Humberto Primo 1462 (between San Jose & Saenz Pena), San Telmo

La Milonga de los Consagrados – Useful information

Saturday afternoons 4.30pm-10.30pm; Entrance fee of 10 pesos; Reservations: 15-5892-2056.

Reservations are really necessary unless you attend alone, and then they can squeeze you in someplace. Usually this tango salon is full (more than 300 people) by 8.00pm.

La Milonga de los Consagrados is organized by Enrique “Gordo” Rosich, and although it is officially in the barrio of Constitucion, it would probably be referred to as San Telmo by most (official barrio borders are largely ignored in Buenos Aires).

Same venues, different milongas…

As I pointed out in my overview on Tango in Buenos Aires, even if a milonga is in the same salon as another, each milonga will still have its own character depending on the day of the week, the organizer, the crowd, and if it’s in the afternoon or at night.

Los Consagrados is in the same salon as the famous Nino Bien of Thursday nights (in the wonderful Centro Region Leonesa), but it is a totally different experience. And to my mind, the best afternoon milonga of the week. The fact that it’s held on Saturday afternoons, the traditional “difficult” day for singles, makes it even more of a plus…

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Casa Galicia, San Jose 224 (corner of Alsina), Congreso

[Note from Alan: Sorry for the long gap in posting here at the Buenos Aires Argentina Guide. But let's not dwell on that for too long, as here's a brand new post from Tango Cherie - author of our excellent Guide to Tango Salons in Buenos Aires - reviewing Chique, one of her favorite milongas in the city. And if you are interested in booking Tango Shows in Buenos Aires, let us know!]

Chiqué – Useful Information

Thursday afternoons 4pm-10pm (tango lessons from 2pm – 4pm); Entrance fee of 10 pesos; Reservations on 4201-7199 or 15-6140-7830

Organizer: Julio Auliel / DJ: Dany Borelli – “el mejor DJ de Buenos Aires” (and that’s the truth!)

Tango dancing in an authentic Spanish club

Chiqué is held every Thursday afternoon on the first floor of Casa Galicia, a Spanish club in Congreso (near the city center), and there is an elevator. A Spanish restaurant is on the second floor. The hall consists of a very old wooden dance floor in excellent condition, which is surrounded by tables with tablecloths, women sitting on one side, men on the other, and couples at the end in the traditional manner.

There is a small stage at one end where the DJ does his thing. The other end of the salon has big windows with a balcony. There is no physical bar, but waitresses (Pato and Vivi) take all orders to the kitchen where they are filled by bartender Armando just the same. There is a coat check, and a bathroom attendant. Julio, the organizer, and his wife, Mirta, are always there to welcome their guests. Patrons are expected to order drinks, from bottled water to champagne. Snacks are also available.

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An Introduction to Dancing Tango in Buenos Aires

Dancing Tango in the Confiteria Ideal, Buenos Aires [Photo credit: Gerrysan]

Note from Alan – We are lucky enough to welcome a seasoned Buenos Aires tango and milonga expert to the Buenos Aires Argentina Guide, in the form of Cherie Magnus, from the Tango Cherie blog (see the end of this post for more info on Cherie). Her first offering is an excellent guide to the types of tango salon in Buenos Aires, for those interested in the real world of social tango dancing in the city. So, over to you Cherie…

If you want to dance tango in Buenos Aires, where do you go?

Actually it depends on many things: your age, what style you dance, what day or night of the week you want to go out, if you go with or without a partner, and so on…

Dancing social tango in Buenos Aires has nothing to do with the Tango Show Dancing on the streets of San Telmo, La Boca, calle Florida, or Recoleta, or the many Tango Cena-Shows with an orchestra, stage dancers and dinner. The first thing to know about tango is that what you’ll see in those places is a different dance – Tango for Export. And that is another post entirely!

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Cochabamba 444 (between Defensa & Bolivar), San Telmo

Note from Alan: Taking inspiration from the fantastic team blogging efforts over at both Argentina’s Travel Guide and Expat Argentina, I recently decided to get some fresh blood on board to help with the creation of the Buenos Aires Argentina Guide. There are so many great places in Buenos Aires to review, and only one of me to do so… it would take years if I continued solo! If you think you have what it takes to be a contributer here, even if only for one ‘guest post’, please email me or leave a comment. Right now, I’d now like to cordially welcome our first new member of the team, Rachel Signer, whose bio you can find at the end of this article, and whose first post, about the Cochabamba 444 milonga in San Telmo, I hope you will now read with enjoyment…

An authentic milonga in San Telmo

For an authentic tango experience in Buenos Aires, you don’t necessarily need to go to one of those expensive places that offer Argentina Tango Shows aimed at tourists. Instead, head to Cochabamba 444, the San Telmo milonga where the city’s best tango dancers come to strut across the dance floor with people of all ages, walks of life, and nationalities. The bar is dimly lit by chandeliers with yellow bulbs, giving an aura of antiquity that takes you back to Buenos Aires in its Golden Age of high-society and sizzling tango bars. It’s located on a quiet street just three blocks from Plaza Dorrego, where the Sunday antiques fair is held.

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[12th - 25th March 2007]

Sorry for missing a week folks. Without wanting to go into the details, it’s been a crazy and stressful time. Anyway, on with the show we go, with my picks from the Buenos Aires blogosphere from the last two weeks, and I’m going to to try and keep my usually meandering descriptions quite brief this time round…

My favorite Buenos Aires blog posts from the past 2 weeks

• Tango Cherie made an interesting post on the subject of tango ‘taxi dancers’
• Nathan from Trip Trap notices some funny goings on in the Buenos Aires section of Craigslist
• Robert’s map of Recoleta Cemetery is ready, and it looks beautiful
  

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