In Strangers' Arms

I am so happy I did not wait to buy this book later. I really appreciate the descriptions of the milongas in BA in particular and I also loved seeing more photos of regular people dancing with joy and passion. I thought the title of the book was really apropos, “In Stranger’s Arms,” because in the best tango, we are demonstrating complete trust and intimacy with stranger, particularly when a tanguera visits another country for a short time, like I did. With a stranger, since there are no strings attached, you can be completely yourself and act as intimately as you desire without consequences! So it feels safe in a whole other way. How lovely that Beatriz was able to get people’s internal experience of the tango. I really enjoyed the stories from the tango “gypsies” who travel the world for the perfect embrace and tango experience and recognize each other at festivals!

I also found Dujovne’s analysis of the songs very interesting and how the image of women has changed from La Morocha to Milonguita to La Chorra to Malena–from ideal sweet homemaker, lover to dancer prostitute, to thief of hearts to the strong woman who is deep in experience and tears. I think that it is significant that women used to be scarce in BA at first, and now men are the scarce ones.