TANGO, DEL BURDEL, SALÓN Y CALLE – Argentine Ballet – Thursday, February the 11th and 18th

On the ocassion of the celebration of 20 years of  the company “Ballet Argentino”, they are going to present their play “Tango, de burdel, salón y calle”.

When: Thursday, February the 11th and 18th at 9.30 pm

Where: Parque Centenario Amphitheater, Lillo Av. and Leopoldo Marechal.

How much: FREE!

ESPAÑOL vs. CASTELLANO (Beyond the problem of nomenclature)

It´s been further discussed the way in which we have to call the language spoken in Spain and most of Latin America. If we pay attention to the etymology of the two available terms, namely español and castellano, we find that the former refers to Spain and the ladder to Castile (also in Spain).

Nowadays,  castellano is used more frequently to refer only to the language as spoken in Spain, and español to the language as it is spoken in Latin America.

However, what is hidden behind this discussion? If it were all about a title, there wouldn´t even be a discussion just as there is no discussion about whether to call table “a table” or something different. So, why is it so important?

Language is much more than a mere tool to communicate with each other. The way in which people reflect on language goes far beyond a simple “ message is clear / message is unclear” issue. Nevertheless, language is rooted so deep inside us and it is such a part of us that it becomes very hard to take distance from it and grasp its nature in all its complexity.

As I said, language is much more than a mere tool: it is also a flag. With this, I mean that the specific way in which a community (I am purposely avoiding the word “country” ) speaks is a symbol of the community itself, and its members can identify themselves as belonging to that community because (among other things) they share its dialect: Women don´t speak like men, children don´t speak like adults, country people don´t speak like city people, high class people don´t speak like low class people, Spaniards don´t speak like Argentinians, Peruvians don´t speak like Chilean, Venezuelan don´t speak like Dominican, and so on and so forth.

If we examined the history of immigration, we would come across millions of cases in which a certain group of immigrants wouldn´t speak their language, they wouldn´t encourage their sons and daughters to use it because it meant a shame to come from wherever they´d come from.

So, when it comes to language it is never really about grammar rules but about people.

If someone asked me how I´d call the language I speak, I´d answer that I speak Argentinian or even better: a femenine educated middle class variation of Porteño (which is one of the many dialectal variations of  Old Spanish), slightly affected by the five years I spent in Entre Ríos province but considerably influenced by me being a Liberal Arts student…

…or I´d simply say that I speak español… or castellano… given that none of them fairly represents the reality of the  Spanish language.

Languages evolve from other languages, they change to fit different needs but every single one of those dialects derives from evolution is as legitimate as any other in the world…

GALLERY NIGHTS (last Friday every month)

Last Friday  every month, private art galleries are open late.

They are in Punta del Este now but they start again in April.

http://www.artealdiaonline.com/

ERIC – Graphic artist, web desinger and illustrator

He is best known for his work in the entertainment/music industry and began his career as a traditional illustrator. Over the years, he has created illustrations for Playboy magazine, Def Jam records, Ecko Unltd. and worked as web designer for Oxygen Media/NBC.
Currently, Eric lives and works as a freelancer in Buenos Aires, AR.

Find out more about him:

http://www.ericstrenger.com/

EMIR KUSTURICA & The No Smoking Orchestra – February the 18 th – Luna Park Stadium

In 1986-1988 Kusturica played bass guitar in Zabrajeno Pusenje, a rock band from Sarajevo (SR Bosnia and Herzegovina).

Although Kusturica played a minor musical role in the band, it changed its name to ‘Emir Kusturica & No Smoking Orchestra’. In 1999, the No Smoking Orchestra recorded a new album, Unza Unza TIme, produced by the Universal record company, as well as a music video, directed by Emir Kusturica. The band has toured internationally.

The musician and composer Goran Bregovic also created music for several Kusturica’s films, including Time of the Gypsies, Arizona Dream, which featured Iggy Pop, and Underground.

When, where and how much:

http://www.lunapark.com.ar/eventos/kusturica.php

LA SUERTE ESTÁ ECHADA (Fragment) – by Sebastián Borezstein

SCRIPT IN SPANISH

Profesor de tango: Decime, ¿vos sos de los que empujan o de los que fluyen? ¿Vos empujás para que las cosas pasen o fluis con las cosas que pasan?

Guillermo: En realidad, sé que tengo que bailar tango. A ella no la conozco, no sé quién es pero… sé que si no aprendo no va a haber nada.

Profesor de tango: Para mí, sea lo que sea, ya ocurrió. Esa mujer y vos YA están juntos… o no ¿Te grafico mi pensamiento?

Guillermo: Sí

Profesor de tango: Los domingos yo me la paso bailando todo el día y estoy encerrado aquí. Así que ¿Qué pasa en el mundo, qué pasa afuera? Yo no lo sé… pero a la noche veo fútbol… en diferido… pero para mí es como si lo viera en directo. Así que puteo, me alegro, me amargo, me emociono… y cuando la pelota va por el aire digo: “entra, entra, está adentro, esto es gol, esto es gol”. La pelota va a ir a dar a donde tiene que dar y a ningún otro lugar ¿por qué? porque ya paso, ya sucedió. Sólo que como yo lo ignoro, me creo que está ocurriendo mientras lo veo… El tiempo se presenta de una manera difícil de entender. Para mí, vivimos la vida con la ilusión de que es un evento en vivo pero en realidad, yo creo que es en diferido… Esa mujer y vos YA están juntos o no van a estar juntos nunca. Ahora tenés que aprender a bailar un poco y salir a averiguarlo.

SCRIPT IN ENGLISH

Tango instructor: Tell me, “you’re a pushing one or a flowing one? Do you push to make things happen or flow with things that happen?

Guillermo: Actually, I know I have to dance tango. I don´t know her, I don´t know who she is but I do know that if I do not learn, there will be nothing.

Tango instructor: To me, whatever it is, has already occurred. That woman and you are ALREADY together… or not. Do I enlighten my thoughts for you?

Guillermo: Yes

Tango instructor: On Sundays, I dance all day long and I’m locked up here. So what happens in the world, what is happening outside, I do not know… but at night I watch football… delayed… but for me it’s as if seeing it live. So, I curse, I’m glad, I become bitter, I get excited … and when the ball goes through the air I say, “Come in, inside, that is goal, that is scored” The ball’s going to go where it has to and nowhere else. Why? Because it has already happened, it has already ocurred… it is just that, since I ignore it, I think that it is happening while I am watching… Time is presented in a way difficult to understand. For me, we live life with the illusion that it is a live event but actually, I think it’s delayed … That woman and you are ALREADY together or you will never be together. Now you have to learn to dance a bit and find it out.

ART CINEMA – (Video stores list)

MASTER – Av Rivadavia 4654 (Caballito) 4903-7187
www.mastervideoclub.com

SAN CRISTOBAL – Av. San Juan 2502  (San Cristóbal) 4941 3383

ELCIUDADANO – Av. Independencia 1596 (San Cristóbal) 4383 7232

LIBERARTE – Av. Corrientes 1555  (Centro) 4373 4558

EL GATOPARDO – S. del Estero 1188 (Constitución)  43057887 / Piedras 1086 (San Telmo) 4300 5139
www.puntocine.com.ar

CINERAMMA – Lambaré 897 (Villa Crespo)
www.estoescineramma.com.ar

NEW FILM - O` Higgins 2172 (Belgrano) 4784 0820

STYLO - Mendoza 5100 (Villa Urquiza) 4522-9854

CINE CLASICO - Alberdi 2145 (Flores) 4633-1121
videoclasico@hotmail.com

EL EXTRANJERO - Forest 462 (Chacarita) 4554-8999

MONDO MACABRO – Corrientes 753 (Centro) 4326-4845 / Lavalle 750 (Centro)

TERCIOPELO AZUL - Güemes 2987 (Palermo) 4829-2235 4822-6153
www.dvdvhterciopeloazul.com.ar

NEW PLANET – Av. Córdoba 3521 (Palermo) 4963-1366
www.newplanetfilms.com.ar

BLACK JACK – Guatemala 4499 (esquina Malabia) (Palermo) 4-832-5676
www.blackjackvideo.com.ar

IMAGENES – Ardoino 20 (media cuadra de la plaza) (Ramos Mejia) 4464-1010  (Gustavo)

CLUB DE VIDEO –  Apolinario Figueroa 146 (Villa Crespo) 4856-3319 4857-2633

VIDEO CLUB THE WALL – Arias 3465 (Castelar e  Ituzaingo) 4624 4800

LA CRIPTA
lacripta_cineclub@yahoo.com.ar

UN JUEGO ABSURDO – Argentine short film

Excellent and funny!

TANGO AÉREO – Tango show – Every Thursday during January

Culture secretary of the Buenos Aires government presents a stunning show never seen before.

When: Every Thursday during January at 9 PM

Where: Parque Centenario Amphitheater, Lillo Av. and Leopoldo MArechal.

How much: FREE!

DO ARGENTINIANS GO TOO FAST?

I have heard many times that Argentine guys go too fast in a relationship, this is, they get involved too fast after too little time, they speak romantic and take for granted a relationship before even talk about it.

One of the most difficult and challenging things about cultural difference is to understand how the logical equation “x in my country means y in Argentina” simply doesn´t work: To decode Argentine attitudes on the basis of a foreing code can´t lead you but to a wrong conclusion. Saying that Argentinians go too fast in a relationship is true or false?

It is true if you look at it from the foreign perspective. However, from the local perspective, it is false: by the time your Argie guy unexpectedly introduced you to his or her friends as “my girl/boyfriend” you had already missed hundreds of non-verbal signs of what was going on and they were probably right in feeling disappointed when you said “oh, were we a couple yet?”.

Life would be so much easier, if we didn´t infer, if the world worked only by means of literal and transparent propositions, if extralinguistic communication didn´t exist.

…but it does. We do infer, we do read between the lines, we do try to anticipate other people´s words, actions and feelings because future belongs to humankind.

So the question should be, how do we, foreigners in a foreign land, realise what is going on before it is too late?

Well, that is a tough question I am trying to answer all along this blog.