Tango in DC and “Tango Buenos Aires”
Tango was born at the beginning of the 20th century in Buenos Aires brothels, which brought together a mixture of immigrants from abroad, mostly Italy and Spain, people from the Pampas and freed Africans. Tango is a word of Bantu (African) origin that means drum and feasting with music. The social dance of the lower classes was originally disdained by Argentina's elite. But when the tango became the rage in Paris after WWI, the dance gained respectability and legitimacy in Argentina. The lyrics retained their hard edge of fatalism, detachment and unabashed expression of love and romance. Known throughout the Americas, Europe and the Far East, the tango is one of Argentina’s great cultural exports. Tango is now popular in the world’s capitals, including Washington, DC. Here, a group of volunteers called The Capital Tangueros have joined together to support Argentine tango by listing events that occur within an approximate 45-mile radius of the city. As many as 10 events per day attract aficionados to classes, workshops, practica, meetups, open dancing and performances. The www.geocities.com/capitaltangueros calendar lists more than 82 places where you can see, learn or dance tango. Sixty-three teachers offer classes in moves and technique. A stream of Argentineans comes to share tango culture. Teachers also come from different places -- the U.S. to Russia -- each with his or her own style. For example, international and American social and competition styles differ from the Argentine tango, which has its variations.
A friend took Moe Shaddad, who had taken swing and other dance classes, to a tango class. He recalls, “It was a disaster, I couldn’t do anything. It became a challenge. It was hard.” He has been tackling the tango for a year. “Currently I take five hour-long classes a week and spend about 15 hours at milonga (a social dance). “Milonga includes Argentine tango, tango waltz and milonga traspie.” In the summer he accompanied one of his teachers, Carina Rosario Losano, along with two other enthusiastic students, to her home in Buenos Aires to take classes and go dancing at the popular late nightclubs. Now Shaddad has a Casa de Tango dance studio in his home. Losano is an acclaimed dancer, teacher and choreographer. She trained with many of the great Argentine masters and studied at the informal Tango University in Buenos Aires where she learned the history, sociology, theory and idiosyncrasy of tango. Losano went on to receive numerous awards in her country. Her technical and interpersonal skills have led international cruise lines to engage her as a guest instructor. Losano’s credits include teaching Madonna tango technique for her role in “Evita,” and co-choreographing a commercial starring Shakira which aired during the 2003 Academy Awards. She performs frequently in the U.S. at such places as the Argentine Embassy, where she also serves as the official tango instructor, and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Losano also shares the culture of tango in public schools. In her teaching, Losano seeks to transmit a tradition. She emphasizes “respect between partners. The man leads but he has to be caring in a shared space, not holding the woman so he is in control.” Communication between dancers allows partners to move together rhythmically with a deep feeling for the subtle nuances of tango. Dedicated tangueros in the DC area tend to be over 30 years old, perhaps because the dramatically elegant dance is exacting and has moments of repose. Students can spend scores of hours just on learning how to walk. Posture and response to one’s space, partner and the music are important. Young people tend to like freer dance styles. But at the outdoor public dances that take place at Freedom Plaza in DC, children joyously try to imitate the adults.
Tango Buenos Aires, Photo by Lucrecia Laurel, Courtesy of Strathmore.
DC frequently welcomes companies from Argentina such as the sizzling “Tango Buenos Aires.” Renowned composer and tango director Osvaldo Requena created the company for the "Jazmines" festival at the famous Buenos Aires cabaret Michelangelo. Meeting tremendous success, the company was immediately added to the General San Martin Municipal Theatre season. In 1986, the company traveled to the U.S. to represent Argentina at the Latin American Festival held in New York City, and it has since toured worldwide.
With 10 excellent dancers and five musicians (on bandeon, bass, guitar, piano and violin), the company performed the choreography, "The Four Seasons: Passion and Sensuality of the Tango Art Form--From the Streets to the Ballroom," at the Strathmore Music Center, Rockville, MD, in the DC metropolitan area. In this tango "ballet" choreographed by Lidia Segni, the captivating, highly skilled dancers were at times playful, but mostly dramatic with haughty carriage, attitude and erotic sensuous tension between partners.
Partners danced in tight embrace to mesmerizing rhythms -- all with artistry. Their closely entwined bodies and limbs moved with amazing speed through deftly crafted dance figures noteworthy for complicated leg action. Ankles and knees brushed as one leg passed another. Partners' feet and legs flashed in and around each other in figure eight and whiplash movements. The choreography included frequent pivots, swivels, dips, deep slides, pirouettes and other embellishments from a bravura arsenal also found in ballet and modern dance.
A story line involving the fortunes and love life of Franco (a character in the dance, not the Spanish dictator) provides a framework in which Franco's many friends, and even a tourist couple, have showpiece opportunities. At night in Buenos Aires, Franco is in his room, relaxing before going out. Talía, his new love, appears as an illusion and dances for him, enticing him to join her, if only in his dreams.
Everyone meets in the streets before heading out for a night of dancing and socializing. Franco is practicing some steps when his friend Teo finally arrives. They start dancing together. (When the tango began in the slums, women were scarce among the immigrants, so the men practiced their moves together.) The rest of Franco's male friends gather and head out to the ballroom. At first, the men dance among themselves. As women begin to appear, men and women partner off. Later, Franco and Talía declare their love to one another in a passionately romantic dance.
The second act spotlights Buenos Aires during the 1930s when horseracing became very popular, with two racetracks centrally located in the city. It’s Sunday, and the group of friends is at the track watching the horses run by, hoping they picked the winning one. But Franco has lost everything and becomes depressed. His friends try to console him, but he just ignores them, wanting to be alone. Talía comes to his rescue, taking him away with her.
The last part of the show takes place in present time -- everyone is dancing as new and old ways of tango meld. Excellent dancing filled the evening, although some of the new steps appeared a bit cutesy. Yes, forms change over time. "Museum pieces" preserve traditions and help us know the base of a dance form. The danger is that as the art form's possibilities are extended, the new may break the essence of the dance.