Dance at a milonga in Buenos Aires

“Fernando then offered his hand to me, and I would by lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. The violins began to swell from the speakers in the doorway and we entered in an embrace, preparing for the next tango. My body began to sway with his, and very slightly I began to feel his direction to shift my weight from right to left. He initiated a step, and soon we were moving in unison, slowly and steady around the room. My anxiety with dancing with him began to subside, and my shoulders relaxed; I began to breath and Fernando’s embrace became tighter. Soon, our faces were touching and we were dancing together in a way that I had never felt before: the energy being passed between our bodies was electrifying, fueling our movements in the small space. I could not see what we were doing, but I could feel the movements being told to me through his gestures. When the music came to its dramatic close, I was completely winded, not because I was fatigued or worn out; on the contrary, I had just been revived from my state of normalcy with my endorphins kicking in, and my body had tasted a new drug.”

“One of our favorite tango experiences in Buenos Aires was dancing together (as a gay couple) at the Tango Queer milonga in San Telmo. Milongas are tango halls, where you can go to see a live show or take classes. Tango Queer takes place every Tuesday evening at the Buenos Aires Club in San Telmo. It has classes at 8:30pm and later in the evening turns into a show with live musicians and professional dancers. We loved it and highly recommend it to gay couples. We were total beginners when we went, and were not the only ones. We quickly made friends with others and had a fantastic time learning the basic first steps. Once we got a feel for it, we were able to dance around the room together. We wouldn’t quite feel comfortable dancing as a same-sex couple in any other milonga, so this was already refreshing. Dancing with your partner to tango is mesmerizing and very romantic. It felt like we were transported to another era, in the 1940s/50s, together, locked in this mutual embrace.”