Anahí Viladrich
tough it is for her to meet the right guy here, about her foot prob-
lems and her lack of health insurance; and about all the extra help
she gives and receives from her tango comrades in spite of all the
gossiping going on.... She kept talking and talking about all the
things I wanted to ask her, but I somehow felt that this was not the
right time.... I am still impressed about the easiness with which
some people will digress about intimate details of their lives, even
if they hardly know me. This is the kind of serendipity that I am
still getting used to. (Tango notes, June 30, 2000)
Ironically, it was often easier to obtain meaningful details about
the lives of my tango pals when engaging in informal chatting, with-
out the obtrusive barrier of a tape recorder or the fierce solemnity of
a guided interview.
Only Two to Tango?The problems did not end with my deciding to remain off the dance
floor, as I did not initially realize that my presence as a non-dancer
tango voyeur could somehow challenge the tango’s ritualized gender
hierarchies. Unspoken gender rules not only elicited power asymme-
tries with Argentine males but also brought up additional difficulties
to my accepted representation in the field. What to the untrained eye
appear to be subtle codes, among tangueros reveal discreet conven-
tions that work as both inclusive and exclusionary practices, through
which some are allowed to play femme fatales and others seductive
men. Tango-dancing halls are sites for the ritualistic reproduction of
seeing and being seen, along with the recreation of tango characters.
Above all, tango salons are panoptical sites where actors are being
watched by everyone else, while pretending to be glancing at nobody
in particular. Dancing then becomes the foundation of their ritual-
ized social exchanges.
The commitment of tango aficionados to their practice was one of
the topics that typically emerged during my spontaneous conversa-
tions with tango friends. In addition, my periodic observations of the
social (and bodily) exchanges taking place in the tango world pro-
vided me with some clues to understand the range of motivations
leading international New Yorkers into tango dancing, beyond the