Tango

I mentioned the little house where we are staying in Adelaide is called, “Casa Tango.” So named as Jill and Paul, the owners, are tango dancers. The house feels like living in Buenos Aires. A fedora, tango dress and stilettos hang on coat hooks by the front door. In our back garden is a wall evocative of Argentina complete with a clothesline draped with tiny colorful laundry.

All of this has us in the mood to tango when Jill and Paul invite us to a malanga, an evening of tango dancing.

We arrive to find a wooden dance floor in a room reminiscent of a 1930s dance club. Parties sit at small tables surrounding the dance floor. Everyone is dressed up with jewel colors of satin, lace and florals tightly fit to show dancers body movements.

The music is carefully selected by a DJ aficionado of tango. She mixes waltzes and the faster milonga to create a flow of tango music throughout the evening. I love the spanish vocals that come from a time and place where I have never been.

But the best is the womens’ shoes. Most are made by hand. Many come from Buenos Aires. All are stilettos of amazing design. Jill told me she knew a woman who traveled to Buenos Aires and came back with 15 pairs.

As you watch people dance, your eyes go to their feet. The tango is a close dance where the man leads and the woman follows pivoting and turning as directed by her partner.

You will note that many of the photos I have chosen are blurred. As I looked through the shots the blurs seem to me to best capture the dramatic movement of this intricate dance.

Viva la vida.