3047  dance styles

Date: Sun, 19 Dec 2004 16:34:24 -0300
From: Janis Kenyon <jantango@FEEDBACK.NET.AR>
Subject: dance styles

I read an article about dance styles in which four specialists of four forms
were interviewed: Luis Grondona (canyengue), Milena Plebs (stage), Ana Maria
Schapira (milonguero) and Julio Balmaceda (salon).

Grondona explains canyengue (also called "orillero" or "arrabalero") is
danced with bent knees, bouncy stance and distinct hand and arm positions to
Canaro and D'Arienzo pre-1938. He says that orillero is not a style, but
just an adjective given to those that lived in the outskirts of BsAs who
didn't go to the city to dance.

Plebs says that the stage form was designed in the 1950s by Juan Carlos
Copes and Maria Nieves. She states that in the milongas she dances for
herself and her partner, but on stage she moves for the audience. She finds
absolute freedom of expression on stage to combine styles and merge with
other dances, but points out the danger in going to far thereby straying
from the roots of tango.

Schapira points out that the milonguero style was danced where space was
scarce and each movement used available space without disturbing others.
She says that this style makes it easy to dance well. Balmaceda denies the
existence of this style. He says it's just a good business after making
subtle changes to tango salon. [I wonder how the milongueros would respond
to that statement.]

Balmaceda says salon style has few steps where the quality of them is more
important. All four specialists agreed this is the most popular style of
tango.

Last night I went to Club Glorias Argentinas in Mataderos where all four of
these styles were being danced.

The complete text of this article can be read in Spanish or English in the
December issue of El Tangauta.

Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2004 00:33:13 -0700
From: Bruno <romerob@TELUSPLANET.NET>
Subject: Re: dance styles

Janis Kenyon wrote:

>Grondona explains canyengue (also called "orillero" or "arrabalero") is

danced with bent knees, bouncy stance and distinct hand and arm positions to
Canaro and D'Arienzo pre-1938. He says that orillero is not a style, but
just an adjective given to those that lived in the outskirts of BsAs who
didn't go to the city to dance.<


Was not Pepito Avellaneda a well known practitioner of Milonga Orillera
style? One of his students, Maria del Carmen Silingo, described in her Tango
Book (# 4) nine figures from Pepito's Milonga Orillera style. A video clip
of Pepito Avellaneda I saw dancing to Troilo/Fiorentino showed Pepito had a
very peculiar tango dance style.

The figures claimed as Pepito's are variations of changes of front, front
and back ochos, corriditas, sacadas, pivots, etc., whereas Grondona's
Canyengue figures in their course video of Canyengue the bent of the knees
is very pronounced, the ochos are very restricted, almost no pivots except
for one dance, etc.



Best regards,

Bruno