Just happened across four early (circa 2003-2004, judging by the hair style?) performances of Javier Rodriguez with Geraldine Rojas at Porteño y Bailarin. There are some breath-taking pieces of footwork and mini-sequences (especially clips 2 and 3) which are not often seen these days, and a rare chance to see Javier – who will be visiting Singapore in May – dancing a vals! Enjoy the trip down memory lane.
Another video clip to share (couresy of Tangofix, where I saw it). Certainly brings back some nice memories! Shots of familiar streets, obelisk along Nueve de Julio, street performers at Florida and even one of our favourite teachers from EAT…
A very interesting documentatary on the production of records (the three stages: master, mother matrix and stamper), made by who but RCA Victor! How is this related to tango? Well, it just so happens that RCA Victor was and still is a major player in tango music and I enjoy these old documentaries…
Although I had some opinions about this during my trip, I didn’t imagine they’d turn into a full-blown post until I read some recent comments yesterday.
The background is that in SOME milongas, the “archaic” (my choice of word, not the phrase used by the originator) custom of seating men and women separately* – in particular, having the women in a line against one side of the room. In these situations, invitation is done using the cabaceo exclusively. Basically there was the contention that this was somehow demeaning to women and ought not to happen in this day and age. Firstly I want to point out that in such milongas, men will also get be lined up and get a good sizing over from women from the other side of the room! Secondly, as a visitor, regardless of my own cultural background (and hence prejudices), I always believe in the adage “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, out of respect for the culture that I am visiting.
This is not the first time that I have noticed this. It seems often that when a interesting song appears in one performance, all of a sudden you will find a number of couples choosing the same song!? The song in question is “Tu Corazon”, by Donato Racciatti’s orchestra.
I first heard of this song from the Seoul performance (May 2009, number 2 below). Here are three couples offering their interpretations to the same song – take, for example, the different treatments at around the 1:50-2:00 mark. The first one is perhaps more “conventional”, the next two extremely playful, and the final softer and more romantic. That is part of the reason why I like tango, because the same piece of music can sometimes trigger a range of musical expressions.
Are there more examples using this song?
* Actually I prefer their performance at Tangocool which I have already posted here but didn’t want to repeat the same clip. I guess perhaps they were a little overawed by the occasion at Sunderland!? To be fair, this seemed more like an impromptu guest appearance rather than a pre-arranged performance.
I guess perhaps they were a little overawed by the occasion at Sunderland!? To be fair, this seemed more like an impromptu guest appearance rather than a pre-arranged performance.
