TRAVEL QUESTIONS\Tango lessons tops in Buenos Aires.

Byline: Paul Freireich The New York Times

Q. I will be in Buenos Aires in November and would like to know where I might see the best tango and where I might also take some tango lessons.

A. The tango has undergone a revival in Buenos Aires, where it was born in the late 1800s.

The two best tango shows in town are at El Viejo Almacen and Casablanca, in the San Telmo district; that's a five-minute taxi ride from downtown. Both feature two-hour performances at a cost of $40 a person, including unlimited drinks.

El Viejo Almacen, at Avenida Independencia and Balcarce, presents all-tango shows nightly, beginning at 10. Telephone [phone].

At Casablanca, 668 Balcarce, telephone [phone], the show begins at 10 p.m. from Monday to Friday. On Saturday, there are shows at 9 and 11 p.m. that feature tango and Argentine folk-dancing with dramatic displays of the boleadoras, a three-pronged leather device Argentine cowboys use to lasso cattle. There is no show on Sunday.

To see traditional and experimental tango in an authentic atmosphere, try the Cafe Tortoni, at 829 Avenida de Mayo. A different tango program is offered each night; for details, check the daily English-language newspaper the Buenos Aires Herald. Admission is about $9 plus a minimum of $6 for a drink.

To learn the tango's intricate steps, travelers may want to visit Rodolfo Dinzel's studio at 160 Jufre in the Almagro neighborhood, telephone [phone]. Group lessons, with no more than 20 participants, take place from 7 to 10 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday and cost $20 a person. Private lessons run two hours and cost $70.

Also recommended is Volver, at 837 Avenida Corrientes, telephone [phone]. There, Gloria Barraud and Eduardo Arquimbau teach one-and-a-half hour group lessons from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday. A single class, with a maximum of 18 students, is $10 a person.

Q. My fiancee and I will be in Arizona in June. We understand that Wagner operas are being performed in the area then. Can you provide information?

A. The Arizona Opera company will perform Wagner's complete "Ring des Nibelungen" twice in Flagstaff between June 3 and 15.

The four operas that make up the Ring - "Das Rheingold," "Die Walkure," "Siegfried" and Gotterdammerung" - will be performed in sequence in two six-day periods, just as they are at the Bayreuth Festival in Germany. The operas will be sung in German, with English surtitles, at the Ardreyok Auditorium at Northern Arizona University. The hall seats 1,500, close in size to Bayreuth's Festspielhaus. Among those performers will be the soprano Karen Bureau as Brunnhilde (she has sung with the Hanover Opera), the tenor George Gray as Siegfried (the Hamburg and Zurich Operas).

Information: Arizona Opera, 4600 N. 12th St., Phoenix, Ariz. 85014; [phone]. Tickets for a Ring cycle: $100 to $525.