City of tango

Buenos Aires is a lovely city. One where people walk and jog in the parks of which there are loads of lovely ones and absolutely full of dogs though the in things is clearly to have a dog walker, we see them out at lunchtimes, sometimes with as many as 10 or 12 on leads. But most of all it is a city of Tango and I absolutely love it. It’s a bit like ballet except done by more normal looking people, even the amazing professionals must be at least size 12 and so exciting.
We’ve been to two shows, both equally fabulous and so very different. The first one at Esquina Carlos Gardel pays homage to the hero of tango. Carlos Gardel is credited with taking tango out of the bordellos and round the world and like all legends he died tragically young in a plane crash but lives on every night for 500 people. It was incredibly well organised. A bus came to pick us up and the theatre was beautifully decorated and set out with tables for dinner. We had a lovely dinner and wine and then the show started. There was a huge band on a platform above the stage and a male and female singer who belted out the tango numbers. The dancers were phenomenal – moves you’re never likely to see on Strictly Come Dancing, with scissoring legs and rapid movements. They did each number as a history of tango and made a real show of it. John says this kind of tango is called Broadway as it does make a real show.
The second show we went to was more geared towards the locals and absolutely amazing in being an experience I know I shan’t forget. Again they came to fetch us, but it was just one guy in a car this time. The place was in the heart of tango ‘country’, San Telmo and just a small room with some tables around a central dance floor. Dinner was included though a slightly more homely affair with tinned peaches for pudding – clearly the show was the thing and some fine Argentinean champagne at £12 a bottle. We were right next to the dance floor, the band (who were brilliant, especially the accordion player) sat at the back and we were so close to the dancers it felt so exciting. They had two male singers, a female singer and 3 dancing couples. At the end of the show the dancers came off stage and led some audience members onto the floor for a quick turn. My partner was a lot shorter than me and I didn’t know the steps but I followed him round, thrilled to have a go. The audience (and we know as he asked everyone where they were from) were predominantly local or from elsewhere in Latin America so it felt like a really authentic experience.
It was a wonderful night – sitting sipping champagne in downtown Buenos Aires watching the tango on a Saturday night, I wondered quite how I got to be so lucky?!