Tango y Buenos Aires: Un Proyecto Personal... (Pt 2)

¡Buen dia muchachos!

... A little more on the tango /Buenos Aires project I started a few days ago.

I'm going to be posting materi

Image by hanspetermeyer.ca via Flickr

als here that speak to me about my passion for this dance, and my interest in getting back there to continue to learn to dance, to speak Spanish, to enjoy the warmth of Porteño culture. That's one of the foci for me in the coming year: deepen the tango connection, write about it, make some fotos and videos about it, connect with resources and people in Buenos Aires, get myself there to blog, foto, film, dance, speak Spanish, visit with friends over food and wine and convos.

About the dance itself: I found this link some time ago: The Milonguera and Her Body. One of the best things I've read on the subject. The related article, for the man, The Milonguera [sic] and His Body, is also very good.

There's also excellent material here by Miguel Angle Pla at the VancouverIslandTango.com site. I particularly like the way he talks about the ethic of dancing with many partners, how we cultivate and support each other and our dance community by following the tradition, in Argentine tango, of dancing a tanda (group of 2-4 songs) with one partner, breaking at the cortina (a change in music from tango to something decidedly not tango) to connect with a new partner.

It's something we could practice in many social dance situations. As much dance is a ritual form or courtship (and there is a need – I think – for this ritualized way of connecting with a potential lover or mate), there is also a generalized (and generally glorious) responsibility for those of us who are not in this situation, who are dancing for the sheer love of dance, to share that around.

Right now I'm going through a bit of a tango/milonga withdrawl. Vancouver has lots

Image by hanspetermeyer.ca via Flickr

of tango going on, relatively speaking, but my schedule isn't going to admit of any dancing this week. I just found out that the beautiful "Tango in the Park" event in my home town is rescheduled for this weekend. A good thing for me, as I was missing it. Now, perhaps, I'll be back in town to enjoy it! Until then, I'll have to hope that the DJ for my birthday dance party this weekend slips in the milongas I asked for, particularly the new side by Montevideo's Bajofondo Tango Club, Borges y Paraguay. This video clip from YouTube here isn't milonga, but it's a pretty cool interpretation of this piece of music (which serendipitously also refers to a pretty cool corner of Buenos Aires that was just down the street from where I spent most of a month in 2007).

Question: Can anyone recommend a great little B&B/tango studio, or even just a B&B or homestay in the Palermo or San Telmo barrios in Buenos Aires?

¡Chau!