A Techno-Infused Tango Show

tango
I imagined my first tango show in Buenos Aires to be a very humble yet romantic experience. I pictured myself with a glass of Argentine wine in a dark, small and aging venue in San Telmo. I expected that the dancers would be beautiful and passionate and that the music would swallow the room. I imagined a timeless experience that would transport me to the Buenos Aires milongas I had read about.

But my first tango show in Buenos Aires proved slightly different from my hopes and my expectations. Instead of the cozy, hole in the wall tango venue I had anticipated, I found myself in a room larger than two of my high school’s gymnasiums put together. The ceilings were high and a large glitzy stage with red curtains was elevated above the floor space. The floor space was dense with rows of rectangular tables, reminding me of the Hogwarts dining hall in Harry Potter. Hundreds of people sat awaiting the show as waiters dressed in matching uniforms served them steak dinners and cheese platters. In addition to the red wine I had expected at the show, the waiters also offered cheesy “tango-themed” cocktails and “sex on the beaches”.

When a very eccentric tango dancing couple tapped me on my shoulder and insisted that I smile as the venue’s photographer captured them sexually posing “mid-tango-move” behind me, I knew I had entirely failed at finding an authentic tango show. I also knew that I would not be paying for that picture…(or the CD, or the DVD, which were also offered at the end of the performance).

The show itself consisted of multiple performers dancing and singing and sexually wrapping legs at high speeds. A band, which included a bandoneon player, was elevated to the right of the stage. I was pleased that despite the modern twist given to most aspects of the performance there was still some degree of live music. I say “some degree” because the live band was also accompanied by electronic, techno-infused rhythms of milonga. Despite how glitzy and touristy and unlike my ideal tango show the experience was, at the end of the day, the show was still entertaining. The performers were talented and deserve much credit for their impressive high-speed dancing. Although I complain that it was not the tango experience of Buenos Aires that I had desired, to some extent I still experienced an authentic showing of culture. It is true that the tango can still be found in a more historically accurate “authentic” form, but tango, still a huge part of the culture and the pride of Buenos Aires, has inevitably evolved with the city over time.