Gisela: “Germán is the choreographer, but he has various coordinators and assistants as this show covers many disciplines. For example, I help with everything relating to tango, there is another coordinator who helps with the urban elements and another for folklore… it’s a beautiful group of professionals who enrich the show with their contributions”
Wild Tango in rehearsal ( photo by Carlos Villamayor)
With echoes of immersive in-the-round shows we have seen in the past, with groups like ‘De La Guarda’, or even ‘Archaos’, this show both returns to the roots of tango, when men danced with each other, as well as bringing dance right up to the modern urban world of today. Tango originated in the dock areas of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, where it is said men danced as they waited for their turn in the brothels. The erotic element is there, but as both Gisela and Germán stress, tango is far more that that.
Gisela “As a ballerina, we bring together the discipline of the athletic element of dance with the magic of dancing and connecting with another person. Two bodies that come together and try to become one and to express their history, that is what is beautiful and makes tango different for me. When Germán and I dance, it is like a union, or communion and you can feel that... You dance differently according to the partner you have, just as in life. because each person awakens different things in you, that is the magic and it cannot even be repeated, even the next day.”
These thoughts are echoed in Germán’s comments: “What captured me with tango is the fact that you dance as a pair. That connection with another person, to be two and at the same time one…Tango tends to be associated with the erotic, but it is so much more than that. Tango is about the connection you can have between two people, far beyond sexuality. For example, I grew up dancing with my grandmother and obviously there was no romantic or sexual element of any kind, it was a matter of communication and affection. That is the fundamental thing, communication without words through the body and the language of movement. Tango has the stereotype with the theme of sensuality which of course, is inherent, and maybe it has been accentuated by the costumes. The woman tends to wear heels and her legs are largely uncovered, but that is so that you can appreciate the movements, but in the end what matters is the connection and that is what we have in this show.”
Tango Fire- previous show.
Germán and Gisela met many years before they started working together.
“I first saw Gise when she danced in the First World Tango Championships with her previous partner. I watched her dance and was enchanted. At that moment I didn’t occur to me that I might dance with her…. some three years later, we met in person, when I won the World Championship and we had the chance to work together and share the stage. That was our first ‘encounter’ as you say, that was more personal. Some years later, we both found ourselves in the situation of having separated from our dancing partners and with the happy memory of our first meeting, we decided to try working together. Far beyond mere admiration, we had that strong memory of sharing a moment, and so we got together and we found that the spark was there. “
Gisela: “Just like with a life partner, if the chemistry and the spark is not there it will never work. Fortunately, we re-found each other and, in all aspects, it flows. These years dancing together have flown past, basically without problems, because it always flows. We feel blessed because it’s not easy to find someone with whom you get on so well both on and off the stage. Obviously, we don’t coincide in everything, because we are different people, but we do coincide in our objectives and about where we should go and the road to take. It’s almost a miracle!”
Wild Tango in rehearsal ( photo Carlos Villamayor)
This immersive show completely resets the tango panorama. Here we have the introduction of many elements that are more industrial, metallic and urban. As you can see from the photographs, the troupe rehearse in an old factory that suits this new direction to the ground. If only it could be transported with the show!
Germán: “If only… but obviously our riches lie in the human resources of the artistic part, as much the music as the dance, because, clearly, we can recreate that urban energy of the factory, whether the setting be round, square or triangular… Previously, I created different types of shows, that were more conventional in what one usually expects to see from a tango show. This show developed from the fact that tango was originally danced principally between men. People gradually drifted away from that, so I took it as a starting point and we began to introduce other aspects that helped us to expand. The society in which we live is far more inclusive from every point of view and there a greater mental openness. So today, perhaps it’s not so much about whether it’s a man or a woman, but the reality of two individuals dancing the tango… so it’s a far more open panorama and we felt it was a good moment to investigate and explore tango in these different situations… the result is that we are presenting a Tango Show that is more actual, inclusive and less fragmented.”
In this show there are ten men and three women and there are various numbers where they dance with each other, but one very different aspect is the introduction of acrobatics:
Germán: “The acrobatic elements are related to the question of how dance has evolved over time. At the beginning of the 20th Century dance was related to the social situation and the resources people had at that moment. Today the dancers and people in general that get involved with tango or dance have different baggage. They are informed by other experiences, not only with dance ,but also with the actual society in which they live, were brought up and developed., So that information they consume is far more encompassing than before, it is not so limited … it is all more plural, sop we wanted to introduce that variety that dynamism, the fusion of styles, that we have been working on for some time, and in this show in particular, I wanted to promote Urban and Contemporary dance, with some circus and acrobatic elements, to open up a far wider creative panorama from that which we had previously presented.”
( photo Carlos Villamayor)
WILD TANGO will be on at the Peacock Theatre from Thursday May 12th to Saturday May 21st 2022. Tickets here
