The Tango-L mailing list archive

Digest from 25 Sep 1999 to 27 Sep 1999





Reply-To: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango          <TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
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Date:     Mon, 27 Sep 1999 03:00:00 -0400
Sender: Discussion of Any Aspect of the Argentine Tango          <TANGO-L @MITVMA.MIT.EDU>
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Subject:  TANGO-L Digest - 25 Sep 1999 to 27 Sep 1999 (#1999-17)

There are 9 messages totalling 620 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. LAST CHANCE to win a Tango CD and download 20 Tangos in MP3 for FREE 2. Tango Shows (not Shoes) 3. Argentine Flirting (long) 4. ARGENTINE TANGO -JAPANESE STAMP 5. Change of direction 6. Daniel Barenboim and the Story of Tango 7. JAPANESE TANGO STAMP 8. News From BAires 9. Any Tango in Berlin October 8 - 11?


Send "Where can I Tango in <city>?" requests to Tango-A rather than to Tango-L, since you can indicate the region. To subscribe to Tango-A, send "subscribe Tango-A Firstname Lastname" to LISTSERV @MITVMA.MIT.EDU.





Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 11:45:50 -0300 From: "Ing. Leonardo G. Vazquez" <vazquez @APTO.COM.AR> Subject: LAST CHANCE to win a Tango CD and download 20 Tangos in MP3 for FREE Tango Lovers --> LAST CHANCE TO PARTICIPATE The survey in Internet that I put in orther to collect data that I need to sustain my thesis is finnising. Remember that I put a Web page with 20 Greats Hits of Tango in MP3 format to download to all that fill the survey. Moreover I will make a raffle of a CD of Tango Hits. You only need to enter in the survey page, fill the survey form (that only have 5 questions) and then you will obtain an user and password to download the Tango MP3s and a number for the raffle. I WILL MAKE THE RAFFLE THE OCTOBER 1st , 1999, THEN YOU NEED TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY RIGTH NOW IF YOU LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE RAFFLE. (the raffle will make in Buenos Aires, with the presence of a notary and publitated in the Web). ITS FREE, IF YOU LIKE TANGO YOU NEED PARTICIPATE !!! Please fill my survey at: Main page: http://www.apto.com.ar/tango/index.htm Only in english: http://www.apto.com.ar/tango/english/index.htm Only in Spanish: http://www.apto.com.ar/tango/espanol/index.htm I expect that you enjoy the Tangos. Thank you in advance. And good look in a raffle !!! Sincerely Leonardo G. Vazquez vazquez @cadema.com.ar vazquez @apto.com.ar NOTE: The information colected is NOT going to be used with commercial purposes, this data will be used only for my thesis.


Date: Sat, 25 Sep 1999 19:54:16 -0700 From: Jean Walsh <tangochic @HOTBOT.COM> Subject: Tango Shows (not Shoes) A few things about Tango Shows. "TANGO X 2" (www.tangox2.com) has posted its schedule for next year's tour in Europe. Too bad they are not coming to the States. Does anyone know what happened to the "Tangoing"? Is it true that Daniela & Armando were fired from the show? If so, why? Any reviews on that big show in Miami? Muchas gracias, Jean. HotBot - Search smarter. http://www.hotbot.com


Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 13:10:38 -0500 From: Tom Ronquillo <chitiger @MAIL.DAVE-WORLD.NET> Subject: Argentine Flirting (long) A woman friend of mine who grew up in Buenos Aires sent me the following article about piropos. Some of us on the list are old enough to remember when flirtation was a skill that was as important as how well one danced. Today, my younger latina feminista acquaintances will engage me in vociferous debate about the wrongfulness of such sexist behavior. In response, I will say to them that I am still evolving. Then I will tell them how beautiful they look when they are angry at me. Tom (El Tigre) Ronquillo salon.com > Travel May 7, 1999 URL: http://www.salon.com/travel/wlust/1999/05/07/argentina The Argentine art of flirting A young American learns to stop resisting and love the piropo. - - - - - - - - - - - - By Kaitlin Quistgaard Amid the pale purple jacaranda of Plaza San Martmn, I fell into one of those impossibly long stares that strangers engage in here. I had been in Buenos Aires a week and my inner Argentine, developed during a previous four-year love-hate battle with the place -- a battle that had ended with my return to the States two years before -- was on an unprecedented high. Pheromones were no doubt wafting up from the crowd of park-bench lovers and the full-bodied Italianate Spanish was infusing my thoughts as the night jasmine perfumed the city streets. So I playfully clung to his silvery gray eyes. We didn't trade smiles or winks, but my chest tingled with a soundless giggle. It was good to be back on the teasingly sensual Argentine streets. But that night, as the wooden plates were being cleared from a gluttonous asado in which we'd sampled every cut of beef that could be barbecued, my friend Peter challenged the longevity of such public sensuality. I didn't hear what prompted the thought, but his words rang out across the raucous dinner party: "They don't say as many piropos these days." A piropo is the most simpatico of flirtations -- a kind of street poetry that a man whispers just when he's close enough to look a woman in the eye. Traditionalists might memorize a rhyme popularized decades ago, like "Adiss florecita de arroz, maqana voy a casarme con vos." (Goodbye little rice flower, tomorrow I will marry you.) But even a mundane "!Qui piernas!" (What legs!), when delivered by a bewitching flatterer, is pure excitement -- a moment of unexpected intimacy with a stranger -- and then, before your cheeks have fully flushed, he's gone. I had come to think of the piropo as the Latin-lover cousin of the white trash catcall. In the American version, a construction worker, towering above the world on a scaffold, whistles at a bouncy giglet on the sidewalk below, drawing upon her the cruelest attention. But the piropo is subtle -- with refined machismo, it replaces public humiliation with a private fantasy of romance. At most, a person walking beside you might hear, but often no one, not even the mystery man, looks to see your response. The compliment arrives quietly, like an anonymous gift. I was horrified to think the tradition might be dying. Of course, this stunning revelation was delivered by an eccentric foreigner -- a curry-addicted Catholic who had foolishly traded Bombay for Buenos Aires a quarter-century ago, only to be generally known as el hindz, since Spanish makes no allowances for monotheistic Indians. As a non-native, non-female, Peter would have seemed an odd expert on Argentine machismo -- but even after an afternoon of sidewalk flirtation, I trusted him to know. With a fine frosting of gray hair, a well-rounded belly and deep brown eyes that barely shielded his heart from full view, Peter was always surrounded by women, playing confidant and romantic advisor to many -- including, I must admit, me. He had been my best friend in the final days of my expat extravaganza, the one who suffered through every grating argument about the narrow-mindedness that could flourish in these narrow streets -- and in my ex-lover. He also had an inquisitive mind and when we'd gone on assignment together -- he as photographer, me as journalist -- he would end up asking all the questions. Now I presumed he'd been interviewing piropeadores. Viviana leaned into the table, pushing herself into the conversation with a coquettish wink, and said, "I don't hear as many piropos these days, but it's hard to know whether that's because they say them less or they just don't say them to me." There was an eruption of little-girl giggles around the table as the women -- every one a vibrant young babe sculpted into a form-fitting dress -- inwardly tallied their recent piropos and laughed. Cecilia, with her ebony tresses and voluptuous curves, took the apparent deficit of piropos with the same good humor with which she received the verbal ogling itself. Gisela, too, shrugged off the dearth of piropos and set her fairy-blue eyes teasingly upon Felipe. He and the other men at the table tickled their wine glasses and crumbled their bread, but said nothing. I wasn't so quick to kiss the piropo goodbye. How many times had I been hurtling down Avenida Santa Fi, plagued by some inane job-related worry, only to have it washed away by a furtive smile and a flattering line? "With eyes as bright as yours, who needs the sun?" There were times when a morning greeting of "!Diosa!" (Goddess!) was enough to bring on a secret, blushing smile that lasted all day. It wasn't that I was so hard up for attention. Like many an expat, I had bound myself to Argentina with a passionately woven romance. I think, actually, I had gathered piropos like tokens of acceptance from my new country. Their delivery was predicated on the belief that I understood both the language and the culture of the piropo, which is so foreign to my American roots that if there existed some kind of world consciousness that could identify me as a yanqui, I never would have been treated to a single one. But these mysterious piropeadores behaved toward me as if I was Argentine, and it was as if by comprehending them, I became one. A bittersweet nostalgia for that seqorita I had struggled to become rippled through me as I polished off a final espresso and began the requisite round of cheek-kissing goodbyes. Peter directed the taxi to Viviana's place, where I was staying while working on a travel video. Then, sitting up front while Viviana and I commandeered the back seat, he asked the driver if it was true that they said fewer piropos these days. The taxista, who was in his 50s and surely putting in 14-hour days to make a living, agreed. "There's no time," he said flatly. "Everyone's in a hurry. There's no siesta anymore, no time to dream up silly verses." By then we had left the curving cobblestone streets and crumbling, belle ipoque barrio of San Telmo and were barreling down Avenida 9 de Julio, heralded as the widest in the world since the government bulldozed a collective of neoclassical mansions to roll out eight lanes in each direction. During the day it was a motionless sea of traffic, and even now, at 2 a.m. on a weeknight, it was busy -- quick schools of red tail lights darting past the opulent opera house and into the current of another rushing boulevard. Memories of my Argentine life cascaded down these avenues, and I recalled discomforting moments during my education in the ways of this sensual culture: It had been unnerving to learn that the piropo was not always an anonymous affair. Countless times, I had arrived at the office of some government minister or well-known executive whose secretary had put me off for weeks, and the big muckety-muck would size me up while shaking my hand and purr, "If I had known you were so beautiful, I would have agreed to the interview ages ago." At first, I would just freeze and return their winking words with an icy handshake. But gradually, as the filter through which I had been trained to view the world dissolved, I found humor in these fawning men in suits. Sure, they were sexist and a bit grotesque, but they hadn't been schooled to not say what they were really thinking. And their admission of attraction -- if you could even call it that -- seemed harmless. I suppose any feminist would have howled at my apathy, but by then I would have howled right back if I could have found the party responsible for draining the sweaty-palmed humanity, with its unchecked crushes and flirtatious freedoms, from my homeland. Over time, I came to revel in Argentina's unbridled acceptance of everyday sexuality, and with my feminist education and Seven Sisters diploma in tow, learned to offer a smile and genuine thanks to these piropador-acquaintances, before turning to the interview at hand. I awoke the next morning in the tiny twin bed in Viviana's apartment, troubled by the dwindling piropos and wondering what such a change would portend for Argentina's relationship to sexuality. If the taxi driver was right and over-busy lives were to blame, I wondered if the country would ever recover. The government was hellbent on arriving in the devoutly worshipped First World; competition, longer workdays and the American entertainment monoculture had long begun their beguiling encroachments on simpler ways of life. I could hardly bear to think that my sexual paradise -- not that of an easy lay, but one in which casual attraction had a voice -- could be Americanizing. The last thing the world needs is another prudish freak show of a country, I thought, hanging my towel beside the bidet and pulling on a sleek black dress. I slipped into a taxi and headed to La Boca. The portside brothels and bars that had witnessed the birth of Argentina's sultry tango had long given way to an impoverished barrio turned tour-bus standard. Decades ago the cheap rent had attracted artists, who converted the little houses on stilts into an outrageous palette of kaleidoscoping reds, greens and purples. Now a booming business in sidewalk watercolors and other "local crafts" attracted European and American tourists. I hadn't ventured here for six years, since the very first week of my Argentine sojourn, and wouldn't have been back if the blatant color schemes weren't perfect for TV. But it turned out to be a godsend, for here I met Oscar, a vaguely creepy street artist and tango dancer. Handsome and aging, he absolutely dripped with Argentinity beneath a pale fedora and worn blazer. My question about what time the art stalls opened prompted the first piropo of my trip: For a woman as beautiful as I, he said, the stalls would open at any hour. With a hint of a smile, I asked if it was true that they say less piropos these days. "Sadly, it is," he replied. Asking my permission, Oscar led me to a nearby park bench, arranged his silk aviator's cravat, lit up a cigarette and told me the history of piropos. "In the old days," he said, looking straight into my eyes with familiarity, "men came alone to try their luck in the New World. They left their wives and families behind. Soon there were far more men than women in Argentina. How do you get the attention of the only woman around?" His eyes followed a passing teenage girl, whose deep tan traced its way from her painted toes right up to the hem of her 4-inch skirt. "By saying the most beautiful words. It's the same as dancing the tango -- maybe you're ugly, but if you are a beautiful dancer, you have a chance." His chatter drifted toward the salacious dance and he began, as any tour book would, to tell me how it had been prohibited in Argentina until news of its European popularity reached these shores and gave it cachet with the locals. He made a valiant effort to impress me with his travels to the United States to lecture on the tango, while running his eyes over my legs. I steered him back to the piropo. "Men used to dress well, act properly and try to impress the girls. Today everything is much more aggressive," Oscar said. The famed melancholy of the tanguero spread across the elegant lines of his face. "The city runs at such speed. And women ask men out. You don't need a polished turn of phrase to get a girl to sleep with you." There was something uncomfortably forward about his manner as he said so, and for a moment I wondered if he had interpreted my pert response to his piropo as some kind of invitation. The woman my mother raised me to be wouldn't have dreamed of sharing a park bench with a flirtatious art-hawker. She would have run at the slightest sexual innuendo. But in Argentina, I could only chuckle, finding no hint of impropriety in his banter. I relaxed back into my seat."Before, I would work a piropo in my head until it was something wonderful. Then, if I impressed her enough with the verse, maybe she'd agree to have a coffee with me. If she found me interesting, maybe she'd give me her number. And maybe we'd go out again. It was all very slow." He shook his head, enraptured by the memory of a difficult, old-fashioned conquest. For a second I wondered if this story -- told by a man who had mentioned that he'd been married more than 30 years and spoke proudly of his grown daughter -- was more fantasy than truth. In any case, it was time for me to get back to work. I thanked Oscar and began to extricate myself from his reminiscences with a goodbye handshake. He insisted on giving me his card, then pulled my hand closer. "Remember," he said, reprimanding my cold exit strategy, "everything here is a kiss." His lips brushed my cheek and he took his leave with a broad smile. That evening, sitting on the floor with a glass of Malbec, I recounted the tale to Viviana. What was really going on with the piropo? After all, Oscar, that peddler of art and history and flirtation, had agreed with my friend Peter's theory that its popularity was diminishing. And like the taxista, he blamed its demise on speed and modernity. But our whole damn encounter had been a piropo. Oscar's scheme had worked on me: He'd said something charming that had enticed me to pass half the morning with him. At that Viviana nodded and broke into a rollicking laugh. I called Peter. I was eager to tell him the story of Oscar and discover the genesis for his theory of the dying piropo. Filming on my travel video was starting the next day and I was moving to a downtown hotel to join the crew, so Peter and I arranged to meet in the lobby after I checked in. I gave Viviana a goodbye kiss and headed downstairs to find a taxi. The sidewalk was busy with children coming home from soccer and ballet, and friends parting ways following an after-work drink. An unoccupied taxi was just coming into view as the silhouette of a man came up the street. I saw only dark hair, a brown coat. But then his eyes pierced mine and with the practiced flourish of a piropeador, he gestured at my luggage and asked, "Oh sweetness, must you leave so soon?" I was besieged by silent giggles and a faint blush as he disappeared into the hazy pink evening. salon.com | May 7, 1999


Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 23:08:41 -0500 From: Joe Grohens <joe @WOLFRAM.COM> Subject: Re: ARGENTINE TANGO -JAPANESE STAMP Sergio wrote: > Japan issued a Mail Stamp with a couple dancing Argentine Tango - Both > partners dressed for the ocasion,even hats; the lady doing a BOLEO. On one > side it says, " 100 Years Of Friendship Between Argentina and Japan"; both > in Spanish and in Japanese. > A beautiful stamp! This stamp can be seen at http://www1e.mesh.ne.jp/osaka-post/mail%2010t-argentina.htm This special stamp was first issued in last October in 98. I am not sure if it is still available in a postal office, but I have asked a colleague to try to find it. I agree, it is a very beautiful stamp. Joe


Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 13:28:06 EDT From: Jonny Lapongo <s6s6s6 @HOTMAIL.COM> Subject: Change of direction Does any one knows what this change of direction means. I got the term from the TangoUSA letter about Fabian Salas. Alberto ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com


Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 09:13:45 EDT From: "J. Ingojo" <Ingojo @AOL.COM> Subject: Daniel Barenboim and the Story of Tango On OVATIONTV (a cable channel) I caught the tail end of a tango musicvideo. It seems that there is a tango documentary and the blurb says: =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Daniel Barenboim and the Story of Tango Sunday, October 31, 1999 - 11:00:00 PM Tangos Among Friends: Daniel Barenboim in Buenos Aires =96 This documentary follows conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim=92s return t= o=20 his homeland of Argentina to explore the South American culture and roots=20 that lie behind his success. His most recent CD release, Tangos Among Friend= s=20 is=20 Barenbom=92s largest selling ever.=20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Does anyone know about this or seen it? Jose Ingojo


Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 09:21:15 +0200 From: Robert Barta <rho @TELECOMA.NET> Subject: Re: JAPANESE TANGO STAMP > Http://wwwle.mesh.ne.jp/osaka-post/mail%2010t-argentina.htm Correction: http://www1e.mesh.ne.jp/osaka-post/mail%2010t-argentina.htm \rho


Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 13:11:40 -0300 From: Lady <lady @FIBERTEL.COM.AR> Subject: News From BAires Hola A migos; Como es mi costumbre desde hace mucho tiempo ya... y para hacer conocer las publicaciones sobre los distintos moviminetos del tango aparecidos en los periodicos de Buenos Aires, transcribos los links, que en esta ocasion pude obtener, no son muvhos... tampoco tampoco...son muchas las publicaciones sobre tango aparecidas, y tambien es verdad que el tiempo no es lo que abunda:)) Disfrutenlos, , usenlos quien los necesita, como siempre Bien Venidos a LA MECA del TANGO!!!


=


COMO SERA LA OPERA DE BORGES Y PIAZZOLLA )( http://www.clarin.com.ar/diario/99-07-04/c-00601d.htm


El tango, con pasaporte internacional http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/11/S04.HTM


El teatro tiene nombre de mujer http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/14/S08.HTM


Con "Barrio reo", Horacio Molina http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/17/S05.HTM


Tributo a Piazzolla, con perfume frances http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/17/S21.HTM


Enrique Cuttini, SE ENSE=D1A BANDONEON, DANZA, PIANO Y CANTO http://www.clarin.com/diario/hoy/c-02101d.htm


Beba Pugliese - En vivo en Almagro http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/18/S13.HTM


Sobre el puente de Avi=F1=F3n http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/24/S10.HTM


Tango-danza y Poulenc. http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/24/S25.HTM


Avi=F1=F3n, sobre un puente teatral http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/26/S02.HTM


El lunfardo del 2000 http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/28/S01.HTM


El barrio de fin de siglo, en una letra http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/28/S03.HTM


Del tango al rock, un largo camino http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/28/S02.HTM


"Demoliendo tangos", Espejo de una generaci=F3n http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/28/S04.HTM


El klezmer, musica argentina http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/29/S13.HTM


Avi=F1=F3n se despide al ritmo del 2 por 4 http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/31/S09.HTM


Apostillas de "La France". http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/31/S10.HTM


Breves http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/07/31/S16.HTM


Tango con acento franc=E9s http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/08/06/S12.HTM


Tangos sin estridencias de la Rinaldi http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/08/06/S03.HTM


De Berl=EDn y Avi=F1=F3n al Obelisco http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/08/07/S05.HTM


El director acapar=F3 la atenci=F3n de Avi=F1=F3n http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/08/07/S03.HTM





=93Juancito de la ribera=94 los porte=F1os del pasado http://www.pagina12.com.ar/1999/99-08/99-08-07/pag26.htm


LOS NUEVOS ESTILOS DE BAILE http://www.clarin.com/diario/99-08-08/c-00801d.htm


Opinan los milongueros http://www.clarin.com/diario/99-08-08/c-00802d.htm


Rinaldi, en la cumbre http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/08/11/S03.HTM


A 100 a=F1os del bautismo de la Fragata Sarmiento http://www.clarin.com.ar/diario/99-08-11/c-00301d.htm


Horacio Salg=E1n, el incansable http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/08/17/S13.HTM


Horacio Salg=E1n Ovaciones en Suiza http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/08/17/S14.HT


Borges y Piazzolla. "El tango", http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/08/22/S12.HTM


HOY HACE CINCO A=D1OS MORIA EL POLACO GOYENECHE http://www.pagina12.com.ar/1999/99-08/99-08-27/pag25.htm


ENTREVISTA CON RUBEN JUAREZ http://www.clarin.com./diario/99-08-30/c-00401d.htm


Con alma de bohemio http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/09/02/S15.HTM


Serrat-Ruben Juarez http://www.frecuenciaweb.com.ar/htm/news/report_idx.html


Serrat-El tango y sus influencias http://www.frecuenciaweb.com.ar/htm/news/report_idx.html


El arranque y Lidia Borda! http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/09/03/S14.HTM


Nuevas voces para Pizarnik http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/09/05/S08.HTM


El Pachano tanguero http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/09/16/S21.HTM


Mederos, con el tango sin fronteras http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/09/18/S10.HTM


EL TANGO, SEGUN RODOLFO MEDEROS http://www.pagina12.com.ar/1999/99-09/99-09-18/pag27.htm


Stekelman: un perfil cincelado por la danza http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/09/25/S07.HTM


Milone, entre la TV y el tango http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/09/25/home.asp?pag=3Ds10.htm&a=3Dprem


El Nuevo Quinteto Real http://www.lanacion.com.ar/99/09/26/S04.HTM


Hay de todo y para todos, quienes se interesen, por el movimineto tanguero! Un abrazo Milonguero L @dy //// ( O O )


oOO--(_)--OOo-------- Lic. Liliana E. Tijman Kinesiologa


http://situar.com.ar/lady_tango


La pagina de la Sra Tita Merello http://situar.com.ar/tita


Also LU7AUI __ ICQ:37615582


Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 17:39:23 -0400 From: Reuven <Reuven @THEBEST1.COM> Subject: Any Tango in Berlin October 8 - 11? Hello Tangueros! My wife an I are planning to spend the above weekend in Berlin and hoping to dance (of course...). I looked at http://www.snafu.de/~rasch/TangoInB.html but it is in German and didn't indicate any special events. Would anyone have any information? We are from New York, and also need some inexpensive place to stay in Berlin. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, Reuven Freuman


End of TANGO-L Digest - 25 Sep 1999 to 27 Sep 1999 (#1999-17) *************************************************************