26 Jul 2024
Excellent performance that's under-recommended, perhaps because they don't pay for affiliate links. Included 4 or 5 Piazzolla nuevo tango pieces, plus some film footage of the master playing bandoneon. (There's a subtly-integrated background video/light show.) The rest was traditional tango music, but its rendering felt contemporary, not something playing through a 1920s Victrola.
The dancing was jaw-droppingly accomplished, acrobatic, and sensuous, including both tango and modern dance. The performers are 6 couples, with 1 couple serving as impresarios. Great 6-piece band (2 violins, 2 bandoneons, piano, upright bass). Singers front the band with solo songs during costume changes.
The elegant theater looks huge in photos, but it's actually quite intimate. Dancers come forward do dance in the front loges, and singers walk right into the audience with cordless mics.
This is in the basement of Galería Güemes, a Milan-style 1959 shopping arcade at Florida 165, a few walkable blocks from Plaza de Mayo and the Casa Rosada. We booked the show only, no dinner or hotel transfer. But we arrived early, and were offered an à-la-carte food and drinks menu. Outstanding deals (quoted in U.S. dollars) on well drinks. The space can be cool in Argentine winter (June–August), so dress in layers.