Last Sunday Lina and I went to see our friend Jennifer sing in a live concert at a club called La Biblioteca. It’s a great little spot, although the sound system could use some help. We could hear the piano just fine, but Jenn’s lovely voice was a bit quiet. Nevertheless, we enjoyed it.
She was doing a tribute to Diana Krall, singing some of her arrangements. Lina is a big Diana Krall fan, and of course I’m proud she is Canadian! Here’s a little clip from the show.
Following our tradition of the past few years (yes, even including last year) I brought in the New Year with a group of my good friends with a picnic at Puerto Madero, which is down by the River. Here is a selection of photos, most taken by Venetia although we did commandeer a total stranger to do a shot of us all. Venetia also did the video of the fireworks. It’s traditional to wear white for New Year’s Eve—but there’s always one who forgets!
Happy New Year, and all the best of everything for 2022!
It’s Christmas Day, about 3 pm. I stayed overnight at Cecilia’s place after the celebrations last night, and I’ve been having a nice lazy day.
Here are a few photos from last night. You’ll see two dogs here, and there were two more who didn’t deign to wear Santa hats and be photographed! It was nothing if not lively!
Some time ago, several of my friends realized we all lived within a couple of blocks of one another in the barrio of Recoleta. We kept saying we should get together, and yesterday we finally did. We had champagne at La Biela. As you can see from the photo, we had a good time. We are now calling ourselves the Chicas de Recoleta!
I had my tango lesson right after this with my other new teacher, Beto, and I told him about the champagne.
“So I might dance brilliantly,” I said.
“Or you might not care!” he replied.
Fortunately, I hadn’t had too much champagne and the lesson was fine!
Last week I posted about the wedding of Joaquin, my friend Cecilia’s son, and I said that the couple had an unconventional way of starting the ceremony. This week Cecilia sent me a video of Joaquin’s arrival and I think you’ll enjoy it.
I’ve talked before (quite a while ago, I guess!) about the free concerts at the Centro Cultural Kirchner (CCK), which several of us go to regularly. Of course they have been off the program for a couple of years now, since the plague came upon us. Finally, they have started again, and I couldn’t be happier!
Last night Venetia and I went to this “Gala Lirica” from the orchestra and singers of the Teatro Argentino de la Plata, and it was wonderful. Full orchestra, a choir that must have had fifty members, and (I think) eight soloists. If you look at the gallery above the musicians in the photo, you can see the choir. There was no blethering between the songs, and they just flowed immediately from one to the next.
They played and sang all the favourites that people know, even if not always the name. The choir sang two songs — with masks on! I think they should get a medal for that.
And at the end, the maestro told us it was their first performance since the lockdown ended, and that’s why they were so emotional.
Afterwards we went out with our friends Marcia and Cliff to one of their favourite Italian restaurants, Broccolino. The encores went on so long that we were quite late for our reservation. Fortunately, Marcia was able to call them and let them know, and they held our table for us. I hadn’t been there before, but will definitely go back as the food and atmosphere were lovely.
So happy the CCK concerts are back, and can’t wait to go to the next one.
Last night I went to the wedding of Joaquin, Cecilia’s son, and Corina. It was a great event — lovely venue, lovely summer night and good company.
They are definitely not a traditional couple — the bride arrived first and then waited to welcome the groom as he danced down the aisle! Cecilia made a short but sweet speech welcoming Corina into the family.
The event was at the Hipico Argentina, which I think is the Jockey Club. When I arrived there weren’t a lot of guests there yet, and nobody I knew. We stood around for a bit, and a mix of wedding people and horsey people were flowing around. Fortunately, there was a set of huge lights in the shape of the couple’s initials, so at least we knew we were in the right place!
Here are a few images of the evening.
I got a new outfit for the event, and realized I didn’t get my photo taken in it — so I took this one myself when I got home!
I went to Olivos, where Ceci lives, to spend the afternoon with her and her friend Inez, who is here on a visit. We went to a delightful new restaurant near where she lives, where we enjoyed good food and then walked down by the river. Fun afternoon.
Here are the first videos with Ale, my new tango teacher. He’s a really good teacher as well as lots of fun, and I’m learning a lot of new things from him. He was very into this video, and he wore his white tango shoes and his milonga hairstyle for the occasion! We made two videos, one tango and one milonga.
There are many famous, classic tango orchestras, each with its own distinctive style. My favourite is Carlos Di Sarli, known as El Señor de Tango—the Gentleman of Tango. His music is lush and romantic, and we danced the first video to my favourite of his songs, Indio Manso.
There are three variations on tango: tango, vals and milonga. Vals is a tango version of the waltz, danced to kind of waltz music but in tango embrace and with tango steps. Personally, I don’t like it much, preferring the other two. While tango tends to be either melancholy or romantic, or a combination of the two, milonga is a faster rhythm, kind of tricky steps and it’s upbeat and fun.
I think you’ll see the difference between the two—I hope you enjoy them. (Ale would love to have your comments!)
Last night my friend Susan, who lives just a couple of blocks up the street from me, held her annual tango party. Her apartment is on the 13th floor, and the outside terrace is spectacular. That’s where we did most of our dancing, under the stars and with the twinkling of Susan’s Christmas lights in the background. So romantic!
I didn’t want to be spending my time making videos, because I just wanted to dance, but I did shoot just this little short one at the beginning to give you a feel for the event.
Susan has quite a lot of tango friends, and she selected some great dancers for the party. I danced with everyone there for about three hours, and then wandered home tired but very happy.
Gracias, Susan!