In Strangers' Arms

What goes on at Buenos Aires milongas would not exist today without the neighborhood cultures that gave birth to it all. We can feel the ghosts of tango’s past strolling around barrios where dance and music were born: San Telmo, La Boca, Pompeya, San Cristobal, Almagro, Caballito, Boedo, Flores. Joining a historian-led group will bring a barrio alive, more so than doing the visit on your own. Well informed guides may amaze you with their vast knowledge of various disciplines as they bring the intriguing past and present culture surrounding sites such as cafés, theaters, special streets and memorable corners.

Today I visited barrio Parque Patricios looking for the casa La Sonrisa de Gardel. Discovering or re-discovering a barrio is a “must do” for tango aficionados to get close to the ways of being that went into the heart of the dance.

Inside, over a welcoming lunch, I enjoyed a rich conversation with Mora Sanchez y Adrián Luna at their home. They are young tango teachers full of ideas on how to pass on their knowledge and passion for our national genre.

The house’s facade is a testament to barrio’s creativity, sentiment, inclusiveness and poetry. In almost a year, 120 neighbors worked there to create 96 portraits of our immortal singer Carlitos Gardel, the faces of nine women tango singers, the well known lyrics of Mi Buenos Aires Querido, and tango lyrics authored by Mirta. The home’s facade shows the collective work of the community. Mirta Regina Satz and Rufinio Venicio Bogado guided the project from start to finish.

At casa La Sonrisa de Gardel neighbors find workshops (talleres) in music, dance, painting. Teachers are passionate about what they do.

Mirta Regina, a surviver of the AMIA bombing tragedy, when interviewed by newspaper Clarín, said she felt “the need to transform rubble into beauty.” She knows Beauty.