The Land of Tango March 1999 Porteña, and now living in USA, I feel that THE LAND OF TANGO paintings are about a journey. My magical Tango Dancing journey back to Buenos Aires and to most dear memories laced with images of narrow streets neighborhoods lit by ?farolitos?. When I dance Tango, there is only one country, only one land, only Buenos Aires, wherever it is that I dance! The impact that my own immigration had in my life is now addressed by the sounds of those Tangos rooted in the culture of immigrants that I so often listened to as I grew up. I heard recently that one does not choose Tango, only Tango can choose, and it certainly feels like that as I find myself submerged in its enveloping magic. As Julie Taylor points out in her book "Paper Tangos", Tango has an intimate and reflective quality. I clearly sense how Tango dancing affords me great introspection, and through its demanding and submissive nature, Tango becomes an argument and a poem, a lie and a wonderful truth. Several experienced Tango dancers have described Tango as "a way to paint with your feet on the floor." Likewise, when I work on Tango paintings, I feel that I dance on the surface I am painting on. At times the feeling of dancing may have to do with the way I have to move in order to apply color, but other times it is directly related to the images or the colors that I chose. For this body of works that will travel to Buenos Aires after being shown in Philadelphia, many personal issues dictated the outcome of the paintings: I wanted to paint on cloth produced in Argentina, so I purchased it there and I purposely never ironed the creases that resulted from transporting it in the luggage (folded as it had been given to me in the store), as a reminder of that journey. I also purchased the Argentine Flag ribbons in Buenos Aires, and it was an amazing feeling to dig my hands in a deep drawer full of blues and whites. My mother was with me that afternoon (she still lives in Buenos Aires) and her presence made that moment very special and precious to me, and had great influence (although not verbally) in other aspects of the production. Some items collected at the ?Milongas? had to be included, so I made a small selection. The colors had to be bright because Tango has brought renewed happiness to my life, while the Tango lyrics that I chose had to have optimistic value for the same reason. Also, any images of dancers had to convey a sense of proficiency in that craft, not an easy task when one is drawing freehand! Ultimately, this experience is about all those who share or encourage this passionate journey. It is about my children speaking Argentine Spanish and loving it! It is about "Dulce de leche" carried inside the luggage and about "Palmeritas" baked by Karen, "Asados"? orchestrated by Paul, and Julia running to the supermarket because she wants to buy steaks so I can cook them as it is done in Buenos Aires (as I always try to do). It is about Guillermo's dancing, and everybody looking forward to going to Buenos Aires. It is about grandparents and brothers and sisters, about cousins and aunts and about love. It is about amazing old friends and new ones, wonderful teachers and strong but gentle dance partners and about ?Mate? shared again. It is about feelings and movements, flavors and perfumes, sounds and sights in THE LAND OF TANGO.