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Digest from 25 Jul 2000
to 26 Jul 2000
Reply-To: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango <TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
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Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 03:00:36 -0400
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Subject: TANGO-L Digest - 25 Jul 2000 to 26 Jul 2000 (#2000-204)
There are 5 messages totalling 391 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. CNN story - It takes two to tango -- and paint
2. The Use of Patterns in Social Dancing (2)
3. Praise for Florencia
4. Buenos Aires 2000, corrections
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Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 11:55:36 -0400
From: "A. Lester Buck III" <buck @COMPACT.COM>
Subject: CNN story - It takes two to tango -- and paint
This story brings back fond memories of the magical Houston
workshop in November 1998 with Ernesto Carmona & Norma Tomasi
Gomez. Ernesto was always challenging us to try new tango ideas,
and near the end of our second weekend workshop, he gathered
everyone around, pointed to one couple, and said "Dance your
name on the floor." What a delicously underspecified assignment!
A sequence of couples, one by one, proceeded to dance their ideas
for this tango koan. At times, I still wonder about different
ways to carry out this exercise. Adding paint to the shoes seems
almost an afterthought.
Lester
===============
http://www.cnn.com/2000/STYLE/arts/07/24/tango.ap/index.html
It takes two to tango -- and paint
July 24, 2000
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Guillermo Alio rolls up his pant
legs and laces up his black leather shoes. He ties a long, white
handkerchief about his throat and sets a black sombrero jauntily
atop his head.
The artist -- looking the spitting image of Argentina's great
tango singer, Carlos Gardel -- is ready to paint.
On this day, Alio (pronounced Alley-Oh), unites art with his
other passion: the tango.
It is the dance of the Argentine soul, a soul that has been
caught on film, in music and in dance halls the world over.
And now the tango is being captured through the paint-splashed
soles of Alio's feet.
But would Gardel ever have danced in latex paint?
Perhaps not.
The 50-year-old artist sways to the beat as he turns up a tango
on his portable stereo and uses a screwdriver to pry open two
cans of ordinary house paint -- one red, one black.
"The idea came to me one day to paint a couple dancing the tango,
but without actually showing them dancing," Alio explains. "And
that's when I had the idea of capturing their footprints -- not
only their footprints, but how they danced, where they danced
and the impression they left behind."
Embracing art
Alio pours red and black paint into separate pans, then tapes a
large, white canvas to the floor. Meanwhile, his dance partner,
Pascal Coquigny, in slinky black dress held off the shoulders
with spaghetti straps, sits on a high wooden chair, pulling on
black high heels.
Coquigny slides from the stool and steps gingerly into the pan of
black paint, splashing her heels. Alio is much bolder, plunging
into the red with zeal, turning his soles scarlet to the strains
of a mournful bandoneon -- a sort of accordion that inhales and
exhales the very essence of tango.
Then the two melt into the tango's embrace, dancing slowly
at first.
Coquigny came to Argentina from France to learn to tango, and
decided to stay on. She admits it took time to get her feet wet.
"At first I thought painting with the feet seemed very crazy.
But then I liked it a lot," she says, speaking in French- accented
Spanish. "In the beginning, you feel like you are walking on
eggs. But then the music takes over and you let yourself go."
Ever faster, the dancers twirl, kick and dip, the passion of
the music rising as they converge on canvas. Every few seconds
they daub their feet in paint, sometimes red, sometimes black,
as the melody and mood dictate.
The man leads, the woman follows, alternately courting and
combating each other in what is by turns a duel and a duet -- their
heels striking out a near-photographic image of the encounter.
Picturesque backdrop
They are in Alio's studio just off the Boca waterfront where a
century or so ago, generations of poor immigrants from Italy,
Spain and central Europe landed penniless at dockside from ships
and steamers.
Today, well-heeled tourists with camcorders slung about their
necks throng the "Caminito," a cobblestone river walk where rusty
red tugs are sunk at harbor, where tango once rang out and still
does today.
Nearby, the conventillos, or corrugated buildings that housed
whole generations of immigrants, have been freshly painted in
brilliant reds, greens and yellows.
Against such a picturesque backdrop, Alio is creating a canvas
within a canvas. Such working-class neighborhoods of the early
1900s were melting pots for the immigrants, who legend has it,
gave rise to the tango in the burdellos and dance halls of the
Buenos Aires gone by.
Chalk on a sidewalk
Gardel, tango's first great pioneer, became one of the popularizing
forces by 1917 and Argentines with newfound wealth carried the
craze to New York and Paris where it became one of the favorite
dances of the roaring '20s.
Tango evolved over the decades, stepping to a new heyday in the
1940s and '50s as Argentines gave the musical form new modes
of expression.
The idea for "painting" the tango came to Alio while he was
traveling abroad. "I went to New York -- to Central Park -- and
I took a piece of chalk and sketched out the steps of the tango
on the sidewalk," he says.
He did similar sketches on sidewalks in San Francisco, in Florence,
Italy, and in Barcelona, Spain. "Wherever I go, I would leave
my sketches of the tango, and then I thought to myself, 'Why not
leave the very footprints?'"
'Melancholy of the soul'
The red and black footprints sketched out by the dance leave Alio
waxing poetic: The red, he says, symbolizes the passion of a woman,
while the black hearkens back to "El Guapo" -- "the Handsome One"
-- who represents an immigrant who found the going tough after
leaving his homeland and arriving in a new world.
"The melancholy of the soul is what pure tango speaks most
about. But tango also speaks of many things: of motherhood,
of friendship, of sport, of neighborhood, even of the horse
races. It's something very profound," says Alio. "The tango is
a reflection of all within man."
By the end of the dance, a canvas once pure and white is now
etched with the staccato beat of the woman's smaller heels, and
the crescent-shaped streaks of the man's larger shoes. It is a
painting suitable for framing.
Such dancing is improvised, and each painting different.
"No two persons dance alike," Alio says. "My idea is to capture
the speed of the feet, of the movements. It's like handwriting:
a doctor writing out a prescription for a patient writes very
fast. But someone else may write slower, differently."
And it is spontaneous.
One night at a dance hall where he performed, a blackout stopped
the painting in progress.
"It was a Saturday night and we were dancing. The lights went out
and we had to do it all over again. But you know what? It turned
out even better because none of it was planned," he recalls.
Not knowing what will happen next keeps the audience
enthralled. "The reaction of the people is very powerful.
They never know what it is going to happen between the dancers,
the pans of paint and the canvas taped to the floor."
In the end, most people are surprised by how well two pairs of
shoes can paint.
"The feet show what is going on in the head and heart," Alio
says. "They are a means of expression and the world needs this
dance, the tango, to understand what is within."
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 17:13:08 -0500
From: Stephen P Brown <Stephen.P.Brown @DAL.FRB.ORG>
Subject: The Use of Patterns in Social Dancing
Over the past few years, a number of contributors to Tango-L (myself
included) have argued that the 8CB and other multi-step patterns that
the dancer thinks must be executed in their entirety are of limited
value on a social dance floor because the patterns lack flexibility.
Last month during a private lesson, Nito Garcia taught me a
complicated multi-step pattern. In my attempt to execute it, I ran
out of room on the small dance floor where the lesson was held. I
stopped and carefully repositioned my partner and myself with the idea
of starting the pattern over.
Nito stopped me and asked what I was doing. I explained that I had
run out of room. He then proceeded to show me how to change direction
at any point in the pattern he was teaching. Imagine my surprise. I
resumed practicing the pattern, changing direction anytime that I
encountered an obstacle in the small room.
I am not writing this with the idea of encouraging people to rely on
memorized patterns in their social dancing. Rather, I am simply
suggesting that some of us may be overlooking an additional form of
flexibility--one that can be found within the patterns. I think
recognizing both kinds of flexibility--changing directions within a
pattern and dancing without attempting to reproduce set patterns--
improves our command over the options when dancing on a crowded social
dance floor.
--Steve de Tejas
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 18:27:37 -0400
From: Robinne Gray <rlg2 @CORNELL.EDU>
Subject: Praise for Florencia
Hello list folk,
I just wanted to share a good word about Florencia Taccetti, who was in
Ithaca this past weekend teaching a series of classes. Her teaching is
wonderfully clear, and I actually enjoyed her group class, which is saying
a lot because I am usually very cranky about big classes that simply show
figures the students then struggle to imitate. Florencia truly teaches
*through* the figures, allowing students to make the connection between
executing a figure and the underpinnings of technique that make one an
all-around better dancer. She has a strong background in many forms of
dance, so she not only understands movement but can speak articulately
about WHY a particular movement is working or not working, and she can give
you specific, usable information on how to go about fixing the
problems. My private lesson with her was especially valuable. She danced
with me and with my partner, so each of us got feedback about
visuals/aesthetics as well as mechanics of movement. I have a list of
several things to work on, skills to incorporate over the next several months.
Everybody has their own preferred way of learning, and we all need to work
on different things at different points in our development. I guess you
can tell that I am so happy to have found Florencia to help teach me--she
provides exactly the kind of skilled, articulate instruction I've been
looking for. (Finally!) She is encouraging rather than disdainful toward
her students, and can be a tough critic without breaking one's spirit. And
she's fun. I highly recommend her classes.
--Robinne Gray
Ithaca, NY
At 08:48 PM 7/24/2000 +0000, Erica wrote:
** ** **
Florencia Taccetti arrives in Chicago on July 25th, Tuesday!
....
Florencia's Mini-Bio:
Florencia speaks English. She has been dancing tango since 1985, with
Miguel Zotto and with Miguel and Nelly. She is a protege of Graciela
Gonzalez and has studied with Juan Bruno, Antonio Todaro, Gustavo Naveira
and Pablo Veron. In 1995 and 1996 she co-taught with Graciela Gonzalez and
Patricia Lamberti at the Parakultural in Buenos Aires. In the fall of 1996
she worked as the guest partner of Daniel Trenner. Since 1997 she has taught
her own workshops in Buenos Aires, and has done teaching tours within
Argentina and abroad.
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Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 00:16:37 EDT
From: Daniela Arcuri <DATango @AOL.COM>
Subject: Buenos Aires 2000, corrections
Buenos Aires 2000
Tango Festival
November 27 to December 2, 2000
As coordinators and artistic directors, Daniela Arcuri & Armando Orzuza,
invite you to this new tango festival in Buenos Aires Argentina, "Buenos
Aires 2000", sponsored by Legislatura de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires,
Secretaria de Turismo del Gobierno de La Ciudad de Buenos Aires, & 92.7 FM de
la Ciudad, produced by El Fueye Productions, Diego Rivarola & Raul
Goldsztejn, Directors.
This event is going to take place in the brand new hotel "Holiday Inn
Abasto", four star hotel across the street of the "Carlos Gardel home", and
"El mercado del Abasto" 5 minutes from down town Buenos Aires.
Teachers:
Osvaldo Zotto & Lorena Ermocida
Jorge Firpo & Aurora Lubiz
Facundo & Kely Posadas
Alejandro Sanguinetti & Karin Solana
Pocho Pizarro & Patricia Vero Kay
Nestor & Patricia Rey
Sebastian Arce & Mariana Montes
Daniela Arcuri & Armando Orzuza
Special guest:
Juan Carlos Copes
Milena Plebs
More teachers to be announced.
Milongas every nights, five different orchestras, and special guest DJ "Felix
Picherna", show with the masters at "Teatro de la Rivera", in the famous
barrio de La Boca, conferences with masters of the tango history and much,
much more!
Don't miss this fabulous event in the real scene of tango,
in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina!
Prices:
To September 30th: $490
From October 1st : $550
For booking and information.
Please contact Daniela & Armando
e-mail stproductions @aol.com
or call at: (818) 487-8516.
Strictly Tango Productions
Daniela Arcuri & Armando Orzuza, Directors
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 02:06:29 EDT
From: Rico Lombard <ricolombard @HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: The Use of Patterns in Social Dancing
Wonderful Stephen , That can never be mentioned enough , Change of direction
tricks are the most exciting thing to discover , they really change the
whole floor, and give us outs when confronted by hostile kicking dancers.
Ballroom dancers are taught about holding patterns very early on and are
able to use them effectively to change direction or stay in one place for a
measure or two. Why our tango instructors don't stress these most important
steps at the same time as the b8c I don't know. Maybe they get a laugh out
of us getting lost on the floor and having to stop and think about it.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Oh I'm back sorry it's late.
I had a lesson with Senor Copes and he seems to teach long series of steps,
which appear useless, however, if one knows how to change direction it
makes perfect sense if a person can remember those long patterns ( thats the
real problem ) Remembering all of the steps and playing with them
successfully is apparently where most men fail and also that damm leading
thing. That is so hard to learn!
OF COURSE, YOU NEED TO KNOW WHICH SCHOOL OF THOUGHT YOUR DANCE PARTNER
COMES FROM. The stiff armers or the leaners or the I'm actually leading you
around the floor with my breast school. Those we men have no problem with
and gladly snap to attention when they look our way. I hope women understand
that their arms become quite heavy when they don't hold up their own. That
must be the hangers on school! We dont like that group at all. The man
doesn't remember to ask that woman to dance anymore it's probably
subconscious memory of pain? How about the I cant steer this wheel barrel of
wet cement across the floor Group. The are usually bigginers, so we give
them a break. ( Dammit practice those ochos) These women are like an
aerobics class. Oh, I forgot to mention the stiff arm while leaning and
hanging and always blame the man for your lack of balance group. Ignore them
they are set in their foolish way and cannot be helped!
I hope some of you ladies will answer my jokes in like kind, and please be
humourous it is an easy way to help people think about what they are doing.
I think anyone who is studying tango is wonderful and should be praised for
their effort. Rico
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End of TANGO-L Digest - 25 Jul 2000 to 26 Jul 2000 (#2000-204)
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