Far, far away...

Far far away they are making the war
the blood of the others is shed on the floor.

This morning i got, at a stalk of a rose,
a thorn in my finger which of hurt was the cause.

While sucking my finger i was thinking to war.
May heaven help them! How sad is the world!

I can't be of use, neither can speak,
i can't even go by land or by sea.

And if i could go, and the people defend
my arabic is null, my english is plain.

Under the heads of those who lie down 
maybe i could put my book full of rhymes.

Don't think so. Let's cut irony short,
and wear a jersey as the sun has gone off.

© Franco Fortini - 1991
Composita Solvantur, Edizioni Einaudi

Not in my name

Among the imperfect jewels stored in The Tangueros Quarterly Review' junk shop, whose new issue is now on line, the Jean Fajean's editorial is glittering of belate brilliance, like the punchline you should have said to the yesterday's bully. The opportunity is the recent Tango Festival of Buenos Aires whereas the true subject is the dangerous liaison of Tango and Reality: any connection between what's going on and the milongueros' dull scene is actually existing?
Do not hesitate to read and promote your favourite literary journal, which by the way also contains:

• Ascendencias del Tango by Jorge Luis Borges
  The unauthorized issue, not to mention the translation, of a juvenile essay by the argentine writer who most talked nonsense about the Tango since the Twenties.

• Poète et Boxeur by Arthur Cravan
  The last uppercut by the strongest poet in modern poetry

• A flower made of steel by Michela Fregona
  A portrait-interview of Mariachiara Michieli, the Tangueros' artistic director and choreographer 

• News from Mamojada by Loriano Pelizzari
  It's not a scoop, but near: was general Juan Domingo Peròn born in Sardinia?
  Take a look to our best investigator's chronicle

• Gentleman of fortune by Marco Castellani
  The Corto Maltese/Hugo Pratt's story in Buenos Aires: the first installment

• Not in my name by Jean Fajean
  Marginal notes on the permanent war and the Buenos Aires' Tango Festival
  Our director replies to a reader's bitter letter

New deal

The Tangueros School has started off its classes in Milano so successfully that it has to put on a further course for absolute beginners. Now the regular courses are four in Milano and two in Mestre, according to the following schedule:

• every tuesday
  09.00-10.30pm: basic level
  Danza e Movimento - via Semplicità 6, Milano

• every wednesday
  09.00-10.30pm: intermediate
  On Stage - piazza Medaglie d'Oro 2, Milano

• every thursday
  08.30-10.00pm: intermediate
  10.00-11.30pm: advanced
  Fitness Village - piazzale Candiani, Mestre

• every friday
  07.50-09.20pm: basic
  09.20-10.50pm: basic new
  On Stage - piazza Medaglie d'Oro 2, Milano

The accidental tangueros

If you want to understand a city, if you want to know its life and its people - Nelson Rockfeller suggested once to the Fortune's readers - do like me: take a look to the trash, rummage in the rubbish.
This is a golden tip indeed, but hard to follow: not everybody has got the class and the one trillion dollars that give you enough distinction to execute the Rockfeller Method with the foreign garbage cans in public. Not to mention the competitors, that's to say the clever tourists and the Fortune subscribers. Beyond all problems and professional bias, some alternatives are possible: you can examine the television, or the advertising, or, if you go to Argentina, you can also explore the Tango's dark scene.
To the armchair traveller, once in Buenos Aires, we suggest to enjoy one of the Tango Inclusive Tours' honest swindles: after all, for 50 or 60 pesos you will have your big night out, with dinner, a sparkling turkey at Casablanca, at Michelangelo or at Tango Mio, and a cup of Mendoza champagne. On the other hand, to the snoopers and, why not, to the want-to-be a tanguero we propose to visit the milongas. A few years ago, to go to a milonga was as hard as to attend to a rave party: strangers were not allowed and members passed the word. Nowadays, the Tango fashion has made the situation much easier. (to be continued)

© Marco Castellani - 1992
The Tango is a map of the Buenos Aires heart