We have just published our February QueerTango Zurich newsletter with Brigitta Winkler. German and English editions available in the links below.
"Aktivismus, Bewusstsein und Tango-Performance: Ein Interview mit Brigitta Winkler"
Zürcher/Deutschen Ausgabe: https://madmimi.com/s/2e3f831
"Activism, Consciousness, and Tango Performance: An Interview With Brigitta Winkler"
English edition: https://madmimi.com/s/ed3f831
https://madmimi.com/s/ed3f831?fbclid=IwAR37yEHt_rabHoWUfaWsazgs38zKJ0FGhAETUs-pB2eiqLAgjejaORXhcAI#Focus
Sent from my iPad
Showing posts with label Interviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Interviews. Show all posts
Thursday, March 3, 2022
Friday, February 25, 2022
Monday, January 31, 2022
Sunday, January 12, 2020
Alberto Ramos Cordero Interviews John Miller & Jesica Cutler at the Cleveland Tango School
I love tango-centric interviews...
Sunday, September 15, 2019
1960 Interview with Biagi
Here's the original interview from todotango.com - in Spanish: http://www.todotango.com/historias/cronica/286/Biagi-Entrevista-a-Rodolfo-Biagi-en-1960/
Translation to English:
Biagi - Interview with Rodolfo Biagi in 1960
Odolfo Biagi was born in San Telmo, in a house located meters from the intersection of Chacabuco and the United States. His childhood did not differ at all from that of other kids, the common games and the rag ball in the wasteland of the corner that is no longer there.
«Notice that the school where I did first grade is still standing and in good condition. It is in Sáenz Peña between Venezuela and Belgrano. There I was until fourth, then I went to Mariano Acosta and continued until I finished high school and received me as a teacher. But for the sake of the teaching profession I never exercised the profession. The music threw me, fellow student was Roberto Gil, who devoted himself to the lyrics and, half seriously jokingly, wrote his observations of everyday life and invented that of "Corrientes Street, the street that never sleeps."
«I started to study music when the little bug stung me, my parents couldn't do anything, they didn't understand that incurable hobby since there was no background in my family.
«Well, here is something else that many people don't know, because my first steps were with the violin. I cried so much, I insisted and begged, that my parents preferred to stop the whim before there was a tragedy. They bought it for me and enrolled me at the La Prensa music conservatory, which was directed by Mrs. María Rosa Farcy de Montal.
«My teacher was Professor Francisco Rivara, who soon discovered that my true inclination was the piano. Because every time he walked away for a moment, I ran to the piano and rehearsed octaves and arpeggios and even the occasion of tango.
«And then I start over, with the fear of my parents that that was not the instrument that awaited me, but it was. To the point that at the age of thirteen I debuted in public, it was at the Cine Colón, on Entre Ríos Street, where he entertained the entreacts and also, he played music during the screening of silent films creating the necessary climate.
«By chance or because someone told him, one day Juan Maglio appeared at the cinema, he moved closer to lean on the piano. When I finished, it produced an unknown emotion for me, put a hand on my shoulder and said: "Pibe, do you want to come with me to the National?"
«It was the cathedral of tango, it was approaching popularity. I was fifteen, I don't know how I did not faint from fright on debut day. He was Pacho's pianist.
«He supported me at all times. "Go on kid," he encouraged me when I was already out. I spent two years with him at El Nacional, then we went to the Dominguez Bar, in Corrientes between Paraná and Montevideo, on the north side. There, from the box I saw parade all the faces of our Buenos Aires life.
«Then I changed the orchestra and the street, I went to Miguel Orlando who played in the Maipú Pigall. There I alternated with Elvino Vardaro , with Cayetano Puglisi , with Juan Bautista Guido and met Carlos Gardel .
«I could not say that I became his friend, although de Gardel had said many contradictory things about the way he knew how to give himself in friendship. I admired him as an artist and my greatest pride was having an artistic relationship with him.
«He went to that place a lot and one night José Razzano came to see me in his name, it was the year 1927, he let me know his interest in joining me for his accompaniment for the recordings, until then they had only been with guitars. But I was looking forward to something else. We reached an agreement and a group was formed with Antonio Rodio , the guitars of Ángel Domingo Riverol , José María Aguilar , Carlos Cabral , Julio Vivas and me on the piano.
«We recorded in the studios of Max Glücksmann, where the Grand Splandid, Sante Fe cinema is now located a few meters from Callao. Memories I have many, but I keep one that for me had great significance, because it showed me its spiritual greatness and generosity. I was not doing well financially, so I talked to Razzano in case he could give me an advance, he had no problem and he gave it to me. So I could get out of some trouble. They passed the rehearsals, the changes of opinions, the coexistence gave me more guidelines to value Gardel and finally we recorded. When Razzano paid us, there was my discount. I commented in front of Carlos and went to return the money, then Carlos jumped: «It doesn't matter kid, your work is worth it and you have earned it in good law». That gesture forever compromised my gratitude and recognition.
«A few weeks later, Gardel went to Spain and offered to take me. I felt very young for that adventure, I was twenty years old. I thanked him for the confidence and chose to stay. Juan Guido had offered me to integrate his set. We debuted at the Real Cinema, which was the first to present an entire orchestra in one of its boxes to encourage film projections. There we alternated with the classical music orchestra conducted by maestro Fontova and jazz Verona, where Lucio Demare was at the piano. Then, we go to the Suipacha Cinema that was inaugurated.
“The public was different from the cabaret, there was a fundamental difference. The one who went to the cinema was a little disconnected from the music, absorbed by what was happening on the screen. In the other places there was a direct relationship, a communion, that feeling was a great attraction and that was the reason why I returned to the Pigall that had already changed its name, had become the Casanova, I became part of the orchestra of Juan Canaro
«I debuted in Radio Cultura with Maglio. Then, with Juan Canaro, we encouraged the great radioteatral shows at the Cine París, which were broadcast on the radio of the same name. The address was Claudio Martínez Payva and the cast included the jazz of Rudy Ayala, Tita Merello , Fernando Ochoa , the Desmond sisters, Juan Carlos Thorry . With Thorry I composed one of the most successful tangos, " Indifference ", which integrated the repertoires of the most popular orchestras and was taken to the album by Juan D'Arienzo , Hugo del Carril, Francisco Lomuto , Francisco Canaro . A little later we got back together and made a country song: "Your promise".
«My first trip was in 1935 with Juan Canaro to Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil. There he already liked tango a lot.
«When I returned, I left Canaro and spent some time idling, although I did not miss the tango atmosphere. I was used to the Chantecler where Juan D'Arienzo acted and with whom I had friendship. His pianist was then Luis Visca . And I was invited to replace it several times since Luis always had a health problem. When his condition deteriorated him further, it was normal for me to be his replacement and he began a decisive stage in my career.
«Regarding my style, I always had concerns in placing the piano on a different plane than the one used in the typical orchestras, exclusively for accompaniment. And when I arrived at D'Arienzo I could materialize it. I was with him from December 1935 until June 1938.
«In 1938, when I formed my own orchestra to debut at Radio Belgrano, the advertising director of the Palmolive firm, Mr. Juan Carlos Bergeroc, baptized me Manos Brujas. I debuted on September 16 in El Marabú and after fifteen days in Radio Belgrano, I was there for 20 years. There was a short season in Radio Splendid in the middle.
«My first singer was Teófilo Ibáñez , who succeeded with a song of mine and Francisco Gorrindo:" Golgotha ". Then Andrés Falgás , another success with “ Scars ”. Also, Jorge Ortiz , Alberto Amor , Carlos Saavedra and, in the last nine years, Hugo Duval .
"Now I'm recording on the Columbia label."
To the singers mentioned must be added Carlos Heredia , Alberto Lago and Carlos Almagro , their last vocalist. He began recording in 1927, were two solo piano for the Victor label: "Cruz diablo", tango of his authorship and "El carretón". Already with his orchestra, from 1938, he registered 186 titles. They belong, in addition to the so-called "Devil's Cross", " Humiliation ", " Love and Waltz ", " As in a story ", " Golgotha ", " Magdala ", " For having a heart ", " Field outside ", "For la güella ”,“ Oh my mother! ”,“ Leave the world as it is ”and“ Indifference ”.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Mariano 'Chicho' Frumboli Interview
Photo by Bengt Jönsson :: www.bojtec.com
After unsubscribing from Tango-L several to many weeks ago, hell who knows, maybe it was only last week. Anyway, I realized this morning that I had forgotten about it altogether. Imagine that, someone actually "forgetting" that Tango-L even exists. Amusing. To me anyway, pre-coffee.
Going online to look at the recent posts, I discovered this one, from fellow blogger Joe Grohens, sharing an interview with Chicho. Thanks Joe! Check out Joe's blog "The Topic is Tango".
Here is the full interview in Spanish (with English translation) on the Argentine Tango Dance Research Center website. The interview was done in March of 2008 - I can't find the name of the interviewer. The translation to English is by Celi Arias.
The first part of the interview follows.
ATDRC: What were the influences in your life, artistic or personal, that helped you in the development of your style of dancing?
CHICHO FRUMBOLI: My father had a artistic side that was significant. He was a fine arts professor, he studied the guitar, and I believe that this had a lot to do with my own artistic development, and creativity. I also remember that when I was a child my father often listened to Piazzola, and that was my first contact with the tango; with the music more than anything. That’s why before I became a dancer, I was a musician. At the age of 13 I had my first drum set. Ten years later I began to study theatre with the great teacher and actress, Cristina Banegas.
I began my study of tango dancing like most people do by learning the basics and the structures of the dance. But all of this was so technical that it started to feel quite limited to me. I was a milonguero, I came from studying with Tete and Maria, which was a style that took into great consideration the physical connection with the person you found yourself dancing with in the moment. I needed to express with my body something more and it was at this time that I found my first tango teacher, Victoria Vieira, before Tete, and she took me to meet Gustavo Naveira who had developed a structure to the dance that I had never seen before. Gustavo and Fabian Salas had a practice group where they researched these new forms and they invited me to participate. This was all completely new for me, I had to re-learn the dance within that new form by listening and watching. In one month-and-a-half I learned what I hadn’t learned in two years. That's why for me Gustavo Naveira has been the greatest influence in my dancing, and in my early development. Gustavo and Fabian often traveled abroad to teach, while I stayed behind with all of this information, practicing, and waiting for them to return in order to know where to go with all of this new information that was changing my dance. For me, my work with the dance became a very solitary practice. This coincided with my first trip to Europe, where I went to Paris, and I gave workshops in several other cities. I went with the idea of staying one month but ended up staying for 5. During those 5 months, I began to dance occasionally with Lucia Mazer, though I was still dancing with Victoria. When I returned to Buenos Aires, I stayed for 3 months and then returned to Europe because in that moment it was difficult for me to be accepted with this new style of tango that I was dancing, which was not very well received in the world of the traditional tango. When I arrived in Paris they welcomed me with open arms. They wanted to learn that freedom within the dance, and not fall into the same basic structure that everyone was already familiar with in the tango. It was in that moment where I began working more seriously with Lucia Mazer, and we worked for 4 years together in Paris. Those were the most creative years of my career. I began working with Eugenia Parilla after this period, and we worked together both in Buenos Aires and Paris. She arrived right at the moment where I had processed a huge amount of information that I had not been able to give form to yet, and it was together with Eugenia that I had the most artistic moments of my career. In that moment there appeared a different dynamic of the tango that has to do with using the partner in order to facilitate movements. Up until that point, historically there was always a scenario where there was a lead and the woman followed, but today the connection is works differently. There is much more working with the body of the partner and the woman appears much more as a protagonist in the couple than before. We found a new way of showing ourselves, standing out both singularly and together as a couple in this new dynamic, creating new movements, because even the sacada didn’t exist 7 years ago.
ATDRC.: What is the order of priority when you think about the woman’s role?
CHICHO: I don’t think that woman is going t occupy more or less space, if not that the couple takes on more strength and power when it is a couple, with an equality between the two, and today that is really a division of 50/50. This has to do with the way the man is marking in the moment, if she can not feel comfortable dancing, than I cannot dance. If I am only thinking in my own figure, in my step, in my elegance, and I forget completely in my partner and then surely there will be an accident, or a kick or some kind of total disconnection. If I want to take the movement to create a sacada, I have to communicate to my partner in the gentlest way that we are going to do that particular movement. To do it gently I have to be subtle in my marking, I cant mark only with my hands, I have to do a completely corporal marking, or I propose something and she responds but she does it with another proposal and I then follow her. The strongest thing I achieved with Lucia was this kind of connection and balance.
ATDRC: Do you think your way of dancing has changed the tango? And if it did, in what way?
CHICHO: I think that yes in some way my form of dancing has changed the tango, I know this mostly from comments that people make to mean also because of the process I have lived over these past 13 years I have been dancing. I know that there are people who follow the method which I teach because I see them in the milongas, I see movements that were created by me.
ATDRC: Do you believe that Tango Nuevo really exists?
CHICHO: Tango Nuevo does exist, but it has so for a very long time, it’s not from 5 or 10 years back, Copes was dancing a new tango, Miguel Angel Zotto had a new tango, so we can say that there have been periods. Every once and a while there is someone who appears and proposes something new and that is the new tango of the moment. To think that ‘Tango Nuevo’ is something that occurred only 10 years ago is a commercial exploitation that we owe to the festival organizers, I don’t think I am doing ‘Tango Nuevo’, I feel that I am dancing tango. Because today there is a new generation that learned to dance 2,3 or 5 years ago, who only know how to do the new styles, the ganchos, the colgadas, but who are not in contact with everything that came before, and I go to the milongas and I see people that know how to move but that don’t know how to dance, people don’t breathe tango like they did before.
To continue reading....click here.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tango v. Milonga :: Interview with Sebastian Piana
I ran across this Tango-L post from Alberto Gesualdi back in 2003.
Bruno wrote:
Milonga is the precursor of Tango these were originally written in a 2 x 4 notation and changed to 4 x 8. The piano scores left from early tangos and milongas proved this point.
Alberto Gesualdi (myself) would like to say this:
It is not very clear the date of start for tango music in Argentina . Some tangos like El Entrerriano are supposed to be from 1896 .
There is sometimes a confusion when using the word milonga , because it is considered as belonging exclusively to tango and being born within the tango environment.
There was a milonga campera or milonga surenia, sung by the peasants whith their guitars. This milonga was usually the same base music, and the changes were made by the singers , with the content of what they say . More or less like bards telling the news or the folklore tradition.
Sebastian Piana [b. circa 1900? d. July 17, 1994] is generally considered as the first musician to write a milonga ciudadana or milonga portenia, in 1932, when he made Milonga Sentimental . I include below part of the last interview made to Piana while he was living. The complete interview is at www.todotango.com.ar
Regarding the milonga subject as well as many other things related to tango , the words "always" . "sure" "certainty" are a bit dangerous to use, since tango origins are still very misty.
Warm regards
Alberto Gesualdi
Buenos Aires
Interview with Sebastian Piana (fragment) [For entire interview click here.]
- Do you share the opinion, held by the Bates brothers, that tango (in its development as musical genre) takes elements from candombe, the habañera and the milonga?
- Certainly. The habañera was almost the mother of tango. The milonga, on the other hand, belonged to country music, what today is known as folklore. Later the milonga arrived in town, but it was not yet that milonga of which I was the forerunner: it was a rural milonga, sung by gauchos, by that country people that, sometimes, improvised....
- Was it the milonga that Gardel and Razzano sang?
- It was a country milonga, that the Gardel-Razzano duo sang as well. The Argentine and Uruguayan payadores (itinerant singers) that had the ability to improvise lyrics: they were naturally born-poets that, among them, they ad lib rivaled to the beat of a milonga. It would not be strange that the habañera, a Spanish air well-known in Cuba, blended with black music and took advantage of the candombe small drum. Later this spread all over America. All this produces the musical origin of tango in Argentina. But tango is a Spanish word. The tanguillo is a Spanish dance.
- Originally the milonga was a music for strings, was percussion added in Cuba?
- I guess so. The Negroes, that have a great intuition and a rhythmic sense, made "their" habañera. This seems to have spread throughout America. That would be the origin of the early tango beat.
- Can we talk of a " Piana's Revolution " as far as milonga is concerned?
- It is, simply, the change from a milonga -which was regarded as belonging to the south and the Pampas, without dance or danced in privacy, and dug by gauchos and payadores-, to the milonga porteña , owed to Maffia and to me. They were melodically quite alike.
The renewal, the porteña and suburban milonga, is owed to a request made by Rosita Quiroga to Homero Manzi. We had given to her a tango that she would sing. However, she asked for a milonga.
Astonished, Manzi told me; "Rosita asked me a milonga". I answered him: but if all milongas are nearly the same thing, very much alike, because of that people improvise on them...."Look, Sebastian, I don't understand anything about milongas", Manzi answered to me. Then I told Homero that he should call me in two days, to see if I was able to devise something. During that time I had in my head the idea of a new milonga. I knew its beat because I had written a previous one so that Josi Gonzalez Castillo (Catulo Castillo's father) would write lyrics to it.
I had the need to make different milongas; and these were: they kept the simplicity of the beat, but with a defined musical shape, as if they were tangos to be sung, but without losing the milonga's essence.
When Manzi called me, precisely in two days' time, I already have composed "Milonga Sentimental", whose music only took me half an hour (the one I had prepared for Gonzalez Castillo's milonga had taken me a whole day). It was not the everlasting milonga, the one improvised by the payadores...
As Manzi, a magnificent poet, confessed to me that he did not understand about milongas, I thought for myself: will he understand mine? He understood it. He arrived to my place on a Monday, he picked up the sheet music and, the next morning, he had the lyric already written. With the lyrics added I began to like the music more. Until then I was more satisfied with the one I had made for Gonzalez Castillo.
So "Milonga Sentimental" was born. It was my second milonga, which turned out to be the first milonga porteña known.
- Catulo's father, finally did he add lyrics to your first milonga?
- No, no. It seems he forgot about it (laughs). He was a great friend of mine and of my father's.
For the complete interview, click here.
Bruno wrote:
Milonga is the precursor of Tango these were originally written in a 2 x 4 notation and changed to 4 x 8. The piano scores left from early tangos and milongas proved this point.
Alberto Gesualdi (myself) would like to say this:
It is not very clear the date of start for tango music in Argentina . Some tangos like El Entrerriano are supposed to be from 1896 .
There is sometimes a confusion when using the word milonga , because it is considered as belonging exclusively to tango and being born within the tango environment.
There was a milonga campera or milonga surenia, sung by the peasants whith their guitars. This milonga was usually the same base music, and the changes were made by the singers , with the content of what they say . More or less like bards telling the news or the folklore tradition.
Sebastian Piana [b. circa 1900? d. July 17, 1994] is generally considered as the first musician to write a milonga ciudadana or milonga portenia, in 1932, when he made Milonga Sentimental . I include below part of the last interview made to Piana while he was living. The complete interview is at www.todotango.com.ar
Regarding the milonga subject as well as many other things related to tango , the words "always" . "sure" "certainty" are a bit dangerous to use, since tango origins are still very misty.
Warm regards
Alberto Gesualdi
Buenos Aires
Interview with Sebastian Piana (fragment) [For entire interview click here.]
- Do you share the opinion, held by the Bates brothers, that tango (in its development as musical genre) takes elements from candombe, the habañera and the milonga?
- Certainly. The habañera was almost the mother of tango. The milonga, on the other hand, belonged to country music, what today is known as folklore. Later the milonga arrived in town, but it was not yet that milonga of which I was the forerunner: it was a rural milonga, sung by gauchos, by that country people that, sometimes, improvised....
- Was it the milonga that Gardel and Razzano sang?
- It was a country milonga, that the Gardel-Razzano duo sang as well. The Argentine and Uruguayan payadores (itinerant singers) that had the ability to improvise lyrics: they were naturally born-poets that, among them, they ad lib rivaled to the beat of a milonga. It would not be strange that the habañera, a Spanish air well-known in Cuba, blended with black music and took advantage of the candombe small drum. Later this spread all over America. All this produces the musical origin of tango in Argentina. But tango is a Spanish word. The tanguillo is a Spanish dance.
- Originally the milonga was a music for strings, was percussion added in Cuba?
- I guess so. The Negroes, that have a great intuition and a rhythmic sense, made "their" habañera. This seems to have spread throughout America. That would be the origin of the early tango beat.
- Can we talk of a " Piana's Revolution " as far as milonga is concerned?
- It is, simply, the change from a milonga -which was regarded as belonging to the south and the Pampas, without dance or danced in privacy, and dug by gauchos and payadores-, to the milonga porteña , owed to Maffia and to me. They were melodically quite alike.
The renewal, the porteña and suburban milonga, is owed to a request made by Rosita Quiroga to Homero Manzi. We had given to her a tango that she would sing. However, she asked for a milonga.
Astonished, Manzi told me; "Rosita asked me a milonga". I answered him: but if all milongas are nearly the same thing, very much alike, because of that people improvise on them...."Look, Sebastian, I don't understand anything about milongas", Manzi answered to me. Then I told Homero that he should call me in two days, to see if I was able to devise something. During that time I had in my head the idea of a new milonga. I knew its beat because I had written a previous one so that Josi Gonzalez Castillo (Catulo Castillo's father) would write lyrics to it.
I had the need to make different milongas; and these were: they kept the simplicity of the beat, but with a defined musical shape, as if they were tangos to be sung, but without losing the milonga's essence.
When Manzi called me, precisely in two days' time, I already have composed "Milonga Sentimental", whose music only took me half an hour (the one I had prepared for Gonzalez Castillo's milonga had taken me a whole day). It was not the everlasting milonga, the one improvised by the payadores...
As Manzi, a magnificent poet, confessed to me that he did not understand about milongas, I thought for myself: will he understand mine? He understood it. He arrived to my place on a Monday, he picked up the sheet music and, the next morning, he had the lyric already written. With the lyrics added I began to like the music more. Until then I was more satisfied with the one I had made for Gonzalez Castillo.
So "Milonga Sentimental" was born. It was my second milonga, which turned out to be the first milonga porteña known.
- Catulo's father, finally did he add lyrics to your first milonga?
- No, no. It seems he forgot about it (laughs). He was a great friend of mine and of my father's.
For the complete interview, click here.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Facundo Posadas Interview with Kumiko Ueki
Facundo y Kely Posadas dancing a candombe ::
[Note that Kely Posadas died on April 27, 2009. She and Facundo had ended their partnership in 2007. She was 69 years old.]
I first ran across Kumiko Ueki's interviews on Facebook. There are three interviews so far on her blog "Cuartito de los Milongueros" - Facundo Posadas, Raul Bravo and Jorge Torres.
It's obviously very important to get all the information we can from the people who have been around tango the longest - to record it in any way possible for the historic record - interviews, video, articles, reviews, documentary films. I would guess that not enough is being done in any organized or complete fashion to document the early years of tango. Much of it may ultimately be lost forever.
She has graciously granted me permission to re-post here. Many thanks to Kumi for her interest and efforts.
Here is the link to interview on her blog.
Facundo Posadas is one of the few old milongueros that remain in the tango scene. He has been dancing tango since back in the 50's, which was still in the tango golden age. He may be the only Afroargentine that tours around the world, known by his dancing and teaching Tango, Milonga and Candombe.
How long have you been dancing tango? How old were you when you started?
I’ve danced for many years. I started 55 years ago in youth meetings that we called “Asaltos”; the girls used to bring cakes and the boys refreshments. That was my beginning at 13 years old and Gavito was 11 years old at that time.
Did everybody dance tango back then?
In those years people danced a lot and in those meetings. We listened to tipica (orchestra) and Jazz; tipica for “Tango” and “Jazz” because everybody danced that rhythm at that time. Hardly ever a Tango Orchestra was performing alone, in general it was accompanied by a Jazz Orchestra.
Did you go dancing with your friends or with your partners?
In those years, because we were so young we went dancing with a group of friends (male and female); we were not thinking to have exclusive partners or girlfriends.
What were Milongas like back then?
In the 50’s and 60’s, people danced respecting the line of dance. Nobody was hardly ever pushed or tried to pass the dancers in front of them. If someone didn’t dance well people had the patience to wait until the end of the song. In those years, the codes were respected. If there was no order, it is impossible to enjoy the dance. Why do we respect the order on a highway? Not being aware of this would create a serious chaos. Well the same applies for the dance floor. Nowadays people don’t respect it and produce chaos. They don’t care to follow the codes and have no clue about dancing in the place where the couple in front of you has left the space free. In those times they did care about this. A good dancer (leader) must have enough resources to dance and not to let his partner (follower) to be hit by other dancers. This I call dancing well.
Which Milongas did you go?
As the years passed we left the neighborhoods for “milonguear” (dance tango) in downtown. We went around to many different dance floors following the orchestras of our preference wherever they played. Many Saturdays we went to listen and dance with “Carlos Di Sarli’s Orchestra”. We stayed until one in the morning then immediately ran off to another place because “Anibal Troilo’s Orchestra” was playing. And another Saturday, for example, we went to see “Osvaldo Pugliese’s Orchestra” and later “Juan D’Arienzo’s Orchestra” as well, and this we called “Doblete”, (double night).
When was the most exciting time in the tango for you? “Tango Golden Age”
My beginning in the tango scene was in the “Golden Era” with friends who were older than me. There were “reales milongueros” (real tango dancers), and if they saw that you had a real style, they would invite you to practice. But if your purpose was only to spend time there just for fun they didn’t pay attention to you. They had us walk for months, and they said to us that in order to build a solid house one must have a solid foundation. No figures or tricks. If you don’t know how to walk, to step, or to put your feet in the right places; then you will never know how to dance despite what you believe.
Do you have any interesting or funny stories about tango from back then?
I have lots of memories and anecdotes of places that happened in my life. I remember that being very young I got into a cabaret called “El Dragon Rojo” (The red dragon), located at Uruguay Street between Peron and Bartolome Mitre’s streets. When I was going down the stairs, a man of my skin color stopped me, telling me that I was too young to be there. But he would go with me for some time and then I would have to leave. Imagine the jokes that people made on him because he was with a ‘negrito’ (little black). Many years later, I found out that this gentleman was “El Principe Cubano” (the Cuban prince). He accompanied Juan D’Arienzo for many years as his master of ceremonies. I also had the fortune to work with Jose Bassos’ Orchestra.
When was the first time you traveled overseas to teach tango? And which country was it?
My first trip to U.S.A. was in 1997 when I was invited to L.A. by Kobayashi who was a student and friend of Gloria and Eduardo Arquimbau and also the Director of the Tango Ballet in Tokyo. I continued my tour through Reno, invited by Alberto and Valorie. And Danel Bastone and Maria opened my door in NYC, and they made sure that I follow Bob Drosky through Montreal and Chicago to a place called “Tango nada mas” (Tango, nothing more) that was baptized by Gavito. To all these people, I owe my stay in U.S.A. until today and much more because I’m waiting for my residence and I will live my future days in North Carolina.
What do you enjoy most about tango?
I enjoy everything that tango offers me, all its passion, all its melancholy, the scent of a woman’s skin, her skin through her hands and cheeks, her perfume, her heartbeat. Mixing everything at once we get a cocktail called “Sensuality”; and without this chemistry, there’s no tango. They feel the same when they are in our arms, that we have to be gentle with our marks and movements, stepping correctly and simultaneously on the beat. We must dance INSIDE THE MUSIC and not before, it’s not possible to dance and then listen.
What is “Good Milonguero”? How could we become one?
To become a good milonguero, we need to respect who have more experience and not to be anxious to dance. The tango is patience; the tango waits; it’s an unattainable challenge that never ends. As the years pass, we must dance with more dignity. We can’t try to imitate the young ones, we can’t do what we were doing when we were 20 years old. We should dance thinking of our dance partners; be elegant with our moves; be subtle and transmit it to the person that we have in our arms.
In tango, we talk a lot about elegance. Could you explain what is elegant and what is not? What makes a dance beautiful?
How to be elegant while you're dancing means to have a good standing, to be relaxed; to step firmly and with precision; to make controlled steps and movements. We must lead our body wherever we want to go and not the other way around. It is very gratifying to see a good dancer making few figures; more than five in tango is too much. Just walk well. In the walking, one can see the elegance, and this is the most difficult thing in tango. Many people who have danced for more than 20 years do not know how to walk. They've been studying only figures, and in order to know how to walk, they will have to start all over again mending it and crossing through a long journey, erasing everything and starting from scratch.
Please tell us if there’s anything else that you would like to mention.
About tango wardrobe: In almost every opportunity of going out dancing women prepare themselves with anticipation, making this special event a ceremony. They dress with the best they have in some cases. They choose their stockings, shoes, dresses, etc. Almost always they match colors along with perfumes and hairstyles. To dash away with her sensual legs, they wear fishnet stockings, and by the way, who doesn't want to look at them with them? Men used to respond with the same coquetry, it was mutual respect. Nowadays on almost all dance floors, we see some men in jeans, shirts outside the pants, and snickers. Some don't even shave and their hair doesn't look very clean, not to mention the lack of perfume or deodorant. When I started dancing I noticed that women didn't accept dancing with men who weren't neat; they gave us the example or punishment that way. We all made sure to look good and most of all to have good breath, which one cannot hide in this cheek-to-cheek dance. The way to respect our female dance partners in the good tango is to be able to never give up these essential codes. We must learn again to respect those that accompany us in our embrace; like men used to do before the codes disappeared. We should come back and be men no machos.
In New York, we often have trouble with the “line of dance”. Could you explain what is line of dance to us, and what are the general rules? Are there any techniques we should know, or to practice to make it happen?
People on the dance floor have to respect their own line of dance; one cannot dance tango in zigzag. Imagine a highway where everybody circulates as they wish? To be able to follow the line we must stand at ninety degrees and return to the circulation, don't go any step backwards. And in very few opportunities, one could dance forward counterclockwise. I would say that there isn't any technique for this, only to be aware that we aren't alone. The dance floor is for everybody and not just for a few.
Tango has changed since you had started dancing. How do you feel about the changes? And do you have any messages and advise for us who are continuing to carry on the culture and to dance Tango?
Since I started, Tango has changed a lot. Many people in the dance halls today dance in order to be seen and neglect their partners just to show off.
These days the number of people dancing tango seems bigger. The tango went across borders. The dance made of one heart and four legs have conquered almost all societies of the world. It's wonderful how tango opened a door of communication, interlaced together without knowing the languages in order to enjoy this musical walk. It will never cease to be. Even if someone wants to change it; there will always be a milonguero defending it; is part of the culture.
I don't want to offend anyone with my beliefs or with my words; they are only supplication. From my almost sixty nine years of age, my humble wish is to not waste it or take it for granted, or try to change it. And if you dance with respect, the tango will give you the immense happiness that you were looking for.
Love and hugs for everybody.
Forever yours
Facundo
(Interviewed in March 2009)
[Note that Kely Posadas died on April 27, 2009. She and Facundo had ended their partnership in 2007. She was 69 years old.]
I first ran across Kumiko Ueki's interviews on Facebook. There are three interviews so far on her blog "Cuartito de los Milongueros" - Facundo Posadas, Raul Bravo and Jorge Torres.
It's obviously very important to get all the information we can from the people who have been around tango the longest - to record it in any way possible for the historic record - interviews, video, articles, reviews, documentary films. I would guess that not enough is being done in any organized or complete fashion to document the early years of tango. Much of it may ultimately be lost forever.
She has graciously granted me permission to re-post here. Many thanks to Kumi for her interest and efforts.
Here is the link to interview on her blog.
Facundo Posadas is one of the few old milongueros that remain in the tango scene. He has been dancing tango since back in the 50's, which was still in the tango golden age. He may be the only Afroargentine that tours around the world, known by his dancing and teaching Tango, Milonga and Candombe.
How long have you been dancing tango? How old were you when you started?
I’ve danced for many years. I started 55 years ago in youth meetings that we called “Asaltos”; the girls used to bring cakes and the boys refreshments. That was my beginning at 13 years old and Gavito was 11 years old at that time.
Did everybody dance tango back then?
In those years people danced a lot and in those meetings. We listened to tipica (orchestra) and Jazz; tipica for “Tango” and “Jazz” because everybody danced that rhythm at that time. Hardly ever a Tango Orchestra was performing alone, in general it was accompanied by a Jazz Orchestra.
Did you go dancing with your friends or with your partners?
In those years, because we were so young we went dancing with a group of friends (male and female); we were not thinking to have exclusive partners or girlfriends.
What were Milongas like back then?
In the 50’s and 60’s, people danced respecting the line of dance. Nobody was hardly ever pushed or tried to pass the dancers in front of them. If someone didn’t dance well people had the patience to wait until the end of the song. In those years, the codes were respected. If there was no order, it is impossible to enjoy the dance. Why do we respect the order on a highway? Not being aware of this would create a serious chaos. Well the same applies for the dance floor. Nowadays people don’t respect it and produce chaos. They don’t care to follow the codes and have no clue about dancing in the place where the couple in front of you has left the space free. In those times they did care about this. A good dancer (leader) must have enough resources to dance and not to let his partner (follower) to be hit by other dancers. This I call dancing well.
Which Milongas did you go?
As the years passed we left the neighborhoods for “milonguear” (dance tango) in downtown. We went around to many different dance floors following the orchestras of our preference wherever they played. Many Saturdays we went to listen and dance with “Carlos Di Sarli’s Orchestra”. We stayed until one in the morning then immediately ran off to another place because “Anibal Troilo’s Orchestra” was playing. And another Saturday, for example, we went to see “Osvaldo Pugliese’s Orchestra” and later “Juan D’Arienzo’s Orchestra” as well, and this we called “Doblete”, (double night).
When was the most exciting time in the tango for you? “Tango Golden Age”
My beginning in the tango scene was in the “Golden Era” with friends who were older than me. There were “reales milongueros” (real tango dancers), and if they saw that you had a real style, they would invite you to practice. But if your purpose was only to spend time there just for fun they didn’t pay attention to you. They had us walk for months, and they said to us that in order to build a solid house one must have a solid foundation. No figures or tricks. If you don’t know how to walk, to step, or to put your feet in the right places; then you will never know how to dance despite what you believe.
Do you have any interesting or funny stories about tango from back then?
I have lots of memories and anecdotes of places that happened in my life. I remember that being very young I got into a cabaret called “El Dragon Rojo” (The red dragon), located at Uruguay Street between Peron and Bartolome Mitre’s streets. When I was going down the stairs, a man of my skin color stopped me, telling me that I was too young to be there. But he would go with me for some time and then I would have to leave. Imagine the jokes that people made on him because he was with a ‘negrito’ (little black). Many years later, I found out that this gentleman was “El Principe Cubano” (the Cuban prince). He accompanied Juan D’Arienzo for many years as his master of ceremonies. I also had the fortune to work with Jose Bassos’ Orchestra.
When was the first time you traveled overseas to teach tango? And which country was it?
My first trip to U.S.A. was in 1997 when I was invited to L.A. by Kobayashi who was a student and friend of Gloria and Eduardo Arquimbau and also the Director of the Tango Ballet in Tokyo. I continued my tour through Reno, invited by Alberto and Valorie. And Danel Bastone and Maria opened my door in NYC, and they made sure that I follow Bob Drosky through Montreal and Chicago to a place called “Tango nada mas” (Tango, nothing more) that was baptized by Gavito. To all these people, I owe my stay in U.S.A. until today and much more because I’m waiting for my residence and I will live my future days in North Carolina.
What do you enjoy most about tango?
I enjoy everything that tango offers me, all its passion, all its melancholy, the scent of a woman’s skin, her skin through her hands and cheeks, her perfume, her heartbeat. Mixing everything at once we get a cocktail called “Sensuality”; and without this chemistry, there’s no tango. They feel the same when they are in our arms, that we have to be gentle with our marks and movements, stepping correctly and simultaneously on the beat. We must dance INSIDE THE MUSIC and not before, it’s not possible to dance and then listen.
What is “Good Milonguero”? How could we become one?
To become a good milonguero, we need to respect who have more experience and not to be anxious to dance. The tango is patience; the tango waits; it’s an unattainable challenge that never ends. As the years pass, we must dance with more dignity. We can’t try to imitate the young ones, we can’t do what we were doing when we were 20 years old. We should dance thinking of our dance partners; be elegant with our moves; be subtle and transmit it to the person that we have in our arms.
In tango, we talk a lot about elegance. Could you explain what is elegant and what is not? What makes a dance beautiful?
How to be elegant while you're dancing means to have a good standing, to be relaxed; to step firmly and with precision; to make controlled steps and movements. We must lead our body wherever we want to go and not the other way around. It is very gratifying to see a good dancer making few figures; more than five in tango is too much. Just walk well. In the walking, one can see the elegance, and this is the most difficult thing in tango. Many people who have danced for more than 20 years do not know how to walk. They've been studying only figures, and in order to know how to walk, they will have to start all over again mending it and crossing through a long journey, erasing everything and starting from scratch.
Please tell us if there’s anything else that you would like to mention.
About tango wardrobe: In almost every opportunity of going out dancing women prepare themselves with anticipation, making this special event a ceremony. They dress with the best they have in some cases. They choose their stockings, shoes, dresses, etc. Almost always they match colors along with perfumes and hairstyles. To dash away with her sensual legs, they wear fishnet stockings, and by the way, who doesn't want to look at them with them? Men used to respond with the same coquetry, it was mutual respect. Nowadays on almost all dance floors, we see some men in jeans, shirts outside the pants, and snickers. Some don't even shave and their hair doesn't look very clean, not to mention the lack of perfume or deodorant. When I started dancing I noticed that women didn't accept dancing with men who weren't neat; they gave us the example or punishment that way. We all made sure to look good and most of all to have good breath, which one cannot hide in this cheek-to-cheek dance. The way to respect our female dance partners in the good tango is to be able to never give up these essential codes. We must learn again to respect those that accompany us in our embrace; like men used to do before the codes disappeared. We should come back and be men no machos.
In New York, we often have trouble with the “line of dance”. Could you explain what is line of dance to us, and what are the general rules? Are there any techniques we should know, or to practice to make it happen?
People on the dance floor have to respect their own line of dance; one cannot dance tango in zigzag. Imagine a highway where everybody circulates as they wish? To be able to follow the line we must stand at ninety degrees and return to the circulation, don't go any step backwards. And in very few opportunities, one could dance forward counterclockwise. I would say that there isn't any technique for this, only to be aware that we aren't alone. The dance floor is for everybody and not just for a few.
Tango has changed since you had started dancing. How do you feel about the changes? And do you have any messages and advise for us who are continuing to carry on the culture and to dance Tango?
Since I started, Tango has changed a lot. Many people in the dance halls today dance in order to be seen and neglect their partners just to show off.
These days the number of people dancing tango seems bigger. The tango went across borders. The dance made of one heart and four legs have conquered almost all societies of the world. It's wonderful how tango opened a door of communication, interlaced together without knowing the languages in order to enjoy this musical walk. It will never cease to be. Even if someone wants to change it; there will always be a milonguero defending it; is part of the culture.
I don't want to offend anyone with my beliefs or with my words; they are only supplication. From my almost sixty nine years of age, my humble wish is to not waste it or take it for granted, or try to change it. And if you dance with respect, the tango will give you the immense happiness that you were looking for.
Love and hugs for everybody.
Forever yours
Facundo
(Interviewed in March 2009)
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