On Friday night I went with a few friends to an intimate little venue in San Telmo called Pista Urbana. Our friend Vivi, whom I’ve showcased before, was a guest performer, but the program was really Argentine folkloric music. While tango is endemic to Buenos Aires and also found in the other major cities, this is the music of the rest of Argentina. I first heard it when I went to Salta and Jujuy in the north, and fell in love with it then.

There are several different dances associated with the music, and the one you’ll catch glimpses of here is called chacarera. I remember taking a class in chacarera at my tango class in Toronto, and the teacher at the time said I was the only one who got it! I’m toying with the idea of taking some lessons here, but I have so much else going on I don’t know when I will find the time.

The second video is where the tango comes in! The leader of the group, in his introduction, said that he was also a tango singer, so at the end of the show we encouraged him to sing tango. I noticed the man at the next table was joining in the encouragement, so on a whim I asked him if he danced tango. When he said he did, I asked if he’d like to dance now, to which he replied, “Of course!” So we did!

I want to mention a milonga insider fact here. A dance at the milonga is called a tanda, and it consisists of three or four songs which you dance with the same partner. The reason for that is nobody expects much from the first song, especially with a stranger, as it takes time to begin to connect and understand the other person’s tango language. That being said, as Carlos and I met ten seconds before going on the floor, I thought we did not too badly! He did say he would come to Sueño Porteño on Wednesday so we could dance properly, so I’m looking forward to that.

If you missed the recent post where I danced with my new tango teacher, you can see it here.

Vivi took this picture of almost everyone in the room, and I did a quick shot of my dinner—quite delicious falafel!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy our evening at Pista Urbana through these two videos.