La Maria - práctica de mujeres

When I was last in Canning, early on in the evening, a woman came around the tables with a little bag full of hair rollers. She put one on the table in front of me. I picked it up and found rolled up inside it a pink leaflet advertising a práctica just for women at Corrientes 4534 in Angel Gallardo, not far from where I used to live in Villa Crespo. I thought it sounded promising, somewhere I could develop my leading skills, whilst at the same time improving my overall technique and creativity.

I went. It surpassed my expectations. I was welcomed warmly by Karo, Majo and Cynthia, the organisers, who asked my name and even remembered it. Entry was a mere five pesos, which included a table laden with refreshments. There was a masseuse on hand, who was a student osteopath and turned out to be none other than the organiser of La Milonga de las Morochas in Riobamba, a really great Saturday night milonga at the same venue as El Beso. Incense, mate and biscochos, friendly management and good music madeLa Maria a very nurturing environment for a newbie to walk into. Even though the standard of dancing was considerably above mine, I was constantly partnered and Cynthia, Caro and Majo were on hand to give useful input. Then, the icing on the cake: in walked Analia Vega and Marcelo Varela, two of my favourite performers. They came in as guest teachers and showed us a useful little sequence for switching roles.

Towards the end of the workshop, I nourished myself with a massage, half an hour of tactile bliss on a mattress, covered in a pure white cotton sheet. (How I miss cotton sheets...) All in all, the practica was an entirely positive experience, which I intend to repeat with pious regularity.