It Takes Two

I expected – even hoped – there would be many “teachable moments” on our trip.  But I never imagined one would occur at a tango show in Buenos Aires. Given the history of the tango, I should have known better.

The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges, a tango enthusiast and amateur music historian, wrote: “My informants all agree on one fact – the tango was born in the brothels.”

Borges was one to never let the truth get in the way of a good story.  While no one can pinpoint the tango’s exact birthplace, it did develop among the portenos (the people of the port area of Buenos Aires) in bordellos and bars.

Like rap or hip-hop today, it was urban music, forged from a range of musical influences, and carrying a subversive undertone.

In its early form, the tango romanticized the life of bohemian knife-wielding womanizing thugs.  Dances had a threatening, predatory quality – and often depicted a possessive relationship between two men and a woman.

Of course, I knew none of this when I signed up to take my kids to a tango show.

We arrived at Boca Tango and enjoyed dinner and a “musical comedy” before the tango show began.  I’d like to tell you the comedy was funny, but it was entirely in Spanish and I didn’t understand a word of it.

I’m assuming it was good because the rest of the audience laughed throughout and sang along with a number of the songs.

Next, we were escorted into an intimate performance space that was decorated as a slightly down-on-its-heels nightclub.  We were seated at a table close to the stage, giving us a birds-eye view of what was to follow.

Soon the lights went down and six men in grey pinstripe suits took the stage.  The music started and the men began moving around the stage – and then paired off.  Three men grabbed their “partners” and pulled hard on their jackets.

The suits came off – revealing three beautiful (and scantily clad) women.  An hour of very suggestive, vaguely threatening tango followed.

It was well past midnight when the show ended, and 1:30 a.m. by the time we made it back to our apartment.  We went straight to bed.

At lunch the next day, I wanted to talk about the tango show, to try to put what we had seen in context.

I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to say, but I remembered something our pediatrician has once said us:  “Follow your kids’ lead.  You don’t have to answer a question you aren’t asked.”

I started with a question: “So, what did you think of the show last night?”

Conor answered right away: “I was falling asleep when we first sat down.  Then those ladies tore their clothes off and I was wide awake for the rest of the show!”

Tango in the streets of Buenos Aires Boca neighborhood