Tango Beat News
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Argentine Tango in Paris, FranceParis hosts Couleurs Tango (April), Paris Tango Festival (September) & Festival Paris Banlieu (Oct) Paris keeps playing midwife to the Tango. In 1912 the warm embraces of young Argentines in Paris caused a stir that became a worldwide Tango craze by 1913. It was the days of the saying, "Rich as an Argentine," and the color of Tango was orange. In 1983, a musical about what had become an obscure folk dance opened one night at the Theatre of Chatelet. The modern Tango Renaissance was born in the next day's headlines about "Tango Argentino," the seminal tango show. In 1999 a French, an Argentine and a Swiss made an album of club music whose "Last Tango in Paris" became popular worldwide. The music helped foster a branch of the Tango that incorporates elements of ballet and modern dance. For the musicians, the Gotan Project was an accident. In the millenial decade, Mariano "Chicho" Frumboli explored the limits of the Tango Nuevo style of the dance and taught at Le Chantier. So Paris wants to dance like Chicho and some do at from three to ten milongas and practicas every night. The Metro is very good but its nightly closing (1:00 weeknights, 2:00 weekends) makes you run through the Metro tunnels to catch the last train home. If you miss it, you wait until 5:30 or there's the slow Noctilien bus or a bike or a walk. Paris shuts down at night and taxis are expensive. One of the rhythms of Paris is buying your Navigo metro pass on the first of the month or the Monday of the week. The physical space of Paris is enclosed by Le Périphérique, the city's busy beltway road. The Seine river flows East to West across the center. The arrondisements spiral clockwise out of Chatelet, the central Metro station near the islands in the Seine where Notre Dame sits. Tango dress is more casual than elegant. It can be chic, is certainly modern and is natural in its North African influences. The suits, cocktail dresses, fishnets and bordello references of the Americas are rarely seen in Paris though the men love their fans. The Parisian embrace is open or with a little distance. The distance and lower level of physical connection feels strange to an Argentine. The cabaceo is not well understood. The line of dance is the stop and go of a crowded Paris traffic circle. The French love to dance, are very musical and have a natural sense of theatre that mixes well with the dance in performance. |
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