Argentina is a modern South American country of 40 million people, known for its gauchos, its heat and, in many American minds, its political heroine Eva Peron.
And then you have the tango — a glorious marriage of music and movement, born in the early 1900s and long a symbol of Argentine heat (the other kind), temperament and panache. The company Tango Buenos Aires, on at least its fourth North American tour, has in fact become one of Argentina’s great cultural exports. It’s known throughout the Americas, Europe and the Far East as the most uncompromising representative of the dance form. The 23-year-old company of 25 dancers and musicians has been touring the world extensively since 1989.
Theirs is not the “Dancing With the Stars” stuff you’ve seen on television, no mash-up of would-be fancy footwork and ill-conceived pop music adjudicated by overwrought characters with numbered paddles. This is serious, organic dance rooted in a nation’s history. Sometimes playful. Sometimes dramatic. Always seductive. The Argentine tango is all about fire and passion, not incidentally the name of this Tango Buenos Aires show and tour.
The term “tango” covers a variety of styles that developed in various regions and during various eras in Argentina and elsewhere around the world. The dance developed in response to many cultural elements — crowded cafés and fashion, among them. The styles are mostly danced in either “open embrace,” where the couple allows space between their bodies, or “close embrace,” where the man and woman connect either chest-to-chest (Argentine tango) or in the upper thigh and hip area (American and international tango).
Tango Buenos Aires, born in an Argentine cabaret in the late 1970s, stands out among the world’s companies because of its dogged authenticity, and its gritty and sensual dancing. Its tango is romantic, passionate, dramatic and steamy. Bodies touch, feet move with exact and furious speed, legs flash and eyes lock. Two performers become one. Relationships are born.
The dancers’ repertoire includes frequent dips, deep slides, foot stomps and balletic turns. All are performed to genuine South American sounds played on piano, violin, accordion and stand-up bass. Costumes range from traditional formalwear to well, cheeky, and many are infused with vibrant color.
Fire and Passion presents the modern history of the tango by demonstrating how the tango has evolved into modern times. This is storytelling through dance, a history lesson and a voyeuristic peek into raw, human, man-and-woman connections. It is art, not contest, meant to be absorbed and appreciated, not necessarily rated by the number.
The Washington Post described the company’s dance “as fast-paced tapestries of movement, laced with proud postures and sensual couplings.”
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram essentially called it choreographic foreplay, saying, “How could anyone not be ‘in the mood’ after watching this practically flawless company fervently display the Argentine dance often associated with … let’s just say it — throwin’ down.”
Take that Bruno Tonioli, Carrie Ann Inaba and Len Goodman. Observe quietly, please, and put those blasted paddles down!
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Kathy Janich is an Atlanta theater artist and freelance writer. After years in daily newspapers, she’s found a joyous second career as an artistic associate at Atlanta’s Synchronicity Theatre. Visit synchrotheatre.com.
