Porteño cabarets, Buenos Aires nostalgia

The word cabaret es tomada del francés, que significa «tavern«. Sin embargo, nuestra historia es recorrida por particularidades porteñas que nada tienen que envidiarle a la lejana Europa. Es así que daremos un paseo por las singularidades de los cabarets in the Buenos Aires nights.

What were the cabarets porteños?

The cabarets They used to be large halls with plenty of light thanks to luxurious chandeliers, with a long dance floor surrounded by tables, and that famous bar, support of countless stories and drinks. 

Sometimes attended by couples, it was mostly attended by men alone or in groups. They went to dance with alternators, o llamadas también de manera rea «coperas«, que con sus largos vestidos de “satén” y su sedoso brillo y glamourThey encouraged customers to invite them to sit at their table, of course, for a drink, and another, and another. They tried to seduce the man so that he would continue to drink and, of course, persist in inviting her. If they "hooked" one of them, they could not get out of the cabaret before the shop closed its doors. Drinking has been, and always has been, a formidable business.

While some habitués attended to listen to their favourite jazz band, others insisted on conquering their alternator favourite. However, the coperas were one more element of the greatness of the show that was taking place there. 

About the shows Varieté

Luego de la orquesta de jazz, por la medianoche, se presentaba un clásico espectáculo «varieté», que lucía diferentes números artísticos animando la entrenoche. El “varieté” de raigambre bohemia, pariente lejano de las taverns medieval, and close to the cabaret of the 19th century, has been the artistic expression that crosses the romantic and the alcoholic. It is a genre whose development in the 20th century was favoured in large cities, characterised by greater flexibility than traditional theatre, for being more challenging and risky, with greater complicity with the audience. The researcher Raquel Prestigiácomo defines it as "a light show, without a continuous plot, with a preferably musical character, of a non-theatrical but street or tavern performance, with circus acts such as illusionists, contortionists and acrobats and exotic attractions, such as ventriloquists and orchestra-men". It has three fundamental elements: the song number, the dance number and the comic number.

Cabaret Buenos Aires category

What element demonstrated the high status of a Cabaretif it was such? Of course the importance and the recognition of the jazz orchestra that animated the festive ears with music? 

A cap with the name of the cabaret crowned the gold-buttoned doorman, who did not move from the entrance, despite a sign that, as in the case of the Marabu invited passers-by. Its inscription read:  «Todo el mundo al Marabú/ La boîte de más alto rango/ donde Pichuco y su orquesta/ hará bailar buenos tangos»

The Marabú cabaret born according to the historian Gabriel LunaThe Obelisk, in the basement of an Italian palace, dates from the same period as the Obelisk, around the year '35.  

If we look at the name MarabíuIn its origins, we trace back to a deep-seated feature erotic.

Its name refers to the silky feathers of a exotic African bird, used at the time to make the lingerie for the stars and those pompous, colourful boas whose sensual extravagance is associated with the women of the charleston and the brave dolls of tango. 

If we are talking about luxury and prestige, we must mention the Armenonvillebetween the '10s and the Roaring '20s, whose construction model was based on the French version from which it took its inspiration.

Cabaret Buenos Aires and culture

Located on Avenida Alvear, which is now called Avenida del Libertador General San Martín, in the neighbourhood of the Recoletathe cabaret acquired its great prestige when the great Carlos Gardel made his first major duo performance with José Razzano in the new year of 1914. With a tango in his name, and mentioned in several themes, and even in a novel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, «The dream of heroes«, nos queda su recuerdo impregnado en la cultura porteña. 

The cabarets in general they are the memory of a young and alive Buenos Aires whose memories hark back to the sensuality and glamour of an era of which little remains, but of which, perhaps, we have inherited a great deal. 

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