Lina's TangoGuestHouse

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Florida

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Estados Unidos, San Telmo

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Carlos Calvo, San Telmo

El Indio's Milonga at Plaza Dorrego

El Indio y Rosana

Leonardo y Uliana

Feria de San Pedro Telmo

4th Trip to Buenos Aires

Nombre: Milonga de los Consadgrados Dirrecion: Salon Region Leonesa, Humberto Primo 1462 Organizador: Enrique "Gordo" Rosich Dancecard: Beatrix - Salt Spring Is, BC, Canada formerly from Germany, Cherie - Portena y Ex Pat from LA, Flo - Huntington Beach, CA, Frankie - Naples, FL Maria Inez - Portena, Mariel - Portena, Tone - Oslo, Norway Notes: I joined Cherie alone at her table. She arrived before Ruben. I ask her to dance. She declines because we are sitting together. It would be unseemly. Then she accepts the offer of a man across the room. Go figure. I leave the table and lean up against the bar. Maria Inez is flirting with me with her gorgeous eyes. She looks at me. Then she looks away. The music starts. Finally, she looks back at the last moment and we seal the deal. Between dances I tell her what beautiful eyes she has. But its wasted because she doesn't speak a word of English and I don't know how to tell her that she has beautiful eyes in Spanish. As soon as Ruben arrives I get the green light to dance with Cherie. The tango is Canaro. She says, "You can always tell Canaro because he has trumpets and clarinets in his orchestra." I ask Cherie about the Cabeceo, "Do you start looking before the music starts?" She says, "Absolutely. If you don't when the music starts, its too late." When I dance with Frankie I fall in love with her immediately. Then I accomplish a successful cabaceo half the length of the room to win a dance with Flo. But when I dance with Flo she says that Frankie is taken. The women should wear something if they're taken so as not to make such fools of the men who work so hard for them. Perhaps a scarlet letter? Perhaps a garlic necklace? Perhaps a small red light that says "Libre." They could turn it on and off as they wished. These innovations are only required for los Americanos like me who are so clueless. The Argentine men need no signs or signals. The Argentine men know every woman: Every woman who is taken and every one who is free. Flo consoles me when she says, "Don't worry. The very best relationship between a man and a woman is a three minute dance." I try the long pass cabaceo again. My intended receiver is Tone. But this time Mabel inctercepts the pass. Tone is gracious and I enjoy a very good dance with Mabel. When I dance with Tone she says, "I'm impressed by the way the Argentine men protect their women. When I dance in Norway, I'm afraid to close my eyes." I say, "Strong Viking Women don't need protection. They can take care of themselves." She is not amused. I catch Ken at his table. He introduces me to Bea. He continues his running gag. He says, "Neil dances like a god. I just carry his bag." But this is not right. This is my line. Ken has stolen my line. I say, "Horacio dances like a god. I just carry his bag." Bea and I do a double-take. We've danced before in another time and place. We danced years ago at the former Vicount Ballroom in Portland, OR. I called it the Viking Ballroom but Bea corrects me. I guess I've got Norway on my mind. trEATS: Las Violetas Notes: Cherie´s feedback on my dance was for me to relax my legs. Cherie y Ruben are a couple. Cherie said, ¨When you become a couple, the man continues to dance but dancing for the woman is over except with her man. Its a macho society. Its the Argentine way.¨ I ask, ¨What do you miss from the States?¨ She says, ¨Peanut butter.¨

4th Trip to Buenos Aires

Nombre: Leda´s Private Birthday Milonga Dirrecion: EEUU 780 Organizador: Lina Dancecard: Julianna - Salt Spring Island, BC, Leda - Amsterdam, Lina - Portena, Susanna - Black Forest, Germany, Vonette - Sydney, Australia Notes: Its difficult to explain la Milonga because every night is different. Portenos dance with different people at different Milongas. The man has a favorite woman and a favorite dance. He goes to a specific Milonga on a specific day of the week to dance a specific Tango Vals with a specific woman. If he doesn´t get the dance with her, then he won´t dance. For instance when Lina is at Milonga El Arranque de Juan Carlos and she hears Cayengue she looks for Salvador because Lina dances Cayengue with Salvador at El Arranque. If she doesn´t find him, then she doesn´t dance. If a woman dances tandas back-to-back with the same man, then the other men won´t dance with her because she ¨belongs¨ to this man. If a woman dances with men who are not as good as her partner, then her partner won´t dance with her again. Ernesto relates his experiences in la Milonga when he was young. Ernesto is short. No doubt he was shorter when he was young. All the women were lined up in a row. He asked the first woman in line to dance with the cabaceo. He thought she had accepted him but when he went to her she was not for him. She had accepted the taller man standing behind him. So he is standing there holding his shoes and doesn´t get the dance. So he asks the next woman in line and it is the same. He goes down the line asking everyone and all are the same until he gets to the last woman in the line and she takes pity on him and gives him the dance. Salvador explains a way to treat garlic by smashing it softly (Susanna´s adverb). Then you remove the skin slowly (Leda´s adverb)with a knife and remove the center. The purpose of this soft slow garlic treatment is to be able to eat garlic and still be able to dance the same night at la Milonga with no garlic breath. My first dance is with Lina. Salvador says, ¨Well, Lina can dance anything with anyone.¨ When I dance with Susanna, Salvador adjusts our connection so that she comes in front of me and is not off-center. When I dance with Julianna, then Salvador wants to dance with her. Ernesto y Salvador show all the bad ways that the tourists dance. I say, ¨Un gancho por favor.¨ Salvador doesn´t understand me. Its my test. A true Milonguero doesn´t know ganchos. But Eduardo understands me and he shows one because he knows how to work the tourists and give them what they want. Salvador says, ¨If Europeans were taught tango from the time they were a child, then they would be dancing better than the Argentines.¨ I brought Champaigne but we don´t finish it. Susanna claims that if you put a spoon up-side-down in the mouth of the bottle then you can save it for later. What superstition. I don´t believe her but we try it anyway.

Leda's Birthday at Lina's TangoGuestHouse

Birthday in Club Espanol

Let me tell you about my birthday party last night at Club Espanol. Absolutely fabulous, although before it began I thought, oh why do I have to celebrate? But once dressed up and made up and carrying the bags of miga sandwiches (ham and pineapple, turkey and tomato, jamon crudo and cheese, cheese and olive) and plates and forks, I was very happy to enter the beautiful salon and see a large table in the corner covered with red roses and carnations. The hard part was over, and now I could just enjoy myself. It was wonderful to see so many friends, even a few non-tango dancers came. Sitting at the table were Graciela (the flamenco dancer featured in Neil’s Blog), Natalia, Irene, Jill, Alina—all from Chicago, Gloria (from Toastmasters), Flo (from my home city of L.A.) of course my dear friend Neil who never stopped flashing photos, Christine and Ignacio, Oscar and MaryAnn, Luis, and my partner, Ruben Aybar. We had champagne, and more champagne, and then Ignacio won the doorprize of more champagne, Julio, the milonga organizer, presented me with a delicious birthday cake. Then Julio introduced Ruben and me, saying we were simply going to dance, not give an “exhibition.” And so we began with a waltz by D’Arienzo, and Dany, the D.J. segued it into my favorite milonga, “Todos Te Quieren.” We had so much fun! And the audience seemed to like it too. Irene and Oscar video’d it, lots and lots of flashes (probably most from Neil) made us feel like celebrities. It was a great night, never to be forgotten. Well, at least by me.

Cherie's Birthday in Club Espanol

4th Trip to Buenos Aires

Nombre: Dandi Direccion: Piedras 936 Organizador: Gloria Garcia, A. Vega y M. Varela Dancecard: Ester - Portena, Leda - Amsterdam, Lina - Portena, Vonette - Sydney, Australia Notes: Dandi is round the corner from Lina`s Tangohouse in San Telmo. I danced Vonette´s first tango on her first night of her first trip to Buenos Aires. Incredible dances with Ester: Four tandas including Pugliese, DiSarli y Troila. She sang tangos to me. No coffee with her but I must have been doing OK because my dancing provoked a jealous Porteno to give me a hard bump. But then its open season on los Americanos. Tango Cancion: Agustin Fuertes y Ariel Varnerin con guitarra para Maximilano Luna. Tangos, valses y milongas a dos voces. Interpretan los grandes Duos: Dante - Martel, Rivero - F. Ruiz Regrets: The heat. The humidity. No dance with Julianna. She wanted los Portenos.

Dandi

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La Pergola de San Telmo, Plaza Dorrego

trEATS: La Pergola de San Telmo

4th Trip to Buenos Aires

Nombre: Glorieta Barrancas de Belgrano Direccion: 11 de Septiembre y Echeverria Organizador: Marcelo Salas Dancecard: Anna Maria - Amsterdam, Anna - Portena, Cynthia - Portena, Flo - Huntington Beach, CA, Sara - Portena, Susan - Portena Notes: Glorieta is my favorite Milonga in Buenos Aires. The milonga I lead for Susan is dull and boring. She asks, ¨Where did you learn to dance the tango?¨ I say, ¨Atlanta.¨ She says, ¨Well, that explains it.¨ Nombre: Plaza Dorrego Direccion: Humberto 1 449 Organizador: `El Indio` Pedro Benaventi Holas: Anslee - Memphis y Sid Grant - New York City
.  Performance: El Indio y Rosana Plaza Dorrego Holas: Susanna - The Black Forest, Germany y Julianna - Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada Notes: El Indio draws a large crowd and works it well. Everyone is lined up shoulder-to-shoulder for the photo op. A European tourist steps in front of the man to my left to get a better shot. The man says, ¨Please don´t block my view.¨ The tourist barks back, ¨You Americans are all the same. Always telling everyone what to do.¨ This is because El Indio is so beautiful. We will fight for his photos. Guapo! But I think the Europeans love us more than the Argentines. trEATS: San Telmo Plaza Notes: Tone has written down all the rules for the tango. Unfortunately they´re written in Norweigan. She prefers the afternoon milongas. She explains the difference between the afternoon and the evening milongas. In the afternoon, the men come to dance. In the evening its different. Horacio says, "In the evening the milongueros are `working.`" Everyone works to get a dance. But in the evening the milongueros are `working` to `go for coffee` afterwards. Horacio says, "I love the evening Milongas. They are different. But be careful. At the evening milongas at the zero hour when the moon is full the eye teeth of the Milongueros grow into fangs and hair sprouts out all over their bodies." What he says is true. So beware Las Brujas y Los Tanos!

El Indio y Rosana

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Feria de San Pdero Telmo

4th Trip to Buenos Aires

Nombre: Milonga de Las Morochas Direccion: Riobamba 416 Organizador: Gaby y Jimena Dancecard: Clara - Portena, E - Austria, Stephanie - Atlanta, Tone - Oslo, Norway trEATS: Nina Bonita, Corrientes Nombre: Plaza Bohemia - La Milonga de Los Sabados "Cachirulo" Direccion: Mapiu 444 Organizador: Norma y Hector Dancecard: Alison - Trinidad, Jamaica, Bebe - Portena, Jody - Minneapolis, MN Notes: Alison complained that I was holding her too tightly. Holas: Cacho Dante Regrets: The smoke. The seating. Nombre: Milonga de los Consagrados Direccion: Salon Region Leonesa, Humbero Primo 1462 Organizador: Enrique "Gordo" Rosich Dancecard: Barbara - London formerly from Toronto, Flo - Huntington Beach, CA, Regine - Munich, Tone - Oslo, Norway trEATS: San Telmo Plaza Judy wrote: Hi Neil, Last night was definitely something, wasn't it? We crashed the biggest tango event in the world and Fabian let us in. Seeing the old couple was worth it. They're in their 90's. I went over Fabian's website looking for his email but to no avail. I want to thank him. Man, am I sleepy, but I suspect that I'll go to Maipu and dance later. Tomorrow late afternoon, Canning is great. You NEED to start asking portenas. You're a better dancer than many men here. Keep me posted, dear friend. Besitos, Judy

4th Trip to Buenos Aires

Milonga: Sunderland Club Direccion: Lugones 3161 Organizador: CITA Dancecard: Judy - Portland, OR, Melinda - Oahu, Hawaii, Sharon - Monterey Bay, CA, Stephanie - Atlanta, Virginia - Menlo Park, CA Notes: Judy´s friend Gabe from Atlanta invited her to the CITA Milonga at Sunderland Club. I come as a friend of a friend. When Judy and I arrive, the gatekeepers ask us for our CITA card. Since we have none, we don´t get in. I´m hungry. I want befe de lomo. I sit next to Kely but I don´t recognize her at first. Facundo joins her. He recognizes me. I give Kely a belated kiss. I introduce Judy who speaks Spanish. We order: Steak. Salad. Fries. Vino tinto. All good. Fabian arrives. He speaks with Facundo. Fabian recognizes me. I explain in English that Gabe, a CITA participant, invited us to the milonga as his guest, but he´s not here yet. So the milonga is closed for us because we have no CITA card. Judy chimes in with her Spanish. Fabian is gracious. We follow him as he breaks through the gatekeepers. In Argentina its not what you know, its who you know. Judy wants to sit by herself as is her custom. But then she immediately wants a dance to show the other men her skill. I oblige. Everyone is watching us. I lead a boleo and she catches her heel in her skirt. We almost fall but I save her. Las portenas laugh to watch los Americanos as we almost hit the floor. I´m intrigued by the women guests and their transactions with the ¨Taxi Drivers.¨ A Taxi Driver is a man who is paid for his services to dance with the women. He´s a man for hire. But a man for hire is different than a woman for hire. The woman discretely hands the Taxi Driver a token that I assume is negotiable currency. I´m not sure how she identifies him. Maybe because he´s wearing a black CITA tee shirt. After the Taxi Driver gets his token he takes the buyer for a ride on the floor. Everyone is happy: an ugly American woman who doesn´t know how to dance gets the ride of her life from a young strong Argentine man who is available for hire. Bueno! The best part of the night were the performances by Nito y Elba and Osvaldo y Coca. I dance my last dance with Stephanie. She says, ``You danced better in Bs As. You`re more relaxed.`` Perhaps its the vino tinto. Nombre: Viejo Correo Dirrecion: Av. Diaz Velez 4820 Organizador: Enrique Paulela y Ana M. Quintian Dance Card: Esperanza - Mexico City, Mexico, Judy - Portland, OR, Tone - Oslo, Norway Notes: At the start the floor is sticky. By the end of the afternoon milonga its slick. Judy says that she heard that if a porteña dances with a tourista then los Porteños won´t dance with her. So? That´s no surprise. Their women are theirs. Our women are theirs. Los Porteños own la milonga. We´re privileged guests to be here with them. Be thankful that you get to breathe the same smokey air that they breathe. No trEATS: Because it´s St. Patrick´s Day I´m hell bent on celebrating with a pint of Guiness at an Irish Pub. I´m a quarter Greek but also a quarter Scot-Irish. So I take a cab to the Temple Bar. I arrive 17:00 pm. They´re closed. They open at 18:00 pm. Its OK. I walk for an hour and find an old book store. I but the book Tango Mio. Back at the pub at 18:00. The door is shut. The guy at the front door opens it and I hear him say that there´s a $15 peso cover charge. Its OK. I want a Guiness. I enter. They find me a barmaid who speaks English. She explains that its not $15, its $50! Guau! But I get four pints, food, a tee shirt and I can have my face painted green. Its a package deal. All I want is two pints and some bad Irish stew. But they want $50 pesos. No thanks. How could they screw up a sweet deal like St Patricks Day? I leave pissed. Not sure if I should be pissed at the Irish or pissed at the Argentines? But I think the Irish love us more than the Argentines. I find a little cafe running a St Patricks Day special: Chop 2 x 1. Bueno. I order Quilmes instead of Guiness. I expect an Irish Chop. Pork Chop. Maybe 2. They bring the beer. I drink it. They bring another. I drink it. Where is the Chop? Come to find out there is no Chop. Chop = mug. Shit. No trEATS for me. I leave for the milonga a hungry man. I should have contacted Gerry San the Irish Tango Man. Wake up at 10:45 am. Its raining. Pedro cancels his private for the second time.

4th Trip to Buenos Aires

Nombre: Niño Bien Direccion: Humberto 1 1462 Organizador: Dancecard: Carol - Hamburg, Germany, Christine - San Francisco, CA, Diane - New York, NY, Etelka - Austria, Florencia - Huntington Beach, CA, Tone - Oslo, Norway Notes: Christine is here for CITA. She said I was holding her too close for comfort. This is Diane´s fifth trip to Bs As. She must be serious about the tango. Flo slips on a wet spot on the floor, but I catch her before she falls. Etelka takes a candid camera shot while I´m with Flo. I ask her to send me the photo if its good. She said she took it because Flo was in Tango Heaven. trEATS: Ken, Flo, Tone and I walk to a bad restaurant in el bario. Notes: Ken is a tango gypsy. He reports that after Tone and I had danced she had said, ¨He´s a god!¨ Tone corrects Ken that she had really said, ¨He´s a gift!¨ Whatever. Its OK. I do the best I can. Being a ¨gift¨ is not so bad. Tone is embarrassed that she´s having supper with tres Americanos. She insists that she is not American. Her English is excellent. With a little more wine she may pass for one. Nombre: Club Español Direccion: Organizador: Dancecard: Cherie - expat from LA, Florencia - Huntington Beach, CA, Judy - Portland, Karen - una rubia de Sweden, Tone - Oslo, Norway. Note: ¨Tone¨ sounds like ¨Tuna¨ in English. Holas: Ken de San Diego, Arie Kiok, Holland, Reuben - porteño Dance Notes: It was my first night at Club Español. Like the floor, the dancers have character. But I was not dancing well. I step on Tone. I say ¨I´m sorry¨ in English. Not ¨lo siento.¨ I bump into another man. I screw up el cabaceo: I ask Flo to dance but she accepts the man next to me. I go to her just as she spills her glass all over the floor. As Ken says later, ¨I´m left holding my shoes in my hands.¨ We recover graciously by dancing the next set. At home I dance slower and tighter than anyone on the floor save El Once. Here everyone is dancing slower and tighter than me. Its incredible! I am the most expansive dancer on the floor. I caught Cherie leading Reuben! Cherie is one of the top ten tango dancers in the world with an American passport. But I think that she is the only woman in the world with the courage to lead a porteño on a floor in Buenos Aires. And who is this Reuben guy who has the balls to follow her! They are having so much fun. Its incredible! Foto Notes: A man is shooting photos. He has a real camera - a pro camera - he´s shooting with a giant digital SLR with no flash! He´s serious. I can´t take my dorky little Fuji point-and-shoot out next to this pro. I´m so intimidated that I take no photos. Cherie says that the photographer has a new show in San Telmo. I go to him and ask him about his show. He´s Dutch. He doesn´t speak English and he doesn´t know what the hell I´m talking about. We share cards. He is Arie Kiok. He´s planning to have a show in San Telmo but not yet. Later. It may arrive on Argentine time. Nombre: Toastmasters Direccion: Quintana 161 (Recoleta) The target start was 19:15. I arrive 19:00. Hang out on the street feeding on overpriced gormet cashews ´till 19:25. Enter with Irene, a total stranger. We make small talk as we climb the stairs. Everyone is standing around. The place is a masculine retreat with wood paneled walls. Someone said that it was an Officers Club. Someone else said that the widow of San Martin owned the place. No one likes the formality of the seating so it is rearranged. The meeting starts around 19:45. The Toastmaster explans the difference between Greenwich time and Argentine time. I bet he starts every meeting this way. The topic of his speech is ¨No one has a boring life.¨He relates a funny episode on the bus with ¨collectivos.¨ Another speaker mentions the importance of the pause - the importance of silence that empahsizes a point in communication. I think to myself that it is the same with the dance. They go around the room with each guest giving a short introduction. The room is full of women and for some reason each one announces their age with the intro. When it gets to me I say that I´m 39. Only Cherie gets the joke. The topic of the round table is serious: gender relations. The moderator asks for my comments. I frame the question in the context of my interest that is the dance with the trite quote, ¨The dance floor is the only place that is left where the man gets to lead the woman. But even that practice is changing . . . etc.¨ The Toastmaster doesn´t like that I´ve wandered off point. She directs back to her serious agenda. But for me the relations between women and men on the dancefloor is serious and is on point. The dancefloor is the crucible for acting out the drama that goes on between women and men. Ended with a role play by a visiting French Canadian toastmaster who presented a casual conversation between a woman and a man standing in line at Cholitos, a famous restaurant. They talk while in line for 40 minutes, then end up eating alone. Its amazing! He doesn´t get to have coffee with her. The host closed by evaluating the evaluators but he found himself having a senior moment and he inadvertently overlooked one. He finished full circle by explaining Argentine time. Notes: Wake up at 5 am. Then 7:30 am. Then 9:15 am. Its raining. Joined the Belgains for Breakfast. Wilfred liked el porteños at la milonga at Club Español: ¨The older dancers are smooth. They can dance on one square. When they get caught in traffic they continue to dance even though they are not moving forward. This is very difficult.¨ Susan or Suzanne joins us at the table. She´s Swiss. She gives me a copy of BA Tango. Gracias. She recommends the book ¨Letra de Tango.¨ Wilfred mentions the tango Yira... Yira... by Discepolo and performed by Gardel. He said they had to reference a Spanish to Lunfardo Dictionary to understand the words. Yira... means ¨to turn¨ or ¨to circle.¨ I thought that ¨Yira... Yira...¨ translated to the old soap opera title - ¨As the world Turns.¨ Not so. Come close. Listen. I am speaking softly. This is off the record. According to the Belgian Authorities ¨Yira...¨ refers to a woman who walks around: a street walker. Oh my! Oh my!

4th Trip to Buenos Aires

Cayengue: When I left for my walk The Belgians were drinking wine. When I return they´re still there. I join them: Carina y Luc and Maureen y Wilfred from Antwerp. Maureen remembers me from our last trip to Buenos Aires in December of 2004. Carina y Luc took a Cayengue class earlier in the day and they want to show what they learned and to practice. Their English is excellent. But they explain the Cayengue in Flemish or whatever the Belgians speak. I don´t know Cayengue and I don´t know Flemish but I try to catch what I can with my new point and shoot baby