LEARN BY PRACTICING
Most taxi dancers like Tolosa work independently, but the capital is also home to agencies such as Tangotaxidancers, with 17 years of experience.
It offers private lessons but also accompanied dance outings, promising on its website: “Do not sit and wait — dance and enjoy.”
Just knowing the steps is not enough to enjoy a tango night out, say those in the know.
For this, you also need to know the art of “cabeceo,” a non-verbal invitation to dance using just a head movement.
“There are certain codes in tango, such as how to... ask someone to dance,” explained taxi dancer and teacher Laura Florencia Guardia, 28.
“There are still some traditional aspects, such as inviting someone to dance with a look from one table to another... People also need to learn this. That’s why it’s good for them to hire dancers to show them this world.”
Guardia skilfully avoided the feet of Salvador Bolanos, a Mexican tango enthusiast attending one of her lessons, boasting laughingly that she had “never had a client step on my toes!”
Bolanos, a 37-year-old systems engineer, said he was in Buenos Aires to “learn about the music, in particular. I am learning about tango: the culture, the composition.”
He said he enjoyed the “melancholy of the tango, but at the same time the strength it has.”
Tango tourists get something from “taxi dancers” that they might otherwise miss: real-world experience in a traditional setting said Guardia.
“At first they are shy, then they gain courage,” she said.
“You learn by practicing.” — AFP