A year tomorrow, I was on my familiar trajectory: PDX, Texas, Buenos Aires, preparing to take my tour group for their first taste of dancing in the heart of tango.
2019 marked 20 years of traveling to dance in Buenos Aires. I had gone first to do my master’s thesis research on tango and gender, but kept going back, even when I claimed I didn’t plan to ever return. What can I say? I love this city and its people.
At first, I didn’t want to be identified as a tourist, so I dressed like an Argentine, did no sightseeing, and just danced 24-7. After a few visits, I realized that there was a lot more to Buenos Aires than tango, and started to relax about looking like a foreigner.
When I started to lead tours, I allowed myself to take time out of tango to get to know more about the area. The more I learned, the more I loved!
A year away from my past visit, what do miss? Of course I miss my friends and the milongas. Of course I miss the excellent food. But I also miss the street fairs, the parks, the summer warmth when it’s winter back home, and being in a real city. I miss taking the train to Tigre and going out on a river taxi to the delta. I miss bike touring in the parks.
I hope that when I go back, people and businesses will have survived COVID. I hope to take more people to dance in my beloved Buenos Aires; to fall in love with this city as I have. Ojala (God willing) in 2021…
The belt maker in Plaza Armenia
Folkloric dance at the street fair in Mataderos
The Tigre delta and a river taxi
Christmas in summer