3119  the milonga situation in Buenos Aires

Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2005 00:33:36 -0300
From: Janis Kenyon <jantango@FEEDBACK.NET.AR>
Subject: the milonga situation in Buenos Aires

There are usually about 130 milongas per week in the capital federal. These
days you're lucky to find one or two open each day. This is a serious
situation for those whose only income is derived from working in the
milongas. I know one waitress who worked 50 hours a week in Lo de Celia to
support herself and her teenage son. Now she has no job. Lo de Celia may
never open again.

A friend from the milongas invited me to her home to celebrate her birthday.
She usually celebrates it in the milongas with friends, but we gathered
today in her Flores apartment. Three milongueros were there when I arrived.

The main topic of discussion was the current milonga situation. Her cousin,
a milonga organizer in Viejo Correo, was there to fill us in on many
details. All the fire code rules, which are common in the USA, are now
being mandated in Buenos Aires. The owner of Viejo Correo is having a fire
entrance added to the front of the building to comply with new fire code
regulations (wider door which opens out). The milonga will be limited to
150 people. I've seen double that number there. Viejo Correo is open seven
days a week.

Get ready for more bad news--the wood floor in Salon Canning has to be torn
up and replaced with fireproof materials. The best floor in Buenos Aires is
gone!!!!! We couldn't believe it when we heard the news. The owner of Club
Gricel has to do something about the wood floor as well.

Many feel that Lo de Celia will never reopen. Last year it became the best
place to dance with eight milongas on six days. On Saturdays, there were as
many as 260 dancers for Hector's milonga, but the new fire code regulations
state that there must be one square meter for every person. This will
drastically reduce the number of people who can enter so it will never be
the way it was. More milongueros went there than to any other milonga.
There is only one stairway exit from the first floor. The building owner
would have to add a fire escape to the building or build another exit into
the restaurant below. Celia's ten employees are out of work. The space
will be unusable for anything according to the new codes.

Victor Patricio and Adriana, the organizers of Monday's milonga in Lo de
Celia, have announced a permanent move to Trovador in Vicente Lopez, and
they are providing private bus service after the milonga to Plaza Italia for
2 pesos to accommodate people who have to travel to the capital. It's not
easy getting a taxi there at 3am. There was a concensus among the group
that once the central milongas are open, those who went regularly to Celia's
on Monday will not want to travel to Trovador in Vicente Lopez to dance.

El Arranque in Salon Nuevo Argentina has no problem with a marble floor and
wide exit doors. El Beso has only one stairway exit from the first floor so
it will probably never reopen.

Another increase in the entrada is expected for all these fire code
improvements. It was speculated that most entradas will be 7 or 8 pesos,
hardly what most people in BsAs can afford on a daily basis.

We toasted Lucia's birthday with champagne and the music began. She moved
the furniture, and we had more than enough space to dance. Eight women
shared the four milongueros. If the situation continues, Lucia's planning
to hold her private milonga again next week. It was short, but sweet, and
everyone got their tango fix.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Lo de Celia will be able to reopen. I
live only nine blocks away.


Janis Kenyon
Buenos Aires