A Tango Mania : The Argentine Dance Is Raging at One Restaurant

You know you are in the right place on this quiet street in Van Nuys. There’s a red Corvette parked outside a small, white restaurant. The license plate reads, “Tango L.A.”

People drive for miles to listen to this pulsing, throbbing beat of the tango. They travel from as far as Westlake and Riverside to participate in their own steamy pas de deux on the dance floor.

Tango is the corazon of Buenos Aires and lives in the streets, salons and souls of its people. It’s slowly becoming a way of life in the Southland, at least at this restaurant, where women dress to the nueves in mostly black (some red) with lots of fringe, decolletage, and mini-wear. Men, also in black, are a bit more casual in loose-fitting trousers, vests, and designer shirts. Some wear suits.

The moment you enter Marcela’s your life will never be the same. You hear the melodic sounds of “La Yumba,” “Pasional,” “A Media Luz” and “La Cumparsita” (considered to be the tango national anthem in Argentina). Lessons started nine months ago.

Two lines are formed (separated by sex) as instructors Alberto Toledano and Loreen Arbus conduct their weekly classes to pre-taped music. The mirrored walls give one the feeling that the enthusiastic class is twice as large as it is.

“The music is very complex, very sensual,” says Toledano. “It has a lot of variations. It can be fast or slow, but always personal. It goes very deep inside of me.”

No one would guess that Toledano has his doctorate in applied mechanics. “Here I am Alberto. Yes, I am a scientist and a dance instructor. They compliment each other. The ultimate goal is the same . . . beauty and understanding of nature. When I dance, the tango is like a meditation.”

Arbus, his dance partner for the past 3 1/2 years, makes her living as a TV producer and free-lance journalist. “My life didn’t exist pre-tango. It’s such a high teaching the dance. I could be exhausted with three or four hours sleep but the adrenaline takes over. It transports me to another world.

“Everyone has a different reason for coming to dance. Most of the time, I don’t think people find out who does what in this world, which is wonderful. This is about the sheer joy of an art.”

Like her partner, she too is modest. Arbus attended Harvard, was an editor at Cosmopolitan magazine while in her 20s and was the first woman to be a network programming chief when she was named vice president for original programming at Showtime. She now has her own production company.

Jean-Pierre Peiny, a chef from La Serre, is taking the class with wife Nicole, who moved to Los Angeles from Paris via Chicago. “This fits into my life like a drug. The more I do, the more I want to do.”

Vicki Minton, a first-timer said, “I’ve danced before with jazz and ballet. This is a bit more difficult; The woman follows the man. Growing up in the ‘60s, I’m not quite used to that.”

She wants to take another lesson, but may have to wait because husband Jules would rather be on a racquetball court.

“I admit the music is hypnotic; the dance is romantic. It sweeps you away. But I am self-conscious. I don’t want to be concerned about how I look; it’s a heady experience,” he says.

The first lesson is free. Additional lessons are $10 an hour. Most students stay for dinner and continue practicing the new steps after the meal. During that time, music is played by Tango Tres, a three-piece orchestra, led by well-known musician, Pepe Moto.

There was even a familiar face in the class. Shari Lewis, puppeteer/conductor/singer was learning the “ocho” step with husband, publishing mogul, Jeremy Thacher.

“What is astounding to me is that Jeremy has always been a non-dancer. We thought we were meeting friends for dinner; we didn’t know we’d be involved with tango. He gets on the dance floor and learns it immediately.”

This former ballerina hasn’t danced in ages. “Most dances are so personal that I don’t enjoy it with other men. It’s the first time in 32 years of marriage that we’ve danced!” (Lewis told us later that she wrote down the steps so they can practice at home for their next outing.)

Instructor Toledano, a shy man, lights up when he speaks of tango. “Once you have mastered the basic concepts, the rest is up to you. There is an infinite end of combinations. The learning never ends.”

One of the students was adamant about his passion. “This is Argentine Tango, as opposed to the others, which have been desexed, simplified . . . all the excitement has been taken out.” (Others are international and American Tango.)

Its origins are as mixed as those of Argentina itself. African rhythms brought by slaves melded with contributions from the Spaniards of Andalusia. They were infused with minstrel poetry of the pampas gauchos with a touch of habanera brought by Cuban sailors, and rounded off by the influence of European immigrants, mostly Italians.

The theme of the tango is feeling, mostly nostalgia for a lost love over an unlucky twist of fate. Originally performed by men, the dance was born in the brothels and taverns of Buenos Aires and was accepted by Argentina’s middle class after its heyday among the Parisian cafe society in 1910. For the first several decades of development, both the dance and music were considered taboo in good society.

There followed the golden era of the ‘20s and ‘30s and the huge success of singer Carlos Gardel, who took Europe and South America by storm. As late as the 1950s, the last great tangos were composed. In 1983, Tango Argentino, a musical revue, opened in Paris.

The show was brought to Los Angeles in 1986. It was at that time that Arbus got interested. “I saw it seven times. I knew I had to get involved. I was mesmerized,” she says.

“I liked the music as a kid and took lessons as an adult,” says Moroccan-born Toledano. He moved to Montreal in 1975 to study mechanical engineering, then, to San Diego in 1982 as a doctoral candidate at UCSD and taught French at the same time. The dance team met at a regional dance competition in April, 1987. He commuted to Los Angeles until recently and now lives in North Hollywood.

Why tango?

First-time student, Cathy Wayne, a Warner Bros. licensing executive, wanted to try something new. “Once you get the steps, it works. I feel sensual and I feel thin!”

A Glendale computer programmer took up tango to woo and win his lady love. A tennis instructor and her husband, who’s in retail, started after their kids were grown. She even made her outfit out of a 15-year-old dress that was hanging in her closet. A male designer/manufacturer in his mid-50s says he tangos to stay young.

George Rousseau, a UCLA literature professor and an authority on enlightenment, says, “I’m admittedly an uptight academic. Basically, I’m a klutz. Watching Loreen is a joy. Believe it or not, I got the knack when Alberto showed me the steps. I then was able to impress my girlfriend.”

Hadassah Silverman, a retired Beverly Hills widow, saw the film “Tango Bar” in Spanish, which precipitated a trip to Argentina last March. She’s now hooked and takes private lessons in addition to Sunday classes.

“I’m enjoying the autumn of my life, let alone the winter! The thing about the tango is it has a mystique that no other dance has. Once it captivates you, it’s for life.”

Marcela’s is owned by wife/husband team, Maria (known as Pochi) and Julio Goldstajn, originally from Argentina. “We have more American people who come here than our own,” says Pochi. “Many Argentinians go to American restaurants to listen to American music; this is the opposite.”

Tango lessons are given at Marcela’s, 14533 Gilmore St., Van Nuys. (818) 989-2581. Classes are Sunday at 7 p.m. and Friday at 7:30 p.m. Classes last an hour and cost $10. On Fridays singer Alberto Marco, Buenos Aires answer to Julio Iglesias, entertains.