Not for the tourists. A sadly serious tango lesson at a psychiatric hospital in Buenos Aires, where the dance is used to treat a range of disorders. (Reuters)

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I hadn't intended to write about the tango again so soon. But when you go to Buenos Aires, the dance is hard to avoid, especially because it can be seen as a metaphor for the city itself.

There is no shortage of places here in the Argentine capital to see the tango. The centre and southern quarters of the city are lined with colourful restaurants and patios where gorgeous young couples perform the dance for the photo-snapping tourists.

At night there are tango dinner-and-shows for the busloads of Japanese, Germans and Americans who fill this city everyday. This is the glamorous and happy face that the city puts on for its visitors.

But there is more to Buenos Aires — and the tango — than this picture of sexy, sophisticated perfection.

In a corner of one of the side streets is where my friends took me to see real tango being performed. Tango not for outsiders, but for the real dancers and aficionados of Buenos Aires.

The century-old Confiteria Ideal, with its high ceilings, sparkling chandeliers and dark walls, is one of the city's grand salons — one of the great cafs of the world, it is sometimes said — overflowing with faded glory.

To watch the dancers at Confiteria Ideal is to watch chaotic magic.

Lovers who don't smile

The people here at the Ideal are by conventional terms neither beautiful nor sexy. They are mostly senior citizens with receding hairlines, sagging skin and, for many of the women, one too many botox injections.

What was also strange was to watch lovers holding each other so closely and yet not looking at each other and expressing their joy for one another.

It was the only time in my life that I've watched couples in love dancing but not smiling.

For them, it seems, the tango is painful and serious, while always stylish, not unlike the city itself.

One couple was particularly fascinating. He looked like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons. Older, spindly and wrinkled with a long nose and frail arms.

And she, with her tall, thin frame and huge eyes was his Smithers, if you choose to ignore the fake breasts, which was hard to do with the dress she was wearing.

But this odd couple was the sexiest pair on the dance floor. Like Buenos Aires, there is a lot of beauty just below what looks like pain and fragility.

A rhythm of its own

The frantic pace of the dance matches that of the city. Much of the time it doesn't make sense but, boy, is it fun to watch.

The rhythm is all over the place. For an untrained observer, there is no clear beat to follow and the dance steps don't necessarily move in tandem with the music.

That makes the tango the perfect allegory for the city of Buenos Aires. Both are steeped in a rich and painful history, composed of all the multicultural influences that continue to vibrate, to their own beat, through the city today.

The Spanish, the Italians, the French and British, African slaves, indigenous peoples and waves of migration from the Middle East — all have met here and created something unique.

But the tango is also a reflection of the Argentine sadness. Its history of vicious conquest, where indigenous people were almost completely wiped out, and of slavery, which abounded here as it did in much of the Americas.

The city itself has faced wars, corruption, dictators, lost children and grieving mothers who even today mourn those lost in the so-called Dirty War of the 1970s and early '80s.

And then there is, of course, the sad economy. An economy that has provided such a painful roller-coaster ride to the psyche of Buenos Aires, that its residents have become almost indifferent, it seems, to the concept of money.

Forget credit

Despite being a modern and sophisticated city, it is almost impossible to pay for things here with a credit card. In fact, most times, the price of what you want to purchase goes up if you pay with a card.

Nobody trusts the credit system. And servers don't expect tips.

Indeed, waiters in the restaurants won't come to serve you unless specifically waved down.

You could be sitting for 30 minutes and get no service. Trust me, I know this first hand.

The food comes slowly and nobody is eager to bring you the bill or rush you out so that the table can be freed for the next customer.

They don't bother you unless you want them to because, frankly, money hasn't been too reliable a friend here.

My friends in Buenos Aires tell me that it's the only city in the world where you can go to a restaurant, order a glass of water and sit there for two hours and nobody is going to get annoyed.

It's a city that bustles but at the same time is in no particular rush. Just like the tango.

No surprise then that in this current round of economic crisis in Buenos Aires, the tango has enjoyed another surge in popularity.

In these sad times, the people know that their government and economy may not provide for them. So what could be more comforting than to move to a dance that appreciates el dolor dulce, such sweet pain?