Lip Stained Walls

My best friend Maria arrived in Cordoba the other week from Denver; she is here doing an independent project on dance and its influence in society. Wednesday evening we adventured out to our first tango class. Following the Cañada an old river that runs through the city we entered the art district; which is primarily occupied by hippies that vend their work on the street side and old antique stores bursting with vintage trinkets. The room began to fill, as the women took a seat to strap on their dance shoes. The sound of the ceiling fan was soon drowned out by the melody of tango music. We were told to rise and greeted by a kiss on the cheek. The dusty mirror, with a crack in the left had corner reflected the line of pupils from the other side of the room. We were ordered to walk, taking long strides back and forth across the dance floor we were taught the basic principles to tango. Afterwards, we were broken into groups of those who had tango experience and beginners. The teacher Marie told us to place our hands on the wall and practice a basic side turn front and back step. Concentrated on my feet I was oblivious to the lip stained imprint on the wall. As I begun to gain confidence I lifted my head catching a glance out of the corner of my eye. I wondered what could have been the story behind the imprint. Halfway through the class we took a break, even with the ceiling fans we couldn’t overcome the summer heat and resorted to dancing outside on the patio. I really felt as if I had tapped into the Argentine culture as the summer evening slipped into night. As a result of dancing bare footed my feet were stained black a slight reminder of the night’s activities.