The TANGO Capital Newsletter
Hola Tango Friends, hello Tango Partners, December in Buenos Aires, it s almost summer time and the city gets new colors and shines. The last flowers of jacaranda (purple tree) say good bye and the recent rains paint in green squares and parks. Nice sunny days and soft breezy nights under a silvery moon on the lion colored river (Rio de la Plata) complete the scene. They invite us to stroll along the streets, stop at a bar, have a coffee, windows shop, to taste an unforgettable asado (argentine barbecue) and to enjoy many other spectacles outdoors and indoors. Again the amazing Buenos Aires surprises us with its old and new tangos and their tastes and flavors. We are glad to meet you in the last month of 2002. We thank all of you for your enthusiastic answers and cooperation with our Editorial "El Abrazo". We especially thank the new subscribers to our Newsletter The TANGO Capital (see Privacy Clause below). But most of all we thank those who build up our feedback with your responses and so many invaluable samples of friendship. Because of this we wish all of you: MERRY CHISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR FULL OF DREAMS COME TRUE At this time we are pleased to present the following topics: Editorial "El Abrazo" (your enthusiastic answers and cooperation) Tales of Tangoland (Margaret Spore s Debut in Buenos Aires) November Events (tango and other cultural events) and Privacy Clause Coming soon Tango Partners in Buenos Aires one-week tour called: "COUPLES EMBRACE IN BUENOS AIRES" We reserve all rights of the information contained in this Newsletter and the trade marks Tango Partners in Buenos Aires (TM) and Newsletter The TANGO Capital (TM). Editorial "El Abrazo" (your enthusiastic answers and cooperation) Hola Tango Friends, Hello Tango Partners, As we say in our introduction, for the creators of Tango Partners in Buenos Aires it seems important to open this edition of our Newsletter The TANGO Capital starting first with thanking all of you for your enthusiastic answers and cooperation with our editorial. We especially thank those who build up our feedback with your responses and so many invaluable samples of friendship. For instance: Elena from Lafayette (near Chicago), one of our Tango Friends visitors to Buenos Aires with her husband Vladimir during November, shared with us her own answers and conclusion: How much time we take to give or to receive a warm embrace? An embrace is not common for everyday life in USA. It is a luxury. Americans do not like to be touched or kissed. I came from different culture, so I can see this clearly. How many embraces have we given and received today? One and a half. To whom? From whom? From/to a family members. In the family, normally, an embrace is getting longer when you have not seen them for a long time. I like to embrace my friends. But even woman to woman is not common in USA. Were they just political or diplomatic embraces without sense? There are many political embraces and false smiles in USA. Who would we like to embrace right now, but we can't because of the distance or because they aren't among us any more? To my grandmas and my grandpa, who are dead, and my parents and my friends. How many opportunities of embrace did we have that we let go by, missing forever this great chance to exchange our affection? Some people getting very tensed and uncomfortable when you embrace them. I would rather embrace my dog, who loves me. Conclusion: For Americans it is hard to dance tango, because they are often intimidated by an embrace. I simply explain our students in the beginning tango class, that to embrace and touch is OK. You do not need to explain it to Russians or Europeans. What will be the best way to be clear on this issue? How to embrace in tango? How to become comfortable with a stranger? Thanks Elena. Well, discussion remains open and we hope you'd like to send your comments, your ideas and perhaps your feelings to us. If you would like to share them with our tango partners all over the world we can make them public with or without your name in it. (See Our Privacy Clause). If you want to receive our last Newsletter with the kick off of this discussion just send an email to request it at [email protected] with First Embrace Editorial in subject, your first and last name. Have a good TANGO LIFE! We'll meet again at our next Newsletter The TANGO Capital. Tales of Tangoland (Margaret Spore s Debut in Buenos Aires) Margaret Spore of Boulder, Colorado made her third trip to Buenos Aires recently. But this trip was different. She returned to BA feeling more comfortable and connected with the city environment and the tango scene. She returned a better dancer. But maybe more importantly this visit she came as a performer. On November 12 at the La Catedral milonga Margaret gave her first BA performance of her artistic work, excerpts from her one-woman show "Tales from Tangoland". She had performed outside of the US before in Canada, but this was her first performance for a Spanish speaking audience. Margaret had always dreamed of presenting her work in the milonga-culture of BA since the show is based on Argentine tango. After seeing a performance of "Tales From Tangoland" in spring 2001 in Minneapolis, visiting instructors Fernando and Guillerma encouraged her to try showing it in Buenos Aires, IF it could be done in Spanish! The November visit to BA to attend the wedding of her friend Brooke Burdett was opportunistic. Brooke Burdett, her first tango teaching partner in Colorado, and now a resident of BA, helped her with the translation and introduced her to Omar Viola from the Parakultural. When Omar offered Margaret a night at La Catedral, she didn t hesitate to accept. The content is also inspired by her experience as a single woman looking for dance partners, an experience that seems universal in the tango world from Buenos Aires to Denver, and needs little translation. Her show is composed of acting, dancing, comedy, mime and dialogue. She chose 5 characters from her extensive work to present on the 12th the Italian Boatman, the Argentine Gaucho, the Parisian, and the Afro-Argentine, each representing a splash of history of the tango, and then the modern-day tango tourist, Meg, visiting the BA milonga for the first time. An interesting aspect of her improvisational style is her use of props such as the boat paddle, her wooden forked dance partner, masks, and a telescope, for example. Margaret says one of the most enjoyable aspects of her work is playing with the props, coming up with interesting ways to incorporate them in dance, giving them life. And it shows because she uses her props with artistic finesse that is a delight to watch. I was especially amazed at her ability to mimic the Italian gondolier using the paddle as a prop. It appeared that at any moment she could fall from her make believe gondola, but nevertheless always managed to stay upright! Margaret says that the most difficult part of performing in BA was not actually learning the language, but fitting her props onto an airplane. For example, in order to break her forked stick down into portable pieces, she built an entire new one, leaving the original cottonwood "Shtickman" at home. The atmosphere of La Catedral with its eclectic and improvisational decor seemed very appropriate for Margaret s debut performance in BA, and is strikingly similar to The Mercury Cafe in Denver, where she first performed "Tales From Tangoland" in 1999. Margaret was so well received that she was invited back to La Catedral the following Tuesday, and chose to present several of her more unusual prop-partners for the November 19 performance. Margaret feels that these alternative venues in the tango world are very important in allowing the tango to be a living tradition that not only exemplifies the past but also responds to the expressions of contemporary culture, of which we are all a part. Margaret says she brought different expectations with her on this trip to BA. She came with the hope to not only enjoy and receive from the culture that Argentina has to offer but to give something as well. Margaret is grateful for this opportunity to share with Argentina some of her artistic impressions of tango, its history and its significance. She looks forward to returning soon, having mastered more Castellano, and presenting her complete show "Tales From Tangoland". Tango Partner in Buenos Aires November 2002 Events (tango and other cultural events) Friday the 1st La Esquina Carlos Gardel: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires suggested an elegant dinner and tango show at La Esquina Carlos Gardel with our Tango Friends from Indiana. La Esquina Carlos Gardel is located in the neighborhood where Carlos Gardel grew up and next to the historical Mercado de Abasto (old central market, nowadays a Shopping Mall). Before the show an interesting historical video was presented about tango and its famous icons. Great singers like Carlos Gardel, Libertad Lamarque, Azucena Maizani, beautiful orchestras and excellent directors like Juan D Arienzo, Osvaldo Pugliese, Francisco Canaro, and the most important actors and actresses like Luis Sandrini and Tita Merello are just a few examples of Argentine culture of Buenos Aires. Centro Cultural Torcuato Tasso in San Telmo: After the dinner and show at La Esquina Carlos Gardel we danced at El Tasso and enjoyed a show. That night we heard Esteban Morgado on his guitar. Saturday the 2nd Salsn Canning: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires invited our friends from Lafayette, Indiana to dance tango, milonga, waltz and also salsa and merengue at Salsn Canning. La Viruta: Our Tango Guests had so much fun on Friday at La Viruta that we decided to catch the milonga for a second night in a row. Tango Friends from Buenos Aires and Colorado joined us for dancing and then medialunas and coffee at 6:00 a.m. Sunday, the 3rd Milonga en La Glorieta de Barrancas de Belgrano: We took our Tango Friends from Denver, Aspen and Indiana to La Glorieta for their first visit to the outdoor milonga. Gricel La Rioja: After the milonga in the Glorieta Tango Partners in Buenos Aires invited our friends to dinner and then went on to the milonga Gricel La Rioja. Everyone who visits Gricel La Rioja comments on how much they like the space, especially the wood dance floor. Friends from Dublin and Buenos Aires joined us. Monday the 4th: Zapatos Rojos at La Trastienda: The show tonight was "Tango a Cuerdas" with guitars and vocalists Alfredo Piro, Cardenal Dominguez and Cristobal Repetto. After the show we celebrated the birthday of one of our Tango Friends and enjoyed the milonga. Milonga at Parakultural Salon Canning: After Zapatos Rojos we danced tango, milonga and waltz at Canning with our Tango Friends. Tuesday the 5th Teatro Cervantes: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires invited Tango Friends from Ireland, London, and Indiana, USA to Teatro Cervantes to listen to the Orchestra of Buenos Aires Juan De Dios Filiberto under the direction of virtuoso bandaneonist Nistor Marconi. We enjoyed the music of Piazzola, Marconi and some other authors, and of course, a very good selection of Gardel tangos and milongas. The guest vocalist was the popular singer Hugo Marcel. Our Tango Friends were very impressed by the show. Porteqo y Bailarmn: After the concert we all headed over to Porteqo y Bailarmn for a class in milonga with traspii with Ricardo "El Pibe Sarandi". We stayed afterwards for this very popular milonga that has 2 dance floors. Performances were by Tete y Silvia who also taught a class earlier that evening in Porteqo y Bailarmn. Also performing were Carolina and Cristian. Wednesday the 6th : La Nacional: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires invited our Tango Friends to the class with Alejandra Arrze and Sergio Natario (Tango Masters) and the milonga afterwards in La Nacional. Our Tango Friends appreciated the extra help from the assistants that Alejandra and Sergio have in their classes. We enjoyed the milonga with friends from Sweden, USA, and Buenos Aires. Thursday the 7th Milonga at Niqo Bien: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires reserved a very large table at Niqo Bien Milonga for our Tango Friends from Dublin, Ireland; Denver, Colorado; Salt Lake City, Utah; Lafayette, Indiana; Sweden; London and Buenos Aires. We enjoyed being all together new friends and old friends. That night there was a special performance. The young eighty-year old milonguero couple Juan and Nina Belsito amazed each and all on the floor of the best Thursday milonga in Buenos Aires. They danced milonga and tango and they were extraordinary to see. We enjoyed their 20 s/30 s dance style. Friday the 8th Milonga at Salon Canning: Before the milonga Tango Partners in Buenos Aires and several of our friends took in 2 classes. First with Pupy Castello and then with Tete and Silvia. Tango Friends from Ireland, Indiana, Colorado, Utah and BA shared a table, dancing and pizza. Performances that night were by Sabrina Masso and Ezequiel Paludi. Saturday the 9th : We had a farewell lunch at Chiquilin with Tango Friends before driving them to the airport. Tuesday the 12th Parakultural La Catedral: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires invited our Tango Friends from Switzerland, Sweden, Ireland, Colorado (USA), Holland, Merlo (San Luis Province) and Buenos Aires to join us. Our Tango Friend Margaret Spore from Boulder, Colorado made her debut Buenos Aires performance, with her Tales From Tangoland (see our interview with Margaret). She performs improvisational tango/modern dance. The audience was enthusiastic as she shared in dance her impressions on some of the different aspects and feelings of tango. Wednesday the 13th Milonga Shusheta at Dandi: We invited Tango Friends from the USA to the milonga Shusheta at Dandi, a very nice and elegant salon in San Telmo neighborhood. They took the class and enjoyed the milonga until 3 a.m. Thursday the 14th Niqo Bien: The milonga Niqo Bien was especially crowded. Fortunately Tango Partners in Buenos Aires got reservations for our Tango Friends. Otherwise it was standing room only. We met with Alejandra Arrui and Sergio Natario after their classes in Dandi. Tango Friends from Switzerland, Sweden, Ireland, London, Colorado, San Luis, Argentina; and Buenos Aires joined us at our table for a great night of tango in this spacious milonga. Tango Partners in Buenos Aires designed an Iguazz Falls tour and made reservations for our Tango Friends from Denver and Buenos Aires. They came back amazed by the beauty of the red earth, green forests (almost jungle), semi-precious rocks and the Garganta del Diablo (Throat of the Devil), the most magnificent fall among hundreds of them. Friday the 15th Parakultural Salon Canning: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires recommended that our Tango Friends spend this evening at Parakultural Salsn Caning because of the performance of Color Tango. This very good orchestra plays the extraordinary style of Osvaldo Pugliese and is directed by Roberto Alvarez. Everyone enjoyed dancing to the live music. Saturday the 16th : We met Tango Friends at the airport from Portland, Oregon. Priority for Saturday was shoe shopping. We helped them to locate several pairs. After shopping we introduced our Tango Friends to one of the better typical Argentine restaurants of Buenos Aires. They enjoyed our suggestions for their first sample of Buenos Aires cuisine. Over lunch we helped them with their Spanish and Lunfardo and many other interesting things to know about Buenos Aires. Club Gricel Norte: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires and our Tango Friends decided to start out Saturday night with dinner and dancing at Gricel Norte, an elegant milonga at Belgrano neighborhood. We met there some other friends from the University of the Tango and we introduced them to our Tango Visitors. They enjoyed dancing with our Argentine friends. La Viruta: After Gricel Norte we went over to La Viruta for Tango, Folkdance and Rock to complete a full night of dancing. Our guests were glad to realize that their feet were still happy with their new dance shoes, even after seven hours of dancing! Sunday the 17th La Escuela del Tango Orchestra: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires took Tango Guests to the San Telmo Cultural Center to enjoy tango with the Orchestra Escuela de Tango Buenos Aires conducted by Emilio Balcarce. First violinist is our friend Christine of Kansas City nowadays living in Buenos Aires. Conductor Professor Emilio Balcarce as well as the rest of the audience were obviously very moved by her Piazzolla solo. Romain Lecuyer, a Tango Friend from France plays bass with the orchestra. Emilio Balcarce formed the orchestra with the intention of training young musicians in an endeavor to maintain the quality and continuity of the original tango. Night City Tour of Buenos Aires: Later our Tango Friends enjoyed the Tango Partners in Buenos Aires night city tour. The lights of Buenos Aires make the European architecture of the city come alive. We enjoyed Puerto Madero and the walking bridge over the canal. We especially enjoyed the picturesque view of the luminescent full moon between the cables and steel bow that suspend the bridge. And on the other side the view of the lights of the 18th century Frigata Sarmiento against the skyline of the early Buenos Aires architecture. The bridge s cables suspend the steel bow that allows the entire bridge to swing open to the side clearing the way for large boats to pass. Centro Cultural Torquato Tasso in San Telmo: We took our Portland friends to enjoy a sampling of asado from the parilla and dancing at El Tasso. We met other Tango friends from Portland and Eugene, Oregon, also friends from Paris, France and Buenos Aires. Monday the 18th Zapatos Rojos at La Trastienda: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires invited our Tango Friends to listen to the show of Brian Chambouleyron. It was a very interesting guitar/vocal recital of traditional tangos and milongas. Later he invited Cardenal Dominguez to the stage. He sang not only as a single but also as a couple with Brian. After the performance we enjoyed dancing and drinks. Parakultural Salsn Canning: We continued dancing at Monday night Salon Canning Milonga. We took our friends from Portland and invited some other friends from Denver who joined us there. Part of the fun of BA is meeting people from all over the world who come together for tango in the Tango Capital. We were happy to introduce them to each other. They enjoyed dancing not only among tango visitors but also with some of our tango partners, male and female friends from Buenos Aires. Tuesday the 19th Porteqo y Bailarmn: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires recommended that our Tango Friends from Portland enjoy dancing at Porteqo y Bailarmn for the first time. With 2 floors this milonga is very popular. Tonight s performances were by Ezequiel and Sabrina as well as Dani and Elina. Parakultural La Catedral: Later our Tango Friends from Portland decided to go to La Catedral. They found it with a little help because it is not easy to locate this milonga for the first time. Margaret Spore of Boulder, Colorado performed for her second time presenting a totally different selection of characters from her original work. Wednesday the 20th La Nacional: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires recommended to our Tango Friends from Portland and Denver to get together at La Nacional with some other friends from Sweden and Buenos Aires. Thursday the 21st: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires took our Portland guests on our Exclusive Photo City Tour. We had fun shooting their tango poses in popular vistas of Buenos Aires such as Caminito in La Boca neighborhood, the Obelisk at Corrientes and 9 de Julio Avenues, cupolas of Plaza Congreso, Plaza de Mayo and other picturesque locations. They also enjoyed the opportunity to learn many colorful and historical insights that we were able to share with them about Buenos Aires and the places we visited. Niqo Bien: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires reserved a large table for our Tango Friends from Denver and Boulder, Colorado; Portland, Oregon and Holland who joined us. Many Buenos Aires master teachers and performers such as Miguel Angel Sotto (next to our table), Gavito, Ernesto Balmaceda, Graciela Gonzalez, Cecilia Gonzalez and others were present that night and you could feel the energy in the air. When guests performers Alejandra Arrze and Sergio Natario gave their dynamic performance the energy level exploded. If you have ever seen this couple perform you know what we are talking about. They are exceptional dancers but they were superlative that evening and the audience was ecstatic. It was the perfect tango soirie. Friday the 22nd : It was time to say goodbye to Tango Friends from Portland. And as always while driving to the airport, we made plans for their next visit to Buenos Aires. But in this case, we also shared plans about their start up Tango School in Oregon. La Estrella and La Viruta: This weekend was the 8th year birthday celebration of the milongas La Estrella and La Viruta. We enjoyed performances with Lidia Borda singing tango and dancing of Geraldine and Javier, Melina and Pancho, El Chino Perico, Carlitos Moyano, Julio and Carolina, and a salsa show. It was very crowded but in spite of it everybody enjoyed the show and the evening a lot. Saturday the 23rd La Viruta: The birthday celebration continued on Saturday night with dance performances by Mora Godoy and Paulo Horvath, Gabriel Misse, Dana and Pablo, Petaca Pugliese, Ezequiel and Sabrina, and a Rock and Roll show. Wednesday the 27th Dandi, La Milonga Shusheta: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires invited Tango Friends from the interior of Argentina (Csrdoba, Mendoza and San Juan Province) to study with Analia Vega and Marcelo Varela in their 2-hour class before the milonga Shusheta. Friday the 29th The University of Tango: Tango Partners in Buenos Aires was invited to The University of Tango Graduation Party for this year. It was at Agrelo Street building. We were very glad to join many Tango Friends, some of whom will become new tango teachers. They were very exciting and move. Saturday the 30th La Viruta: We met at La Viruta for Nazareth s birthday celebration. Besides tango we danced salsa, rock and roll (swing), Chacarera and Argentine Samba. Among the guests there were many Tango Friends from the University of Tango and some other habitues of this milonga. Privacy Clause We are in contact with you in order to communicate that Tango Partners in Buenos Aires would like to use the internet as a means of communication in order to put at your disposal, in the form most easily accessible, all types of information relevant to Buenos Aires and Tango here. Tango Partners in Buenos Aires is committed to the guarantee of privacy of all data and information of our users, and for this reason we desire to make known to you certain aspects about the new law. In accordance with the new Law of Services of the Society of Electronic Information and Commerce (the LSSI-CE) we are obligated to communicate to you that your email address is entered in our users data base with the object of continuing to offer to you regularly all types of information that may be of interest to you. Generally, we do not send more than 1 mail each month; however, if you do not wish to continue receiving notices from Tango Partners in Buenos Aires you need only to send a message to [email protected] writing "Unsubscribe" in the subject line. If we do not receive an email from you in 10 days, we understand that you accept, and that you give us your consent and express authorization for future electronic mailings. If you would like to share our Newsletter The TANGO Capital with your Tango Friends you may forward it to them (so they may subscribe) or you may send us their email address and we will do it for you. If you have received our Newsletter The TANGO Capital from a Tango Friend you may subscribe by emailing us at [email protected] with subject "Subscribe" and "first & last name". Thank you for trusting us. PS: Karen Corriea and Julio Corazza reserve the right of all information contained in this Newsletter and its trade marks Tango Partners in Buenos Aires TM and The TANGO Capital TM. --------------------------------- Y! Messenger en tu celular: proba el nuevo Yahoo! Messenger para SMS aqum
