CAMINITO.

• Author: Chelala, Cesar
• Position: Tango - Brief Article

Where Tango and Color Converge

IN ARGENTINA, CAMINITO is both the name of a well-known tango and of two street blocks. One street, located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of La Boca, honors the composer of the music of Caminito, Juan de Dios Filiberto. The other, a little town road in the province of La Rioja, honors the author of the tango's lyrics, Gabino Coria Penaloza. Although the block in La Rioja is believed by some to be the origin of the tango's name, most people now identify Caminito with the lively little strip in the capital's La Boca.

Located near the docks and populated by the descendants of Italian immigrants, La Boca is proud of its marine heritage and displays it for all to see--on house facades, storefronts, alleyways, window shutters, grillwork, even cisterns. Here sun and shadow dance across buildings of burnt sienna, turquoise, avocado, lemon yellow, fire-engine red. Whatever the freshly...