22 October 1944: Dances with recorded music...!

It's Saturday, 22 October, 1944. Where will you dance tonight? How about one of the bailes con grabaciones (dances with recordings)?

This night's dance at the Círculo Urquiza (in the barrio of Villa Urquiza, natch) was underwritten by Discos Odeon. On the positive side, that meant they'd have all the label's latest recordings. On the negative side, it meant Odeon artists only! You wouldn't hear anything by Di Sarli, D'Arienzo, D'Agostino, Troilo, or Tanturi. Hard to imagine that being much fun. At 50 centavos general admission, though, the price is right....

You're a died-in-the-wool milonguero or milonguera, right? Serious about your dance. So where will you be found this Saturday night in October, 1944? There are plenty of exciting live performances tonight: Troilo, D'Agostino, Demare, Pugliese, Castillo, Rufino, even a rare advertised appearance by Julio De Caro's band with Carlos Viván singing the estribillos (refrains). Take your pick!

The Saturday night dance at the Atlanta Athletic Club had been running continuously since the mid-1930s, and was highly profitable for the club. Atlanta had previously hosted a few dances featuring Odeon's latest releases exclusively; here, with no Odeon logo in sight, they promise "Always the latest releases from the best orchestras," presumably on all record labels.

But, like the song says, Pénsalo bien, antes de dar ese paso. ("Think carefully before taking this step.") Are you willing to travel, possibly to a distant barrio where, if there's a fight, your barra (gang) won't be there to back you up? Do you really want to dance in the midst a few thousand other couples, many of whom don't know what the pluck they're doing out there on the pista? Will you enjoy dancing to a típica for half an hour, then waiting half an hour for the jazz set to finish before you can dance another tango? Do you want to dance to the same típica all night long? And finally, do you have $3 pesos ($9 USD in today's dollars) to pay for the privilege?

The Club Resurgimiento was in the barrio of Villa Del Parque, very near the Club Villa Sahores and A. A. Juniors.

Despite the name, the Cículo Almagro was in the barrio of Villa Urquiza, quite near the Círculo General Urquiza

Club Almagro was in the barrio of Almagro.

If you answered no to any of the above questions, then you might want to consider one of the several bailes con grabaciones (dances with recorded music, or BCGs) that are happening tonight. The crowds are not as massive, the atmosphere is more relaxed, and, should you choose a dance in your own barrio, all your friends and your MFDPs (most favored dance partners) will be there. Plus, these BCGs do a great job with the music. The sound, from an electronic record player piped through the club's public address system, is nice and clear, and the songs are mostly familiar recordings you've heard and danced to before, except for a few recently released numbers that will surprise you and challenge you to dance your very best. In four or five hours, you might hear sixteen to twenty orchestras in a series of fifteen-minute sets, with less jazz and more tango. In the more advanced BCGs, the ones with the cutting edge musicalizadores, the vals and milonga numbers might  be segregated in their own separate sets, so you'd be able to choose just the right dance partner for each genre, and dance it for three full songs. And, last but not least, the price is right: fifty cents to one peso for men, ladies often free.

Pénsalo bien.... and always remember, you are making history!