On Saturday, October 2 at 3 pm [Buenos Aires time] the Taller de Tango de Exactas will screen "La Milonga" [1991] with original idea and general direction by choreographer Marisa Galindo. A show that pays tribute to the milongueros and milongueras of all generations. A great portion of Buenos Aires tango in the 90's.
After the performance there will be a discussion with the guests who will accompany the meeting.
Free activity.
La Milonga porteña
When tango was in the doldrums, choreographer Marisa Galindo gathered the subway milongueros in important theaters. It was the beginning of the 90s and, with time, her images acquired documentary value to understand the origins of a cultural phenomenon with a worldwide presence.
In 1990 social tango was little more than an archeological curiosity. That dance that had filled the dance floors of the clubs, that which for years had enlivened the carnivals, that which had been danced in patios and sidewalks was reduced to a minimal and subway expression. Marisa Galindo -who in those years studied choreographic composition with Ana Itelman in the afternoons and ventured into tango in the evenings- gathered the most conspicuous milongueros of that time in an unrepeatable show called "La Milonga"; reflections of the time that had passed, that which was a show, today is a document.
Originally presented at the Teatro Regio in Buenos Aires, the show had several revivals between 1990 and 1996; it could be said without fear that the cream of the Buenos Aires milonga passed through its different casts. Although the primary objective of the show was to show the tango of the salons in its purest and most genuine state, it also reserved a space for the avant-garde: in an introductory scene, young people who had approached the world of the milongas mixed tango with contemporary dance languages.
Between those years when tango was in the doldrums and these times of Olympic comeback, a lot of water has flowed under the bridges. Some of those who starred in "La Milonga" are still touring the dance floors of Buenos Aires, some are no longer around and those who were then curious youngsters have become the members of the generation that taught those who teach dance today to dance. Marisa Galindo compiled the footage of the shows she directed and put together a small virtual video library "so that everyone can access this material; it is good for those who approach tango to know where things come from", she says.
The milongueras and milongueros who danced in Galindo's shows did so with the freshness of those who had never before stepped on a stage; that kind of stage innocence is ultimately the seal of authenticity. "When with a lot of effort we got the Teatro Cervantes the milongueros were fascinated - Marisa says-. I remember that on the day of the general rehearsal, before starting, suddenly they had all disappeared; desperately I went out to look for them and finally found them: they had gone to take a guided tour of the Theater."
The images of "La Milonga" have an important documentary value today; on the one hand, because tango salon footage prior to the massification of video cameras is a real rarity, on the other hand, because these images crystallize the turning point from which tango unfolded to become what we know today.
By following the trail of "La Milonga" it is possible to peek into the milongas of yesteryear and understand the origins of what today is a cultural phenomenon with a worldwide presence.
SOURCE: Clarín.com
05/01/2012 17:36 Ñ Escenarios Magazine
Updated on 08/12/2016 21:07