Our driver last night said tango is for old people (like his father, who must be close to 80) and tourist shows…real tango is old fashioned and dead. We were looking for a milonga (the Argentine word for dance hall or dance event) to watch everyday people dance the tango, but only found a small one in a decrepit (but at one time grand) building that smelled like an old lady’s cat box…and it was full of white haired geezers like the driver promised.
We had seen an excellent tango show the night before–a professional operation compared to a broadway production in terms of quality…which made the pathetic turn out and quality of dancing (picture your grandma and grandpa trying to kick their feet up to their shoulders without it being the horrible result of a fall down stairs) at the milonga all the more sad.
People come here to live so they can learn the dance–there are travel books written about it, so I have to wonder…
