Last night, at 3 in the morning, an old milonguero* Sanhsara just danced with came over and said that he could not believe that I was from Denmark: "baillas como un Porteño" - you dance like a Porteño! It was meant as a big compliment to my dance and I did not hesitate so savor it, and took a big mouthfull of the champagne we had standing on the table.
Porteño means that you are native of Buenos Aires. The expression comes from the fact that Buenos Aires has a port, and to all Argentinians a Porteño is a person from Buenos Aires. The history of the port is at the heart of Argentinas history. All immigrants from Europe arrived here in the second half of the 1800 and beginning of 1900. The port was a busy place, and Italian, german, danish, swedish and other exotic languages was spoken here.
We have been in Buenos Aires for one week today. I have been here before in 2007 and 2008. I can therefore hardly claim to be a Porteño, at least not in the historical sense. None the less, the old milonguero called me a Porteño, a way of saying that I dance like a local. For someone like me, who's on the quest of becoming a real tango dancer and not just someone who dances tango, it was a really fine compliment. The answer to the question asked in the introduction to my blog is therefore: Yes, a danish guy can earn the title 'El Porteño'.
* A milongureo is a gentleman tango dancer. Normally a milonguero has a certain age, before other people see him as a milonguero. A milonguero has danced thousands of dances, with many many different woman. He knows the music and often he sings the songs into the ear of his dance partner while moving around the dancefloor. A milonguero often has, but not necessarily, a big belly.
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