2580 2 Tango Articles in the NYC Papers
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 11:58:35 -0400
From: Jennifer Bratt <gwynhefaire@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: 2 Tango Articles in the NYC Papers
Hi Everyone,
Tango is making the news in NYC, with 2 recent articles in the papers - one
on Friday in the NY Times and one a week and a half ago in the NY Post.
Here are the links; I'll paste in the text below as well.
Sm, It Takes Two to Tango: New York and a Festival
NYTIMES By JENNIFER DUNNING
https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/23/arts/dance/23CHOI.html
Published: July 23, 2004
TAN-GO FOR IT!
NYPOST By JAVIER L. ORELLANA
https://www.nypost.com/tempo/07140428.htm
July 14, 2004
Abrazos,
Jennifer, NYC
www.close-embrace.com
* * * ** * ** * * ** * ** * ** * * *
Sm, It Takes Two to Tango: New York and a Festival
NYTIMES By JENNIFER DUNNING
Forget about Republicans. Manhattan is officially tango country, starting
this weekend and continuing through August. "Forever Tango" and the Fourth
Annual NYC Summer Tango Festival begin the invasion this weekend, on
Broadway at the Shubert Theater and at indoor and outdoor festival sites
throughout the borough. Julio Bocca and his "Boccatango" show follow,
opening on Monday at the Joyce Theater in Chelsea.
"Forever Tango," which opens tomorrow, is a revue featuring 26 dancers and
musicians, including, of course, the all-important bandoneon, an
accordionlike instrument whose music is the heart of tango dancing. The work
of Luis Bravo, the show's Argentine-born creator and director, "Forever
Tango" was nominated for Tony and Drama Desk Awards when it first played
Broadway in 1997.
Mr. Bocca, an international ballet star and principal dancer with American
Ballet Theater, will perform with six male and two female dancers from his
Ballet Argentino company in "Boccatango," choreographed by Ana Maria
Stekelman, a longtime collaborator who is known for her blend of traditional
Argentine tango with ballet and modern dance. Music will be provided live by
the Octango orchestra.
There will be star performers and exhibition dancers to see in the summer
tango festival, but the emphasis is on those who love to perform the tango
off the stage, with scheduled events from classes and discussions to dance
parties like "Esmeralda's Elegant Black and White Ball" tonight at 9:30 at
the Stepping Out Dance Studio, 37 West 26th Street, the "HitandRun Milonga"
tomorrow afternoon in Central Park and the "Hudson River Moon Dance" on
Sunday night at Pier 25. And the J. P. Morgan Chase Latino Cultural Festival
will present the Fusion Tango company, which blends the tango with modern
dance, on Aug. 1.
The number of amateur dancers in Manhattan is said to have grown
exponentially following the phenomenon of "Tango Argentino." The show was
created by Hector Orrezoli and Claudio Segovia, the Argentinian theater
designers who went on to present "Flamenco Puro" and "Black and Blue" on
Broadway in 1986 and 1989. But the men were a relatively unknown quantity in
New York City when "Tango Argentino" crept into City Center in 1985, a
glittering, elegant little revue that had had a huge success in France and
Italy. Word quickly spread, and "Tango Argentino" moved to Broadway and
became a hit.
Today there are all-female tango troupes, glitzy revues and fusion
choreography for the stage. What is the allure of the dance? It was
developed in the 19th century by porteqos, men who lived on the outskirts of
the rough port city of Buenos Aires, and moved on to the city's drawing
rooms and European cafe society before being introduced to New Yorkers in
1913 by the ballroom dancers Vernon and Irene Castle. One likely attraction
is its heady mix, like tap and the flamenco, of age-old forms performed by
individuals of all ages, sizes and appearances. Then there is the raw but
ritual sensuality of the tango, which shrugs off such artifacts of our time
as exposed navels and rigorous heterosexuality.
Men danced blithely with other men in early tango days. And navels have
nothing on long legs wrapping themselves slowly around the legs of a
languorously slouching or hot-footed partner. The tango must be learned, but
then all bets are off.
******************** *********
TAN-GO FOR IT!
NYPOST By JAVIER L. ORELLANA
https://www.nypost.com/tempo/07140428.htm
TANGO fever has hit the Big Apple. From Central Park to South Street
Seaport, from Queens to the Bronx, couples are stepping to the sexy
Argentine export. And it s easy to see why.
Tango is a combination of Prozac and Viagra, says Joseph Fish, founder and
president of the Argentine Tango Society in New York.
When dancing tango, you are a musical instrument, free to interpret the
music, adds the instructor, who offers free weekly lessons at the Argentine
Consulate.
The exact origin of tango is unclear but most music scholars believe that
African slaves brought the dance to Argentina in the 1800s. With the melding
of Cuban dance meters, European polka and classical music a new genre was
born.
The dance form originated in the brothels, slums and streets of Buenos
Aires. In the early 1900s, tango was considered a forbidden dance. It was
deemed sinful, the product of brothels and the lower classes.
There s a variety of tango styles. Musically, there is tango (the most
common form), milonga (tango music with African influences, set to a faster
pace), and vals (tango set to a waltz rhythm).
As far as dance styles, there s Argentine tango, show tango and ballroom
tango, as well as various subdivisions.
