You know how I talked about the first dance-play/theater-dance that I ever watched and how it left me totally baffled? Well, after some determined recall, I remember what production it was now!

It was The Fall of the House of Usher, a "dance opera" by the Ballett Nürnberg, as choreographed by Daniela Kurz to the music by Philip Glass. I even have a vague recollection of watching it with clockwork_nine all the way back when in 2003, although maybe I watched it with little_bruises instead? (i only ever watch plays with the two of them, anyway. those were the days...)

All I remember of it now, though, is a vague impression of black background, beige leotards, gauzy white stuff, and a general feeling of torture? Oh, and the whoosh as the plot of the dance opera went right over my head. And that's even though I'd read the original story by Poe in its entirety. Hmmm.

Anyway, this talk about theater dance was brought on by this clip that I watched, from Carlos Saura's movie Salomé. It doesn't make much sense EITHER, but I think, the older I get, the more fascinated I am by the surreal, but exotically beautiful. Sense, logic or plot isn't much of a requirement any longer, although I still do relish a good, plotty yarn as much as any other person out there.




On a rather unrelated note, it occurred to me that most of the tango that people see in popular movies nowadays is done to neotango music, as opposed to more traditional tango music. Neotango music may or may not contain traditional instruments such as the bandoneon and the piano, but it is usually characterised by electronic effects or electronic manipulation that sometimes creates a more ambient atmosphere.

The evolution of tango music itself is quite interesting. From the slightly pre-Golden Era of Canaro, we then had the great orquestas of di Sarli and Pugliese. Next came Astor Piazzolla, who pushed the envelope to the point that his music wasn't quite regarded as tango by some critics.

Well, now things are different, and there are very few who would deny that Piazzolla is an accepted part of the tango repertoire. No, the latest hot topic now is whether neotango, as represented by the music of bands such as Narcotango and Gotan Project, is acceptable music to play at a milonga. As with all new variations on a genre of music that has a very long and venerable history, some people hate neotango whereas others love it. The following video is an improvisation (i think?) to Narcotango's Plano Secuncia by Mariano Chico Frumboli and Eugenia Parilla.



To anyone who has been regularly following my all-too-frequent (^^;;) postings on the tango, you'll probably notice that while the general structure is still recognisably tango, it's also quite different from the more traditional tango music (e.g. Javier Rodriguez and Geraldine Rojas to Flor de Montserrat, as shown below).



This neotango phenomenon, being more electronic in nature, tends to be criticised by some as lacking the passion and sensuality that is the trademark of Argentine Tango. Indeed, while the footwork by Frumboli and Parilla is great, to my untrained eye, it seems to be lacking some essential depth of emotion somehow. Whereas Rodriguez and Rojas' milonga, while fast, still manages to retain an emotional connection. Admittedly, it could also be due to the personal styles of the couples and the tempo of the music, so the conclusion is definitely open to much debate.

Still, some tango maestros have remarked that they tend to find dancing to neotango rather boring, and after watching Youtube: Antonio Banderas in Take the Lead and Youtube: Richard Gere and J.Lo in Shall We Dance? dance to Gotan Project... I'm inclined to agree that while neotango may bring some refreshing variety to the music selection at a dance, for the most part, I still prefer dancing to the more traditional tangos.