Montependejo, back to BA. A comparison in tango spectacles.

Montependejo- This is what Mark keeps calling Montevideo. I am so sad to report that if there is something great about Montevideo, we just didn't see it. The city center was slightly delapidated, and reminded me of what Cuba must have been like 30 years ago, before it totally fell apart. It is barely modern, with the old and the new juxtaposed in a very unique way (businessmen in suits walk by horses that cart away recyclables.) Barely modern isn't a bad thing, but it's really hard to understand in a capital city where half of the country's population lives.

We went to the recommended folklore show called "El milongon" that explores the dances of Uruguay: Candombe, the afro-uruguayan dance that comes from the same place as Brazilian Candomble, tango, and gaucho-style taiko drumming and stepping.

It was awful.

The Uruguayans have a tango tradition, but according to the Argentines (for whatever that's worth) they don't really. They production was totally lackluster, cheesy vegas at best. I don't really know good tango, but I know bad tango, and this was it. Tango has an air of seriousness, but the FOUR dancers were not only not smiling, but there was no passion whatsoever in their gaze. In fact, ennui and depression was the only feeling conveyed.

The candombe was just pathetic. Especially after witnessing an actual candomble ceremony in Brazil. There was one expressionless older woman and an overenthusiastic Sammy Davis lookalike.

The gaucho bit was fantastic, but it was a brief flash of light in an otherwise very dark and depressing hour and a half performance, which was about 2 hours too long. And at USD$20, a total ripoff.

We went back to the town center to find hardly anything open, so we had to go back to the same restaurant, as the two others we found open were completely empty. To El Fogon's credit, the 5-meat parillada we had was divine.

We had changed our 2 pm Buquebus departure to 7:15 am, just to get out that much earlier. Even the all-day rain we came back to in BA was a welcome relief.

Back in Buenos Aires, we decided to see a real Tango show. The advice was to see Señor Tango, often described as the most popular tango spectacle. It's in Barracas, a somewhat shady part on the border of the city. The price of admission includes car service to and from the event.

The location is a converted warehouse made to look like Moulin Rouge. It was huge, with three levels housing 1500 people. It was packed to capacity almost, as it is almost every night.

I can't even describe it. There were horses. The women were impossibly thin with freakishly long legs dancing incredible tango. Showy. Sexy. Each set of dances took you through the history of tango, from its seedy origins to the 80's slightly scary look, to hollywoodized tango to the present.

It was 2.5 hours, no intermission.

There was an amazing orchestra, half of the members were only about 19 or 20 years old. They had a couple of old bandeon players join them for a couple of songs.

There was an amazing tenor singer, at times accompanied by a pair of twin women singing in perfect harmony. when they closed the show with "Don't cry for me, Argentina," it was all I could do to stop from crying myself.

It was glorious.