[Tango-L] Milongas en Buenos Aires
Charles wrote - Last time I was [in Buenos Aires] (eight months ago) I noticed that crowds and styles varied from night to night, even at the same location, according to who was the DJ/sponsor. __ Excellent point. The same location often hosts several different milongas, each with a different set of organizers and DJs. Each milonga draws different crowds, who also differ according to whether the milonga is held on weekdays or weekends. An example of a location is Salon Canning. It is in the SOHO area of Palermo, which is two-three miles west and north of the downtown area of the city of Buenos Aires, a 10-mile wide roughly octagonal part of the BsAs megaplex. SOHO is an arty mini-barrio with lots of restaurants and small shops. Canning is also within one to two blocks of two other milonga locations (Club Villa Malcolm, Asociacion Armenia) and eight blocks from Club Fulgor. Canning has a long history and was recently renovated. It is large, has a high ceiling (good for dissipating cigarette smoke), a beautiful floor, a big bar and snack area that (I believe) can deliver a full meal, and beautiful photos on the wall, one a very large mural. Here are some pictures and a video that showcases Canning. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dedonna/295837774/ - shot including mural http://www.flickr.com/photos/dedonna/295837536/ - shot of bar http://www.flickr.com/photos/aladorada/29008690/in/photostream/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzh-accjq1M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRnzRXNXgJk Canning hosts two milongas: A Puro Tango (three nights a week) and Parakultural (four). Even though the last has the same organizers, the milongas are not identical. Parakultural Mina, for instance, often has live bands such as Color Tango Larry de Los Angeles http://shapechangers.wordpress.com Click here to discover unbeatable cruise deals. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2131/fc/PnY6rbu8D0cx72rR1wLl491tzkjyqs58bB4INiuNHYu3E7QpejqjI/ ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
[Tango-L] Milongas of Buenos Aires - 2
Several people have emailed me asking for the names of the milongas I went to. It was several years ago; I don't remember. The curious might look at my writing web page for some specifics. It has a link to a diary of my visit, written when I got back home, and expanded from daily posts to TANGO-L. The diary does not include all my experiences. For instance, since I was in the Hotel Bristol only a block away from Confiteria Ideal I sometimes stopped by there two or three times a day for various reasons, such as to meet someone. (Ideal is open every day of the week. And I highly recommend el Bristol. It's inexpensive, centrally located, and recently renovated to a high standard.) http://www.hotelbristol.com.ar/english/home.htm I also did not mention the non-tango dance places I went to, such as the night-club with a goth-looking crowd out front. Which I found out when I got inside was for gays of both sexes looking to hook up. Before I could escape two French women asked me to sit with them to ask me about Los Angeles, where they were going next. http://larrydla.home.att.net/writing.html _EXCERPTS FROM TANGO DIARY_ I open the window and look out. The tops of buildings show even less care than their fronts. The people, however, bely that overall impression. The economy may be depressed, but the people do not seem to be. This Sunday afternoon they are out in the streets, strolling, busy, seemingly happy and full of energy. They are all ages and sexes, casually but often very nicely dressed. Perhaps Paris was very like this a few years after WW2. The bed is comfortable. After settling in I crash, leaving the window open for a cool, light breeze. When I wake at 3:00 in the afternoon I feel amazingly good. I clean up, dress, go downstairs, excited at my first free moments in Buenos Aires. I put my valuables in the safe at the lobby then go outside. There is sun coming through the clouds and the temperature is perfect. Just walking outside onto the sidewalk is thrilling. I am here! Across the street is a little convenience store. I buy just a snack and a drink, though I am very hungry. I am eager to see the city. I go a half block East, walk North on Nueve de Julio. This street is so wide (20 or more lanes, a full city block in width) that it is like walking in a canyon. The cool breeze rushes down 9 de Julio, ruffles my hair, bathes my face, just as it would in a desert canyon. Larry de Los Angeles Beauty School Programs - Get the career you've always wanted. Click Now. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2131/fc/Ioyw6iiglKzOqCae9ag5gK3joAopApq7A6HIDDULAKinUBTGuisPdQ/ ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
Re: [Tango-L] Milongas of Buenos Aires - 2
Larry de Los Angeles wrote to Tango-L: Several people have emailed me asking for the names of the milongas I went to. It was several years ago; I don't remember. Those who are *really* interested might try to search the Tango-L archives. From what I remember from those postings to Tango-L you also kept us very well informed about which McDonalds was open at what time of the night before you managed to get to your first milonga on day three or so. It was quite an amazing read, I have to admit =;-o. Christian -- Pt! Schon vom neuen GMX MultiMessenger gehört? Der kann`s mit allen: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/multimessenger ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
Re: [Tango-L] Milongas of Buenos Aires - 2
The first one or two postings expressed your surprise at how your body felt after a long overseas flight (hellooo?). The first 3 of them dealt with how you kept changing hotels night after night, trying to find one where people did not smoke, and how you locked yourself into your room and then smoke came in from under your door and you tried to tape it shut and so on. And then you finally got a milonga or two and reported how the portenas looked right through you, noone danced with you and you were quite happy to discover some Anerican tourist women to spend the time with. And then you claimed a copyright for those reports in case anyone wanted to steal that valuable information Christian: Larry de Los Angeles wrote to Tango-L: Several people have emailed me asking for the names of the milongas I went to. It was several years ago; I don't remember. Those who are *really* interested might try to search the Tango-L archives. From what I remember from those postings to Tango-L you also kept us very well informed about which McDonalds was open at what time of the night before you managed to get to your first milonga on day three or so. It was quite an amazing read, I have to admit =;-o. Christian -- Pt! Schon vom neuen GMX MultiMessenger gehört? Der kann`s mit allen: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/multimessenger ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
Re: [Tango-L] Milongas of Buenos Aires - 2
to clarify: astrid is refering to larry's old postings on tango-l. I never posted my initial experiences in bs.as. to tango-l! christian astrid wrote: The first one or two postings expressed your surprise at how your body felt after a long overseas flight (hellooo?). The first 3 of them dealt with how you kept changing hotels night after night, trying to find one where people did not smoke, and how you locked yourself into your room and then smoke came in from under your door and you tried to tape it shut and so on. And then you finally got a milonga or two and reported how the portenas looked right through you, noone danced with you and you were quite happy to discover some Anerican tourist women to spend the time with. And then you claimed a copyright for those reports in case anyone wanted to steal that valuable information Christian: Larry de Los Angeles wrote to Tango-L: Several people have emailed me asking for the names of the milongas I went to. It was several years ago; I don't remember. Those who are *really* interested might try to search the Tango-L archives. From what I remember from those postings to Tango-L you also kept us very well informed about which McDonalds was open at what time of the night before you managed to get to your first milonga on day three or so. It was quite an amazing read, I have to admit =;-o. Christian -- Pt! Schon vom neuen GMX MultiMessenger gehört? Der kann`s mit allen: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/multimessenger ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l -- *** just my personal 50th of an Euro *** [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** How inappropriate to call this planet earth ... ... as clearly it is ocean! *** Pt! Schon vom neuen GMX MultiMessenger gehört? Der kann`s mit allen: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/multimessenger ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
[Tango-L] Milongas of Buenos Aires
A useful guide to tango in Greater Buenos Aires is maintained by the government. Among many web pages on the site is one that lets you find milongas for any day and locale. Clicking on a milonga name brings up a window with info about it, including a link to the milonga's web page if it has one. http://www.tangodata.gov.ar/ingles/home_milongas.php ___ To hear some travelers to Buenos Aires every milonga is alike. It's easy to understand why. It's natural for people to seek out and continue going to just those milongas which suit their tastes best. But when I went I was looking for as much variety as I could find, since my personal situation makes travel difficult and I might not ever be able to go back to BsAs. I went to noon-time practicas, matinee milongas, and late- night milongas. Each practica or milonga was as individual as their organizers and their regulars and seemed to have its own special atmosphere. On any weekend night in Greater BsAs there are more than forty milongas to choose from, so some organizers may work to make their milongas stand out from the crowd. I went to three young-peoples milongas, and each of them was very different. One was a night club for twenty- somethings with several hundred people packed together and the bars doing very good business. Half the time a Beatles-look-alike band played only Beatles music, the other half a DJ played traditional tangos but without cortinas. A second was for late-teens and early twenties and had a traditional milonga organization. This seemed to be more social- than dance-oriented. The third was a milonga for teens, some of whom seemed as young as thirteen and the oldest barely eighteen. The dancers there seemed very serious about tango, had lots of training in both traditional and show tango, and did advanced figures very compactly and within the flow. I had the weird feeling that the dancers at this third milonga were all grownups despite being the youngest of them all. I also went to the most expensive milonga I could find. Everyone there seemed to be professionals and dressed fashionably and well. They also seemed to be the tallest dancers in the city! I saw a few men with short haircuts who acted as if they were movers and shakers, possibly government or military officials or business executives. Each was with a trophy wife half his age. Or, more likely, a high-class hooker. Each had that look that I'd seen so often while a military policeman - I've seen everything and I am not impressed. I was presented with a hostess, very beautiful and well- dressed, who the host said was an expert swing dancer. (They were playing a swing set.) I told her I was sorry but I only danced tango. Speaking of swing, one older man in a beautiful grey suit and short white beard danced it (and tango) so elegantly and with such enjoyment that I wondered if he was a teacher or former professional or milonguero de swing. I also went to many of what one talky cab-driver called old peoples' milongas though to me the age distributions seemed to be all over the place. They were in all sorts of venues. These included a former gymnasium with basketball boundary markings on the floor, a thirties-style former night club, a modern night club, a confiteria, and a large convention hall. Some of these milongas had several hundred guests. One crowd I estimated at well over a thousand. Several of the milongas had tandas of other kinds of dancing interspersed among tango tandas. These included tropical: cumbias, merengues, rumbas, and others but no salsa. (Salsa and cumbia occupy almost the same dance space, and salsa is popular enough in Argentina to have its own salsa-only clubs.) Also swing dancing. We tend to think of swing as an American dance and say only Americans can really dance it. But swing has long been popular in Argentina and some of the best swing dancing I've ever seen were in Argentine milongas. (I began dancing rock-n-roll as a teenager and have done other kinds of swing.) The spirit of any dance refuses to be prisoned within national boundaries. That's certainly true of the wild exuberance of swing, which the Nazis suppressed in Germany in the run-up to WW II. What were your experiences with Argentine milongas? How far from the stereotypes did some vary? What practices seemed common? Larry de Los Angeles Need cash? Click to get a cash advance. http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2131/fc/Ioyw6iiekCoYKOgrWupzvODTTrrO6FrZQettUzCTKX1QGrVf1aqNl4/ ___ Tango-L mailing list Tango-L@mit.edu http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
