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!

hpm's Buenos Aires / Argentine Tango Project: Primero Paso...

OK, primero paso, first step... my first time out of the gate, being public about what I want to do viz my interest in Buenos Aires, Argentine tango, the food, wine, and culture of this amazing

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city.

Here goes: I'm a writer/photographer/social media guy – and a passionate dancer. While I love to dance many kinds of dance, my "desert island" dance is Argentine tango. Why?

Let's just say it's the most "connected" of the dances I've had the pleasure to dance so far. The deeper I get into it, the deeper it gets. It's like a bottomless pool. And the more I swim in it, the more I love it (did I mention that I love getting wet?)

This isn't about "sex," though most people associate tango, and A-tango particularly, with being sexual. I must say there's a sexual energy about this dance when I connect with someone. But it's not about you and me and let's have sex. It's more like, you and me and we're creative, sensual energies and this dance creates a space and time for mutual creativity that isn't about sex so much as it is about creative, body-centred dialogue.

Does that make sense? Hmmmm....

Image by hanspetermeyer.ca via Flickr

In any event, I went to Buenos Aires a couple of years ago. (I wrote a little about it in this blog about why I love to dance.) Spent a month there doing a kind of self-imposed "Argentine tango boot camp"(muchos horas en las classes, muchos bailes con muchos mujers), and came back to my little town to discover and enjoy ongoing A-tango and milongas courtesy of Kirra G (@tangocorazon) and the dedication of folks like Tom and Jeanette (many thanks to you, and to all the others who make up our A-tango community). Check out www.vancouverislandtango.com for more info on this part of the story.

I can dance at home now. Which is cool. But as a photo guy and writer, I'm inspired to go back to BsAs. This is where the dance originated, yes. But it's also where it's growing, changing, where thousands of folks dance in many, many halls from noon to 7am every day – that's 19 hours of opportunity to dance, every single day of the week!

Image by hanspetermeyer.ca via Flickr

I want to explore the changing and emerging world of this dance as it is evolving. I want to describe, in words and images, the passion, but also the simple, respectful dialogue that happens within the 3-4 minutes of a song, the 2-4 dances that a couple will dance in a tanda. I want to somehow generate a dynamic, thoughtful, but expressive sense of what it means to be inside this dance, and in this strange and beautiful place so far from home.

Here's the vision this morning: I'll find a B&B or apartment in BsAs that'll host me, preferably associated with a tango school or a language school (I'm also keen to add to the bit of Spanish I picked up whilst there last time). I'll be sponsored by a tango or language school to take some classes. I'll re-connect with the friends I made in BsAs, and we'll tour the various tango bars and milongas. With the help of friens, I'll put together a dynamic "story" (words, images, social media, video) about this place, this time.

Putting this out here now is a way for me to say, "Hey, I'm making this first step. Hold me to the path folks!"

Thanks Kris Krüg (@kk) for making the obvious clear to me.

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