Tango Argentino is a musical stage production about the history and many varieties of Argentine tango. It was created and directed by Hector Orezzoli and Claudio Segovia, and premiered at the Festival d'Automne in Paris in 1983 and on Broadway in New York in 1985. The Mel Howard production became a world-wide success with numerous tours culminating with a Broadway revival in 1999–2000. It set off a world-wide resurgence of tango, both as a social dance and as a musical genre. Tango Argentino recreates on stage the history of tango from its beginnings in 19th-century Buenos Aires through the tango's golden age of the 1940s and 50s up to Piazzolla's tangos. Most of the dancers in the show did their own choreography. Tango Argentino was a totally unexpected hit. It violated all the rules— It was low budget, used a single set, and showcased slim, athletic professional dancers, such as Nelson Avila, along with middle-aged dancers, such as Verulazo and Elvira Santamaría, all on the same stage. The average age of the cast was 42 years.All this glamour attends a show that even Argentines wouldn't invest in at the outset, a show that made it to Broadway largely by accident, a show that has one set, four accordions (called bandoneons) and a couple of 38-inch waistlines. (Samuel G. Friedman, NY Times 1985)
Background 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.]
The solos
Juan Carlos Copes and Maria Nieves 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.
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. 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. 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. Their shows soon became popular in Buenos Aires.
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. Eventually Copes and Nieves joined the cast of Tango Argentino.
Nelson Avila and Nélida Rodriguez Segovia also approached the well-known stage dancers Nelson and Nélida. 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. Nelson and Nélida joined the cast.
Héctor and Elsa Maria Mayoral 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.
Gloria and Luis Pereyra 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
The Milongueros
Virulazo and Elvira Santamaría
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 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. 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 and Elvira into dancing for Segovia, any doubts about their tango disappeared. They were quickly added to the cast.
María and Carlos Rivarola and the balance of the cast The well known salon tango dancers Carlos and María Rivarola were added to the cast, Mónica and Luciano Frías, and Cecilia Narova completed the original cast of dancers.
The music
The instrumentals 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. 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. 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. In homage to Troilo, every performance of Tango Argentino begins and ends with "Quejas de bandoneón", which was Troilo's signature piece.
In addition to Sexteto Mayor, Segovia recruited the great Horacio Salgán to complete the music.
The vocalists In his book Tango: The Art History of Love, Robert Farris Thompson describes tango as music, poetry and dance. 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. Elba Berón sang at the 1985 Broadway premier.
Choreography and production 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. Thus audiences were able to visualize the evolution of Argentine tango as both music and dance.
Despite all the work, the show found little support in Buenos Aires. They even had difficulty finding places to rehearse. Few Argentines thought the show had any chance of success.
Paris 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. They had been afforded the opportunity to participate in the Festival d'Automne. 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. 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.
Broadway 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.
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.Tango Argentino did not receive any Tony Awards, although it received numerous Tony Award nominations: 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.
World Tour Tango Argentino became a world-wide hit, touring the United States, 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. It continued to tour the world for another 15 years with many of its original cast members. The final Broadway revival occurred in 1999–2000. 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