Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Tango :: Sally Potter & Sandra Bullock

I wonder if Sally Potter still dances tango on a regular basis - or if she only danced for a while - in order to make the film "The Tango Lesson?

I also wonder if Sandra Bullock (bought the movie rights to "Kiss and Tango" and now in early production on the film - you may have heard she is taking tango lessons in NYC...) will only dance to make the film, or if she will get bit by the bug and chronically (sp?) afflicted/addicted like the rest of us.

I wonder if it is still tango when it's about making money. It once dawned on me that it is possible that true art...artistic endeavor in its truest and purest and most noble form...spontaneous and beautiful creation...only occurs in the absence of financial/economic considerations/goals.

I wonder...

7 comments:

msHedgehog said...

I think the Renaissance Masters got paid. Certainly Peter Paul Rubens got paid.

AlexTangoFuego said...

True...perhaps the cavemen did their cave wall art purely for artistic merit...but then they were probably communicating stories and where the best hunting grounds were...

And then the artists in the time of the Pharaohs and then the Romans were no doubt slaves...probably well fed and cared for...high level slaves...

Who knows...I will just keep wondering about stuff like this...

studio wellspring said...

i can't answer your quandry but i can say that sally potter is not exactly a tanguera role model ~ an artist of filmography sure, but not a tango artist and NOT a dancer artist. altho i appreciate tango's popularity from her film i'm not fond of what she is showing the world about tango's culture. and, as a life-long dancer {ballet, jazz, modern, tap, & various ethnic styles} i found her performance entirely fake & lacking depth of feeling & character.
just my 2 cents. :o)

AlexTangoFuego said...

ms. anj...

and a very valuable dos centavos...

my post was kinda tongue in cheek...cuz i suspected she hasn't danced a single tanda of tango after the movie...

personally, i think the movie is more about the men in it...for the women watching it...than it is anything to do with her...

do a remake of the tango lesson with a real actress...who has taken the 4-5-6 years it takes to really learn tango...cate blanchette...charlize theron...someone who can act...and it might be a better film...

it will be interesting to see what sandra bullock and her fortis films (and partners) come up with...

i sincerely hope they film the damn thing in BA...

koolricky said...

If the tango lesson was about her the real passion for tango why would it star Pablo Verón? Has anybody seen the film wanting to see Sally Potter dancing?

tangobaby said...

I can't knock Sally Potter too much because if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be dancing tango at all. I wouldn't even know what it was. Kind of like some of the newer crowd who got started by watching Dancing with the Stars (or the UK version) to which we have a few tango dancers and even bloggers in our midst. Although those of us who enter the tango world thanks to a movie or tv show realize quickly that the real tango is so much more intricate and special.

I'm sure Sally, as a dancer and as the creator, director, etc. of the Tango Lesson, thought that she would be perfect for the role and had the power to cast herself in the main role. It does feel like a personal story whether you like her acting or not (I do not) and watching her dance know makes you cringe a bit. But I can't see that Sandra Bullock will be a huge improvement. Kiss and Tango will be a chick flick at best.

Sally does continue to dance tango, and even keeps a blog (don't we all?). Here's an entry she wrote about tango that's not too recent but you get the idea.

http://www.sallypotter.com/node/99

miss tango said...

I must say I didn´t notice Sally´s dancing so much as the dialogue and acting were keeping me busy cringing.