From an old post...buried in the archives from just over a year ago...when I had two visitors a day...so there was zero commentary...maybe now we can get some discussion going...
Here are some examples of different musical interpretations, different musicality expressions, all danced to the song "Poema" by Francisco Canaro:
Jennifer Bratt y Ney Melo::
Geraldine Rojas y Javier Rodriguez::
Moira Castellano y Pablo Inza::
Mila y Korey::
Silvia y Tete::
Romina Tumini y Silvio Lavia::
Natacha Poberaj & Fabian Peralta::
Eugenia Parrilla y Mariano 'Chicho' Frúmboli::
Luna Palacios y Carlos Copello::
And one new one...
Homer y Cristina Ladas::
And one more...
Melina Sedo & Detlef Engel dance to Poema, a Tango by Francisco Canaro in Geneve, Switzerland. Occasion is the Milonga of Kap'Danse in April 2008.
Do you have a favorite? Comments? Observations? Epiphanies?
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Musicality Resurrected
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
7 comments:
I like Geraldine y Javier and Natacha y Fabian's versions the best. Their connections and movements make the song bigger and more alive. Othewise it could be a bit dull. I'm interested in what the others think as well. Alex, your own thoughts?
Interesting set of dances.
All superb dancers.
The three couples that made the most impression on me were:
- Chicho and Eugenia for their musicality and connection.
- Homer and Cristina for musicality and technique. Homer may have baggy pants and funny hat, but he knows his shit.
- Geraldine and Javier: in their dance, they transcended technique, entered the music and created magic. No other couple I've seen have been able to recreate what they created when they were together.
In no particular order and not necessarily for each entire performance but by parts, couples who almost seem to be listening to the music, couples who almost seem to be making the music, couples who have made themselves part of the music, couples who
have made the music part of themselves, couples who have made of the music an opportunity to express themselves without showing me anything beyond the most obvious and superficial about either,
couples who show me something that is greater than the sum of the parts of music and dance: an exquisite greater whole.
Hi Alex--
The performances that have made the biggest impressions on me are perhaps the most obvious, and also from polar opposite ends of expression, which are of course Geraldine/Javier and Eugenia/Chicho (I kind of want to withhold opinion on both Jennifer/Ney and Cristina/Homer, since they are good friends of mine and I can't view them objectively--I like everything they do and consider them mentors and colleagues).
G & J's chemistry is probably best exemplified in this performance. J is so technically sound, so poised and elegant but can seem cold and distant from the sheer exactitude of his movements and positions. G brings warmth to the couple, a seeming total investment to him as a partner in dance and in life and to me this is what is most compelling (and to me, what is perhaps not as present with J's partnership with Andrea, who is probably more like him technically but which arguably makes the couple as a whole come across as too perfect and lofty).
E and C have a musical conception that is more complex and sharper than the others. It's amazing how many facets of the music they hit. Here is a good example of the strengths of ("nuevo", "neo", whatever)--a broad expressive palette used to illustrate the music and not just as exercises in dynamic possibility. Watching them, if you didn't have a good familiarity of the music you may hear things you may have missed considering the nuances, variations, and ornaments they acknowledge.
Is it just me or is the sound sync off in Natacha/Fabian's clip?
The audio/video sync does seem off in Natacha/Fabian's clip, but I don't think it actually is. (Ack!)
For me, Chico & Eugenia are the only ones I watched wherein the hair stood up on the back of my neck, so I'll have to go with them.
Malevito, I'm with you on Chico's absolute mastery of musical interpretation, plus the dynamic/mechanical ability to hit two rather large volcadas "to the music" is impressive.
Tete gets a very close second, simply for the fact that he has likely been dancing for forty plus years, perhaps fifty. It's very likely what Sylvia is feeling from that connection is mind boggling - regardless of what it may actually look like to us outsiders.
Chico and Tete are both able to make the woman look beautiful without calling attention to what they are doing, themselves, notwithstanding Tete's 'flying airplane' maneuvers, which he is famous for.
They are all good. All very good. I suppose if pressed I would have to give third nod to Ney & Jennifer for simply good, solid, juicy tango.
Javier & Geraldine outclass all the others - so you have to kinda throw them out of the analysis.
Thanks for the comments everyone! They are much appreciated!
Hi Alex, how are you?
I just came across another more recent performance to this piece by Fabián Peralta and his current partner Virginia Pandolfi, which I think is a worthy addition to this list as well as being better synced to the music than his earlier clip with Natacha Poberaj. The link is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ4pruaLExA
Fabian Peralta has an argentinian flair in his salon style that for me makes his dancing superior to the rest and his best partner ever was Natacha Poberaj.
Post a Comment