Buenos Aires is and has always been a city of immigrants. Most notably, Spanish and Italian immigrants. In years past, they flocked to Buenos Aires to work the port, and the factories surrounding it. Many immigrants grouped together in a neighborhood that is today known as La Boca. Some parts of it are still strongly working class, and somewhat scary for the casual tourist, but other parts have definitely jumped on the tourist wagon. La Boca is famous in photographs for it's buildings. After finishing their work painting ships, signs or whatever their job entailed, workers would often bring the extra paint home with them, to slap it on their corrugated steel homes, giving the neighborhood a vibrant, colorful appeal.
But the buildings aren't the only vibrant thing La Boca boasts. Argentine tango was also invented on these streets. The tango is a sensual dance, all about the push and pull of love. There is always a hint of sadness in the steps, a longing desire for the unreachable. The immigrants that developed this dance style felt that same yearning for a life they could only reach through dance. The footwork is fancy, but the emotion is expressively poignant. I am working on loading a video that I took at a tango show on our last night in Buenos Aires, check back for that. Until then...
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