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I had gone out to milongas almost every night while I was in Baires. Well, if you have only two weeks to spend, you would probably do the same. This trip, however, I split my time between the traditional milongas (such as El Beso, Cachirulo, Nino Bien), Canning, La Viruta, Sunderland practica and new milongas (Milonga 10, Villa Malcom). I wanted to experience different venues, dance with different styles (by no means “nuevo”) from different countries and listen to different DJs.

El Beso is probably my favorite traditional milonga, although the floorcraft at times needed improvement. Wednesday and Sunday are usually packed. The last Wednesday I went, the organizer had to stop allowing entrance at midnight (which is early by Baires standard) unless there were dancers leaving. Some of my friends had waited an hour to get in. I’ve always had very good dancing experience there. And I like the fact that it is small place. You could see everybody easily. It is good for spotting good dancers and making cabeceo.

I went to Cachirulo Saturday at Maipu 444 once. Somehow I felt that the level wasn’t as high as I expected. Maybe it was just that particular night;or maybe my expectation was higher this time. I left uninspired, although I had danced with some very good milongueras. Floorcraft was probably as good as any milonga could get. Very few bumps, but then again, dancing on a crowded floor was never fun.

I went to Nino Bien twice; once on Thursday night with a friend of mine, the other time at the CITA closing milonga. Thursday night at Nino Bien is… how should I put it…interesting. I went there more for socializing than anything else. I like it because A. Mario Orlando’s music has always been good, B. It was the first milonga I attended in BsAs. So I was sentimental about Nino Bien. I danced mostly with my friends/acquaintances that night. I didn’t return the following Thursday.

Instead I went to Villa Malcolm.

The first time I went to Villa Malcolm, it was a Friday night. I didn’t really like it. The light was very dim. The place was humid. Fans were blasting so strong that at times I couldn’t hear the music while I was on the floor. It was tile floor, hash on the feet, ankles and knees. On top of that, the floorcraft was chaotic. There were some very good dancers. But I wasn’t in the mood so I danced with some acquaintances and hung out most of the time.

I went back again on the following Thursday night. What a difference! There were candle nights on small tables with white table cloth. Slightly better floorcraft and more relaxed environment. Although I didn’t like the music selection and power went out for a few miniutes, I got to dance my last tanda with my favorite young portena.

Most of the nights that I went to milongas in Palermo area, I ended up at La Viruta. For me, La Viruta before 3:00am was amateur hours. I went there early on my last night (or morning), around 2am, to catch Sexteto Milonguero and witnessed the before scene. I didn’t even put my shoes on. But the after scene was quite good. At least from my perspective.

A lot of good dancers came down from different other milongas (La Viruta opens till 6am on Friday and Sat.). It is free entrance after 3:00am. The energy of the place was normally very high. Horacios played very good music. And I loved to have fresh medialuna around 4:30am with cafe con leche. Always left in a happy mood.

“Go to Milonga 10 tomorrow night.” My friend who is a professional told me on my first night out. I went to Cachirulo instead. Over the next couple of days, I’d heard the name mentioned so many times that I decided to skip Sunderland and went there on the next Saturday.

Milonga 10 is held at a club on Loyola 828, between Serrano and Thames, just a few blocks from Villa Malcolm. I took bus 151, got off at Serrano and walked a few block from the bus stop. It was a very small place, probably same size as of E Beso with a little smaller tile floor, and at a corner it gets very slippery. Saturday night the place was packed with young dancers. At its highest time, I estimated each couple got about 4′x4′ space to dance. Yet the floorcraft was superb, very few bumps, even though some dancers were dancing open from time to time. The energy of the place was high, and the music (Hugo was the DJ) was very good. There were some very good dancers, mixed with a few average ones. If you are a good dancer, this is probably the place to hit on a Saturday night. I went back again on Tuesday night. Slightly less people but very high level young dancers.

Canning, despite its fame, is my least favorite milonga. I like the place, the floor and the occasionally good live orchestras performance; and dislike just about everything else that comes with places. Although at different nights of the week, it has different milonga organized by various people. It seemed to me that none was ideal for good dancing. The floorcraft was always horrible, at least before 3am. The floor was mixed with beginners, mediocre milongueros who thought of themselves good dancers and typical bad European dancers (the ones who are stuck between traditional and good nuevo). Very few good dancers. I went there three times: twice on Friday night to meet up with some friends, once on Tuesday night to listen to Color Tango. Whenever I danced, I always felt that my space was threaten or invaded. I had to pay extra attention to avoid being kicked or bumped into for my partner and myself. What fun was that? And the music was mediocre at best. The volume of the speakers were whispering at times.

For me, Canning is the place to see and be seen. If I couldn’t have my dance at Canning, La Viruta, which is a few blocks away, was always the place that saved the night. More than once, I felt that I went Canning just to kill some time before going to La Viruta for the grand finale of the night.

PS. It was nice to put on a jacket and ironed shirt to attend the traditional milongas. Once a while, it felt free to go a new milonga with whatever I was in the mood for (jean, chino and funky t-shirt etc.). And it was nice that I enjoyed both ways.

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The plan of my first night was to dance a few hours at Cachirulo at El Beso, then move to Canning to meet some friends, and finish at La Viruta.

Earlier, Sebastian Arce and I had a very nice conversation about tango music, the dance and the beauty of it. It is an inspiring experience to talk about tango, to exchange ideas, not just to dance it, especially with an artist like Sebastian. It opens the mind.

I got to the El Beso at the beginning. The class was just finished. Music started a few minutes after. I got a nice seat, and next to me a guy from Germany. The entrance fee has gone up to 18 pesos, with the better exchange rate, the cost in dollar is roughly the same. But there weren’t too many locals there. Of course, Tete is now gone. When I passed the table he used to sit by the bar, I couldn’t help but remember him.

I spot a very good couple of Argentine dancers right from the beginning. They had danced about five six tandas together. Probably the best couple in the milonga the whole night. I spent most of the time watching them dancing and learning. And I thought to myself, I want to dance with her.

I began my night with an Italian to a Di Sarli tanda. She was ok, but I had showed myself by dancing with her.

A few tandas after, I cabeceoed the Portena who was sitting now. She smiled, nodded. But the woman who was sitting next to her also smiled at me. And the German guy sitting next to me thought they were cabeceoing him. Oops…He got up, while I remained seated. He approached to the Portena, who was looking away. The other woman was looking at my way. So he was standing there between two women who weren’t planning to dance with him. It was a funny scene.

To add more complication to the matter, another European guy saw the slightly embarrassing situation, and decided to save the night. He got up, went over and tried to ask one of them to dance. Two European guys now stand before two women, who had no intention to dance with either of them in the first place.

I was sitting there, entertained by the whole scene. The portena looked at my way. We were both amused, grinning. So I cabeceoed her again, nodded and got a nod back. I went up and got her on the floor, out of the situation while the two guys were left trying to figure out now who should dance with whom.

We had a very nice De Anglis tanda. The floor of El Beso was a bit too smooth for my liking. So I was a little inhibited. I thanked her after the tanda and thought to myself that I would love to dance with her again. I’d sat for an hour and avoided a few cabaceos, while listening to the orchestras that were playing.

I had another good tanda with a beautiful young Portena, who happened to have studied with Jorge Torres six or seven years ago. Then I left for Canning.

Canning was packed even at the wee hours. I met up with a few friends there, danced a few tandas with them. The floor was a mess. How could anyone enjoy dancing there? I had no idea. But it was a place to see and to be seen. And I loved the floor of Canning, just the right friction that I prefer.

The rest of the time, I was just mingling with acquaintances, friends, talking with Damian, the DJ a bit, and got to know a few new faces. By three, I was ready to leave, although the plan was going to la Viruta after. I didn’t want to exhaust myself on the first night. I had made my round. Now rest up for more great tangos in BsAs on Day 2.

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I had accidentally deleted my original post. So here it is again: I will try to be as original as I could remember.

Split with the guys who were looking for actions at bars somewhere downtown. Although the girls were hot and smoking (actually smoking), smoky bar and loud non-tango music were really not my cup of tea. So I caught a cab and headed to La Viruta.

On the floor were pretty much all not so good dancers, wearing jeans, regular shoes. It was pretty much everything goes. Nobody was taking oneself too seriously thereIt, which I liked. It was crowded. A lot of guys were standing by the bar looking for baits (babes). Seventy percent of the women were young and beautiful there.

Saw my friend and her daughter sitting at a nice table by the floor and sat at their table. Fabian Paralta was sitting next to our table with a young and very pretty girl. What does a guy with his look gotta hang out with babes like that? She didn’t even know how to dance. I saw Fabian dancing with her on the floor like holding the hands of a baby learning to walk.

There was live music at 1:30am. The music wasn’t for dancing, at least to me. But there were a lot of people on the floor. Quite a few were doing their first steps. It reminded me my beginner year dancing to live music. At times, I had to look away from the floor. It got ugly. Yike!

I danced a bit with my friend and her daughter when the traditional music began. It was actually very good arrangement. The DJ is fantastic at La Viruta, playing very good traditional or nuevo and even salsa music. Always enjoyed the music the few times that I was there.

They had been sitting since 11:30 and rejected a few requests for dance. “This is a meat market.” My friend’s daughter said to me. She remembered it as a respectful milonga where the nuevo guys, such as chico, fabian salas, hang out; eight years ago that was. They left soon as we danced.

I was enjoying it. If it weren’t because I was coughing out of control, I would have stayed till 6am. After 4:00am, when the admission is free, a lot of good dancers started coming. I met a student of Javier and Andrea on my way out, when chacarera was playing.

I stopped by the bar when I saw the fresh media lunas were brought out in baskets. A cafe con leche and three fresh and yummy media luna were too good to pass over. I left happy with a full stomach.

One more day left in the tango land…

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Had a slow day. Took it easy during daytime and went out to Zival to pick up a few more CDs. I had been looking for a particular one: Grandes Del tango 16 Miguel Calo. This was third time that I came back to look for it. The guy kept telling me come back manana. Surely it was not on the rack. It was in stock, just that they never bothered to put it on the rack.

I saw the guy and spoke with him: ” it is not there.” Finally he gestured me to the counter, punched in a few keys, looked, picked up the phone and spoke a few words rapidly. Then he told me:”two minutes.” and ran upstairs. Four minutes after he came down with the CD that I’d been looking for. Actually I just wanted one version of ” Nada” from the album. But I was happy to finally have it. This time I have bought about 35 cds, which brings my tango collection over 150 cds and 20GB of itune. Quite a collection to sort through.

Went to Canning around 12:00pm. It was a slower night than last Monday, because of the rainy weather. Saw Tina and CDT sitting at a front row table. Waved at them and sat down a couple of tables behind them.

The floor was actually not very crowded. The floor craft was semi decent, not that many nuevo turn close embrace kind of dancers. First dance went to a portena who doesn’t know who Javier Rodriguez or Andrea Misse is. “Too many Javier Rodriguez here ” she said. I smiled.

What a contrary to our idea of tango stars. Here all the youtube heros are just regular folks who happen to dance tango. Julio y Corina were sitting a few tables away. When I danced with CDT, we were dancing right behind them. The nervousness of dancing right next to the top dancers is gone. To me, they are just another couple sharing the same floor. And they are better not space hogs. (most of them aren’t)

Then I saw the gringa with whom I danced at Sunderland. I was very happy to see her. She later came over and we had a very nice tanda. Her embrace was so good. She had very clear and strong foot work that I knew exactly where her foot was. She was also having this “disassociation” that is typical of very good followers. It was a very very pleasant tanda with her, even though the music was uninspiring. She mentioned that my postures, especially the way my left arm holds, reminded her what her private teacher: Alejandra Martinian said about man’s left hand should place like holding a piano. I told her that it was taught by Javier. We smiled. It was so nice to have danced with someone who learned the same way. We exchanged our e-mails after the tanda . And she went off to dance with a friend of hers.

Gus came in with his friend. It was so happened that one of the seats at my table was available. So he sat down right next to me and we had some chats. He was sounding more and more like Javier. ” I have headache watching these people dancing. So many bad postures. The leader’s head leans back, stomach sticks out. No wonder they can only do giros, can’t walk.” I agreed: few people can walk straight on the floor except a few old milongueros.

Talked about old milongueros: Tina introduced me to the low key but respectfully PS. I watched him dance. The 72 old man still has impeccable posture: straight back, strong lead and quiet walk. I am hoping that I could learn some Milonga con Traspie from him. I love Milonga con Traspie. A tanda of milonga (again so-so music selection) with Tina later, I was determined to improve my MCT. I could feel the potential that I have at it.

I had my good share of tango tonight. I was happier. The rest of the night I just chatted with Tina and her friend and watched the floor. The music wasn’t really good. To be honest, my experience with female DJs hasn’t been fantastic so far. Their selection of tandas tended to be on the even tempo side, lack of fire and energy; too mellow for my taste. In tango, man dictates the interpretation of the music. Andrea once told me: ” you have to let me know how you want the song danced.” I need to feel the music. The music that a DJ plays should get me off my seat and look around for partner. I didn’t feel that urge once during the whole night. Gus felt the same way tonight: ” What’s wrong with this DJ?”

I couldn’t wait to hear what Javier and Andrea say about my dance later tonight. Stay tuned…

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Woke up in the afternoon. Felt really sluggish. Had a Heineken for lunch and went to have a nap till early evening. Text the tango bloggers and decided to go for Chinese food at Barrio Chino.

It had been raining hard the last few days. Humbolt y Santa Fe, exactly where I stayed last time, was flooded. That section was closed. The taxi had to take another route. I felt lucky that I didn’t stay the same apartment this time. I would have had unpleasant experience.

We went to the same restaurant. The food was decent enough. Every one was full and felt sleepy afterwards. The fatigue had been slowly seeped in. I didn’t feel the urge to dance. Tina y CDT were going to El Beso. We took the bus 60 back.

I went to El Beso after dropped by the apartment and changed. I thought I lost the interest of dancing this night. Only danced a tanda with the portena whom I danced before. And a fucking guy led his partner into my elbow. He stopped and pull my elbow down in the middle of the dance. I was pissed. It must be my look. If I were a porteno, he wouldn’t have done it.

I didn’t say anything but kept my elbow where it was. This is the way I dance. I don’t change just because you tell me so. Who are you to tell me how to hold my arm? I am a very sensitive and careful dancer who knows enough to take shit from a schmuck. Later I saw him lecturing the fellowers with whom he danced.

During the break in between songs, he came at me again. Pointed to my arm and said something like: per favor, keep it in. I gave him one of my stares, turned my face to the portena I was. dancing with. She shook her head, and told me in English ” Don’t mind him.” I mumble: “stupid Locos.” She nodded.

That was enough to finish the night for me. I didn’t feel like dancing again. I chatted with Gus a bit, who came in later and sat next to me by the bar. I was getting impatient with the scene. Maybe I was tired, or the level of dancing was low. I felt uninspired watching the floor.

I took off early around 2:00am.

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