So the rumours that have been swirling around the last few weeks are true: El Beso has been closed down. Jantango has confirmed it. I shouldn't be surprised, having been there when it felt crowded to the point of being unsafe. It also means that if it can be made safe it could reopen; depends on whether the owners think it's worth it, I guess. It has plenty of history, but it was small and crowded, and dingy, too, and the lighting wasn't great. There's a demand for milongas, so all the activities will move elsewhere. There are alternatives, some of them a lot more spacious.
Monday 7 May 2012
El Beso
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8 comments:
The location has never been exactly what could be considered safe by any standards. A reopening depends on satisfying the city inspectors and meeting fire regulations.
If you think it was dingy when you were in El Beso, you should have seen it as Regin. Milonga venues in BsAs aren't known for being beautiful spaces for dancing. Dancers are satisfied for a comfortable chair where the DJ keeps playing good music and the lights stay on.
The new Plaza Bohemia Tango on Alsina is reaping the benefits of El Beso's closing. Two milongas relocated. Plaza Bohemia has a full schedule as it did at Maipu 444.
I'm sad about El Beso. Although small, it was the right size for the cabeceo. And the floor was good to dance on. But am excited about the new Plaza Bohemia. Hope that stays open till I get there! What do you think of the new venue at Alsina Janis?
I wrote a milonga review a few days ago on Tango Chamuyo about Sentimental y Coqueta in Plaza Bohemia on Tuesdays. The space and dance floor are larger than El Beso yet smaller than Salon Leonesa making invitation by head movement possible from any location.
Plaza Bohemia has milongas almost every day of the week, just like they did when located at Maipu 444. Entre tango y tango (Friday in Salon Leonesa) has moved there as well. Attendance dropped off when they raised the entrada to 35 pesos, so the organizers relocated and start this week.
I think the new Plaza Bohemia is likely to be around for a while. The building seems to be an old community centre, with the milongas now held in the hall. (A fine art-nouveau ironwork entrance onto the street.) If that's so, then there isn't the problem of a private landlord deciding to get more money from a developer than from leasing it to milongas. & as it's on the ground floor, with a spacious entrance, it's less likely to have problems with the quite strict city regulations.
There is a website for the building here, but the Salon section may not have been updated since El Beso closed. There's a page of photos too, but these were taken before the new floor was laid. A wooden dance floor has been laid over the tile floor: I've not seen that before, but it's very successful. It's still not a sprung floor, but I imagine there's a layer of felt or foam between the wood and the tile, because it feels pleasantly soft to dance on: Enriquetta Kleinman describes it as 'silky'. Jantango says the floor is 'better than Salon Canning' (the highest praise!) in her review. The lighting is just the normal hall lighting: it's adequate for cabeceo and it's quite even, so people's eyes aren't in the shadows.
It doesn't have the intimate, close-up feel of El Beso or Maipu 444, but it's a pleasant place for an evening out, and a great place to dance. Just up the road from the recently re-opened La Nacional, which is somewhat grander.
Plaza Bohemia is indeed a nice venue. However, Entre tango y tango has not moved there. It's still on as usual at La Leonesa on Friday night. I just confirmed the venue when booking.
@Patricia,
You are correct about Entre tango y tango remaining in Salon Leonesa on Friday. Another person confirmed that fact with me today.
Sorry for the confusion. Nothing has been published yet and all information is by word of mouth.
The milonga "Entre tango y tango" on Fridays at Salon Leonesa is discontinued due to very low attendance.
The milonga de Elsita in Plaza Bohemia is doing fine.
2xtango.com posted the announcement on July 26 that El Beso will reopen in August. No specific date was mentioned. All the milongas are returning home.
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