Tango, a popular passion that regulates naturally its drive to celebrate the past and its need to bet on the future, will have, in Buenos Aires in this 2008, an excellent opportunity to ratify its legacy without neglecting its responsibility to keep going for more. The 10th Buenos Aires Tango Festival (to be held from August 15th to 23rd) as well as the 6th Tango Dance Metropolitan Championship (May 29th to July 6th) and the 6th Tango Dance World Championship (August 24th to 31st) will aim to strengthen and enrich a reality that forms part of their vital core: tango life here serves as a sort of synopsis of Buenos Aires for the rest of the world.
The Festival
Far from expressing a random linking of isolated events, the growth of tango in Buenos Aires is the result of a complex mesh of artistic, cultural and political junctions. The invigorating passion of musicians, poets, dancers, teachers, producers, collectors, researchers, institutions and aficionados, was progressively combined with the action of the State, a key articulator of the Buenos Aires cultural potential. In 2008, the Festival will aim at artistic excellence, style diversity and a deployment across the entire city. In that sense, the basic principles of the festival will be: the vindication and appreciation of the historical heritage of tango, the promotion of emerging creators, the development of interdisciplinary spaces and the endorsement of cultural tango undertakings.
In line with these objectives, the Festival’s artistic program will foster a series of actions aimed to oil the natural joints between the past, present and future of tango: composers and authors will be entrusted with a series of works to be premiered at the festival. Also, old songs as well as orchestral styles from different periods will be recaptured, transcribed, analyzed, traveling beyond time frontiers. Both projects will result in a series of releases that will become appendixes to the Festival, taking place independent of set dates.
Fifteen compositions for orchestra will be entrusted to the likes of Sonia Posetti, Luis Borda, Nicolás Ledesma, Pablo Mainetti, Andrès Linetzky and Nicolás Guerschberg, among others, under the slogan “Buenos Aires XXI”. These works will be premiered by the Festival’s orchestra and recorded into a new CD. Also, endorsing the work of contemporary lyricists, a special concert will be organized featuring 12 new tangos, especially entrusted to some of the most distinguished writers. This material will also be recorded and released. And in a joint effort with the Children and Youth Orchestras from the ZAP Program (Priority Action Areas, coordinated by the Ministry of Education), and also especially for this occasion, renowned composers will be writing a series of pieces to be premiered at the Festival.
The initiative to capture the historical heritage of tango for posterity will be one of the main bets. A “micro”-website accessible through www.tangodata.gov.ar, will keep a record of orchestral music scores for musicians, researchers and tango lovers to work on. Firstly, the work of Aníbal Troilo’s orchestra in 1938 will be transcribed, on the occasion of the 70 years now passed since the release of their debut LP. A special concert will bring back the sound of that time, celebrating this artistic comeback.
A tribute will be paid to Astor Piazzolla in a recital recreating his mythical orchestra of ’46 and his string-bandoneon-piano orchestra from ’56. Also “Homenaje a Sebastián Piana” will be released live, performed by “La Orquesta Típica Candombe”. And in a joint effort with the Municipality of Montevideo, a concert will be performed in honor of Uruguayan singer/songwriter Alberto Mastra, featuring some of his little-known pieces.
Tango can be understood and studied in its multiple forms: as a teaching handbook on Buenos Aires history, as a simple compendium of urban sociology, or as an enriching tourist-oriented map. What no-one denies is that tango is not an isolated expression of this city’s cultural mesh.
The interdisciplinary crossovers prove the numberless capabilities of tango for artistic merging. The staging of a “sainete” (produced especially, starring actors Rodrigo de la Serna and Oski Guzmán), or the premiere of a comic-animation-illustration exhibit with a tango theme will prove tango’s tendency to bond. In line with that spirit, the festival will also give room to the myriad crossovers of tango with other music and dance expressions of either popular or academic origins.
The cosmopolitan character of tango and the undeniable urban personality of Buenos Aires invite to undertake cultural initiatives to empower the presence of this music in the world. Hence, the idea to transform the Festival into a real international showcase of local artists and producers. This year, we will invite producers and organizers of tango, jazz and world music festivals from around the world to participate in a Business Fair. We will in turn boost the signing of agreements with similar entities from other capitals of the world.
The Metropolitan
From May 29th and for approximately one month, the city will stage another Buenos Aires classic: The Tango Dance Metropolitan Championship. On its 6th year, this competition will double the artistic talent and recreational spirit. Once again, the chance to “play at home”, to be the home team, in the same milongas that shelter tango dreams all year long. Thanks to that sense of intimacy and belonging, the competition far exceeds its formal character (the qualifying stages for a higher tournament: the World Championship) to gain a sort of proud autonomy. The Metropolitan winning couples can gain the privilege of projecting their title beyond the borders of Buenos Aires.
The World Championship
After the Festival, there will be no time to get our breath back. A day after its closing starts the 6th Tango Dance World Championship, which is to appoint the new kings of tango on August 31st. Although the winners will technically only run until 2009 (when new couples become champions), that kind of a title never really expires. Once a champion, always a champion.
The world championship will extend over a period of one week, featuring two categories: Salon Tango (the social dance as a popular practice originated in the Rio de la Plata) and Stage Tango (aiming to promote new values with choreographies that enrich the dance from a theatrical point of view). In both categories, competitors will represent their city of origin or residence. The competition will consist of three stages: Qualifying Rounds, Semifinals and Finals. The Jury will be appointed by the Championship management jointly with the AMBCTA (Association of Masters, Dancers and Choreographers of Argentine Tango).
The countdown to the Festival, the Metropolitan and the World Championship has already begun. All we need now is to take the path that will ratify the credentials of the Buenos Aires tango culture in both music and dance, destined to live in historical pride and in the quest for indefinite progress. |
