Between the coloured containers and the tracks walking was a bit risky.  The kindly police office with a twenty-four inch baton and upholstered gun advised us we were walking in a dangerous area.  Criminal was the word in his Spanish that was understood.  He escorted us from the wall-ways of darkness between the tracks and the coloured cubes.  We danced with him toward the sunlight and thanked him for keeping us safe.  This was the first time in all the years of travel that we were escorted to safety.  A dance with danger.

On Florida street this couple dances a tango with hats at every corner! In the fading hours of the day we wandered past closing stores and a fading retail dance to the streets of rest. The spontaneous dancing and the clapping crowd immersed us into the rhythms of Buenos Aires.

There is a drivenness, a bombastic show of force, that surrounds us when we pause to spend the evening at Almacen.  The tango dancers gyrate across the stage in acrobatic rhythms as the musicians drive rhythms and melody into the intimate space.  The bandoneon (a type of concertina  typical in most tango ensembles) breathes into each step as the base and violin drive the rhythms all the while directed by the keyboard. The lead as in Jazz switching among the instruments as they follow and lead the dancers. The dance and/music are a sensual interaction begging for more.

In the gallery the fighter jet serves as crucifix.  The sculpture by Leon Ferrari captures his title (Civilization) in a crashing irony. A world driven from dancing in the streets to dead under the sheets. This image is a painful capture of the realities of our politics.  A crucifixion that seems pointless.  Beyond the museum and in the Almacen the tango dancers invert our sense of logic, turn a whole world upside down creating a sensual hope.  A discordant determined and driven hope.  Escape for one night. Freedom. Joy instead of mourning.