Like most American men, I didn't have a whole lot of exposure to dancing while growing up. I remember dropping my sister off at ballet classes thinking it was very girly while I got to go to taekwondo classes (Don't mess with me, I have the card to prove it). Over the years I saw a few musicals and thought they were pretty good and saw the movie Billy Elliot and liked that. For all the countless hours in dance clubs in NYC, South Beach, LA, etc you'd think I'd be better at club dancing (if there is such a thing) but I still look like a dork. I remember going to my buddy Wayne's wedding years ago and watched him do a choreographed dance with his wife for their 1st dance. Wayne isn't the smoothest operator, but he pulled it off and looked cool doing so. With the advent of Dancing with the Stars and its hip, fun, sexy format I decided that it was time to get involved.
The obvious choice now that I'm in Argentina is tango, as it was born here even though it is popular throughout the world with lessons available in almost every major city. If you're not interested in tango or dancing for that matter go ahead and skip this section.
I took my first lesson in Miami from Diane Castro who is an longtime friend of the family and was nice enough to spend an hour showing me the ropes. One of the first things I learned is that it is very much in tune to the beat of the music. Each song has different accordions, violin or piano melodies but underneath each one is a constant cello beat which every good tango dancer identifies and steps to. Sometimes one can speed things up and take 3 steps between beats or go slow and let a beat or two go by without moving but almost every step made by the man begins and ends to a beat. As long as this is satisfied, the man has the flexibility to interpret the music however he sees fit which is one thing I like about tango. The woman follows his lead and while she can add some flare to it as well, she must be ready to move when he steps.
Another quality of classic tango is that both partners are expected to be rigid from the waist up. This means no twirls, dips or dunks. For this reason, the skill and magic of the dance all happens from the waist down and the way a couple's feet move together sometimes in very tight quarters. To be honest, I am still on the fence on this aspect as I'd like to make use of my arms but from what I hear, the footwork in tango is so intricate, once it is learned and mastered, all dances seem much easier. In the two lessons I took from Raul here in BA he taught me some of the basic steps all moving to the sound of the beats. Even walking has to be unlearned somewhat as a man must learn to lead with his body first then step, which is the opposite of the way most people walk. I start group lessons on Sunday and will keep everyone abreast with my (hopefully) progress.
To get to some of my lessons I decided to take a chance and hop on the bus. Taxis have gotten more expensive since I was here 3 years ago when you could get a taxi across the whole city for around $4. Now a 5 min ride costs that and while it's still cheaper than NYC it is too expensive for most of the population here. That's where the bus comes in. For a whopping price of about 32 cents it will take you on it's route for a couple miles (it costs a little more for longer distances). I am translating the prices from pesos into USD but as my friend Jay would say, it costs air to ride the bus.
Onto picture time....
Dinner of champions. Half eaten steak with garlic fries, and onion-tomato sauce and a coke. Mmmmmm....
Valeria (lawyer) and I at CampoBravo, my favorite restaurant
The bar next to the apt has a Grolsch sign but no Grolsch! (or any other good beer on their menu). Grolsch is my favorite beer in the world. It's not cool to tease the Americans....
Pedro my tennis instructor and his buddy having our last beer of the night.
Lastly, my heart goes out to the poor people of Haiti. Some of the pictures are devastating. Best wishes to them all.
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