Tango Argentino (musical)

In 1974, Hector Orezzoli and Claudio Segovia, two Argentine set designers, decided to put together a production about tango using the best dancers in all of Argentina. Claudio Segovia recounted that he wanted to reflect on stage the reality of tango life in Buenos Aires, therefore he looked for an authentic mixture of the different types of musicians and dancers, of children, young people and mature people: "Elegí gente que según mi juicio era la más auténtica, la más verdadera, y creo que no me equivoqué." [I chose people who, in my opinion, were the most authentic, the truest (tango artists), and I think I was not wrong.]^[6]

Claudio Segovia went looking for accomplished tango dancers in Buenos Aires. He approached Juan Carlos Copes and Maria Nieves, who ran one of the most popular tango shows in the city.^[7]

By the mid-1970s, Copes and Nieves had been dancing tango together most of their lives. They had begun in a working class dance hall in 1940s Buenos Aires when they were in their teens.^[8] By the late 1950s, interest in tango had begun to wane due in part to a regressive government that discouraged public gatherings and later due to the cultural phenomenon of the Beatles.^[9] Copes had such a love for the dance, that he decided he would not accept the death of tango. Being a lover of Gene Kelly's dance films, he decided in 1955 to do something similar with tango. He began to rehearse tango choreographies, together with Maria Nieves and other tango dancers in the basement of a factory.^[9] Their shows soon became popular in Buenos Aires.^[9]

Copes expressed doubts that a group of tango artists, who were often known for their huge egos, could ever work together long enough to stage such a production. He thought the idea of the show was crazy.^[7] Eventually Copes and Nieves joined the cast of Tango Argentino.

Segovia also approached the well-known stage dancers Nelson and Nélida.^[7] Nelson Avila and Nélida Rodriguez de Aure were dancing and directing the choreography at the famous Michelangelo tango show in San Telmo at the time. They had already been dancing together in the most prominent shows in Buenos Aires, had appeared together numerous times on television, and had performed internationally. They were noted for the speed of their dance and their acrobatic steps.^[7] Nelson and Nélida joined the cast.

The next couple added to the cast was Mayoral and Elsa Maria. They danced a different style than the others. They came from the tango salons and danced the very simple, yet very graceful dance of the crowded milonga salons of Buenos Aires. Their tango was noted for its small. playful steps. Together with Copes & Nieves and Nelson & Nélida, they comprised the three couples who were asked to perform solo routines in the original Tango Argentino.^[7]

1987 Luis Pereyra is added to the cast. He was solo dancer at Caño 14, Casa Blanca, Michelangelo, Viejo Almacén. He stayed at the cast over 13 years. First he dances with Gloria, later on with Norma. He had very much experience on stage. His dance education has taken place in the Theatre Colon, with the Ballett Salta, Master Santiago Ayala el Chúcaro. He started on stage at the age of ten. During all the years, Luis Pereyra danced different solos with his partners Gloria and Norma, such as: El Entrerriano. Verano Porteño he danced with Cecilia Narowa, who took the part of Milonguita.Together with Nelson Avila he was in charge to rebuild the choreografies^[7]

 

With the solo routines set, Segovia needed more milongueros, the social dancers from the salons, to complete the show. Nelson Avila suggested some good friends, who were well respected street dancers in Buenos Aires, Virulazo^[7] and Elvira Santamaría. When Nelson and Nélida went to look for the couple, they found that Virulazo had quit tango, having become disouraged with the lack of money. Nelson went out searching for him in his old neighborhoods, but Verulazo was nowhere to be found. Anton Gazenbeek describes what happened next in his book Inside Tango Argentino.^[7] When Nelson finally found Virulazo, he was working in a butcher shop with a blood-covered apron and he was noticeably overweight. Nelson described the new tango show to him, but Verulazo had no interest at all. He was done with tango. When they mentioned an audition for the show, Verulazo replied that he didn't need to audition for anyone: People already knew he was a great dancer, he had no interest in auditioning. When Nelson finally talked Virulazo^[10] and Elvira into dancing for Segovia, any doubts about their tango disappeared. They were quickly added to the cast.^[7]

The well known salon tango^[11] dancers Carlos and María Rivarola were added to the cast,^[12] Mónica and Luciano Frías, and Cecilia Narova completed the original cast of dancers.^[7]

 

Music for Tango Argentino was provided by Sexteto Mayor. The sextet in Argentine tango was first established by Julio De Caro in 1924. The traditional tango sextet consists of piano, double bass, two violins and two bandoneóns. Sexteto Mayor had been formed in 1973 by bandoneon players and arrangers Jose Libertella and Luiz Stazo.^[13] By 1981, they were playing in Paris and Segovia approached Libertella and Stazo with his idea. Sexteto Mayor provided the music for both the Paris performance and the first Broadway performance.^[7] Together they put together a musical arrangement that followed the origins of Argentine tango from its beginnings in the 19th century to the nuevo tango of Piazzolla.

Originally, Segovia had hoped to use the orchestra of the great Aníbal Troilo; however, Troilo had died in 1975.^[7] In homage to Troilo, every performance of Tango Argentino begins and ends with "Quejas de bandoneón",^[14] which was Troilo's signature piece.

In addition to Sexteto Mayor, Segovia recruited the great Horacio Salgán to complete the music.^[7][15]

In his book Tango: The Art History of Love, Robert Farris Thompson describes tango as music, poetry and dance.^[16] The poetry of tango is expressed through its songs. To complete the tango experience for the audience, Segovia included vocal performances by some of the best tango singers in Argentina. Jovita Luna and Raúl Lavié performed in the original cast from Paris to Broadway. Roberto Goyeneche sang at the world premier in Paris.^[17] Elba Berón sang at the 1985 Broadway premier.^[18]

 

The concept of Tango Argentino was to present the history of tango through its music, song and dance. With the many dance styles among the cast members, each couple was given the flexibility to do much of their own choreography. One problem was that there are no videos of the early 20th century dancers. When trying to choreograph the beginnings of tango dance, Segovia and the dancers took original still photographs from the early days of tango and laid them out in such an order as to allow them to recreate the original dance of the time.^[7] Thus audiences were able to visualize the evolution of Argentine tango as both music and dance.

Unfortunately for all their hard work, the show found little support in Buenos Aires. They even had difficulty finding places to rehearse. Few Argentines thought the show had any chances of success.^[5][7]

In 1983, they finally got a break. They were invited to perform in Paris. On a minimal budget, the entire cast of Tango Argentino boarded an Argentine military transport headed to Paris. The Argentine Air Force cargo plane provided no services; they flew as cargo.^[16] They had been afforded the opportunity to participate in the Festival d'Automne.^[17] The show was an immediate success. The first performance in Paris received so many loud standing ovations, that Nelson Avila and Nélida stood at the front of the stage and wept after their solo performance, further exciting the crowd.^[7] The show sold out for every performance with crowds standing outside the theatre unable to get tickets. The show was in such demand that it made a second tour of Italy and Paris the next year.^[7]

By 1985, Tango Argentino appeared on Broadway. Unfortunately, Nelson Avila, one of the main performers, broke his arm before the first performance, and it was in a full cast. Nelson had the doctors break the cast in two and hinged it at the elbow so he could bend his arm a little, and he danced the show with a broken arm. Also appearing were Jorge Martin Orcaizaguirre [Virulazo] and Elvira Santa Maria, Juan Carlos Copes and Maria Nieves. Tango Argentino received rave reviews from the New York critics. The show was such an immediate success that many celebrities attended the show, including Frank Sinatra, Madonna, Brooke Astor, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Helen Gurley Brown, Henry Kissinger and Claus von Bulow. Régine Zylberberg of Regine's invited the cast to dinner. Dance instructors in New York saw the demand for Argentine tango instruction triple overnight.^[5]

The diversity of the dancers and the simple elegance of tango struck home with audiences who had no concept of Argentine tango before seeing the show. Russell St. Cyr, writing for The Miscellany News, the Vassar College newspaper, suggested that the production be considered for a Tony Award and was impressed with the quality of the production:

The dancers have each developed different styles, and they have brought the tango's entire rainbow to the same stage. One would never think that a simple dance could have so much diversity.^[19]

Tango Argentino did not receive any Tony Awards, although it received numerous Tony Award nominations:^[20] The nominations included the 1986 Tony Award for the Best Choreography; the 1986 Tony Award for the Best Direction of a Musical; the 1986 Tony Award for the Best Musical and for the revival in 1999 the 2000 Tony Award for the Best Revival.

Tango Argentino became a world-wide hit, touring the United States,^[21] then Japan (1987). On numerous tours around the world, the cast of Tango Argentno danced before the likes of Princess Diana, Jacqueline Kennedy, Ann Miller, Rita Moreno, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolph Nureyev, Burt Reynolds, Kirk Douglas, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Liza Minnelli, Katharine Hepburn, and Placido Domingo.^[22] It continued to tour the world for another 15 years with many of its original cast members.^[7] The final Broadway revival occurred in 1999–2000.^[7] In 2011 there was a performance at the Obelisco in Buenos Aires with a few of the original artists including Maria Nieves and Raúl Lavié

When the dancers of Tango Argentino took the stage on 11 November 1983, at the Festival d'Automne in Paris, France, many consider it a turning point in the history of tango. The world of Argentine tango would never be the same. Robert Farris Thompson in the preface to his book Tango: The Art History of Love states "In the 1980s Buenos Aires barrio dancers sparked the strongest renaissance of the twentieth century, through their performance in the stage extravaganza Tango Argentino."^[23]

The tango historian Alberto Paz credits Tango Argentino with the world-wide revival of Argentine tango:

Tango Argentino appeared for the first time on an international stage at the Paris Autumn Festival, which began on November 11, 1983. That run lasted one week, but those few days were enough to change history: the tango as dance resurfaced with an unexpected force, and became huge around the world. There has never been a time in history when so many social dancers are dancing Argentine tango as it was danced in the golden years of the 1940s and ’50s.^[24]

In the epilogue of his book Inside Tango Argentino, Antón Gazenbeek^[25] observes that the lure of the production was its "humanity:" The average age of the dancers in the original Tango Argentino was 42 years. When the audience watched a large male dancer, such as Verulazo, dance the tango, their reaction was, "I can do that." They were pulled into the show.^[2] The immediate impact of Tango Argentino was observable wherever it appeared. Shortly after the 1985 Broadway premier, Samuel G. Friedman wrote in the New York Times:

From dance schools to fashion shows to the media, Tango Argentino has stirred the metropolitan imagination. Vanity Fair magazine discoursed on tango history. Women's Wear Daily devoted a centerfold to tango togs. The New Yorker published a Tango Argentino cartoon. Tango mania, quoth Vogue.

We're all tango daft, said Sandra Cameron, who owns a dance school in Greenwich Village. Courses in Beginning Tango, Advanced Tango and Tango Milonga are now populated by 124 students – three times the pre-Tango Argentino enrollment.^[5]

More recently, video footage of Copes and Nieves dancing in Tango Argentino flows in and out of German Kral's 2016 documentary Our Last Tango as the two dancers reflect on the passion and turmoil of their relationship and their 50 year partnership in tango.^[26]

While many see the musical Tango Argentino as the catalyst for the world-wide revival of Argentine tango in the 1990s, an alternative theory of the cause of this revival can be found in a study by Chris Goertzen and María Susana Azzi titled "Globalization and the Tango" in the 1999 Yearbook for Traditional Music.^[27] The authors describe the globalization of tango using an example of the Washington, DC, musical ensemble Quintango:^[28] The well-known group Quintango played in Washington, DC, at a White House gala reception for then Argentine President Carlos Menem, and then two weeks later played in Richmond, Indiana (population 40,000) at small Earlham College. The authors observe how a small town, such as Richmond, had an active Argentine tango dance group and how the audience at Quintango's performance was totally familiar with the all forms of tango music. They attribute this globalization of traditional tango music to mass media and the many tango movies of the 1980s and 1990s. Goertzen and Azzi make no mention of the musical Tango Argentino in their analysis, rather they refer to a long gradual assimilation of tango into European and North American culture in the early 20th century. They then describe the growth of tango in the tourist areas of San Telmo, Buenos Aires. The authors present the thesis that this global spread of the culture of Argentine tango reaching as far as small towns in Indiana is the result of the global effects of mass media.

The playbill of the 1985 Broadway production shows the following performances:^[4]

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tango Argentino.

• Tango Argentino: Solo performance by Nelson Avila and Nelida Rodriguez dancing to Jalousie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkFehNBVpvs
• Homenaje a Virulazo & Elvira https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6KG-Ix8e1E
• Sexteto Mayor, Copes and Nieves El Choclo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOyauS2X2aY