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| YOU CAN DANCE STUDIO |
| Tango Travel Journals Buenos Aires - Part I |
| Nov 3, 2003 hola gang, will not be usinī capital letters, too hard. the place is everything i wasnīt expecting and tons more. i am in a small community named san telmo. first night went to milonga with peter, mark, and janet at los besas. argentine woman told me how the eye thing worked and it worked. got to dance. check this out...tete was there dancing (felt like a very low key milonga, just social dancing) and he was exchanging lead and follow with this young girl he was dancing with. i was shocked. when i asked my women friend if that was normal she said, "that man is crazy." last night went to a local plaza, three blocks from my house and attended a milonga. it was outside with colored light bulbs strung overhead. thick plastic was on the bricks and people were singing and dancing tango. children, teens, adults, and grandparents were singing and dancing tango. it was the neighborhood/ community thing to do. it was an amazing feeling to get the tango off the dance floor and into the streets. i am not saying this right, it is part of the fabric of everyday life here. today, i was walking past the corner vegetable store and a man came out of the store and started whistling a tango i know. it blew my mind. today, i was also introduced to the subway, took it to a part of bsas called palermo. went to see a park that was suppose to be full of purple trees. they havenīt quite bloomed out yet or they have already bloomed, donīt know which. walked past the american embassy, saw argentine police and tanks, and two security guys looking under a car for bombs. thought maybe this wasn't such a great place to be at that moment. tonight will go out hunting another neighborhood milonga. saw little kids today in those white school coats like in the movie tango more later, ev Nov 5, 2003 hola gang, tete, who is he? helmut, all i know is that he is suppose to be one of the old milongueros who really knows how to dance. hereīs what i saw him do the other night...it was crowded, he was doing extremely simple movements, his navigation skills were beyond belief, and for the whole song he only moved maybe once around the dance floor. however, if you straightened out all the turning he did he probably covered 18 miles. thatīs what the leads down here seem to do, a lot of turning around in various ways, mucho movement in one space. mailed postcards from the downtown postoffice, a huge, huge building. from what i have heard, you will probably get the postcard a few weeks after i get back. i walked up the 429 steps to the front door of the argentina correo (post office), entered through massive ornate metal doors, and was asked to take a number. the number i got was 398, the number showing on the person being helped board was 82. whoa, luckily i only had to pay attention to the lastt two numbers. i walked to the beautiful counter to mail my postcards (successful) and then was directed to another part of the building to buy stamps and aerograms. fun. i start every conversation here with pardon, no espanoel. that helps loads. everyone here is very friendly, warm and open. i like the energy. i end every conversation with muchus gracias. way muchus gracias. it is very wonderful that janet and mark know some spanish. i am currently on an empanada mission. empanada is like the national snack food of argentina, a fried pie, the size of my palm, about 4 or 5 bites, filled with beef, chicken, cheese, onion, or spinach. one costs 33 cents in us dollars. i love them. a little snack any time of day. i get them where ever i am and they all taste a little different, fabulous. had two dance lessons yesterday, one by accident and one arranged. i liked the accident one loads. was walking down a street and heard tango music coming from a cafe/bar. looked in the doorway and on a small raised dance floor i see this older couple dancing. turns out it is mira and luis who teach there everyday from 1 to 8 pm. old milongueros. the lesson was just fantastic and just the kind i like. i broke a sweat and my brain went numb about 45 minutes into it. i could go on about the lesson but i will stop myself now. they did conjenga (sp?) i really liked that last night met Peter at a gym for a lesson with alicia ponds. great, great, teacher. she taught two things, one tango, one milonga. her style of teaching was to lay a foundation of body movements then introduce the collect of movements as a "step." i participated in the first one and sat down and watched the second milonga movement. it was great to sit and watch, i learned much. i could go on...more later, Ev ps...i totally recommend the tango house we are staying at, $17 a night, shared bath, practice room, great location, rooftop garden, shared kitchen. |