Tango in China

Officials of Beijing and Buenos Aires signed an important cultural agreement.  The minister of culture of the city of Buenos Aires and the cultural advisor at the Embassy of the Republic of China in Argentina designated Beijing as a regional site for the Mundial de Tango 2013.  This includes the dissemination of the dance, its poetry and music of Argentina.

The news was announced at the Casa de la Cultura in Buenos Aires with the presence of the business and political adviser Zhu Jingyang, and the economic adviser Yeng Shidi.  The minister of culture Lombardi said, it is an immense pleasure to have the participation of Beijing as a regional venue for the Mundial de Tango 2013.  I am sure that this agreement is the beginning of an exchange of many cultural activities between our two cities.  The competition in Beijing will be held May 31 and June 1-2, at the end of a series of photographic exhibitions, dance shows and concerts in Beijing.

This is the first time tango dancers from China will take part in the Mundial de Tango.  This is a preview what to expect from Beijing.

Stage champions announced at Luna Park

Cristian Sosa and Maria Noel Sciuto are stage champions at the Campeonato Mundial de Baile de Tango 2012.  I had my computer connected to the news channel which broadcast live from Luna Park at 9:16pm for the announcement.  This is the first year that the audience got to see the scores in the semifinals and finals.  The winner is chosen by the jury according to the rules.  Sosa appeared as if he expected to win; he was cool, calm, and collected.

I have a Cristian Sosa story.  A few years ago I attended the milonga La Baldosa in Salon El Pial.  While dancing with Beto Ayala, Cristian Sosa and his partner passed us on the right.  We were at the edge of the floor.  I commented to Beto that he is the city tango champion and couldn’t be expected to know the codes of the floor.  That was the night I first heard of Mario Morales who coaches young couples for competition.  Morales was there with a large group of couples for the exhibitions.  I heard that young couples like to run the older couples off the floor at La Baldosa.  They have an attitude that the floor is theirs.  They haven’t learned how to dance among others since they practice for exhibition and competition.

I viewed the video of Sosa and Sciuto this afternoon.  I had a feeling they were going to win the championship, not for an outstanding performance.  There were some incredible performances this year.  Sosa paid his dues.   Now he’s off to Paris.  Along with the prize of 40,000 pesos comes a round-trip ticket on Air France.

Sosa and Sciuto competed in the Campeonato Metropolitano de Baile de la Ciudad in May 2012, but with different partners. She placed 4th in Milonga and 5th in Milongueros del Mundo.  Sosa was 2009 city champion in Milonga and Vals.  It seems odd that salon competitors won the stage championship.  Mario Morales can add another championship to his credits.

Countdown to the Salon Finals in Luna Park

Forty-two couples are warming up on stage in preparation for the last rounds of the tango de salon championships in Luna Park in downtown Buenos Aires that begin in one hour.  Couples from Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, Russian Federation, Uruguay, Venezuela and the United States compete in the Campeonato Mundial de Baile de Tango.

Channel TN has been covering the festival and championship events all week.  I was hopeful to see a live broadcast at Luna Park, but this is a news channel, not an arts channel.

The new salon champions were interviewed on television.  Minister of Culture Lombardi announces they are going to Paris and Japan to perform.

Whittling down

It’s been six years since I attended the qualifying rounds, semifinals and the finals of the Campeonato Mundial de Baile de Tango.  Facilities and management improve every year.  The 2006 competition at La Rural had a capacity of 4,000 for the finals with bleacher seats and an awful dance floor on stage.  Tickets to the finals were not available until the day of the finals.  This year the finals are at Luna Park for 10,000, and people got tickets a week in advance.  Local television has broadcast the finals live for the past couple years which means the world can watch via internet.

I arrived at 1:00pm to wait in line at the Centro de Exposiciones in Recoleta where the semifinals rounds for tango salon started at 2:15pm.  There were ten rounds of ten couples each — 92 from the qualifying rounds and eight from the city championship finals held on May 26.

Judges were salon teachers and performers Pancho Martinez Pey, Damien Edsell, Claudia Codega, Fernando Galera, and Ana Maria Schapira (milonguera and teacher).

Several rounds of couples are given the opportunity to warm up on stage and test the floor before competition begins.  This wasn’t done in the past when the surface was poor, and the dancers suffered the next day.  This important detail is finally given priority.

Coca and Cholo danced in Round #5 of the semifinals.  I sat in the sixth row and recorded them.  Their daughter was in the audience to cheer them on.  They didn’t know they were to receive special recognition on stage for their 40 years dancing tango and many years participating in the competitions.  The festival committee called their daughter yesterday to tell her about the presentation scheduled before the announcement of finalists.  They also told her that next year’s competition will include a special division for 60+ years for the first time in the world competition.  [The city competition has had two age divisions since 2008.]

The semifinal rounds ended at 2:30pm.  During tabulation of the results, we watched movie clips from the 1950s on the screen.  They included Juan D’Arienzo and his orchestra with Alberto Echague, Horacio Salgan and his orchestra with Homero Rivero, singers Julio Sosa, Hugo Carril, Tita Morello, Libertad Lemarque, and many others for an hour.

All the couples in the semifinal rounds went backstage for the announcement of results at 3:45pm.  Coca and Chola didn’t hear what the announcer said about them, only their number.  They walked on stage crying, thinking they had made the finals.  This was the first time a couple received special recognition in the competition, and they certainly deserved it.  They were dancing tango before most of the competitors were born.  Coca told me how much she wanted to dance in Luna Park.

Each couple came on stage as they were announced for the World Cup at Luna Park.  The only couple from Portugal are the oldest and have competed since 2004; all the finalists are under 40.  Three couples from the Russian Federation made the finals, notably Andrey Panferov who competed in 2006 with a different partner.  The list of 39 finalists was once again posted on the internet as the results were being announced to the public in Centro de Exposiciones.

Sell it!

That’s what our dance teacher Miss Zweifka repeated during rehearsals for our annual recital on stage.  She wanted us to dance as if there was an audience in the studio.  Sell it to the audience! she said in her deep voice.  Watching the qualifying rounds of the stage tango competition brought back fond memories.   These couples must get the audience’s attention the second they enter the stage.

This performance by a Russian couple was the first I saw as I entered the auditorium this afternoon.  I couldn’t take my eyes off them.  Their performance was absolute perfection.  The stage competition is open, but the top couples are professional caliber.  Yulia’s classical ballet training comes through every movement.  They delivered a spectacular performance that moved me to tears.

Those who can, do — those who can’t and don’t know it, try anyway.  Those who can get your attention as they walk on stage.  Sparks start flying in the first few seconds.  There were amateur couples who tried to deliver to the audience, but it takes more than just a choreography and costumes.

Some had the guts to try anyway.  One couple are the subway tango dancers–Diomedes and Nilda.  They registered for the salon and stage competitions, and they spend their days performing in a subway station with boom box.  They got their three minutes on stage and applause today.

While the competition continued, I left at 7:00 to attend Gabriel Soria’s conference with collectors.  He is responsible for these conferences each year at the festival.  We saw a video with one collector at home with his huge library of records, and then listened to a Canaro recording from 1916.  As one speaker pointed out — If it wasn’t for these collectors, we wouldn’t have tango today.  They safeguard old records and especially sheet music of tangos that were never recorded.  Without their collections, digital recordings would not exist.

There were 120 couples in the stage competition that lasted nine hours yesterday and today.  After two grueling days of performances, those going to the semifinals on Saturday received the news at 8:55pm.  Thirty-seven couples gathered in front of the stage to congratulate one another for making it to the next round.  Thirty couples are Argentine.  The list of semifinalists was posted at 10:00pm on another site, although it was announced that the results would not be published on the tangobuenosaires site until Friday at 2:00pm.

Coca and Cholo

They live in Avellaneda and started to dance together 53 years ago.  I finally found their phone number in an old agenda and called this afternoon to congratulate them on qualifying for the semifinals on Friday.  This isn’t the first time they competed.  They placed third in the Tango Senior division of the Campeonato Metropolitano de Baile 2008 (although they deserved to win it).  Coca and Cholo love to dance, and that’s enough reason for them to register again this year.

Coca is 74, and Cholo is 77, possibly the oldest couple in the competition.  They dance every Saturday night at the Bomberos club in Lanus and during the week at Racing Club in Avellaneda.  They no longer have a car, so they went by remis from Avellaneda and to the Centro de Exposiciones in Recoleta.  They went early for the competition and didn’t arrive home last night until 11.  They’re resting up for Friday’s competition which begins at noon.

Coca has no illusions of winning the championship, but they enjoy participating with all the young couples.  Coca has a youthful spirit.  She observed that they all dance the same way without any personal style.  She agreed with me that there is too much backside movement by the ladies.

I thanked Coca and Cholo for competing once again.  When the show Tango Argentino traveled the world, audiences didn’t see young skinny dancers on stage; they saw middle-aged adults.  Coca and Cholo are living proof that tango is a dance for life, one that a couple can share and enjoy together for many years.  They feel the music and dance that feeling together in the moment.  The world needs to see them in the finals.

It’s impossible, but they did it

The semifinalists in the salon category of the World Dance Cup are posted.  In a city where things take so long to get done, the results of two days of competition were announced too promptly.

The Rules state – All fully registered couples will participate, giving two performances on two consecutive days.  They will be evaluated by different judges, and the scores from each performance will be added and averaged.  Couples who obtain the highest scores will advance to the Semifinal.

I saw the first day of qualifying rounds on Monday from 2:45pm which continued past 8:45pm.  The same took place on Tuesday.  How could all the tally sheets from five judges for dozens of rounds be tabulated and posted on the internet at 9:00pm?  It’s impossible, but they did it.

The results are not on the Tango BA Festival site yet, but they were posted on 2xtango.com hours ago.  How did they get this information?  A quick glance at the average scores tells me they are fabricated as in past years.  I’d like to know who and how scores are tabulated, but alas the sheets are never available for auditing.

I will go so far as to say they probably decided the semifinalists on Monday.  The rounds on Tuesday were entertainment for friends, family and especially tourists.

I see my favorite couple No. 421 on the list.  I met Coca and Cholo at the Festival 2010.  They didn’t make it to the semifinal round that year even though they’ve danced together for over 51 years.  They must have done something different this year to place 30th in the semifinal standings.

The list of mainly Argentine couples has a few other countries represented to keep up media interest in covering the event and keep foreigners competing every year.

Cristian Sosa won the campeonato metropolitano in vals and milonga in 2009.  He has a new partner.  They are ranked first in the semifinal standings.  He trained with Mario Morales, the other coach besides Carlos Perez, who produces the tango champions.

A closer look

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is a book.  Someone filmed a round yesterday with the only foreign couple dancing tango as it’s done in Lo de Celia Tango Club, Milonga de Elsita, El Maipo, Milonga de los Consagrados, and La Cachilla.  They stood out for one reason — their embrace.  This video tells the story.

Four salon style teachers including former champions and one milonguero viejo comprised the judging panels.  Pedro “Toto” Faraldo and Eduardo Masci were the token representatives of the milongas.

The participants are predominantly younger couples (under 45 years) and very few seasoned couples from the milongas.  There is less interest among milongueros viejos to waste their time in this competition when they know the salon championship goes to young couples ready to launch a career abroad.  Besides, the milongueros viejos have nothing to prove.

I sat next to a Venezuelan salsa teacher who said how restrictive tango is for him since he’s used to moving his whole body.  He wanted to know why the couples were dancing in a circle on stage.  I explained the line of dance  and how fifty couples dance on a smaller floor in the milongas.  He noted how many appeared to do the steps, but had no feeling for the music.

The salon judges work abroad as teachers.  They are selling tango choreography to those who want to dance exhibitions and win titles.  The result is cloning dancers who look like their teachers, down to the way they dress.  That’s all good for the tango business–classes, shoes, dresses from Argentina.  They are here this week for competition in Buenos Aires.  The champions will be selected next week.

The tango world meets in Recoleta

Today is a holiday in Argentina.  I arrived around 12:30 at the Centro de Exposiciones where I found a long line of people waiting patiently in the cold.  I headed for the end and talked with people I know along the way.  I thought they were in line to enter for the qualifying rounds of the salon competition scheduled for 2:00.  As I reached the end of the line about three blocks from the entrance, I learned this was the line to get tickets for the finals in Luna Park.  I didn’t want tickets and walked to the entrance where there was a much shorter line.  People arrived hours earlier to wait in line; they started giving out tickets at 11:00.  Each person gets two tickets.  If you go with a friend, you can get two tickets to the salon and stage finals.

The doors didn’t open before 2:00.  When they did, there was a mad dash across the dance floor to get a seat in front of the stage.  Seating for about 800 did not accommodate all who wanted to watch the qualifying rounds.  Many stood along the sides and took seats as people left.

The rounds finally got started at 2:45.  The first panel of five judges were Mingo Pugliese, Celia Blanco (Lo de Celia Tango Club), Elina Roldan, Carlos Perez (whose students have won the last several championships), and Veronica Alvarenga at stage right.

Each couple is introduced by number, names, and the country they represent.  Every man has a number attached to the back of his suit jacket for scoring by the judges. Each round is ten couples who dance three tangos.  The announcer gives the titles and orchestra before the round.  The music selection was prepared by Mario Orlando, a DJ for several milongas.  There was two changes since I attended two years ago.  Couples have one minute to test the floor before competition, and they line up to take a bow after their round on stage.  As soon as they leave, the next round begins.  I watched 24 rounds, and they weren’t over when I left at 8:30.  Every two hours or so, there were new judges.

A couple from the milonga asked if I saw any couple in the rounds who looked like they could be the next champions.  I didn’t.  I waited until the 14th round for a couple whose dancing I liked.  They are No. 421.  I don’t know who they are, but they got my vote.  There is no doubt they’ve danced together many years in the milongas.

The list of countries represented this year is impressive – Canada, France, Greece, Italy, Brazil, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Turkey, Pakistan (a first), Russian Federation, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Mexico and the United States with more couples than in earlier years (Phoenix, Tucson, New York, and New Jersey).  Argentina has the largest number of couples participating as always.

There was one couple who stood out.  The man wore a hat, and his partner had her head wrapped in a scarf.  Although they represented Argentina, it’s obvious they are Cuban.  They are the couple I won’t forget.

The tango championship brings the world’s attention to tango and Buenos Aires this week.

There is an exhibition of 250 photos of Piazzolla’s life with family and friends, manuscripts, drawings, and a display case of old record albums from the Astor Piazzolla Foundation.

The Festival program doesn’t have a floor plan which would be helpful to find restrooms, the cafeteria, the dance class room, coat room, product fair, etc.

The dance floor is huge and crowded.

La 2×4 broadcasts from the Centro de Exposiciones.  Everything to do with tango is under one roof in Recoleta.  It’s the place to be every August in Buenos Aires.

Puddle jumping to the Festival

It rained all day.  I took the bus to Recoleta and had six blocks or so to walk to the Centro de Exposiciones where concerts, conferences, classes, and the first rounds of the tango championship are held.

A dance floor serves its purpose throughout the Festival and World Cup until August 25.  People come just to dance during the concerts and to recorded music.

I arrived shortly after the concert began at 4:00.  I had no problem finding a seat.  There were only about 50 people in the audience, true tangueros who arrived early to hear this excellent performance by Noelia Moncada and Esteban Riera singing tangos by Alejandro Szwarcman and Raimundo Rosales, two lyricists.  Riera’s performance of one song with solo piano brought tears to my eyes.

Each year the festival has its product fair — one-stop shopping for everything to do with tango.  There are more shoes than anything else.  I saw several familiar brands and a couple new ones.

I waited at the dance floor for Julio and Elsa Duplaa’s class.  They weren’t late, I was in the wrong place.  I went to the other end of the hall where I found the room for dance classes, but I wasn’t allowed to enter.  There is a limit of 30 men and 30 women for the classes.  People line up an hour before to get one of the wrist bands to enter the room.  I watched through a plastic window as Julio and Elsa talked about pauses and the embrace.  Julio changed hand and arm positions of several couples while everyone danced to the music of Carlos Di Sarli.

The smallest attendance is usually at the conferences which are interesting. This one was about censure, prohibition and pasteurization of tango.  The morality code-setters changed “percanta que me amuraste” (lover who ditched me) to “muchacha que me dejaste” (young woman who left me).  The instructions for radio broadcasting (1934, updated 1943) not only focused on the refinement of the language, with the intent to eliminate lunfardo, but also modified tango songs whose language couldn’t be listened to by the audience and conditioned the future work of poets.

I left the conference after hearing only three of the five speakers so I could find a seat up front for the Franco Luciani Tango Trio concert.  I heard them in concert a few months ago and wanted to hear them again.  Another amazing performance.

I left at 9:00 during heavy rain.  Getting from the Center to the bus was a challenge.  I was puddle jumping all the way to Las Heras and Puerreydon to take a bus.  At least I learned my way around the Expo Center for next week when the qualifying rounds of the championships begin.