After eleven years living, dancing, teaching tango, and writing in Buenos Aires, I came home to L. Monday, February 23, Which Tango Show? This is a constant question, and the truth is, I don't have a good answer.
Please take the survey at right if you've seen a show that you liked. Cafe de los Angelitos above Certainly I haven't been to every show in town, nor do I want to. In my opinion, if you've seen one, you've seen them all. They all have in common a live orchestra, a singer or two, and pairs of tango dancers; the music is usually Piazzola, and there is a comedy milonga number, with "historical" costumes; there usually is a scene in a brothel with a knife fight that ends or begins with men dancing together.
And I'm partial to Forever Tango because Gavito was in it. I really enjoyed Tanguera because it was much more than a "tango show," and in fact, went twice. Here are some websites that list several shows with links. Gala Tango above This site has photos and a listing of more shows. Rojo Tango. Labels: surveys , tango. But here in the old Barrio de Tango , it used to be where the elite meet and greet. The famous cafe on the corner, Esquina Homero Manzi , was the in place to have coffee after going to the theater and then dancing a half a block away in what is now Rodo , a big appliance store.
The only sign of the building's old glory days is a large golden angel plaque high up on the back wall, so out of place now in this big bare white space full of refrigerators and vacuum cleaners. A few decades ago, instead of shorts and flipflops, beautiful people wearing suits and furs came here to dance tango and hear the best live orchestras. And then went to the corner to hang out with Homero Manzi, the famous composer of Sur, and other tango notables. Two blocks down Boedo, is the Coto supermarket where we shop.
I don't know what it was before, but if you stand back you can see it once was a gorgeous elaborate building like so many that have vanished from old Buenos Aires. I lament that my barrio has no cine , but the building is still there, just a half block away; now it's an evangelical revival temple. Here you can see it from my terrace.
