Buenos Aires: beyond tango.

BIG SOUTHERN capital. Ten million people. March in Buenos Aires means fall and brown leaves and lots of rain. July means winter, but no snow, only coldness and dampness. September is spring with its blooming flowers and beautiful starry nights as the Southern Cross leads your way through restaurants, coffee bars, and performance spaces. December equals summer. And Christmas--hot, and humid Now that the economic crisis of December 2001 seems long gone, and tourists ale again invading the city, taking advantage of the devalued peso (three for one American dollar), entertainment is one of the most profitable industries in town.

What would an average foreign visitor look for? The holy trilogy: steak, tango, and dulce de leche. But there's more than that for an adventurous dance aficionado. If you are crossing borders, Tangokinesis Dance Company would be the perfect blend of tango and contemporary dance. Their last creation, Lentejuelas/Gershwintango by Ana Maria Stekelman, choreographer for Carlos Saura's film Tango, will suit any gourmet taste. Stekelman's choreography, along with Antonio Segui's paintings and tango music by Lito Vitale, is also featured in Ballet Argentino's El hombre de la corbata roja (The Man in the Red Tie), which premiered in 2003. Artistic director Julio Bocca (an American Ballet Theatre principal) has frequently shown the work of local choreographers, ranging from the established Oscar Araiz and Mauricio Wainrot to younger Sanguinetti & Lesgart. For the last 10 years, Bocca has sold out 3,000-seat houses 20 times a season.

Argentine-born ballet stars Maximiliano Guerra (former principal at La Scala di Milano) and Inaki Urlezaga (principal at London's Royal Ballet) have founded their own companies: Ballet del Mercosur and Ballet Concierto. Both hold regular seasons in big theaters, offering a cocktail of classical repertoire and productions of local modern dance. Ballet del Teatro Colon, resident in Argentina's biggest opera house, performs only 80 times a year--the reason why so many excellent dancers leave. The official Ballet Contemporaneo del Teatro San Martin with its highly-trained, 20-something dancers, directed by Wainrot, performs a strong neoclassical repertoire.

Independents have a life of their own. In a city where plays overflow from theaters into living rooms, lofts, and social clubs, contemporary dance groups share performing spaces with unaffiliated theater projects. Companies like El Descueve (co-creators of De La Guarda's Villa Villa) or Krapp (who researched their hometown lifestyle for their piece Mendiolaza) are the tip of an iceberg that includes GrupoGuapo, SZDanza, and choreographers Diana Szeinblum, Andrea Servera, and Guggenheim fellow Gerardo Litvak. They share a provocative attitude. Using folk music remixed with urban sounds, and strongly influenced by German dance-theater in structure and by Belgian Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker's women characters in particular, they have a taste for American postmodernist movement.

A highlight of the dance scene here is Fundacion Crear Vale La Pena (Creating is Worthwhile Foundation) and its program of social inclusion. Choreographer Ines Sanguinetti has built a community organization where at risk young people not only recover cultural values, but also artistically bridge the gap between their barrios and Buenos Aires' wealthiest areas. They have toured Europe, performing commissioned contemporary and hip hop pieces.