e spent his chidhood on the Indio alley, with his parents and his five siblings, but later his family moved to the neighborhood of Floresta to live in a house shared with other people.

Nearing youth, Fate placed tango in his soul and he entered dance tracks (milongas) to embrace that mystery we call happiness.

He was elegant even in the way he dressed and danced with discretion as the great masters do because they do not mistake a dancing track for a stage. Back by the 50s he appeared at contests and soon his training led him to a professional road.

In the courtyard with clean, burnished floor tiles of her grandmother’s home, under a beautiful vine, he gave classes of tango dancing. He married and had two children with whom he lived until he met Isabel, his dancing partner.

Cacho Mantegazza reached a space of his own in the milongas. He danced with young girls that now are renowned dancers. He came to know Gallego Manolo who became his close friend. He was uncle of the awarded Jorge Manganelli. But above all, he is a piece of Buenos Aires, a portion of tango that makes happy the one who today remembers him.

The author is instructor, dancer and researcher of tango dance. He is author of the Nuevo glosario de tango danza, La pista del abrazo and Tango FAQs. www.tangosalon.com.ar / info@tangosalon.com.ar