Tuesday, February 20, 2007
No Bailarás at the Teatro Maipo
Monday, February 19, 2007
Here is the hook: according to the program, No Bailarás was “born as the result of a useless search for solace en the feverish night.” Nice. The line: the wonderfully and outrageously typical title of this show was “grotesca pasion trasnochada,” which I don’t think really needs translation. And the sinker: the main publicity photo of the group, which is plastered on posters all over town, shows a completely naked woman embraced from behind by her dance partner with her breasts and crotch barely covered by the strategically outstretched arms of one dancing couple and the kicking leg of another. Hmmmmm. What are you doing on Monday night?
No Bailarás, which translates as “you will not dance,” is a young tango dance company run by choreographer Silvana Grill. This show, which is running on Mondays for several weeks at the lovely art deco Teatro Maipo, features a selection of dances for three couples set to the original music of the Ramiro Gallo Quinteto. Gallo’s group, which I have written about here before, plays live on stage throughout the show, and hearing them again was the real reason I was interested in it. Indeed, even though tango dance shows—especially the extremely expensive “cena shows” at the city’s many tourist-oriented tango clubs—are the bread and butter of many a young tango musician and dancer, I have to admit that this was the first time I have been to such an espectaculo.
The show itself, while quite sexy at moments (and yes, that scene in the poster is in the show) was also refreshingly playful. The over the top passion of much staged tango can easily come off as corny at best, especially when performed with utmost sincerity, which it almost always is. In contrast, Grill and her dancers, while clearly dedicated to the fundamentals, also incorporated subtle humor, interesting twists on the stereotypical gender dynamics of tango, and interesting uses of augmented couples (three or more dancers together instead of two). Best of all, for me, was that Grill gave Gallo and his band plenty of room to show their stuff, with six of the fifteen songs incorporated into the show left as instrumental performances without dance accompaniment.
Gallo, who as far as I know did not write any of the music specifically for this show but instead gathered it from his now growing repertoire of original compositions, clearly treats tango as a classical music, with all the detailed technique and specific modes of performance and listening that implies. That project was not always served by the various crotch grabs and other semi-lewd movements incorporated into the dances, to the point that my co-attendee thought that the dancers were just making fun of things while the musicians were really trying to say something. I don’t entirely agree, and think that on the whole the choreographed pieces were quite successful, if not exactly harmonious with the music. At the very least, Grill and Gallo seem to be on the same page vis-à-vis a larger artistic projects of incorporating their own voices into the traditions of their respective mediums, work which needs to be applauded even if specific instances are not necessarily sublime.
Related Links
www.nobailaras.blogspot.com
www.ramirogallo.com.ar
Here is the hook: according to the program, No Bailarás was “born as the result of a useless search for solace en the feverish night.” Nice. The line: the wonderfully and outrageously typical title of this show was “grotesca pasion trasnochada,” which I don’t think really needs translation. And the sinker: the main publicity photo of the group, which is plastered on posters all over town, shows a completely naked woman embraced from behind by her dance partner with her breasts and crotch barely covered by the strategically outstretched arms of one dancing couple and the kicking leg of another. Hmmmmm. What are you doing on Monday night?
No Bailarás, which translates as “you will not dance,” is a young tango dance company run by choreographer Silvana Grill. This show, which is running on Mondays for several weeks at the lovely art deco Teatro Maipo, features a selection of dances for three couples set to the original music of the Ramiro Gallo Quinteto. Gallo’s group, which I have written about here before, plays live on stage throughout the show, and hearing them again was the real reason I was interested in it. Indeed, even though tango dance shows—especially the extremely expensive “cena shows” at the city’s many tourist-oriented tango clubs—are the bread and butter of many a young tango musician and dancer, I have to admit that this was the first time I have been to such an espectaculo.
The show itself, while quite sexy at moments (and yes, that scene in the poster is in the show) was also refreshingly playful. The over the top passion of much staged tango can easily come off as corny at best, especially when performed with utmost sincerity, which it almost always is. In contrast, Grill and her dancers, while clearly dedicated to the fundamentals, also incorporated subtle humor, interesting twists on the stereotypical gender dynamics of tango, and interesting uses of augmented couples (three or more dancers together instead of two). Best of all, for me, was that Grill gave Gallo and his band plenty of room to show their stuff, with six of the fifteen songs incorporated into the show left as instrumental performances without dance accompaniment.
Gallo, who as far as I know did not write any of the music specifically for this show but instead gathered it from his now growing repertoire of original compositions, clearly treats tango as a classical music, with all the detailed technique and specific modes of performance and listening that implies. That project was not always served by the various crotch grabs and other semi-lewd movements incorporated into the dances, to the point that my co-attendee thought that the dancers were just making fun of things while the musicians were really trying to say something. I don’t entirely agree, and think that on the whole the choreographed pieces were quite successful, if not exactly harmonious with the music. At the very least, Grill and Gallo seem to be on the same page vis-à-vis a larger artistic projects of incorporating their own voices into the traditions of their respective mediums, work which needs to be applauded even if specific instances are not necessarily sublime.
Related Links
www.nobailaras.blogspot.com
www.ramirogallo.com.ar
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The No Bailaras will perform with Roberto Herrera and Esteban Moreno at the Hongkong Arts Festival in March.
Even though I visited BA twice myself I still don't know its music scene. Thank you for blogging about contemporary orchestras in Buenos Aires. This is the kind of useful information I wish to know more about.
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Even though I visited BA twice myself I still don't know its music scene. Thank you for blogging about contemporary orchestras in Buenos Aires. This is the kind of useful information I wish to know more about.
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