History of Tango – Part 4: La

Guardia Vieja – II: The first

dancers

In the case of the dancers, in addition of the ones already

mentioned, who were also musicians and we remember mainly
because of their musical legacy, like Casimiro Alcorta (and his
partner La Paulina), Lola Candales, Enrique Saborido, Ángel
Villoldo, Alfredo Eusebio and Flora Gobbi, Ernesto Ponzio, or like
Laurentina Monserrat (Laura), María Rangolla (La Vasca) or
Concepción Amaya (Mamita), who are known after the places they
managed, a special mention is deserved by
Enrique Saborido, with the beautiful Lola Candales, Uruguayan as
he and his muse, come tango dancers. In 1908, with the growing
popularity of tango, he opens an academia in Cerrito 1070, which
they managed until 1912. In that year he decided to go to Paris
with other tango personalities. There, he taught to dance tango to
the European aristocracy and show off as professional dancer at
the Savoy and the Royal Theatre in London. He referred to other
good dancers: Jorge Newbery (one of the first Latin
American aircraft pilots. He was also an engineer, and is
considered to be the architect and founder of the Argentine Air
Force), his close friend Alberto J. Mascías, Alberto Lange, and
Martin Edmund Hileret Anchorena.
Concepción Maya, known as “Mamita”. At her home, located in
Lavalle 2177, Ernesto Ponzio composed his famous tango “Don
Juan”. Domingo Greco, in his unpublished memoirs, quoted by
Dr. Benarós, among other things, says: “In this house, the
clientele was selected. Men from upper class only. I met there the
first professionals of tango:  Angel Villoldo and Sergio
Mendizabal, Rosendo’s brother. He played the tango ‘más
compadrón’, and was strongest in the accompaniment, more
‘tempista’. He was one of the best tangueros of his time. Played,
preferably, in Concepcion Amaya’s house. When this woman
emigrated from Buenos Aires, she settled with a brothel in the
village of 9 de Julio, and brought “El Negro” Sergio with her. I was
then told that he died sitting in a bar, with the guitar on his lap.
He played guitar and sang so well, improvising. Instead, Rosendo
produced better tangos … ”

Mamita, as Luis Teisseire told, “was tall, skinny, authoritarian. Of

dark complexion, rather achinada, brave, black eyes. Always she
wore long, dark silk suit. She looked all covered with high collar.
At her house, among her women, she had la Ñata Rosaura,
Herminia and Joaquina. After a glass door, it was a long courtyard
with the rooms on the side and the classic dining room. ” There,
played the piano Sergio Mendizabal, El Gordo Mauricio and
Teisseire, our informant.
Other dancers from before 1910 who’s names reached us are:
El Mulato Sinforoso, who played clarinet next to Casimiro Alcorta
and a guitar player, forming a trio that according to Lino Galeano,
in an article written in the newspaper “Crítica” in 1913, signing as
“Viejo tanguero”, was the first tango band.
Carlos Kern ‘El Inglés’ was a man of “Maria La Vasca”. He
mastered the ‘vals cruzado’. He was an strong man of clear eyes,
always quiet, but effective in placing order. He was recognized as
a tough man, was heavy-handed and he alone was able to contain
the aggressive ‘compadraje’. For a time he organized dances at
Patria e Lavoro, in Chile 1567, a narrow hall, which was a difficult
place to stop the excesses of pickpockets and rioters. According to
César Viale, he finished serving as ordinance in the law firm of Dr.
Carlos Delcasse.

Carmen Gomez have been born around 1830, and began dancing
at the Academia de Pardos y Morenos, located on Calle del Parque
(current Lavalle). Around 1854s she opened what became known
as the “Academia de la Parda Gomez”, in the vicinity of the Plaza
Lorea (part of the current Plaza del Congreso). After selling it, in
1864, she opened another in Corrientes 437.
By the help of an Afro-Argentine sorcerer, surrounded the house
of her adversary, la Morena Agustina, in an effort to provoke
misfortune.
“The Afro-Argentines of the second half of the nineteenth century
were the owners of the ‘academias’, as the ‘peringundines’ where
the ‘compadraje orillero’ used to attend, were called… The police
report of the time recounts numerous incidents occurred there,
where soldiers, Afro-Argentines from different neighborhoods
and cart drivers were regulars” (R. Rodriguez Molas: Free Black
River Plate Magazine Humanities, Ministry of Education of the
Province of Buenos Aires, l year, September 1961, p. 114.).
About la Morena Agustina, we know that also had an academia
near Plaza Lorea.
The dancer Clotilde Lemos began in the Academia de Pardos y
Morenos, in the second half of the 1850s.
Alejandro Vilela, was employed at the Academia de la Parda
Gomez, where he played the piano.
Luciana Acosta,”La Moreyra”, was a popular dancer of  the
neighborhood of San Cristobal. She was a source of inspiration in
the literary field: Jose Sebastian Tallón portrayed her in his book
“Tango in the stages of forbidden music” (Buenos Aires, 1959);
and Juan Carlos Ghiano makes her protagonist of his play “La
Moreyra,” released by the company Tita Merello in 1962. There is
a film version starring by the same actress.
She was the daughter of Andalusian gypsies, and lived with her
man , “El Cívico”, Bautista Salvini, at the room number 15 of the
“conventillo” El Sarandi, located at the 1356 of the street of the
same name, and where some rooms were occupied by the Greco
family.
Dancer of great fame in the early tango scene, she danced at the
café La Pichona, at Pavón, between Rincón and Pasco (then
district of brothels), where, as described by Jose Sebastian Tallón,
“she was the business partner of her husband, a pimp, and skilled
dancer. She was at night a woman of tango. In her veins bubbled
the gypsy bravery, and being so feminine in appearance, and so
beautiful, she was of great courage as dagger shooter, hence her
nickname … Her figure: not very tall, perfectly shaped, sensual
voice, like her face, as her walk; olive skin tone, black eyes and
hair, small mouth, optimum bust. She wore blue or red silk robe
with white poke dots. Sometimes with colorful squares, or flowery
dress with long sleeves and laced cuff. She closed her robe from
the neck to the start of her breast, with a silken cord zigzaging the
embroidered eyelets, finishing in a bun with tassels. Her waist was
belted up to hurting by a corset. The skirt was pleated, gray or
light green. Perfumed with Rosa de Francia, Agua Florida or Jour
de Gloire. Hairstyle bun at the nape, with hairpins and combs of
tortoiseshell, big gold hoop earrings, and a locket. Portrayed
inside the locket was El Cívico.”
El Cívico, Bautista Salvini, descended from Southern Italians. was
a pimp, a good dancer and a respected compadrito.
Joaquina Marán, “La China Joaquina”, a wonderful tango dancer,
was the favorite at “lo de Mamita”, and later herself manager of
dance houses in the first decade of the 19th century. Tall, not
pretty but very interesting and seductive brunette, of very
pleasant conversation, Juan Bergamino dedicated to her his tango
“Joaquina” (listen) (originally “La China Joaquina” (listen).
She was involved in the death of a young dancer called “Ramayón”
by Ñato Posse, as both loved Joaquina Maran, who besides being
a lover of the two, had been of Mariano “Maco” Milani, another
renown dancer, and of Pablo Podesta, actor, circus performer and
singer.
Fernando Ramayón was a young man of the Buenos Aires’ upper
class, an Law student and a good tango dancer, who was killed at
age 22, on January 31, 1898, by Juan B. Passo, el Ñato Pose, in the
famous “Cuartos de Adela”, coffee, inn and dance place, in Alvear
y Acevedo, Palermo. Homero Manzi wrote a tango inspired in this
story, with music by Cristobal Herreros:
“Resuenan en baldosas los golpes de tu taco.

Desfilan tus corridas por patios de arrabal.

Se envuelve tu figura con humo de tabaco

y baila en el recuerdo tu bota militar.

Refleja nuevamente tu pelo renegrido

en salas alumbradas con lámparas de gas.

Se pliegan tus quebradas y vuelven del olvido

las notas ligeritas de Arolas y Bazán.

Ramayón, ya no estás con tu noche

tras el blanco calor del pernó.

Ya no pasa trotando tu coche,

ya no brilla tu bota charol.

Y no está con su traje de raso

la que entonces por buena y por leal,

afirmada en tu inmóvil abrazo

fue también tu pareja final.

Aplauden tu elegancia las palmas de otro tiempo.

Las cuerdas empolvadas resuenan otra vez.

Y en el fugaz milagro de un breve encantamiento

reviven las cenizas de todo lo que fue.

Un plomo de venganza te busca de repente.

Se aflojan los resortes violentos del compás.

Se pinta en tu pañuelo la rosa de la muerte

y el tango del destino te marca su final.”
“Ramayón”, Homero Manzi, Cristobal Herreros, by Nelly Omar
and guitars (listen).
Juan Bautista Passo, el Ñato Posse, had been imprisoned for his
criminal adventures, but thanks to his contacts with a leader of
the Conservative Party, who paid for his services, fast out of jail.
The movie “Historia de 900” (1949 -watch), written, directed
and performed by Hugo Del Carril, portrays the relationship
between the upper class and the marginal “orilleros” of Buenos
Aires in the framework of tango: they accepted the same ideals of
virile manhood, courage, true to their words, and a vision that
sees life and love as a game to be played with your whole self.
Mariano “Maco” Milani was another handsome and very elegant
young man of the Argentine high society, of straight hair and very
white skin. When he began drinking too much, lost his shape  and
got a red nose. Tall, impeccable, he lived a truly pompous life.
Margarita Verdier, or Verdiet, whom some called “La Oriental
“and “La Rubia Mireya”, resident of the neighborhood of
Almagro, Castro Barros 433. Daughter of French parents born in
Uruguay, had a reputation for “night owl”, given to the “dance of
the compadritos”, as tango was stigmatized by then. She was
immortalized by Manuel Romero and Francisco Canaro in the
tango “Tiempos viejos” (listen). There a few movies in which
she is portrayed:
“Los muchachos de antes no usaban gomina” (Manuel
Romero 1937 – watch), “La Rubia Mireya” (Manuel Romero
1948 – watch), and “Los muchachos de antes no usaban
gomina” (Enrique Carreras 1969 – watch).

Elías Alippi, tango dancer, actor and theater and film director,
playwright of comedies and sainetes (1883-1942). He debuted on
the scene in 1904 dancing a tango with Anita Posed in “Justicia
criolla”, zarzuela by Ezequiel Soria, music of Antonio Reynoso,
who that season replied the company of Jerónimo Podestá. He
was also one of the best dancers of the local “María la Vasca” and
other nightspots of that time, as well as on stage. He danced for
the last time in the film ”Así es la vida” (1939 – watch), with the
actress and singer Sabina Olmos. As playwright, he included
tangos in many of his works. The troupe Muiño-Alippi played a
decisive role in the advent of the tango-canción: on April 26, 1918,
in the sainete of José González Castillo and Alberto T. Weisbach,
“Los dientes del perro”, which premiered in Theatre Buenos Aires,
appeared, in a cabaret scene, Manolita Poli accompanied by the
orchestra of Roberto Firpo, singing the tango by Samuel Castriota
and Pascual Contursi, “Mi noche triste” (listen).
La Parda Deolinda shined in the Academias de Montevideo,
milonguera and owner of a dancing place. Pintín Castellanos tells
us that she was “gifted with a gorgeous body and a hell of a
character, and an extraordinary ability to dance with ‘cortes y
quebradas’ (…) the men, despite their proven courage, did not
risked much with her. “Between 1880 and 1886, Police Chief
Apolinario Gayoso deported her because of the many squabbles in
which was protagonist, to Buenos Aires. Here, he continued with
her dancing and bravery … She died in a duelo criollo!”.
La Parda Loreto, also know for her willingness to get into fights,
was born in 1860 and danced in the 80s, in the “peringundines” of
Suipacha and El Temple (Viamonte), in the “Milonga de la Calle
Chile” (actually called Patria e Lavoro, located in Chile 1567), in
the Teatro Politeama (Corrientes 1490, demolished in 1950, today
a parking), and already older, in the Salón San Martin, popularly
known as “Rodríguez Peña”. When her charms were dissipated,
worked -always faithful to her environment- as manger of a
burdel.
La Parda Refucilo danced in the early 80s in the academia located
in Independencia and Combate de los Pozos, famous for “la gente
de bronce” that frequented it and the prestige of the dancers, and
was partner in the milongas and in life, of a famous milonguero of
that time nicknamed el Biundín.

Francisco Ducasse, one of his dancing partners was named Mimí

Pinsonette. He was married to the actress Angelina Pagano. He
used to frequent «lo de Hansen». Francisco García Jiménez says
that the very charming princess de Murat was intertwined with
the tango skill of the fine handsome young man of Buenos Aires,
on tour in Paris, in a tango competition organized by the journal
Excelsior at the Fémina theater on the avenue of the Champs-
Elysées. Obviously, they were awarded the first prize. He was born
and died in Buenos Aires.
María La Tero: In the article about tango published in Crítica
newspaper on September 22, 1913, “Viejo Tanguero” included her
in a list of prestigious female dancers that went to the well-known
dancehall on Independencia and Pozos. Julián Centeya, in his
book “El misterio del tango”, describes her as tall and skinny.
La Parda Flora was very well known by 1880, so much that she is
mentioned in “Milonga de Tancredi” (“The other night at Tancredi
/ I danced with Boladora / was the Brown and Flora; / what he
saw me, he estriló”). She showed up her art in La Pandora of La
Boca, in peringundines of Corrientes and had its own academia in
25 de Mayo and Viamonte, to spend her final years in Flores. It is
also remembered in the milonga “En lo de Laura” (listen), of
Enrique Cadícamo and Antonio Polito:
“Milonga de aquel entonces

que trae un pasado envuelto…

De aquel 911

ya no te queda ni un vuelto…

Milonga que en lo de Laura

bailé con la parda Flora…

Milonga provocadora

que me dio cartel de taura…

Ah… milonga ‘e lo de Laura…

Milonga de mil recuerdos

milonga del tiempo viejo.

Qué triste cuando me acuerdo

si todo ha quedado lejos…

Milonga vieja y sentida

¿quién sabe qué se ha hecho de todo?

En la pista de la vida

ya estamos doblando el codo.

Ah… milonga ‘e lo de Laura…

Amigos de antes, cuando chiquilín,

fui bailarín compadrito…

Saco negro, trensillao, y bien afrancesao

el pantalón a cuadritos…

¡Que baile solo el Morocho! -me solía gritar

la barra ‘e los Balmaceda…

Viejos tangos que empezó a cantar

la Pepita Avellaneda…

¡Eso ya no vuelve más!”
“En lo de Laura”, Enrique Cadícamo and Antonio Polito, by
Ángel D’Agostino and Ángel Vargas (listen).
There is a movie, made in 1952, “La Parda Flora” (see here).
Sisters Balbina (Rosa and Maria) acted in the Stella di Roma, in
Corrientes and Uruguay, known as El baile de Pepin. It was the
first dance house which was established in the center and the
most famous doe to the attraction exerted by the Balbina sisters.
This house was one of those that adopted the system of covering
the organito with a mattress, so that the sound couldn’t be heard
at the street and reach the ears of the police authority.

La Gaucha Manuela, referred by Roberto Firpo in an interview

with Dr. Benarós: “I started playing the piano at the Velodrome,
in 1907, with Bevilacqua. Then I was twenty years old and came
from the Corrales, of Rioja and Caseros. The owner of The
Velodrome was Pesce, I believe the father of who was later the
owner of Luna Park. The place occupied an area of about four
blocks. In the center was a mound of dirt. Inside, a track, used by
cyclists. To get there you needed to go through a dirt road, which
sometimes became mud. It was two blocks from Hansen. Drinks
were served on tables placed under the trees. It had rooms, also.
From The Velodrome you could see when music was playing in lo
de Hansen. The Gaucha Manuela was a regular there, and was the
kept woman of a rich young man called Del Carril, which I believe
expended on her four or five millions. She was brunette, very
pretty, and very ‘criolla’ when speaking. She was a wonderful
dancer, capable of grabbing a knife and start with the blows. I
dedicated a tango “La Gaucha Manuela”(listen) to her. We
were asked for these dedications, and sometimes the person
asking for it payed us a hundred pesos. I dedicated the tango “To
the distinguished Miss Manuela Lopez.” I earned one peso a day
and some tips. There were no women. Each men had to bring his
own.”

Juana Rebenque, referred by Juan Santa Cruz -brother of the

author of “Unión Cívica” (listen) – (quote from Dr. Benarós):
“She lived in small tin roof house, like all the houses at ‘El Pueblo
de las Ranas’. You get inside you had to bent down. She did not
even had a rate. She charged whatever you gave her. She never
came to downtown. She was tall, thin, with a big nose, and
beautiful. She lived with a man called Fernandez. She was
mentioned in some famous verses of the time: ‘Hará cosa ‘e una
semana / que un canfinflero mistongo / me convidó pa’ un
bailongo / en el Pueblo de las Ranas. / Las principales bacanas /
de la ranil población / cayeron a la función / lindamente
enfaroladas, / porque habían sido invitadas / con tarjetas de
cartón.’”
El Flaco Saúl: A landowner who stands out among the first tango
dancers. According to “Viejo Tanguero”: “he was able to interpret
tango in two styles: the original, vivid, complex, full of figures and
‘quebradas’, of great agility, with strength and character, and the
smooth tango, which developed at the time called the ‘Guardia
Vieja’, as a necessity to adapt to female dancers who would not
follow the primitive style, which later was defined as the
characteristic style to dance the tango of the so called ‘Guardia
Nueva’, or ‘cabaret tango.'”

Filiberto, Juan “Mascarilla”, father musician and composer Juan

de Dios Filiberto. Eminent tango dancer of the first period;
natural and spontaneous creator. Owner or administrator
“Bailetín El Palomar”, then the “Tancredi” (c. 1882), nearby
recreational Suarez and Necochea, in the heart of La Boca. We
quote from an interview by ‘La Canción Porteña’ (Buenos Aires,
1963) in which his son tells us: “‘My father was cheerful, a bit
careless of all things, but simple and good, had an easy laugh and
good sense of humor in his eyes and always good jokes escaping
from his mouth. He sang in a nice tenor voice, which I liked to
listen. Dancer by nature, of the best tango dancers of La Boca; his
reputation was well recognized. According to his character he
worked on the most different and contradictory jobs, from owner
of dance halls to sailor, wrestler or construction worker. He was a
friend and often also bodyguard of Pepe Fernandez, strongman
and leader of La Boca, which was first supporter of Mitre and then
of General Roca. He possessed an extraordinary power, often
acting in the circus Rafetto wrestling and weight lifter.”
Mariano, mentioned by “Viejo Tanguero” (1913) as a regular of
“Scudo de Italia”. He was one of those which popularity was
earned thanks to the correctness of his dance. The tango lovers
stopped dancing and made a circle to watch hind dancing, to
admire and applaud the difficult execution of figures invented by
him and that no one else could imitate. He owned a large
commercial establishment that was located on the street
Sarmiento and Carlos Pellegrini.
Arturo De Nava, composer, singer pre-gradeliano. Was born
apparently in Paysandú in 1876 and died in Buenos Aires, where
he had settled since his youth, on October 22, 1932 …. Initially, a
natural dancer with great style, he was the first one to earn fame
on the stage, prior to Ain and Alippi, dancing tangos in plays since
1903 in the Podestá troupe. He was very handsome. Because of
his appearance, unmistakable, his photographs appear illustrating
several editions of the popular magazine Caras y Caretas of
Buenos Aires, in 1903. ”
Pancho Panelo, he belongs to the category of rich dancers.
Domingo Greco told that this man had so much serenity to dance,
and did it with a glass of champagne in his head without spilling a
single drop of liquid.

Pedrín “La Vieja”. Domingo Greco says in his memoirs: “Then

came a certain Pedrín, that was my classmate: we nicknamed him
‘La Vieja (The Old Lady)”. He used to live at Chile street, between
Tacuarí and Piedras. He brought tango to its maximum
refinement. Even before 1900 he was the best dancer known. He
had a lot of initiative. He was elegant, very musical, and with an
amazing speed in his legs. In a word, he was the best of all times.
Benito Bianquet “El Cachafaz” emerged as his only imitator.”
I have been asking myself why dancers often have a reputation for
being sexual, feisty, rebellious, irreverent, marginal, indifferent to
what people say about them, but also elegant, tough, self reliant,
respectable, admired…?
On one hand, I believe that a real dancer is a person for whom life
is a dance (“La vida es una milonga”). This approach is not as easy
to take as we may suppose. It requires strength and discipline
beyond the majority of people’s possibilities and/or willingness. If
not, why would a skill not make you rich, an approach to life that
is not of great value from a utilitarian perspective on life, would be
embraced with the passion, perseverance and stamina that to be a
GOOD DANCER requires?
On the other hand, all negative qualifications attached to dancers
come not from other GOOD DANCERS, but from those who are
not. It is perhaps a form of revenge from the ones whom value
resides in being useful to society -a laudable situation- against
those whose major contribution is an uninterested and useless
beauty which can’t be sold in the markets.
In my own experience, all the GREAT MILONGUEROS that I
have met in my life, many of whom I had the fortune and the
honor to have as my teachers, are (or were -in the case of those
that have passed away-) GREAT PEOPLE, incredibly wise and
have great sensitivity and common sense, reliable people,
generous, respectable, and among many other wonderful
qualities, the best at their day jobs and professions.
And the bottom line is that for me, everything that I have achieved
in my dance has made me a better person.
And I still have room to improve.
Read also:
• History of Tango – Part 1
• History of Tango – Part 2
• History of Tango – Part 3
• History of Tango – Part 5
• History of Tango – Part 6
• History of Tango – Part 7
Bibliography:
◦ “Crónica general del tango”, José Gobello, Editorial
Fraterna, 1980.
◦ “El tango”, Horacio Salas, Editorial Aguilar, 1996.
◦ “Historia del tango – La Guardia Vieja”, Rubén Pesce,
Oscar del Priore, Silvestre Byron, Editorial Corregidor
1977.
◦ “El tango, el gaucho y Buenos Aires”, Carlos Troncaro,
Editorial Argenta, 2009.
◦ Sex & Danger in Buenos Aires: Prostitution, Family,
and Nation in Argentina. By Donna J. Guy
◦ José María Otero http://tangosalbardo.blogspot.com/
2014/10/ramayon.html
◦ Guillermo Brizuela http://
miescueladetango.blogspot.com/2009/10/los-malevos-
parte-i.html
◦ Arcón de Buenos Aires http://
www.arcondebuenosaires.com.ar/
◦ Reseña de mujeres bailarinas. Por Luis Alposta and
Oscar Himschoot: http://www.todotango.com/
historias/cronica/326/Resena-de-mujeres-bailarinas-
Segunda-parte/
◦ Images http://www.tangology101.com/main.cfm/title/
Tango-History-in-Pictures/id/1165
◦ http://www.todotango.com/english/