Also this issue: Trading Spaces Fleisher/Ollman Gallery celebrates a milestone anniversary with a change of location. -Susan Hagen Degas Vu The Art Museum transports you back to Degas' world. -Robin Rice Ballet Lessons A dance critic's perspective on “Degas and the Dance.” -Janet Anderson 19th Annual Celebration of Black Writing -Elisa Ludwig Concerts for the Community -David Shengold Jeanne Ruddy Dance -Deni Kasrel The Magic Flute -Steve Cohen The Dreyfuss Affair: A Love Story -David Anthony Fox

February 13-19, 2003

artpicks

Tango Buenos Aires

Looking for a way to prolong your Valentine's weekend? Perhaps a little afternoon delight? Then head to The Kimmel Center to catch Tango Buenos Aires. They steam up the stage with hot sexy moves that will have your heart beating faster. The choreography is fervid, complex and downright daring. Women in tight dresses and spiky high heels do ultra-deep dips into the arms of men, or perform slashing kicks that come ever so close to their partner's family jewels. In more lovey-dovey moments, couples canoodle in demure fashion. And of course, there's plenty of that staple of tango, flirting.

The company is dedicated to performing tango in authentic fashion -- which means it's a bit raw and rough around the edges -- as opposed to more stylized tango shows that have recently grown popular. Tango Buenos Aires' program offers a kind of time travelogue, presenting dances from the 1800s through modern times. Whatever era gets portrayed, the action is a stylish, athletic exhibition steeped in high drama. A live band adds an eloquent mood. It's flash and dash tempered by melancholy -- just what you'd expect from long-lived romance.

Tango Buenos Aires, Sun., Feb. 16, 2 p.m., $18-$62, The Kimmel Center, 260 S. Broad St., 215-893-1999.

—Deni Kasrel