3282  VII Festival Buenos Aires Tango

Date: Mon, 7 Mar 2005 17:19:35 -0300
From: Janis Kenyon <jantango@FEEDBACK.NET.AR>
Subject: VII Festival Buenos Aires Tango

For the first time, the festival had its own building with a continuous
schedule of events. There was no dance competition this year. There was a
full schedule of concerts at El Dorrego and other venues. El Dorrego
encompasses an entire square block with four main sections for eating,
viewing movies, a photo and filete exhibition, products fair, large dance
floor and concert stage. Video screens projected the orchestras on stage to
the large audiences. The concerts were recorded and shown the next day on
Solo Tango tv. Safety was a priority with security guards everywhere. No
smoking was permitted, but I turned around to see one of the sound
technicians smoking while working on the equipment.

Cafe/Bar
If you spent more than a couple hours at El Dorrego, you were going to want
to eat something. The bar was not the place to go. On Monday night, there
was a very long line of people. The only food they had was hotdogs. I
bought a bottle of water yesterday. After giving the cashier 10 pesos to
pay, she returned 18 pesos to me. I couldn't believe she was working there,
and gave her the extra money since I knew she would be responsible for it.

Cinema
This was the main attraction for me. Two films were shown daily in an
air-conditioned tent. I was disappointed that the documentary about Ada
Falcon had poor sound quality, so most of the interview was impossible for
me to understand. However, it was interesting to see her at the end of her
life viewing herself as a young singer on tv.

Tango Salon Confiteria Ideal (with English subtitles) featured some of the
regular dancers talking about their lives and what tango means to
them. 3 Minutos (also subtitled) followed the lives of three women in
Buenos Aires who go to the milongas. There wasn't much footage of dancing.
When the credits started to roll, the audience got up to leave without
applause. During the credits, there were brief conversations among women in
the bathrooms of the milongas talking candidly about everything. This was
the best part of the film.

The film of Carlos Pico and Sandro Nunziata took two years to make and
premiered on Sunday. "Susana Tango Pial" is only 44 minutes long without a
dull moment. Susana has been running a dance in Salon El Pial in Flores
on Sundays for more than ten years for the 70+ age group. Those who dance
there regularly talked about how they learned, what tango means to them, how
to dress, and why they dance. The film received a very enthusiastic round
of applause. It even got a few laughs during footage of one elderly couple
doing their choreography of kicks and dips. The film is
subtitled in English. It is a must for any tango dancer to see. Florencia
Taccetti told me will be taking a copy back to Minneapolis when she returns,
and Sandro will be sending details on how to order a copy of
the video.

Photo/Filete Exhibitions
The photo contest of the Milongas of Buenos Aires drew 500 submissions, of
which 50 or so were selected for exhibitions in El Dorrego. Those exhibited
included photographers from Chicago (my home city) and Memphis, Tennessee.
Thomas Gettlefinger of Memphis was there at the awards ceremony to receive
his certificate for an honorable mention in the contest. The winner
received $1,500 pesos.

Filete is unique to Buenos Aires with not more than a few dozen artists
continuing this special art. Large works of fileteador Martiniano Arce were
on exhibit.

Products Fair
The festival has gone commercial. It was one-stop shopping for tourists who
could find everything in one place. One vendor told me that 100 businesses
submitted proposals to participate, but only 32 were selected and given free
space to display their products. Shoes, clothing, CDs, photos, books,
playing cards, jewelry, hats, videos, posters were available, and I was glad
to discover the new line of bed linens which aren't available through
retailers.

Radio Studio
The 2X4 radio broadcasts were done in El Dorrego during the week. Those
attending could listen and participate in the broadcasts which included
interviews with dancers and musicians.

Dance Floor/Classes
An enormous portable, suspended dance floor was more than adequate for the
hundreds who showed up every day for free classes with the stage
professionals. The classes didn't explain anything about how to move around
the floor or how to embrace your partner, so they were a disaster from the
start for new beginners.

Concert Stage
There was such an excellent sound system that you could be anywhere in El
Dorrego and still hear the orchestras on stage. The concerts were being
recorded as they were projected on two large screens on both sides of the
stage for viewing from the bleacher seating or standing on the dance floor.
A few tables and chairs were set up in front of the stage and along the
sides of the dance floor, but the capacity always exceeded the available
seating. All events were well attended in El Dorrego.

This was a massive undertaking by the city which started months ago. The
technical aspects of equipment, lighting, sound system and the staff
necessary to handle all the details is immense. All in all, it was a
successful festival attended by tourists from all over the world.

Janis Kenyon
Buenos Aires