It was a splendid night at Paradiso. The pre-milonga class was packed with Toronto tango dancers eager to experience maestra Alicia Pons teaching for the first time in our city so the floor was busy from the first dance until well after 1 a.m.
It was also a splendid night for visitors to experience the vibrancy of our Toronto tango scene and there were a lot of them. I sat with a charming couple from Moscow – as I don’t speak Russian, Elena came over and acted as an interpreter for me because I needed to know where Gennadiy got his furry animal print shoes. Turns out they are a personal design of his Buenos Aires teacher El Pulpo. I was cabaceoed by two men who had arrived independently from a mining convention – Felipe from Chile and British Alistair (currently working in San Juan, Argentina) who is known to many followers from his previous visits. Also reconnecting with tango friends was Margaret Spore, doyenne of the Halifax tango scene, who is indulging in everything Alicia Pons has to offer.
Alicia chose Jason and di Sarli for her demo and then the crowd went wild until they agreed to dance a Canaro milonga which necessitated Jason removing his tie.
Movers and shakers in attendance included: Isabella and Nicolai of Practica El Beso; Ilona and Andy of El Abrazo; John and Pam of WE Tango; DJ Jason and Steve Yee.
July 13, 2012 at 9:07 pm ·
Hello tangueras and tangueros of Toronto,
I have to start off by saying, that I am very proud of the Toronto tango community in general. Our Milongas have always been a pleasure to attend not only for our wonderful DJ’s and venues but also for the wonderfully kind atmosphere made possible by their hosts. This last part, unfortunately, I cannot say to be true about Paradiso. Although the hosts I’m sure, go through a lot of trouble caring for the fantastic venue, and hiring superb DJ’s, they do not go through the same trouble with their hospitality, which I consider to be just as much a part of the tradition of Argentine Tango as the Milonga is itself. I have (personally) never felt welcome or greated with a smile, on occasion when arriving early have even been asked to leave and wait outside. All be it, a class was going on and I was not there to take a class, other people where welcomed in just the same that also had no intention of taking part in the class either, so it would be easy but nieve to assume that there were personal reasons for this. I only come to Paradiso (when there is no other Milonga that night) because they are a traditional Milonga, you could say maybe even too traditional in their way of treating a young milonguera – harsh.
July 21, 2012 at 10:37 am ·
Thank you Tanguera Toronto for taking the time to write a thoughtful comment about your experiences at Paradiso. When establishing this blog with its Comments capability, I had hoped that more people would share their opinions – good, bad and constructive – of Toronto milongas to help create a bank of information (think TripAdviser) useful for all those who tango in Toronto. So far it hasn’t happened so I am grateful to you for taking the plunge.