Thirty hours of transit, from South Africa to Argentina, and the first thing we learn to do is the Tango! Here in the neighborhood of San Telmo, where we are staying, the dance may have been born. And just down the street is a place that does a night called Tango entre Muchachos.
Get the idea? All guys! This felt like a less threatening atmosphere for me, because I would not be expected to ask women to dance, and learn to lead, etc. Our teacher, Edgar Fernández Sesma, was wonderfully skilled. Even though he did not speak much English, and my Spanish was pretty rusty, his instruction came across really well. We learned how to walk to the music and some backing-and-forthing and sidestepping. He got Josh and I dancing with other guys in about 90 minutes, for less than four dollars each. (Here is Facebook https://www.facebook.com/edgardo.tangoyfolclore - recommended indeed!)
When we joined the group, we realized we were much better at following than leading. This led to some jokes about the personalities associated with conductor and conducido. We were then forced to switch roles and do the leading to rather than the following. That's the trouble and the challenge of single sex tango, I guess - learning both roles! I think to learn to lead well would take at least a year, and we have only four days left. So, we'll just fake it until we make it. The next such tango night is on Wednesday - wish us luck!
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