Buenos Aires

S1, E4: Presenter Asha Gill’s feet hardly touch the ground in Buenos Aires, before she’s literally swept off them by tango artist Guillermo Alio. First he teaches her how to tango, then he invites her to become his “brush”, as they dip their feet in oil paints and dance on canvas, creating abstract tango art. Asha hits the streets with Argentinean romeo Romulo Tirri visiting the famous Recoleta Cemetery—the resting place of Evita—and the feria de matadores night market showcasing Argentinian folk arts and acrobatic gaucho horseman. Asha meets synthetic artist Nicola Constantino sketching Recoleta’s tombstones and is bowled over by her surreal handbag decorated with human anuses! Nicola takes Asha to her studio and uses a mold of her navel to decorate a purse, and invites Asha to a contemporary Argentinian artist’s dinner where the sculptural “chain of quail” and the “vegetarian pig” are a big hit with the guests. Asha goes to an aero dancing class, where bungy harnesses allow her to fly halfway up the walls. Urban dancer Martin Sabater introduces Asha to Andy Peralta, who initiates her into Palermo’s traditional Murga street dancing troupe. Asha witnesses the Argentinian soul laid bare at the weekly march of the ‘mothers of the disappeared’, who wear the names of their dead sons on scarves around their heads. Asha hooks up with local TV star Fierita for a night of pubbing and clubbing, and witnesses a minor miracle at a football match when Fierita’s beloved but struggling Banfield team beat the Argentine champions. Asha celebrates by dancing on stage to Argentine punk band Los Espulsados who still think The Ramones are relevant and ends her BA adventure by dressing up in full costume and dancing the Murga through the streets of Palermo.