Everyone can agree that love is the universal language. However, I would like to argue that dance is too. I don’t just mean solo dancing, I also mean partner dancing. No matter where you travel to in the world, there is a dance that connects communities and cultures. To me, dancing has been one of the main things that has bridged many gaps I’ve come across while on my trips. It’s become a comfort thing for me to find the places to go dancing as soon as I reach a new destination.
To give a little bit of background on me, I have been partner dancing for 5 years and I am from Austin, Texas. I dance every style you can think of, from salsa to swing and from tango to the country two-step. I go out social dancing regularly (at least two times a week) and since I knew I would be spending quite a bit of time in Buenos Aires, I took a few Argentine Tango classes before coming, hoping I could get a jump start in understanding the culture here. Before my arrival to the great country of Argentina, I asked the Tango community in Austin if they knew of any places to go dancing while I was here and unfortunately, they gave me names of people, not the names of places.
Long story short, I did some research and have decided to chronicle my dance adventures because I know that I can’t be the only one who comes here with an itch to dance.
In honor of my temporary residence, the first class I decided to go to was an Argentine Tango class. Another volunteer and I attended a class at La Viruta in Palermo. It was 100 pesos to attend and included the practica afterwards. They had a beginner, intermediate and advanced class and they were all well-attended. Although this was not a milonga, the atmosphere was very similar to my expectations and what I have become used to at home. For example, everyone is polite and switches partners, we say thank you after we are finished dancing with a particular person, etc. Even my expectations of how a tango class would be were met; the women were dressed in skirts and heels, making eye contact was an invitation to dance, etc. All in all, it was extremely newcomer friendly and the tango-ers there were very willing to help a new dancer with whatever we were confused about.
With that being said, there were also a few new customs that I was not used to. Towards the end of the night, it was like the floor had become a show. Only advanced couples were dancing and they stayed with the same dance partner the whole time instead of switching for each song. It was intriguing, watching the ladies do their flares and kicks, accenting the music. I had never seen such musicality with this particular style of dance. Nobody tried to make small talk during the dance. Instead, they keep quiet, not even acknowledging any missteps. The embrace is close, so this is not surprising. However, I have always apologized after I make a mistake and when I did that the first time during class, I was told that was a really American thing to do.
I left La Viruta wanting to take more classes and to attend a milonga. This dance culture is unique to this country and through it, I am hoping to learn more about the social norms and make a few Argentinian friends.
