Argentine tango through the prism of Artificial Intelligence

I can't now recall why, but on 5 June 2023 I asked ChatGPT the question 'Why is Argentine tango so difficult to learn?' This was the answer it gave.

'Well, Argentine tango is a complex dance form that requires a lot of practice and skill to master. It involves intricate footwork, communication between partners, and a deep understanding of the music. Additionally, there are many different styles and interpretations of Argentine tango, making it a challenge to learn and perfect. However, with dedication and patience, anyone can become proficient in this beautiful dance form. Would you like some resources to learn more about Argentine tango?'

Today, I asked ChatGPT the question ‘Does AI understand Argentine tango, and what can it tell me about the embrace?’ Here is its answer:

‘AI, particularly natural language processing models like me, can provide information about Argentine tango based on the data it has been trained on. However, understanding Argentine tango in the way humans do, with its nuances, cultural significance, and emotional depth, is a more complex task.

Regarding the embrace in Argentine tango, AI can offer insights based on the knowledge it has been trained on. The embrace in Argentine tango is a fundamental aspect of the dance, embodying connection, communication, and expression between partners. It’s not merely a physical hold but a means of conveying musical interpretation, leading and following movements, and expressing emotions.

AI can describe the embrace in terms of its technical aspects, such as the posture, the connection between partners, and the variations in embrace styles (e.g., close embrace, open embrace). It can also discuss the role of the embrace in facilitating communication between partners, the importance of maintaining a relaxed yet engaged posture, and the subtle cues exchanged through the embrace to signal movements and intentions.

However, AI may not fully grasp the emotional and cultural dimensions of the embrace in Argentine tango, as these aspects often require human experience and understanding. The depth of connection, trust, and vulnerability involved in the embrace goes beyond mere physical mechanics and delves into the realm of human emotions and relationships, which can be challenging for AI to comprehend fully.’

Argentine tango under the microscope

A post dealing with the microbiology of Argentine tango (but do read on if you like trees).


My post ‘Learning something from trees‘ appears to have interested my dowsing colleagues that explore and exercise their personal energy; but surprisingly also, my friends who dance tango.

For those few that are not yet familiar with Argentine tango as danced in Buenos Aires (in contrast the the European pastiche), let me start by sharing a few truths.

More than the deadliest virus, once infected with Argentine tango, colonisation is rapid. Your social media fills with classes, events, milongas – your vocabulary embraces ochos, sacadas, boleos, colgadas – your wardrobe becomes populated by tango clothes and shoes – and frequently, non-dancing friends fall by the wayside as you become more and more fixated on your new obsession. Symptoms involve a craving that transcends normal preoccupation. It can be a lifelong dependence for which there is no known remedy.

The reason for such obsession is not what you might have thought. Alright, there may be romance – the late night milonga (the social event devoted to tango), gorgeous Golden Age tango music, a beautiful partner in your arms. Yet it is that which happens quite spontaneously within the tango embrace that really triggers this compulsive behaviour. ‘The magic’ emanates from the embrace in which you or your partner need be neither young nor beautiful. It all turns on energy, and how we deploy it in movement.

In dance, electrical events known as ‘action potentials‘ (rapid sequences of voltage differential across a membrane) cause neurons to release the pleasure inducing neurotransmitters of dopamine (movement), serotonin, norepinephrine (brain), and various endorphins (inhibitory neurotransmitters). What is it in dance that triggers that process? And what evolutionary advantages justify the release of such a pleasure hit?

With age, practice, experience and skill, tangueros appear to develop an electrical charge. Atoms and their pairs of electrons line up to create an energy field that is manifest within the embrace, sometimes subtle and occasionally dynamic. Studies show that, irrespective of steps (for Argentine tango is systematically unstructured) or experience, dancers’ breathing and heart rates synchronise.

Sharing of energy through symbiotic synchronicity seems essential for both trees and humans, perhaps because of a long-lost shared heritage where 50% of our DNA is in common with trees. But more staggeringly, our genes and DNA structure more closely associate us with the mycelium that envelops their roots and occupies our gut.

Might it be our shared match with mushrooms that causes us to dance?

Alexei's tango....

Guest post from 'Tangothinker'

Alexei Sayle…of course, that was you, wasn’t it? The one with whom I danced in the 1970s to jazz at 100 Oxford Street where you ‘flailed’ the front row. So I never expected you to have an opinion on Strictly. Now there’s a Marxist surprise.

 

I read your Guardian piece with interest.  I have to admit that I glowed when you acknowledged some roots of Argentine tango (unsurprisingly my bag as it happens) and was ready to be seduced by your critique, especially when you took hold of the coat tails of your unnamed Argentine friend.

 

But didn’t you describe yourself as ‘A keen dance fan’ who ‘presented several television shows on the subject in the early 2000s’, with a basic knowledge of ‘the art’, possessing ‘a smattering of tap’, having the dance skills of a north London social worker, and attempting ‘Argentine tango when drunk’?

 

How does that, liking a bit of Wigan’s Northern Soul, and conflating it with both Granadan sevillana and Shakespeare, help the rest of us gain insight into ballroom dancing and Strictly?

 

Alexei, let me help you out of a hole. Ballroom dancing is as different from Northern Soul as it is from darts. It is a smooth, elegant, energetic, difficult, poetic dance form that requires years of practice to get right - that thousands of dancers from around the world enjoy. We like the clothes; we love the drama; we adore the flashiness of it on Strictly –just as you loved your flail. Ballroom and Latin have their own place in the rich assemblage of dances.

 

Had you phoned me I could have helped, after all you might remember me as a Ballroom dance finalist, and know that I am now a tanguero. Perhaps I could have tempered your hatred of the Strictly ballroom, and updated you on Strictly’s massive view figures and the ways in which ballroom dance has influenced the development of our gorgeous salon-style of Argentine tango? 

 

San Telmo Buenos Aires

Travel restrictions and the current savage economic conditions make an imminent return to Buenos Aires unwise, and presently we can but dream of a coming spring and summer in the capital federal.

However, for those other fellow armchair travelers that happen to have a Facebook account, please visit and join our 116 members in the San Telmo group here. It is safely monitored and will give you access to fellow visitors and residents of the bario.

That way, you get to visit the San Telmo spots that you love, and to keep abreast of news and information about the city. 

Strictly ageist - and the Bailey effect

In 1970, whilst at university in Liverpool, I was talent spotted by former national dance experts Edna and Denis Murphy. It was not a triumphal moment. Having mastered country dancing as a school boy, I was coping with the ballroom class – until I came to the corners – where fear almost overtook experience.

Edna and her brother had failed to find a suitable male competitor in the advanced class, so in desperation their scout peeped into the beginners’ group and caught sight of me on a ‘straight stretch’. I was chosen, perhaps for my perseverance, and after intensive training, mastered the corners and danced competitively on the national stage.

Fifty years later, who would have thought it? Fifty five year old Bill Bailey winning BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing’s glitter ball! Thirteen years older than Joe McFadden, the 2017 veteran winner, Bailey creates a new world record as the oldest contestant to win the title.

After 43 year old Ranvir Singh exited the competition in the semi-finals, Coral’s betting odds on Bill Bailey to win shortened to 8/11 in the belief that he would inherit Ranvir’s mid-life groupie following. And, it seems they were right.

As an ageing tanguero, I watched Strictly with a fairly discerning eye, finding myself in a lonely camp (so to speak) with 55 year old Craig Revel Horwood – rather than 39 year old Motsi Mabuse, 60 year old Shirly Ballas – or indeed the ‘from a distance’ 65 year old Bruno Tonioli.

But this competition was not about age, nor, it seems, about dance ability. It showcased the contestants’ effort, commitment and improvement – or to put it in Strictly cliché, ‘their journey’.

In the case of Bill Bailey this was quite remarkable, leaving aside his age. What Bailey undertook was a root-and-branch investigation of each dance form he was asked to perform – learning its history, culture, and the secret elements of excellence that go beyond simple technique. He became a part of the dance, he disclosed his humanity, and achieved a milestone of its development.

When competitors internalise the essence of a dance, their commitment shines through the dance form, albeit in a 90 second vignette. It recounts their struggle, moments of exasperation, exhaustion and defeat, making their ultimate triumph more sensational. And this is what the great British viewer saw – an ageing comic transcending expectation with sheer joy of dance. In my book – a worthy Strictly winner.

Estados Unidos

Calle Estados Unidos is a fascinating street of Buenos Aires. If we follow it out to the west beyond barrio Caballito, our tree-lined calle fades into calle Valle, only to end abruptly eighteen blocks later at calle Miró (just short of LaBaldosa Milonga). 

But, for the purpose of our adventure we shall walk east taking us on a journey through Boedo, Monserrat, San Telmo and finally into Puerto Madero.

Treaty of Pilar 1820

Following the defeat of the 'Unitarians' by the 'Federals' in 1820, the new ‘United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata’ was recognised by the USA, and Calle Estados Unidos was later named in their honour. 

It is one of the city’s greener streets bearing jacaranda and tipuana tipu trees along its length. In spring and autumn the pavements glow with pink and yellow petals. With a relaxed feel, preserved architecture, and an intimacy, it presents as a favourite street to walk.

Save for the inexplicable dog-leg at Riobamba, Estados Unidos is a straight, one-way grid road running west to east bringing light traffic into the city. It is sandwiched between the busy east to west roads of Independencia and Carlos Calvo which take traffic from the centre. On the whole, incoming traffic seems to prefer the more versatile roads of Chile to the north and San Juan with its wide open carriageway to the south.

Estados Unidos is unremarkable before we reach Av Boedo, where the street passes one block to the north of DeQuerusa Milonga at Carlos Calvo 3745, skirting the gardens of Plaza Mariano Boedo, and running three blocks north of Club Gricel Milonga at La Rioja 1184.

At Pres Luis Saenez Pena you are but one block from Casa Bella (Independencia 1502), a worthy detour to an emporium selling everything from a portable BBQ to a full size asado.

Estados Unidos becomes more interesting once across 9 de Julio (the widest avenida in Buenos Aires) as you enter barrio San Telmo. Passing the small park of Plaza Concepcion del Alto de San Pedor, the street narrows and cobbles replace tarmac.

At Tacuari 905 is our first San Telmo milonga ‘Chanta 4’, and at Estados Unidos 802 you will encounter the Museo Argentino del Titere (puppet museum).

A stop at Estados Unidos 617 is a must. Here you will find Walrus Books, one of the more interesting stores in Buenos Aires, stocking the widest selection of foreign books in the city.




Further on look out for the street art at 553 and proceed down to Peru, where a few steps right will take you to The Gibraltar at 895, a very popular San Telmo pub. Thirst quenched, continue on to La Brigada at 465.



La Brigada is said to be one of the best steak restaurants in Buenos Aires, combining eating with football. But this place is no slouch. Booking is essential, as is a well-charged credit card. It is all worth the effort and expense, setting almost unattainable standards of cuisine and service for its rivals.

Across the road from La Brigada is the Mercado de San Telmo, the city’s most iconic covered market containing restaurants, cafes, antiques, hardware, grocers and butchers.

Freddo (Defensa 901) might prove to be a suitable stop for ice cream, but for morning coffee, lunch or afternoon cocktails continue down to Café Rivas at 302. This has to be a favourite for those visiting San Telmo. Intimate, smart and friendly, Café Rivas ticks all boxes for those seeking a midday snack or full evening meal. For vegetarians, continue down to Balcarce, turn right to 958 where you will find Naturaleza Sabia.



Beyond Balcarce, Estados Unidos descends to Av Paseo Colon with the dramatic frontage of the Engineering faculty on your left and the gorgeous Ministry of Agroindustry to the right. Walking between them leads you towards Av Alicia Moreau de Justo, the gateway to Puerto Madero where Estados Unidos gives way to Rosario Vera Penaloza and the Rio Darsena Sur.

Humberto Primo

Humberto Primo is an interesting street that runs into and across Buenos Aires, west from the city’s old port of Puerto Madero, built in 1897 but within ten years doomed to eighty years of neglect due to the appearance of larger cargo ships for which the dock’s drought was insufficient. From Av Jujuy in barrio Monserrat, the street grid inexplicably sinks south to barrio Boedo where Humberto Primo is nipped into invisibility between the dominant roads of Av San Juan and Carlos Calvo.

West of Av 9 de Julio, with its fourteen lanes making it one of the widest roads in the world, the contrasting narrow and intimate Humberto Primo becomes the avenue of tango milongas, at 1462 with ‘Los Consagrados Centro Region Leonesa’, ‘Lo de Celica’ at 1783, ‘Obelisco Tango’ within metres at Av Entre Rios 1056, ‘Club Gicel’ round the corner at La Rioja 1134, and of course, just after its demise at Boedo, De Querus in Carlos Calvo 3748.

Far to the east, in barrio San Telmo, Humberto Primo skirts the south side of Plaza Dorrego where locals and tango tourists come for the Sunday antiques market, later to infuse with revellers, drum bands, tango performers, and the famous open air ‘Milonga del Indio’. Just ever so slightly east of the square, next door to Iglesia de San Pedro González Telmo is an 18th century rectangular building at 378, ‘Fundacion Mercedes Sosa’. Formerly a religious institution, hospital, barracks and prison, it is now a cultural centre dedicated to South American culture and the memory of the renowned folklorique performer, Mercedes Sosa.

Will you be dancing Argentine tango at 100 years of age?

James McManus, born on 05.01.20 in Paisley; still dancing.

What do you want to do for your 100th birthday, Jimmy?

“To dance Argentine tango with tangueras in Buenos Aires, of course”.

For most of us, our imagination, impulses and passions will be extinguished long before we reach 100 years of age, but for James McManus from County Wexford, Ireland they are only just beginning.

James has taken on arguably the most challenging of dance genres, Argentine tango. And now, four months before his 100th birthday  has today landed at Ezize Airport, Buenos Aires with the intention of competing in the qualifying rounds of the ‘Mundial’ – the prestigious World Tango Championship 2019. He will be the oldest contestant. His partner will be the renowned Lucia Seva.

James is not a stranger to dance, for it has been part of his life for 80 years, his first dance experience being in the ballroom above Paisley’s 'Burtons' shop to the west of Glasgow, Scotland. However, at a theatre show in 2002 he was first introduced to Argentine tango. “I always loved tango music but this show really got me hooked.”

In preparation for his trip to Buenos Aires he has been dismantling a lifetime of ballroom dance and jive, to assimilate the special intuition of Argentine tango from his teacher Hernán Catvin, for whom each week James brings a bottle of his favourite ginger beer.

Born in Paisley, Scotland, James’ father was a Fermanagh man from Enniskillen and his mother from Sligo, and his childhood holidays were naturally in Ireland.

James joined the Territorial Army as a teenager, was mobilized in August 1939, and by 1 September 1939 was guarding fuel storage on the Clyde. During the war he was posted to France where he saw action as part of the Northumberland Fusiliers after the disbanding of the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders.

The war over, James travelled the world as a marine telegrapher and radio operator, and following retirement in 1994 moved to Waterford, Ireland with his partner Patricia Lusby; and later to his childhood haunt of Wexford where Patricia died in 1998.

Described as kind, gentle and ‘an inspiration to his community’, James’ tango journey has kept him young. In conversation with Ronan Morrissey (Waterford News & Star) he said, “You get to meet people, it’s very social. It’s important now that I’m older because otherwise you’d sink into a seat and it’s a spiral to oblivion”. “I love the music. It gives you a buzz and when you’re moving right in time with it… it’s hard to describe it. It’s a feeling of happiness.”

James is now in Buenos Aires in the hands of one of  the best of the world’s top tango teachers, Lucia Seva, described by Buenos Aires’ elite milongero the late Pocho, with the words, “La flaca Lucia, oh how she dances, incredible"; and by the late Alito, “Yes, she lives and feels the moment”. 

So who would bet against James becoming part of Buenos Aires’ history of tango?


To find out more about his journey, subscribe to the blog.

Have you been to Buenos Aires?

Most visitors to Buenos Aires fall in love with the city, its tango and its people. 

That is precisely what happened to James Bond, his friend Moneypenny; and the coterie of fascinating characters that surround them.

If, like Bond and Moneypenny, you want to immerse yourself in Buenos Aires - getting to know its bars, cafes, milongas, streets, plazas and Portenos - you should subscribe to the Bond and Moneypenny blog below.

Within their exploits, they will take you on a journey through the city to places you might never have known existed and therefore never found.

Following the blog is free, save for the small amount of time it takes to read the episodes. And if you would like to appear in the storyline, just let either of the writers know!

https://bondmoneypenny.blogspot.com/

All you need to know about tango in Buenos Aires

Readers have asked for some guidance on tango in Buenos Aires - where to learn, where to dance. 

What a seriously difficult task I have been set. 

Let me start by identifying the problem, and only then will I propose a handful of solutions. I am simply a tanguero on my personal tango journey, which may be very different from those of my readers. And I will almost certainly miss more than I cover.  So here is your task. Should I neglect your favourite location,  milonga or teacher, just add details in the comments section below.

Note too that tango in Buenos Aires changes from day to day. 

My first visit to Buenos Aires was in the heady days of Confiteria Ideal at Suipacha 384, El Arranque at Bartolome Mitre 1759, Cachirulo at Maipu 444, Centro Region Leonesa at Humberto Primo 1462. Who would have thought they would ever close and that the El Arranque milongueros would become too old to dance? Venues come and go, turned into hotels or offices. With them, the milongas disappear, some to be revived in different locations by new organisers, inevitably with changed codigos and a different feel. Teachers, once supreme, become too old to teach, and others who were but children, now reign supreme.

Each tanguero (and would-be tanguero) has a different tango taste. Some find themselves in milonga heaven when dancing with the old milongueros in milonguero style, others are committed to strictly salon tango and its technique, and there are those that want to stretch their tango aerobically with tones of nuevo; with all of the tango tastes in between.

Stephanie and I are becoming more comfortable with milonguero style, but our hearts remain in salon tango, as danced in the Tango Mundial. To an extent this will influence our choices here.

Beginner tango in Buenos Aires

If you have never learned to dance Argentine tango before your visit, getting started can be daunting. It can also be fatal. An inappropriate tango methodology, or the wrong tango teacher can spoil or ruin your personal tango journey, maybe instilling bad tango technique, and at worst causing you to give up on the task. 

Beginners in Buenos Aires should look no further than Lucia y Gerry  Lucia, known historically as the milonguers’s favourite follower is at the top of her game. They provide reasonably priced private tango lessons for beginners that are not simply about the steps, but encompass your whole tango journey. With them, you will learn about the structure of tango, its codigos, where to dance, and even be taken to a milonga for your first tango adventure. Check out their reviews and awards by following the Trip Adviser link above.

Beginners should also take advantage of the tango classes that precede the milongas. A quick check of Hoy Milonga will show which are available. Here, you will never learn good technique, or indeed how to dance tango with skill, but you will meet new friends that share your passion and can accompany you to milongas.

Beginners and Intermediate tangueros

Yes, I know what you are thinking. What is an intermediate tanguero? When do you become one, or stop being a beginner? Well, actually, there is no answer to this. With intuitive skill and lots of practice it is possible to advance quickly in tango, and some that have danced tango for a decade remain long term ‘beginners’. 

For both beginners and intermediate dancers, the rules are the same.

First and foremost, find a great teacher, then stick with him or her for the duration of your visit. Here, I shall not be recommending particular teachers, for the choice is massively dependent on one’s age, aptitude, preferred method of learning, tango aspiration, personality type and tango style.

There are two great ways to identify ‘your teacher’. Some tango tourists have found a visiting teacher in the USA or Europe. Others have their favourites from YouTube. My recommendation for those that have yet to find a teacher is to visit the principal tango schools here in Buenos Aires and to take a group lesson with different teachers. If you are living in Palermo, especially for younger dancers, visit DNI  In the microcentre, you cannot beat Escuela de Tango de Buenos Aires  with the widest range of classes throughout the day from a variety of top teachers. Should you be staying in San Telmo, Carolina Bonaventura’s Marieposita de San Telmo tango school offers a great starting and finishing place for your tango journey.

Whilst on the topic of tango teaching, it is important that I mention tango music. Those hearing ‘Golden Age’ tango music for the first time frequently describe it as alien scratchy and incomprehensible. It is, after all, from another age. But Golden Age tango is ubiquitous here in Buenos Aires both in the milongas and on the street, and you must understand it before you can properly dance to it. 

My advice is to listen to as much Golden Age tango music as you can before you visit Buenos Aires. Ideally, you should be able to distinguish between the orchestras - the distinctive sounds of Canaro, Biagi, D’Arienzo and Fresedo. You should have worked out the structure of the songs, and better still, understood the words. Listen and learn the full names of the principal orchestra leaders,  their singers, and when the recordings were made. This will help you to develop tango musicality - the key to dancing tango. You will discover that different parts of a tango bring a different mood to your dancing, just as dancing to each instrument may take you on a changed tango journey. Here, I highly recommend Michael Lavoca’s fascinating book.

Milongas

I have already mentioned Hoy Milonga - the essential app that you will need for your visit. Use it to find milongas, their locations and how to get to them. It is kept up-to-date and is mostly reliable, although milongas can be cancelled at short notice, or disappear overnight.

The number of traditional venues has reduced, but the variety of milongas still remains rich. 

The main salons and tango clubs, including the ‘must do’ list are:

Salon Canning, Scalabrini Ortez 1331

The most iconic tango venue in Buenos Aires, known for its smart set and tango performances. It tends to be crowded, so be prepared to dance on a tile.

La Viruta, Asociación Armenia, Armenia 1336

If you happen to be under 40 years old (and even if you don’t), Friday and Saturday nights here are a lot of fun. Siesta beforehand and stay until 6 am to see the professional dancers when they arrive from other milongas

El Beso, Riobamba 416

A personal favourite, especially those of Eli Spivak,  with a variety of afternoon and evening milongas offering quality dances in milonguero style

La National, Associazione Nazionale Italiana, Adolfo Alsina 1465

Hosts a range of milongas that have gravitated from other locations, now housed in a gorgeous salon with a great floor

Obelisco, Entre Rios 1056

Popular, modern salon hosting a number of milongas throughout the week. Not my favourite, as the cabeceo/mirada is difficult here, but many love it.

Villa Malcolm, Cordoba 5064

Choose the right night to see the young, fast performers practice for their next exhibition. Choose the wrong night and sit with the aged.

Lo de Celia Tango Club, Humberto Primo 1783

I love this milonga - friendly, traditional and relaxing to dance

Club Gricel, La Rioja 1180

A popular place to dance in milonguero style, with a degree of formality of codigos

Nuevo Chique, Asociación Casa de Galicia, San Jose 224

A delightful little location, with a very popular milonga for tangueros at every level

Maldita Milonga, Peru 571

Wednesday night is El Affronte night - when an orchestra of 10 musicians will introduce you to the dark side of tango. Lots of fun as an event, but stay on for the best feel after the non-dancing tourists have left at 1.00 am.

La Catedral, Sarmiento 4006

Attracting tourists and beginners to practice their steps, and with a questionable floor, this is a ‘must-see’ place, simply because it is so unusual.

La Glorieta, Echeverria 1800

Open air milonga in a big bandstand. Not a high standard of dancing, but a very romantic location.

Plaza Dorrego, Defensa 1100

My favourite open air milonga. Don’t wear your best dance shoes, and avoid taking a bag, but this has to be part of your tango journey whilst in Buenos Aires.

De Querusa, Carlos Calvo 3745

A personal favourite attracting a range of age groups, and many better dancers of the salon tango style. 

Bar los Laureles, Av Gral Iriarte 2300

If you have the time to do this in your visit, book a table, come to eat pizza, pasta and budin de pan, and dance on the small floor of Buenos Aires’ oldest tango cafe. It will re-define your love of tango. Choose the tango dance nights.

El Tacuari, Tacuari 1557

Little milongas like El Tacuari exist all over Buenos Aires. Many can be fun for a night, and some may become your tango home during your stay. The art is to ask other tangueros where they go, and to follow them there.

Your tango journey

Your visit to Buenos Aires will almost certainly re-define and refine your personal tango journey, helping you to mature as a tanguero. You may (as did I in 2007) arrive with a love of nuevo tango music and leave with an obsession for Golden Age. 

Importantly, come with a truly open mind. Forget preconceptions absorbed from dancing tango elsewhere in the world or watching professional dancers. Tango in Buenos Aires is not really about either of these. It is owned by the Portenos that dance it day-in and day-out. It is managed by the cordigos that you will need to learn and respect. It is a living, organic dance that is defined by the embrace, the music, the mood, and the feel. It is danced on a floor with feet that rarely leave it.

If I were asked to sum up my tango check-list learned over eleven years and 30 months of dancing in Buenos Aires, it is this:

• Respect the traditions - they are not restrictive - they are what allows tango to develop and remain the most fascinating dance genre
• Use the cabeceo and mirada - without it you are simply a tourist to be avoided
• Perfect your embrace - with the right embrace, you may be forgiven all of your other shortcomings
• Concentrate on musicality rather than steps - any fool can learn steps
• Leaders - always respect the pista, the lanes, your partner and lead her from the pista
• Followers - relax and have fun - your mood will be infectious

So, that’s simple isn’t it? I would love to hear from readers that are able to take anything from this post - what worked; what didn’t; what was most valuable; what I missed or should be corrected. 

Leave a comment on the post below, or message me via email or Facebook/Messenger. And have a great tango trip.

Buenos Aires - ‘the long stay’

After enjoying temperatures in the upper 20’s and lower 30’s, this week they have plummeted to a chilly 24 degrees centigrade, with a light bright breeze and today unusually, an overcast sky.

Stephanie and I have been here in Buenos Aires since early December, and have now entered our last week. Coming to the end of the trip, some of you have asked how it feels to have been away four months. In particular you have asked about the merits of longer stays abroad; winter in the southern hemisphere; and the prospect of a return home after an extended time away. 

With the change of season the time seems right to reflect back and share our thoughts on our Buenos Aires sojourn.

We have loved wintering in Argentina, but for it to be successful you need to address three principal issues. 

The first is ‘opportunity’. 

Working full-time, the prospect of taking three or four months holiday in one go is problematic, but not impossible. Ideally you need to be rich, self-employed, fully or semi-retired, but requesting sabbatical leave is another possibility, and was the gateway for my first trip to Buenos Aires eleven years ago.

Some of you may have other responsibilities that you see as precluding a longer trip. I have addressed these concerns in a previous blog - with thought and planning they can often be managed at a distance for an extended stay. Frequently having ‘other responsibilities’ is simply an excuse not to take - or to defer - an extended trip.

The next issue is ‘cost’. 

After several trips to Buenos Aires using different airlines, Stephanie and I now simply book a direct British Airways flight from Heathrow, at an individual return cost of 900 pounds. For a journey of 7,000 miles the flight time is inevitably long, so a direct flight is our preferred option. It is possible to source cheaper, indirect flights from London to Buenos Aires, but be warned - those that go via the USA are long, stressful, and require the USA visa (ESTA) to enter and exit even for connecting flights. A further option is to travel London-Paris/Madrid- Buenos Aires, but the saving still leaves a sizeable ticket price. 

Once cheap in Buenos Aires, the cost of accommodation now approaches European prices, so the longer the stay, the more prohibitive the bill. Stephanie and I mitigate this by renting an apartment in the city, driving a preferential deal for an extended stay. Nevertheless, we recommend allowing $50 US per night for accommodation - $350 per week (250 pounds sterling).

The cost of living has risen substantially over the last decade here in Buenos Aires. Ten years ago we received 4-6 pesos in exchange for 1 pound sterling. Today, the Azimo rate (arguably the best way to receive cash here) is 26.97 pesos to the pound. Yet inflation costs have risen so dramatically over the years that your peso buys much less with many prices similar to those in the USA and Europe. That said, wine and beef are a lot cheaper, as is eating out, and of course you don’t face the winter fuel bills.

The third issue is ‘imagination and lifestyle’. 

If you put your mind to it you can come up with a thousand reasons why you should not take long-stay trips. But for Stephanie and me, ‘the long escape’ offers opportunities for a different, varied and exciting lifestyle, with new friends, experiencing a new culture - and of course, enjoying a second summer.

Climate and culture provide the two best reasons to make Buenos Aires as a choice for an extended stay. A smattering of Spanish language helps, but is not essential for Buenos Aires remains the most European of cities in South America by way of outlook. 

Life after a ‘long-stay’ - returning home.

Of course, we are yet to return to the UK, but this is our fourth successive ‘long-stay’ in Buenos Aires so we can make comment on life after Buenos Aires.

Returning home is always difficult. Arctic temperatures in London and the North, and the news from the UK, do not impell return. Yet, a benefit of ‘the long-stay’ is the chance to review with fresh eyes the things you appreciate about home, and the changes you may want to make.

The one inevitability of the long-stay is that the experience does change your outlook. You don’t return as the same person that left months earlier. Your consciousness is enriched, as is your understanding of other people. That is why, whether young, old (or somewhere in between) you should try to find time to travel and, where possible, take the ‘long-stay’.

Convento San Ramon Nonato

“Let us take lunch again in the monastery garden at Convento San Ramon Nonato”, I say to Maria Cristina, my lawyer friend from Recoleta.

It is nearly five years since we last met here for lunch, and you may read about it in an earlier blog. You will recall its history: ‘the place where in 1806, the Spanish immigrants of Buenos Aires gathered to swear allegiance to their cause - the removal by force of their recent British overlords. After 46 days of occupation, William Carr Beresford was forced to surrender to the Spanish general, Santiago de Liniers, and the Rio de la Plata was returned to Spanish control’. 

Today, the Order of San Ramon stands surrounded by banks with its church to the right side, the cloisters being open to the public for the service of midweek lunches either in the large cool dining room, or from white linen covered tables in the cloisters garden.

    

We meet early at 1230 pm. Lunch in Buenos Aires generally starts just before 1 pm, and will last through to 3 pm or beyond. We wish to beat the rush and have the pick of the garden tables before the bankers, lawyers and office workers arrive. And so it is, for when we get there few tables are occupied and we have our choice.

Lunch comprises both a la carte menu and ‘menu executivo’. We opt for the latter, providing a three course meal with wine at 330 pesos (on today’s exchange rate between £12-13) and start with cheese Milanese followed by pork, chicken, beef, fish or salad. To finish we each select a large chocolate mousse. It has to be said that unless you venture a la carte, lunch is a basic but filling meal. Yet in one of the prettiest enclosed gardens in the city, simplicity is appropriate. 

Today being sunny and fresh the benches scattered through the garden are occupied, and small groups of friends and colleagues sit on the grass. Some have brought lunchboxes, others simply lay back to enjoy the mid March warmth.

It is hard to imagine the busy streets of the microcentre surrounding the convent, traffic congestion in nearby Corrientes, the Reconquista bank deliveries, Florida and Lavalle thonging with lunchtime shoppers. Here, that press is replaced with a calm oasis where the only sounds are the hum of fellow diners, birdsong and the tolling of the convent bell.

Mindfulness, awareness and tango

Jon Kabat-Zinn, pioneer of modern mindfulness, says that mindfulness is “a form of meditation”. “To be mindful is to be aware”, he says, “it is to be acutely aware of the here and now, of your sensory perception, of your breathing and of the sounds around you. It’s an awareness of the feel... of the floor’s touch on the soles of your feet, and of the quiet”.

Before I danced Argentine tango I was a ‘feel-aware’ sceptic. Touchy-feely nonsense of mindfulness? What was that? Yet Kabat-Zinn's definition of mindfulness is in fact a perfect description of Argentine tango.

Argentine tango is very different from ballroom tango that you may have seen on BBC's ‘Strictly’ or USA's ‘Dancing with the Stars’- just as chess is different from dominoes. Argentine teachers struggle teach ballroom and Latin dancers, their torsos leaning from their axis and who regard the floor as something to be ‘crossed’, rather than ‘possessed’.

In Argentine tango, the floor is the vital, grounding, mindful element of the dance - ‘the feel of the floor on the soles of your feet’ being the first tango lesson. The tanguero learns to walk like a panther, pressing their feet into the floor, stepping onto the toe or heel, but instantly descending to the ball in a mindful moment of arrival.

A further dimension of mindfulness is found in the ‘partner relationship’.

It is a tradition of tango that you will dance with many other tangueros at a milonga (the social dance) - some known, others as strangers. A ‘tanda’ - three or four consecutive dances that are danced with the same partner - starts with an ‘embrace’, essential to develop the outwardly imperceptible lead and follow. In the course of the tanda you may get to know a stranger's name if between songs, you ask; and maybe where they are from if you share a language. But at the end of the tanda, still as strangers, you part with a mindful awareness of each other's presence through the shared experience of dance.

During the first song of a tanda, a leader will dance simply, gauging their partner’s balance and mass, their skill, experience and capacity, their responses and preferences. In the course of the remaining songs, the dance develops in complexity, dictated by the music, its rhythm and structure. As different instruments of the orchestra emerge, the lead may switch from the basic rhythm to the solo instruments or singer, changing both mood and storyline of the dance.

Whilst some professional tango dancers perform to non-tango music (and inexperienced tango dancers seek to emulate them), Argentine tango should be danced to tango music. At the turn of the last century tango arrived with migrants to Buenos Aires and Montevideo, and they created a unique dance to accompany it. Tango songs have a particular structure, one of which experienced dancers are mindful, and one that creates an essential ingredient of mindfulness.

The music is crucially important, just as is the capacity to recognise, understand and interpret the different orchestras. A tanda of 'Biagi' will have a different quality and feeling from that of 'Fresedo'. Played by a live orchestra, tango will offer different possibilities compared with a recorded version. True tangueros never neglect the difference they feel as they listen to the music; they are totally mindful of its power and significance.

The ‘embrace’ is also unique to tango. Tangueros close their embrace and the magic mindfulness happens within it. An observer will see the footwork, perhaps playfulness, or challenge - but rarely penetrate the feeling that exists within the embrace. In social tango this is a completely private moment, experienced and understood by the embracing dancers. It can be enormously powerful, involving a connection of mindfulness that exists only within tango. 

The final element of tango mindfulness is ‘the moment’. A ‘tanda’ presents a journey. Yet that journey is not conceived or understood at the outset, nor indeed during it. Tangueros live in the moment. It may be a moment of silence, of stillness; or a giro (turn); a sacada (possession of axis), a boleo (removal from axis) - all unchoreographed moments in which the tanguero transitions seamlessly from one moment to the  next.

When you next think of sitting and being mindful, doing nothing apart from contemplating your own awareness, why not simply dance tango? It will certainly be better for you, and you may indeed enjoy it. But mind, the mindfulness of tango is addictive and you may forever chase that ‘perfect mindful tango moment’.

Milonga de Juan

Milongas: after years of survival of the fittest, even some of the survivors have disappeared. Confiteria Ideal at Suipacha 384, El Arranque at Bartolome Mitre 1759, Centro Region Leonesa at Humberto Primo 1462,  Milonga La Nacional at Adolfo Alsina 1465 - who would have thought that they would ever close?

But milongas still survive and thrive at Associazione Nazionale Italiana, Adolfo Alsina 1465, a location that has inherited Yira Yira and Los Consagrados from Humberto Primo. A new event here is Milonga de Juan, held each Wednesday afternoon from 3 - 9 pm.

Stephanie and I arrive just after 4 pm and are led to the prime table in the centre of the front row across the pista from the bar and backing the stage. Tonight, organiser Juan Angel Rosales is not present, so his tasks have been delegated to assistants. The salon is animated, but lightly populated, giving room to extend and to dance.

There is something special about afternoon milongas, particularly those in Buenos Aires. The atmosphere is more relaxed, with a feeling of fun. They are more recreational and less intense than their evening counterparts. Of course, they attract a different clientele - clearly those that do not work on a Wednesday afternoon. That said, with the welcome addition of tango tourists, the demography is not ancient - let us say, ‘simply mature’.

To feel our way into a milonga, Stephanie and I dance the first tanda with each other. It happens to be our favourite vals. An advantage of dancing together at the outset is that it presents us and our respective skill sets to watching tangueros, who then discern whether or not to cabeceo and mirada either of us for subsequent tandas. In this regard we need not have been concerned, for as the afternoon unfurled, we danced almost continuously.

A feature ot Milonga de Juan was just how friendly the regular attenders were, and how accommodating to us as tourists. At several points in the afternoon, local tangueros came to chat and share a moment of their time. 

For those looking for an afternoon milonga, look no further. Milonga de Juan is a great and well needed addition to the milonga circuit and should feature on your list of places to dance when you next visit Buenos Aires.

Return to Feria de los Mataderos

Assiduous followers of this blog will remember my last trip to the feria in November 2013. It is time for our return visit, today a romantic trip for Stephanie and me, our friends who were to accompany us have drunk too much wine in their jacuzzi last night.

Topping up the Sube card in Independencia, a stroll to Bolivar/Chile takes us five minutes; thence to board colectivo 126 which runs the 51 stops over 14 kilometers right out to the feria.

I should tell about the colectivos for those not familiar with the transport system here in Buenos Aires. ‘Colectivos’ are the public buses that cover every part of the city. Radiating out from the centre and initially sharing routes, they gradually gain exclusivity as they reach the outer barrios. Linea 126 starts at the APM terminal at the port district beyond Retiro, and runs via Monserrat, San Telmo, Caballito, Floresta, Parque Avellanida to Mataderos, terminating a few kilometers beyond at Cementerio Armenio de San Justo. Our Sunday journey will take just over an hour. The cost 6.75 pesos each way.

In el centro, the colectivos rush down one-way calles and avenidas between traffic lights, slowing only for the deep storm drains at intersections. Once out of the central barrios, still within the urban sprawl, our colectivo maintains a central lane, careering to the near side only when a passenger pushes the bell. With a split second to avoid collision, taxis, cars and trucks grind to a halt behind, only the motorcycles managing to swerve to maintain their progress.

As we reach Av Juan Bautista Alberdi we hit the cobbles - not the bone-wrecking type of San Telmo - but deep sets worn smooth by decades of traffic, providing a percussive drumming as we speed to our destination. The cobbles are as British as the rail terminals, old docks and post boxes here in Buenos Aires, for they were ballast in the holds of English ships arriving to collect Argentine beef. As we progress, the bus flashes with bright reflected sunlight from passing shop windows.

We reach Directorio 6000, and know that the feria is our next stop by the Anfiteatro de Mataderos and Skatepark to our left. The few passengers that remain decant into a sundrenched street. As five years ago, there is a hunger-inducing smell of parrillas on the morning air as asadores tend white bloomed charcoal in drums and long trays piled with cooked sausages and every cut of beef. 

Access to the feria is via Av Lisandro de la Torre, a wide avenida that is soon cut by barriers, indicating the start of the market. As we approach via the edge of the park, locals have spread white sheets bearing all manner of items, some home-made, others collected, or simply surplus to requirement. It is a chaotic boot fair, with families gathered together, drinking Mate and squinting under makeshift shades.

The formal stalls of the feria are quite different. To our left is one that is covered with steel and silver scabbarded knives - the decorative facóns, dagas, cuchillas and puñals of the gauchos. Over the way another stall is laden with bottles and drums of olive oil. Now we are about to pass a local craftsman tapping intricate patterns into Mate cups and opposite a stall selling traditional alpargatas.

The feria is awash with visitors. This being 4 March, the first day of the new season, most are locals with only a few tourists in evidence. The language is Castellano, not English, and the main currency is the peso not the card.

Before we reach the main square, we can hear the music. The feria is a folk event, so the tunes are those of chacarera, chamame, chamarrita, zamba. The dancers are already in the square. We spot our favourites from our previous visit. Aged a little, the crevices on their faces deeper, perhaps their stepping slightly slower, remarkably they acknowledge our arrival with a smile and wave. 

They are dressed in traditional costume, the men with deep-pleated pantalones held up with a cinturon de gaucho, the wide leather belt, frequently decorated with coins; the women in ankle length dresses with swishing petticoats. 

Here too is a new generation of dancers. Folklorique, once unfashionable with the young, is developing a new status, returning into the schools and providing a gateway to dance performance. 

The sun is hot, and before dancing, we call at Antigua Casa Galli at Lisandro de la Torre 2413, a store de ropa de trabajo and talabarterias so traditional that it has neither email nor web presence, reminding me of Charles Batten milliners in Soho London where in the 1970’s I worked as a student. With help from the proprietor and his elderly mother I select a traditional sombrero to team with my Aux Charpentiers bombachas. 

Three chacareras in the midday sun are quite enough for Stephanie and me, so we make our way to the adjacent asado where the Asadore directs his assistants away and leaves his coals to serve us himself. Glancing at my new sombrero and old bombachas, he declares that, for a gentleman gaucho, my copa de vino is free without charge and shall be served in his personal copa bronze, rather than a plastic cup. 

The lomito beef is so tender and succulent that our asadore’s knife slips through effortlessly. Sitting in the shade of huge Jacaranda trees, with a spoonful of chimichurri and copa de vino our meal is perfect.

We listen to the folklorique bands, then stroll the return journey via Av Lisandro de la Torre towards Directorio, dropping down to the junction with Murguiondo for the diverted linea 126. Taking the off-side back seat as is our custom, we sink into silence, perhaps due to the generous copa de vino, or simply having danced in the sun, whilst holding hands and reflecting on the joys of our day at the feria.