museums in the city. The variety of museums is wide-ranging, encompassing history, art, horror, and chocolate.

The physical size of the Moco museum is perfect for covering in about 90 minutes. This is my threshold for looking at art and visiting a museum. This building has two floors, accessible via an elevator and stairs.

The space is

Upon entering the museum’s outdoor space, you are greeted by an oversized bronze mouse by the artist duo Kaws. Unfortunately this sculpture is on loan and I was told is leaving the museum, shortly.

The first-floor area is reasonably small, featuring pieces by Dali, Warhol, Masaaki, and other contemporary artists. 

If you want to linger and look, there is no place to sit that allows this, not a bench in sight. For me, this is a major flaw, as I not only like to put my face up to see the paint strokes, but I also like to sit and contemplate a painting that requires distance.

The second floor showcases a larger selection of the collection, featuring a prominent display of Banksy and numerous pieces of digital art.

Admission was discounted as we are both over 65, and the museum also offers promotions, such as two-for-one admissions.
Maximo had the pleasure of a free audioguide. This was wonderful as it provided him with a wealth of information and explanations about the artworks.

Overall

Overall, this was a positive experience for both of us: me, a seasoned veteran of the art world, and my partner, who usually prefers historical or antiquarian museums. We both enjoyed different qualities of this museum.

On our next museum visit, we will visit the Joan Miró Foundation, situated in a different part of the city.

Visiting museums has always been an essential part of my life, as this passion started when I was young.

I grew up just

I grew up just outside New York City in Jersey City. My immigrant parents were eager to become good Americans and believed that culture played an integral part in that process.

Growing up we watched operas in the theaters, attended art exhibitions at the museums on free days, and went to afternoon performances of ballet and theater. All of this was at the instigation of my mother.

My mom, with her 3rd-grade education, had her studies interrupted by the war in Poland. She was a pretty tenacious woman, and years later she graduated from a 2-year college at the same time my middle sister graduated from high school.

My mother was

She was the type of person who believed it was possible to become a more informed and cultured person. She learned English in London and continued her education while raising her children. One of the tenets she instilled in us was that we could be anything we wanted to be. This was back in the late 1950s and 1960s. And all her children were girls.

We used library services extensively; my mother never edited what I read, which led to confrontations with the librarian.  I read Lady Chatterley’s Lover when I was 12 years old. I don’t think I fully understood it, as it didn’t leave a lasting impression on me; however, I was a curious child. At the same time, I was reading the science fiction greats, Heinlein, Le Guin, and Asimov. These books allowed my imagination to roam different worlds and to this day I still read science fiction.

In my teens, I would often take the bus into New York City with my friends. It took approximately 45 minutes to travel from the suburbs where we lived to the Port Authority of New York, located on 8th Avenue and 42nd Street. From there, it was a short walk up to the Museum of Modern Art, MoMA, or the Whitney Museum. 

Experiencing significant

Experiencing significant artworks in the 1970s was a fantastic educational and enriching experience as New York City was the place where art was happening as at the time it was the center of the artworld.

Guernica, the famous protest painting by Pablo Picasso, before it was returned to Spain in 1981, had a small, separate viewing area in the MoMA Museum. These experiences helped form me. I feel very grateful for these forays into New York City for culture.

Image courtesy https://www.euskoguide.com/es/lugares-pais-vasco/espana/guernica-turismo/

Now it is my hope that over the next few years, we can visit all 124 museums in this city or at least most of them.

Visiting Gaudí’s buildings

We have visited most of Gaudí’s buildings, including the Sagrada Familia Church, which is expected to be finished this year. Also visited Park Güell, Casa Batlló, and La Pedrera. These are the buildings that Gaudí designed and built. One night, we attended a fantastic open-air concert on the rooftop of Casa Batlló. It was brilliant.

This city has museums and foundations devoted to a single artist, such as those dedicated to Pablo Picasso, Antonio Tapies, and Joan Miró.

The diversity of the museums here is vast. There are museums dedicated to the art of Catalonia, a maritime museum, and a science museum, too. Plus a few obscure museums such as the Hash Marihuana Hemp Museum or the Museum of Illusions.

The prospect of

The prospect of visiting all or most of these museums over the coming years is both exciting and daunting.

We attended an opera in Valencia, and would like to do so in Barcelona. The opera house here is known as Palau Teatre de Liceu and dates back to 1847. The building was destroyed by fire in 1994 and rebuilt on the same site. “The Liceu is reborn as a cultural project aimed at society as a whole. The new theater opens its doors as a public theater and, as such, has the mission of creating aesthetically ambitious art that reaches the widest possible audience and ensuring that artistic opportunities for the country’s musicians and creators are expanded.” 

There are also concert halls to hear music, including the amazing Palau de la Música. “This building was designed by the architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, a masterpiece, and was built between 1905 and 1908 as the home of the Orfeó Català. It is designed as a magical music box that combines all the applied arts: sculpture, mosaic, stained glass, and ironwork.”

Barcelona is a city

Barcelona is a city rich in culture, whether it is highbrow or lowbrow. The city’s history is showcased on its streets and in its museums. This city is alive.

There is a vibrancy here that is believed to be unique to this city. The vitality is evident in the streets and the unique shops and restaurants that comprise this city.

Here’s to further explorations and additional stories about these places we discover.

If you are in Barcelona, get in touch and let’s have a coffee!

Links:

https://whichmuseum.com/place/barcelona-24157

https://www.liceubarcelona.cat/es/el-liceu/historia

https://www.palaumusica.cat/en

https://sagradafamilia.org/

https://www.euskoguide.com/es/lugares-pais-vasco/espana/guernica-turismo/


No Milongas!

Wow, it’s been a while since we went to a milonga. Not much traveling or tango either.

Why no milongas?

There’s a reason for this.

My health went downhill in September, and at the moment, I’m on the mend. Wahoo. The last few months were pretty intense, but now things are much better.

For the time being, the only issue is the weather. It’s about 45 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. With the onset of winter, many colds and flu cases are circulating here in Barcelona. There’s the H3N2 virus, and now a stronger mutation called the K Subclade of Influenza A. The flu season began with a roar and continues to gather strength. In Barcelona, the rate of infections is rising, and in certain public places, wearing a mask is mandatory. Stay healthy wherever you live.

As a woman with a compromised immune system, my experience tells me that I can’t get a flu or cold, as it will take me three times longer to get over it. The whole process is quite intrusive, which is why I wear a mask on the bus, subway, and in any setting with more than two people present.

Deciding to live simply!

With our decision to live simply and solitarily, we will not mingle with others, we will not attend concerts or any events with large crowds for the next few months, and we definitely won’t go to any milongas until spring either.

Now is the time for quietness, as I strive to learn more meditative skills by sitting in silence and cultivating calmness. These are new skills for me, as I have always been accustomed to acting quickly in the past. My partner, Maximo, is fantastic at doing things slowly, and I am trying to follow his lead. But it’s frustrating for me. Slowly, I am learning this as it’s necessary for my healing.

The need for doing everything quickly no longer exists, as I am no longer working in my business. As a retired individual, my agenda is entirely under my control.

Learning to savor life

Learning to savor life is a fantastic present, as life is filled with many travails but is mostly awesome.

Since I retired from running an art gallery, I have enjoyed nurturing myself as an artist. After 40 years of watching others’ careers, I have chosen an artistic life for myself. It’s all about my sense of style and ethos in my writing and photography.

Since its inception five years ago, travelingtango.com has endeavored to present tango and our travels in a different light through my writings and photos. The objective is to explore different perspectives on tango and travel, while presenting the viewpoint of an older woman with a few quirks.

Discovering new things

In Barcelona, we are discovering a whole new world of non-tango experiences. As we live in a 2-bedroom apartment, we have space for projects. 
My initial question was, what would we do if we didn’t dance tango when it’s cold outside?

The answer was a bit easier than I expected, as I discovered that I had the patience to read again. I am reading in English and trying in Spanish. A bookstore is needed. This led us to investigate the bookstores that sell English-language books, new or used. The bookstore experience is different in Barcelona than when we lived in Buenos Aires. Newly published books are available in Barcelona, whereas in BsAs it was impossible to get a book newer than a couple of years old. The differences I imagine are in the governments and import rules.

It’s been a fun investigation so far, finding bookstores, as they are scattered all over the city. We found a great used book store, Hibernian, close by. After finishing a book, the store offers a trade-in option, issuing a store credit.

The other bookstore we discovered is dedicated to science fiction and fantasy. Yes, I am a big fan. As I was reading Robert Heinlein and Ursula Le Guin at the age of 12, I loved how they expanded my imagination.  The bookstore we found is called Libreria Gilgamesh. It’s stocked with books in English and Spanish, demonstrating the diversity of the genres.

Another skillset

Another skillset that we enjoy is cooking. The apartment we live in, unfortunately, has an electric cooktop, range, and microwave. The pots and pans work on the stovetop, but I’m having trouble getting the device to turn on.  Maximo has the magic touch. The oven is different; to use it, one must turn on the timer. I am learning centigrade too. 200 is about 400 Fahrenheit. 

We are learning to cook a variety of dishes from Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, and Spanish cuisines. 


When researching recipes, the search for ingredients can sometimes be challenging. I love the flavor of jasmine rice, as it’s a long-grain rice with a clean, sweet flavor that pairs well with a variety of dishes. I was finally located at an Asian market yesterday, after having casually looked since September.

Favorite pastimes

One of my favorite pastimes is shopping at the local farmers’ markets, which are scattered throughout the city. The produce is primarily organic, and the variety of cheeses is wide, but finding a good butcher has been a challenge.

After living in Argentina for five years, we have become accustomed to the quality of meat and prefer the taste of free-range, grass-fed meat. The meat in Spain is definitely not as good, but we continue to look for a butcher.

We’re also buying spices and sauces, and have mostly acquired the typical Himalayan sea salt, curry powder, cumin, basil, and oregano. We now need to purchase rosemary, tarragon, and herbs de francia. We have found a good fish sauce and sriracha, too. The local olive oil is delicious for cooking and salads.


These are just a couple of interests that we pursue instead of going to milongas. However, I will admit that it is very strange not to be dancing tango and socializing at Milongas.

Playing bandoneon

My partner, Maximo, has been playing the bandoneon for many years, and now he returns to practicing every day. Yes, we listen to a lot of tango music, especially some of the older orchestras and singers.

Nowadays, we have established a habit of walking daily in an unfamiliar section of town. It’s been a great way to explore the city and indulge in my favorite afternoon activity, having a beverage at a cafe.

Having fallen in love with this relaxed lifestyle, it’s essential to practice this skill by  sitting around and chatting for a few hours about life or any other topic you wish to discuss.

In these cafes, groups of grandmothers chat while the younger generation smokes their cigarettes and drinks their coffee. People are not inhibited about conversation, and this is evident in the volume of their talk.

Living in Barcelona

Living in Barcelona unhurriedly presents a learning curve for me, as my past culture was one of rushing and working. Here, work is secondary to family and socialization.  Life is so much more relaxed. Time and tracking time are irrelevant.

We are hopeful that in the spring, we will return to dancing at milingas and festivals in Europe. Now we practice dancing tango in our living room on wooden floors, and I am pleased to say I can still dance tango.

In the meantime

In the meantime, it is my hope that you, my reader, will enjoy my stories of the experiences we have residing in this remarkable place that we call home.

Wishing all a very happy healthy holiday season and the best for the upcoming New Year.

Stay strong, be greatful and may you find what makes you happy!

Abrazo

Ruth y Maximo



Traveling Tango

Creator of Tango Experiences

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