Our First Milonga

One of the things that attracted us to Buenos Aires was the opportunity to gain further experience in tango, a pastime we have taken up in the last few years.  We had two tango lessons last week here in Buenos Aires. We met our tango teacher, Albano, in the summer of 2014 when he did a tango workshop in Halifax. We reconnected with him here in Buenos Aires and he is giving us a couple of lessons per week during our stay.  He invited us to a Milonga (a dance where people dance tango) on Friday night.  He was the DJ that evening and he thought we might enjoy the very authentic tango club where he was supplying the music.  He told us to arrive around 11 pm as there would be a dance presentation by two professional tango dancers, and this would be followed by a performance of a live tango orchestra which would play for an hour.  There would also be an opportunity for us to dance tango.  Albano gave us the address which was in a completely unfamiliar part of Buenos Aires. (Of course, we could say this about most of Buenos Aires at this point!) This, along with the late hour gave us pause, but we said, "Why not?"  The subway stops running at 11 pm so we decided to leave about 10:40, take the subway part way, then hail a taxi to get to our destination which was still some distance away.  The club was on a deserted street (at least at 11 pm on a Friday night) and the exterior resembled an old brick warehouse.  We paid our entrance fee of the equivalent of $5.00 each.   Inside we found a brick walled room with a small stage at one end, a bar at the other, and about a dozen tables with chairs along the edge of the floor.  It could have been a scene from a movie: great atmosphere, low light, candles on the tables, and familiar tango tunes coming from the speakers. We danced a few tandas (sets) before the performing duo arrived.  We took a video of the professional dancers,  but the video will not transfer to the blog.  However, they were amazing to watch! Later the orchestra came.  We thought there would be three or four musicians and were surprised when twelve instrumentalists and a singer filled the small stage.  The music was great.  By the time the band finished it was 2:30 AM, so we decided to head home even though the Milonga was advertised to run until 6 AM.  Fortunately one of Albano's friends called a "radio taxi" for us, and we took our leave.  It was a true Argentine experience, not a scene tourists would discover on their own, so we felt very pleased with our late night adventure. 

Inside the tango club

Albano

Local Tango dancers (not the professional duo)

Our table

Tango orchestra