3101 Shahrukh Merchant report - Milongas Buenos Aires
Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 09:41:58 -0300
From: Alberto Gesualdi <clambat2001@YAHOO.COM.AR>
Subject: Shahrukh Merchant report - Milongas Buenos Aires
Bravo Shahrukh !!
I take my hat up for your report, extremely useful for all visitors that have a major dosis of "local colour" than what they should expect.
How much will this situation ( milongas closed ) last ??
Well , this have three stages
Stage 1: a ban issued by the town hall, not for milongas, but for all kinds of dancing places, is on effect for a 15 days term. If the town hall counts working days as usually do for legal terms, this will mean , until january 21 , more or less.
Stage 2: to be allowed to reopen, milongas will have to ask a new certificate of fire countermeasures, inspection of the place , emergency exits, etc.etc.. Some places like La Viruta claim is already done , other places as Viejo Correo & Plaza Bohemia say they will not open until is clear what is demanded ( Viejo Correo is making a new entry or emergency exit , at the front of their venue ).
Stage 3 : a revision of local regulations concerning fire countermeasures will have to be made , this will take some time , as the local town hall major Mr Ibarra has summoned firemen authorities , and owners of major dancing places, to make several meetings about it .
In the meantime , only field reports as Shahrukh did, are the only reliable source
Warm regards
alberto gesualdi
buenos aires
Shahrukh Merchant <shahrukh@SHAHRUKHMERCHANT.COM> wrote:
Situation with Buenos Aires Milongas (and where to dance this weekend) -
Part 1
With the caveat that things seem to be changing all the time, here is
what seems to be the current situation. Can't promise 100% accuracy,
since this information has been pieced together from personal
observations, hearsay, conversations with organizers, newspaper reports,
etc., but I believe it represents the current state of affairs
reasonably accurately (and hence may be obsolete already :-).
1. MILONGAS IN CAPITAL FEDERAL
-----------------------------
Milongas in the "central" part of Buenos Aires city (as opposed to "la
provincia"--outskirts that are outside the jurisdiction of the central
police) seem to be all but closed for now, at least at night. To give
you an idea, here is a sampling of what transpired this past week in the
central Milongas, based on the ones I went to and what I heard, but the
trend seems to be echoed in other central Milongas also.
MONDAY: Parakultural at Canning was open as usual till the end (5 or 6 am).
TUESDAY: Porteqo y Bailarin was closed and many people went to El Beso
down the street, but at 1 am (VERY early--the Milonga would go to 4 or 5
am normally), the police came and made the organizers close it down.
WEDNESDAY: La Nacional was open, but at 3 am they announced that they
had got word that the police had closed down Confiteria Ideal and that
as a precaution they were going to close too before the police came, to
minimize problems for the following weeks.
THURSDAY: Rouge Tango at Canning was one of the few Milongas "known" to
be open (as confirmed by the organizer in La Nacional the previous
night). Canning (the venue) has somehow managed to stay open so far this
week, so people were optimistic. But at 1 am, the police came and made
the organizers close it down too.
FRIDAY: The special Milonga at Sunderland, which was a finale to the
Osvaldo Zotto's and Lorena Ermocida's seminar that was going on all
week, was open (and open to the public too) and it was great, with good
dancing (a little heavy on the performances, but they were all great).
No sign of any police but the Milonga ended at 4 am, when there were
enough people still dancing that normally one would have expected it
would have gone on for at least 1 hour more. No explanation or evidence
of any "trouble"--perhaps it was just a precaution. Interestingly,
although Sunderland is some distance from the center in Villa Urquiza,
it technically is STILL in Capital Federal--perhaps the distance from
the center made it more immune, or they got special dispensation since
it was connected to a "private" seminar, or because of Zotto/Ermocida's
name, or ...?
All sorts of theories had evolved to explain why some Milongas were
opened and some closed, "The location where Milonga A is held has salsa
and rock on other nights so they treat it like a club/disco, while
Milonga B is a dancehall and falls into a different category," "Milonga
A has only one exit while Milonga B has more than 1," "Milonga A is held
in a Cultural Center, so is exempt from the nightclub regulations while
Milonga B is not," etc., etc. By the end of the week, all these theories
had been debunked, with one notable exception:
"MILONGAS IN THE PROVINCIAS (OUTSIDE CITY LIMITS BUT WITHIN 'GREATER
BUENOS AIRES') ARE NOT AFFECTED, ONLY THOSE IN CAPITAL FEDERAL."
A second observation that seemed to hold true thus far was that
"matinee" Milongas (generally afternoon or evening ones that end before
midnight) did not seem to have been cracked down upon yet. However, it
is less clear that this will continue to be true for this weekend.
Better call first or be prepared with alternate plans ...
An announcement from one of the members of the Association of Milonga
Organizers that was just sent out said there will be no dancing between
8-10 Jan (aside from classes), but this seems to be an excessively
general proclamation, and clearly does not apply to the provincial
Milongas listed below, which certainly seem to be on, based on equally
recent information ...
2. SO WHERE TO DANCE THIS WEEKEND?
As others have also noted, Milongas in the provincias seem to be the
place to go. This is not difficult to do. It takes 15-30 minutes by taxi
and may cost 12-16 pesos each way. The "risks" of taking a random taxi
that you hail on the streets out to the provinces are usually greatly
exaggerated, but it's easy enough to call a radio taxi to pick you up.
Try one of these companies: Taxi Premium: 5238-0000, Taxi Porteqo:
4566-5777, Taxi Pidalo: 4932-2222. These companies are large, reputable,
and have all air-conditioned taxis. Keep these numbers with you to call
for the return trip if you can't find a taxi waiting outside when you leave.
My choices for NIGHT Milongas this weekend (all outside the center but
reasonable commute by taxi):
SATURDAY, 8 JAN
===============
1. La Calecita (Address: Comodoro Rivadavia 1350 (parallel to Libertador
8000), Club IMOS, in Nuqez.) 11 pm onwards. Outdoor Milonga and
cancelled in case of rain (which might happen ...). Tete's birthday will
be roasted tonight too. [Note that, independently of the current
situation with Milongas in general, Calecita had been cancelled for some
months, and has just reopened with a different organizer ... the number
I had was for the previous organizer so I am not including it here.]
2. Sunderland Milonga is in Banco Provincia tonight! Maria Esther of La
Barranca (see Sunday info below) just told me that the "Sunderland"
Milonga normally held at Villa Urquiza will be held at Banco Provincia
TONIGHT, Hipolito Yrigoyen 803, Vicente Lopez, precisely because, as
noted above, the normal location is in Capital Federal and cannot be
open. From 10:30 pm onwards. 4541-9776, 4605-8234, or try the La
Barranca numbers below.
3. Circulo Trovador, Av. del Libertador 1031, Vicente Lopez, 4838-0546,
4838-0472. 10 pm - 5 am or so. Just confirmed that this is on too.
These are all in the same direction north of the city (Calecita is
further out in Nuqez), so you can even try out more than one.
SUNDAY, 9 JAN
=============
La Barranca, Banco Provincia, Hipolito Yrigoyen 803, Vicente Lopez,
4799-4426, 4795-4787, (15) 4147-2312. Beautiful room with large dance
floor. Very good airconditioning too. 9 pm onwards (till at least 3 am).
3. SO WHAT'S GOING ON AND WHEN WILL IT GET BACK TO NORMAL?
I'm going to continue this in part 2 that I send later, since I want to
get this first part out in time for it to be useful to people ...
(Needless to say, I certainly won't have an answer to the "When will it
get back to normal" part! :-) But there's still plenty of Tango in
Buenos Aires, a new solidarity that is emerging, different Milongas that
people are trying out, etc., so certainly don't cancel your trip if you
are planning to come down here. Just be open-minded and flexible and
patient ...
Shahrukh Merchant
http:/www.shahrukhmerchant.com/tango/
250MB gratis, Antivirus y Antispam
Abrm tu cuenta aqum
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 13:57:04 -0500
From: Shahrukh Merchant <shahrukh@SHAHRUKHMERCHANT.COM>
Subject: Re: Shahrukh Merchant report - Milongas Buenos Aires
Thanks Alberto, and thanks for your information as well. There are two
Milongas that I know of in the center that will reopen this
week--Shusheta (Dandi) and Sunderland--so there is light at the end of
the tunnel!
I created a website at: www.BuenosAiresMilongas.com to consolidate all
the information that people are finding out. As you say, "field reports"
seem to be the most reliable, and hopefully this site will make these
more easily accessible to everyone. I put the full announcement of the
site on Tango-A, but it is fairly self-explanatory if you just visit it.
Inspections started this Monday at the announced rate of 18 per day (for
all "clubs," which appear to include most Milongas (bars with
entertainment will be next), and they seem to be progressing with an
announcement or two each day for a newly opened (or rumoured) Milonga
venue. In order to diffuse criticism of possible corruption in this
process, the officials have pledged to put make all inspection reports
public by putting them on the Internet!
Shahrukh
> Alberto Gesualdi <clambat2001@YAHOO.COM.AR>
> Date:
> Mon, 10 Jan 2005 09:41:58 -0300
>
>
> Bravo Shahrukh !!
>
> I take my hat up for your report, extremely useful for all visitors that have a major dosis of "local colour" than what they should expect.
>
> How much will this situation ( milongas closed ) last ??
>
> Well , this have three stages
>
> Stage 1: a ban issued by the town hall, not for milongas, but for all kinds of dancing places, is on effect for a 15 days term. If the town hall counts working days as usually do for legal terms, this will mean , until january 21 , more or less.
>
> Stage 2: to be allowed to reopen, milongas will have to ask a new certificate of fire countermeasures, inspection of the place , emergency exits, etc.etc.. Some places like La Viruta claim is already done , other places as Viejo Correo & Plaza Bohemia say they will not open until is clear what is demanded ( Viejo Correo is making a new entry or emergency exit , at the front of their venue ).
>
> Stage 3 : a revision of local regulations concerning fire countermeasures will have to be made , this will take some time , as the local town hall major Mr Ibarra has summoned firemen authorities , and owners of major dancing places, to make several meetings about it .
>
>
> In the meantime , only field reports as Shahrukh did, are the only reliable source
>
>
> Warm regards
> alberto gesualdi
> buenos aires
