Pale Toes

I can't decide if blood-red nail polish would have taken away from these great silver-and-black shoes or would have made the dancer even more dramatic.
There's something to be said for the no-artifice sensual look of a naked foot.

The Antigravitational Tanguera

At the end of each move, the tanguera's darting foot would stop, and the breathless split second of motionlessness would be almost painful as she waited for the next invitation. The anticipation was exquisite. Then the music would rush onward, and they would spin back into the crowded milonga.

The Exquisite Pain

These shoes looked like the most exquisite pain possible. The brown trim and heels were actually a warmer color on the floor of the all-night milonga than the color they look in this steel-like photo. Open toes, too.

The Rebel Angel

The song was Azúcar, pimienta y sal, and from the shuffling crowd of black shoes flashed these of blue. Rebelde y angelical indeed.

The Killing Heels

The red of these shoes was for all of the blood spilled on all of the oak floors of all of the milongas La Rossa had ever danced on. 'When the revolution comes,' says La Rossa, 'kill first all the tangueras who can't keep their heels down.'

The Stiletto Cross

She wore these shoes as though they were second skins, easily balancing, never a misstep. In these shoes, nothing the man could do surprised her.

Checkerboard Flash

The flash of silver darted across the floor, hard to capture, a streak in the lightning of her boleos.

The Peek-a-Boo Slit

The elegance of these slit pants made the peek-a-boo intrique of these strapped shoes even more delightful. She floated across the dance floor.

La Italiana's Capezio

La Italiana swore her Capezios were comfy, but said they had very little cushion. 'You can always put some in,' she said with a shake of her glorious hair. True, true.

Soft Suede and Buenos Aires

La Aventurera threw her foot up on the chair and declared that she would spend the next year in Argentina, hiring taxi dancers who are far too young and far too good looking for their own good to squire her to every milonga in Buenos Aires. These are the shoes she bought just minutes before the first tanda.