The unavoidable emptiness that his passing left behind · 2 El Firulete December 2000 I n 1960, the...

El Firulete 1December 2000

THE ARGENTINE TANGO MAGAZINE December 2000Volume 7 Issue 5

The unavoidable emptinessthat his passing left behind

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The Legacy of Osvaldo PuglieseTango, our dance

and much more...$5.00 U.S.A.

Dancers need to be schooledto learn and identify music

El Firulete December 20002

I n 1960, the Osvaldo Pugliese orchestra featured a number of high calibermusicians: Osvaldo Pugliese (piano and direction), Osvaldo Ruggiero,Víctor Lavallén, Julián Plaza and Arturo Penón, in the bandoneon line;

Oscar Herrero, Julio Carrasco and Emilio Balcarce, violins; NorbertoBernasconi, viola; Aniceto Rossi, counterbass.

In 1968 Julio Carrasco was replaced by Raúl Domínguez; Alcides Rossireplaced his father Aniceto Rossi on counterbass and the viola was omitted.

In October, 1968, Osvaldo Ruggiero, Julian Plaza, Emilio Balcarce, OscarHerrero, Alcides Rossi, Victor Lavallén and singer Jorge Maciel, left to form anew group named Sexteto Tango.

With an uncanny perseverance and the vision and talent of a genius, Pugliesebrought in three young bandoneon players to join Arturo Penon: RodolfoMederos, Juan Jose Mosalini and Daniel Binelli. The renewed orchestra alsoincluded Mauricio Marcelli, Raúl Domínguez and Santiago Cuchevaski, onviolins; Bautista Huerta on viola; Pedro Vidaurre on violoncello and FernandoRomano on counterbass.

Shorthly thereafter Mederos and Mosalini left and were replaced by thebandoneons of Alejandro Prevignano and Roberto Álvarez; violinists Marcelli and Cuchevaski also left and were replacedby Osvaldo Monterde and Hermes Peressini, Jr.; Merei Brain took over the viola; Silvio Pucci on violoncello and AmilcarTolosa at the counterbass.

Arguably, the instrumental selections on this CD portray the gigantic dimension of Osvaldo Pugliese as an arranger anddirector. These are arrangements of well known traditional and modern classics from Bardi to Piazzolla making this CDpriceless to even the most sophisticated connoisseur who will gasp while listening to masterpiece after masterpiece.

1. Que noche (1968), 2. La payanca (1964), 3. Lorenzo (1965), 4. Cabulero (1962), 5. Don Agustin Bardi (1961), 6.Charamusca (1963), 7. La biandunga (1969), 8. Verano porteño (1966), 9. El motivo (1966), 10. Orlando Goñi (1965), 11.Inspiracion (1962), 12. Taconeando (1970), 13. La ultima cita (1969), 14. Di Di, 15. Nostalgico (1962), 16. La mariposa(1966), 17. El amanecer (1964), 18. Nobleza de arrabal (1966), 19. El Marne (1969), 20. A Evaristo Carriego (1969)

OSVALDO PUGLIESEThe Legacy - Vol. 1Non-commercial compilation

T his CD is a companion to El Firulete's October 2000's cover story. Fran-cisco Canaro authored over five hundred tangos, valses and milongas,although some have argued that his business practices regarding copyrights

were questionable. Regardless, quality was sacrificed in pursuit of quantity. TheCanaro Tango machinery kept the record presses busy during many years, a sign ofa healthy demand for tangos, no matter what.

Whether he actually sat down and wrote them, or he acquired some in ex-change for a bottle of cheap wine at the riverside cantinas, there is a body ofcompositions that carry the Canaro signature that constitutes a collection ofthemes that have become classics. They have been played by many of the greatest(D'Arienzo, Pugliese, Di Sarli, Troilo, etc.).

Here we have a selection of the best of Canaro by the various Canaro quintetsand orchestras. Also, there is a rare version of the Tango Canaro, written by afriend of Pirincho, and played by Rodolfo Biagi.

1. El internado, 2. El pollito, 3. Nobleza de arrabal, 4. Sufra, 5. Mano brava, 6.El pillin, 7. El alacran, 8. El gavilan, 9. Punto bravo,10. El chamuyo, 11.Charamusca, 12. Corazon de oro, 13. Vibraciones del alma, 14. Nueve puntos, 15.La tablada, 16. Sentimiento gaucho, 17. Halcon negro, 18. Ahi va el dulce, 19. Quisiera amarte menos, 20. Canaro by RodolfoBiagi

CANARO by Canaroplus Canaro by Rodolfo BiagiNon-commercial compilation


PublisherPlanet Tango

Joint EditorsAlberto Paz & Valorie Hart

Contributing WritersAlberto PazValorie Hart

Photos and Image ProcessingValorie HartAlberto PazJulio Canosa

Graphic Design and ProductionAlberto Paz

Editorial, Advertising, Inquiries,Comments, Questions and Suggestions

Planet Tango1000 Bourbon St., #202New Orleans, LA 70116

E-mail to: [email protected]@planet-tango.com

Websitehttp://www.planet-tango.com

The information published is intended forentertainment purposes only and it is asaccurate as possible. All correspondence andmanuscripts are submitted at owner’s risk. Allbecome property of the publisher.

All rights reserved throughout the world.Printed in the United States of America. No partof this publication may be transmitted orreproduced in any form or by any means withoutthe express written consent of the publishers.The opinions and advertising printed in ElFirulete are the sole responsibility of theauthors, and they are not necessarily theopinions of the publishers therefore we can notbe held liable for their opinions and theiractions.

Vol 7 Issue 5 December 2000

The Argentine Tango MagazineThe Argentine Tango MagazineThe Argentine Tango MagazineThe Argentine Tango MagazineThe Argentine Tango Magazine

Alberto Paz

Tangazos

Another Year,Another Tango

Cover price $5.00Cover price $5.00Cover price $5.00Cover price $5.00Cover price $5.00

12 issues subscription12 issues subscription12 issues subscription12 issues subscription12 issues subscription$30 in the US, $40 in Canada,$30 in the US, $40 in Canada,$30 in the US, $40 in Canada,$30 in the US, $40 in Canada,$30 in the US, $40 in Canada,

$50 international$50 international$50 international$50 international$50 international

T his time of the year Tango dancers becomeaware of the existence of other people who,curiously enough are not Tango dancers. These

are coworkers, friends or family members who, full ofthe spirit of the holiday season want to share the joyand the celebration of another year coming to an end.

It is a period of adjustment for those who have been dancing Tango everyopportunity they had. Being at parties where the topics of conversation are justabout anything people like to talk about, and the music tends to focus on chest-nuts roasting on an open fire or silent nights of peace and love, could be unset-tling for Tango dancers who describe their pastime with words such as obses-sion, passion and addiction.

Maybe it is a sign of the times we live in, the by-product of a society wherestress and isolation are dealt with with pills and alcohol, or in some cases withembracing an activity such as Tango dancing the way others join a wide varietyof cults. In any case, the possibilities that Tango dancing offers, open the doorsfor a mixed lot of individuals with very little in common but the desire to beTango dancers.

It is a miracle that so diverse of a culture as our American society is interms of balancing materialistic and spiritual values, that a selected minority ofthe population have chosen to adopt the way of life of a segment of a foreignculture as a pastime of choice, and a determining force to achieve growth anduniversality. It is amazing that in a culture used to opening up a conversationinquiring not who you are but what you do, some are willing to grasp the factthat Tango dancing is what we do and who we are.

There is an aspect closely associated with Tango dancing that is still difficultto fit into the American culture, prone as it is to competition and individualachievement which at times dangerously borders jealousy and envy. We call it'amistad' which is a concept of friendship where being called an 'amigo' is aprecious commodity involving love and respect for each other.

Silly as it may come across, in the Argentine social culture, mothers areforever brides and fathers more than fathers are friends. The young are pro-tected and the old are respected. Friendships aren't spoiled by success or fail-ure, wealth or poverty, good times or bad times. Friends rejoice when theymake progress on the dance floor. Friends kid around as they compete to outdoeach other on the art of firuletes. They feel loved and appreciated when tradingjokes about each other's whims and mannerisms.

Friends, Tango dancers or not, are the ones who once a year around thistime, remind us to enjoy and celebrate the accomplishment of having livedanother year, and having danced another Tango.


On Our Cover

The Emptiness Left BehindFor those who knew Rodolfo Cieri, his passing earlier this yearmeant sorrow, sadness and grief. It also rekindled the sweetmemories of his presence on the dance floor.

I t has taken many months andcountless dry attempts, to sit andlisten to three hours of a taped

conversation we had with Rodolfo andMaria on June 21, 1996 at our formerhome in Sunnyvale, California.

In the nineties I found out about thedeath of, first my dad and five yearslater my mom, too late to be at theirside, given the choice I made earlier inmy life to move away and live inanother land, far away from home.

In many ways, they still live in mymemories as they have for the past thirtytwo years, and I know that sometime inthe future I will join them for the eternaljourney. The point is that somewhere inmy heart and soul, the tears and griefassociated with the death of our belovedones, are still prisoners of distance andseparation.

This seems to have been the bless-ing or the curse of immigrants andemigrants who went to or departed fromArgentina during the last century and ahalf. I no longer wonder about the tearsbursting from my eyes and the sobs thatthreaten to explode inside my chest asLa rayuela by Pugliese reaches thesublime moment when violins andbandoneons sing and cry in an antici-pated celebration of the inevitableending of the song.

I first saw Rodolfo and Maria earlyin June 1996 at a milonga in Berkeley,California. The introduction by the hostbarely cut across the indifference of avocal crowd who seemed to have gottenused to the necessary evil of interruptingthe milongas with "announcements."All we could see was an elderly coupletastefully dancing to the Pugliese'srendition of Emancipacion.

Nineteen-ninety-six was a transition

year for our Tango dancing education,so even when the couple on the dancefloor was not "hot dogging," flying orotherwise trying to impress the ignorant,I was left in a daze by the craftsmanshipand seductive allure of their ever preciseand calculated moves. But what reallyaffected me the most, was Rodolfo'scherub-like smile as he played with thecreative genius of Pugliese coming fromthe speakers.

A few days later, for reasons that nolonger matter, a common friend broughtthem to our house, where they lived forthe remaining weeks of their sole stay inthe United States.

A Club named Suerte LocaRodolfo danced the same way all

his life never considering the possibilitythat something special would everhappen to change the course of his life.

In 1954 the orchestra of AnibalTroilo headed the cast of El Patio de laMorocha at a theater on AvenidaCorrientes. Dancing couples wereneeded and Maria recalls, This wasbefore we got married, they came to talk

to us but Rodolfo didn't want to do it.

It's not that he didn't have theopportunity, but he never wanted todance professionally. That's just finewith Maria, because If he had starteddoing it then, we wouldn't be heretogether today.

More than twenty years went bywithout dancing and being married withchildren. When the daughter finally gotmarried herself, Rodolfo was workingout of a Ford pick up truck doing whatthe UPS men and women do today, pickup and delivery of packages. Faced withan empty nest, he didn't want to considergetting older quicker by coming home towatch television. He had heard about apopular tangueria that was in vogue,Volver, on Corrientes and Suipacha.One Friday, celebrating a windfall ofmoney that had come his way at work,he invited Maria to go dancing atVolver. Arriving early, they told themaitre d' that they were new to thescene, and asked for a good spot on thedance floor from where he proceeded towatch the caliber of the dancers as theykept arriving.

At 2 AM they played Lacumparsita and ten to fifteen couplestook to the floor.

RODOLFO: The music of Troilo fromthe Forties gives you room to do a lot ofthings, so when they began playing it Itold Maria, let's lead the way and I went"pin, pan, pow." Half an hour later ayoung couple approached our table. Shewas an Argentine woman living inFrance. He was her French partner.

They had seen them dance andasked if they were teachers. No, theywere told. They were just milonguerosfrom Buenos Aires and that's all.Rodolfo said that he always dancedbecause he felt the Tango deep inside.Later Rodolfo and Maria joined theyoung couple at their table and foundout that they were staying at a hotel.They invited them to move to theirhome were they developed a goodfriendship while teaching them to danceTango the way they knew.

When the couple finally left for

Rodolfo and Maria with Alberto inSunnyvale, CA. June 21, 1996

Photo by Valorie Hart

By Alberto Paz


Europe they asked Rodolfo if theywould consider traveling to France. Ofcourse answered Rodolfo, but as theplane took off he turned to Maria andsaid, I doubt that these people wouldwant to pay me to go to Europe afterthey've seem over a hundred couplesdancing at Volver.

Six months later they received aletter and two plane tickets. The trip toFrance was happening. As they pon-dered the reality of crossing the oceanon a puny airplane, Rodolfo and Mariacouldn't believe their insane luck on thatfateful day of 1988.

The woman in question had a danceacademy in Marseilles, and she had puttogether a major production based onthe History of Tango. The expensiveproject played once at Teatro delMolino, and it included a full comparsaof black people entering the stage frombehind the public to perform acandombe number that left Mariagasping.

MARIA: It was a wonderful experi-ence and we're forever grateful to thatwoman for giving us that first opportu-nity. Sadly, within twenty days thingsturned sour as misunderstandingsturned into problems. The hostess, wholater gave up Tango dancing, erredbadly with us. Gradually she begandemanding to be Rodolfo's partner. Shewanted him to dye his hair and to get ridof his glasses.

RODOLFO: I said to her: you saw medancing in Buenos Aires; you saw medancing with my wife. That's how youagreed to bring us here, as a couple.Now, you can't ask us to do somethingdifferent. No way.

Thirty days to the date of arrival inFrance, Rodolfo and Maria left thewoman's house and moved in withElena, who with partner Alfredo triedvery hard to help them survive for theremaining six months of their stay.

Singing, dancing Tango and folk-lore, Rodolfo and Maria managed tomake ends meet stranded in a foreignland, handicapped by the languagebarrier, with plenty of tools of their own

Rodolfo and Maria Cieri's memorableperformance at the Dance Spectrum inCampbell, CA. July 1996

Photo by Flash Gordo

and help from generous compatriots.Rene Fabianelli was one of them.

In the years that followed, Renebecame the "guardian angel" whoorganized their successful tours aroundFrance and the rest of Europe. Mean-while in Buenos Aires Rodolfo kepttelling friends about their crazy luck,and that one day he'll open his ownTango Club, appropriately named,

Suerte Loca.

A Milonguero of good stockRodolfo learned to dance Tango

from his father as a kid. His motherobjected because she wanted him to goto school and be somebody. Rodolfo didboth. He pleased his proud father at theold man's milongas in La Paternaldancing with sisters and cousins at thetender age of ten.

Time came for Rodolfo to go toschool. Dad insisted that he devote timeto study rather than dancing. The nightlife could be dangerous and lead to nogood.

RODOLFO: After the first year ofhigh school I quit. I told 'mi viejo,' Iwant to be a dancer. He didn't insist alot. That's something I regret today, thathe didn't try harder to keep me inschool.

He developed a style and spentyears as a night creature of themilongas. When he met Maria, she wasbarely fourteen. Dating in those daysmeant meeting her at the street cornerby her house while the sun was up. Avampire would have fared better, but hekept his courtship up for almost threeyears.

MARIA: I was seventeen years oldwhen I married the first and only man Ihad known. I wanted to sing, to play theguitar. Suddenly, the 'no' from my fatherhad been replaced by the 'no' of myhusband. Meanwhile, he kept going outaddicted to the life of the milonga andthe allure of other women. It's a longstory, but I wasn't prepared for that. Hisparents played an important rolemaking me come back every time I haddecided to leave.

RODOLFO: We were separated threetimes until my Dad kicked me out of thehouse and told me I was worse thangarbage for playing with the life of adecent and loving woman. He told me inno uncertain terms that I had to choosebetween the milonga and my family.Well, thanks to all that we are togethertoday, enjoying something that I neverexpected: dancing and making friends.

They have danced together and theyhave witnessed a time when there werereal dancers at every club. Dancers whocompeted to be the best. Dancers whowould never consider imitating anybodyelse. Dancers who dressed to kill toimpress the ladies before dazzling themwith their brilliance on the dance floor.

They both admire Juan Bruno, theJuan Bruno from the time when heused to dance Tango Salon.

MARIA: Very few could dance TangoSalon. It is very difficult for the coupleto walk with the feet on the floor. Toexecute paradas and turns with asmooth rhythm and with the feet on the


floor. Juan seemed to walk like no oneI've ever seen. Rodolfo doesn't have theprofile to dance Salon. It doesn't lookgood on him.

RODOLFO: Before he quit Juan wasa bailarin de tranco largo, a bird withlong legs gliding over the surface of alake. His moves were deliberately slow.What I showed you today in thecanyengue, how to break your waist forexample, in Tango Salon you have to doit very subtly, like a filigrana, like awatermark on paper, a delicate movewhich is both elegant and fancy. Youhave to stand up firmly and wellgrounded, and you need a partner whodoes not hang on you to drop you offyour balance. When Juan stepped onthe floor for a Di Sarli piece, chills randown my spine before he even began tomove. I have never seen any of today'steachers attempting to dance that way.It's very hard. Even Juan, when he cameout of retirement a couple of years ago,was doing something totally different.

Life is but a dreamOur table talk lingered past dessert

time. As a matter of fact time seemed tohold still. Rodolfo seemed disturbed bythe memory of his father. The elderCieri had died in 1966 but his presencestill weighs strongly on this fragile manwith the glassy eyes, leaning against thechair, holding a glass of wine.

It seems that his father kept appear-ing in his dreams. The recurring themeswere answers to whatever was troublingRodolfo at the time. Like a way tofinish the barbecue pit he had built onthe roof of the house he had constructedby hand, one brick at a time. Or theadvice on where and how to install abathroom on the upper floor.

When Rodolfo talks about hisfather, the tone of his voice lowers, as ifhe is still aware of his presence. He hadrepeated time after time stories aboutthe early days of his childhood when theold man taught him to dance a brand ofTango he had forgotten. How he beganto hate as a child, having to show off infront of Dad's friends at the neighbor-

hood clubs. Later, when a young Rod-olfo lived from garufa to garufa, adapper ladies' man at the milongas, heavoided facing a disappointed fatherwith a pointing finger.

For years after the passing of theelder Cieri, Rodolfo visited the mauso-leum at the Chacarita cemetery. Hetried many times to see his father withan inexplicable obsession until the timecame for moving the casket from themausoleum. The family had to decidebetween ground burial or cremation.Rodolfo convinced the family to havethe body cremated and the ashes placednext to the graves of his grandparents.As a truck loaded with caskets arrived,Rodolfo demanded to identify the body.He was going to see his Dad one lasttime. RODOLFO: They had to use an axeto break the locks and when they finallyopened the casket I yelled at the top ofmy lungs! My Dad's body was intact likethe day they put him in the casket. Hisface, his hands crossed over his cheststill holding a fresh orchid... My sisterhugged me... (his voice breaks and thesteady sob of a child fills the room asthe tape recorder runs for a couple ofminutes). He never went to visit theashes at his Dad's final resting place.Yet, the old man kept visiting him in hisdreams. That's life, he appeared to say.

The Tango My Dad Taught MeOne day Rodolfo woke up and said

to Maria, I had a dream with my Dad. Itwas such a beautiful dream. He came tosee me and he congratulated me be-cause I had built my own house. I toldhim, you see viejo? I finally succeededwith the Tango. I have danced in Eu-rope and here in Buenos Aires on thestage of Teatro San Martin. I told himall about my friendship with CarlosGarcia, ex-pianist of Roberto Firpo whowas now the director of the Orquestadel Tango de Buenos Aires. He listenedattentively and suddenly said, yes, butyou never danced the Tango I oncetaught you.

Maria had always been curious andexcited about the canyengue, so sheasked Rodolfo why he didn't dance it.

Rodolfo said no. He considered ittoo difficult, besides he had completelyforgotten what it was that his Dad hadtaught him. Then, they got a letter fromLondon inviting them to participate in ashow. Excited by the opportunity hetried to remember the barrage ofcanyengue steps his Dad used to dance,but he could barely remember but a few.Once again Dad visited him in a dreamand helped him remember some of themoments they had spent together.Rodolfo remembers telling his father,Your son is going to dance thecanyengue Dad.

RODOLFO: That year in London wepresented the canyengue for the firsttime at Paul and Michiko's CafetinPorteño. People went crazy. ThisSaturday night we are going to dance itfor you and Valorie at your milonga.Maria is going to wear the same vintagedress as in London. Pity that I did notbring my vest and my lengue.

ALBERTO: You can use mine.

RODOLFO: Great! We're going to dothe canyengue. We're going to do it.

He was now the only one left in hisfamily and he seemed to wait for histime with resignation, whenever itwould arrive. Did he know alreadyabout the illness that would take himaway four years later? I'll never know.Like the passing of my parents,Rodolfo's departure feels like he justmoved farther away.

We're reliving the fond memoriesnow as we have finally sat down towatch the videotapes of those greatclasses in our living room, along withtheir compelling performances at theDance Spectrum in Campbell. Mariasinging La ultima curda. The two ofthem dancing canyengue to Elchamuyo. The delight of the audience asthey tackled a D'Arienzo piece withtheir unique brand of Tango.

This article is based on a taped conversation with Rodolfo and Maria Cieri at our former home in Sunnyvale,CA on June 21, 1996. Copyright (c) Planet Tango 2000, All rights Reserved


F irst cool autumn nights. Deliciousshivers, cold snap in the air.Darkness falling early, so that the

early starting hour of the milongaseems less peculiar. At least it wasn’tstill light out, making the wearing ofTango garb seem vampirish.

The restaurant lit from within, allrosy and cozy. The first sounds of Tangomusic sending another set of particularshivers, delicious again, full of anticipa-tion of promise.

Even for the out-of-town visitor, thisplace like others around the country, feltfamiliar. It was a place where everybodyknows your name, that name beingTango. Elegant dresses and high heels.Dapper black shirts and trousers punctu-ated by well fitted suit jackets. Polishedwood floor with gleaming reflections ofsoft light. Glasses clinking, soft conver-sation, eyes everywhere searching.

The music played on and on. Theyknew what tanda they wanted for eachother. They marked time by politedancing with others. Sitting out morethan dancing, sipping cocktails, waitingfor just that right set of music. But thenight is short. This is not Buenos Aires.This is a “school night” in a place with astrong “early to bed, early to rise” workethic. Finally desperate and exasper-ated, they allowed their eyes to meet,she to invite, he to accept.

If I never hear a Tango played with atuba or a harmonica again I’d be a happyman. She smiles and agrees. They hadbeen waiting for a vals tanda all night.But an unlucky draw had them trying toeke out something musical and mean-ingful to the sounds of the oldest creakyrecordings complete with Minnie Mousevocals. Each knew how well theyconnected and danced with each other.Each knew the importance of the perfectingredients of the menage a trois del

tango: man, woman, music. Each wentaway that night with less than perfection.There was the consolation prize offriendship and commiseration. Tonightthey were robbed by the DJ. No big dealwhen there is a nightly or even a weeklymilonga. We all pray and hope todance another night. But here, themilonga is monthly. Adding insult toinjury - she’s just passing through town,and it would be months before they metagain.

As I write this fable, our mail boxcontains CDs and tapes of proud aficio-nados turned DJs. A natural and neces-sary occurrence in every community,when a dancer is hyper excited by themusic and begins collecting CDs.Usually the one with the most CDssegues into becoming the DJ at the localmilonga. This in itself seems a goodthing. Someone has to spin the music.

However a little knowledge canonce again be disappointing. There arethousands of recordings. Only a handfulare really great for dancing, more likethe top one hundred. But the aficionado

armed with Tango catalogues or the rackat Tower Records is shooting fish in abarrel.

Some deejays have the idea that byplaying the more unusual music, themore he/she is showcasing their vastcollection and hence knowledge of theobscure and esoteric. They think theyare cool, if they own and subsequentlyspin something that no one has everheard of.

The idea of the tanda is becomingmore accepted at the local milonga.This is a good thing. Still most DJs haveno idea how to assemble a set of music,or how to string the sets of musictogether. The result is a hodge podgethat never creates and builds the danc-ers’ energy and experience for a satisfy-ing night.

Proud fledglings send us theirefforts looking for affirmation that theyare doing good work at the mixingconsole. Of course every DJ spinningdoes so out of a subjective base. How-ever certain ABC’s apply.

Tandas are grouped by orchestra, orby orchestras playing in the samefashion. Buenos Aires veteran DJ FelixPircherna calls this, playing in the sameline. Tandas are strung together with theidea of telling a story. The night isstructured with beginning, development,crescendo and epilogue. One simplydoesn’t play fast music, followed byslow music (or vice versa). A jarringeffect of this might be a big Pugliese setfollowed by a fast tempo milonga set.At what time of the night you play aparticular orchestra is also a factor.Certain orchestras warm up the crowd;others take it higher; still others calm itdown. Some orchestras and selectionscan kill the dance party right in itstracks.

The obscure, antique and esotericshould be left at home. Shaping theselections should be based on standards.Think of the Big Band Era in the USA,similar to the Golden Age of Tango inArgentina (which coincided on thesame time line). Carlos Di Sarli,Osvaldo Pugliese, Anibal Troilo,

A Tango Fable

Many dance communities are young. The dancers need to beschooled to learn and identify music. Repeated playing of theclassic orchestras is tantamount for this process.

Waiting For The Deejay

By Valorie Hart

"Waiting Melody"Photo by Julio Canosa


Miguel Calo, Ricardo Tanturi, JuanD’Arienzo, Francisco Canaro, RodolfoBiagi, Angel D’Agostino, Alfredo DeAngelis - these are comparable to GlenMiller, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw,Gene Krupa, Guy Lombardo, DukeEllington, etc. There is a reason that thetop one hundred are played again andagain. People come to the milonga todance, and these recordings werecreated for that purpose.

Many dance communities areyoung. The dancers need to be schooledto learn and identify music. Repeatedplaying of the classic orchestras istantamount for this process. People haveto learn to know the difference betweena Milonga, a Tango and a Vals. Peoplehave to learn which orchestra is beingplayed (and subsequently how to danceto it). Most do not have extensivecollections of music, and get theirextended dose of Tango music atmilongas and classes.

Veteran communities becomecohesive and well oiled dancing ma-chines when the group at large respondsto the music. They know the music.They love the music. They know how todance and interpret the music. Thishappens within the duet, while intandem with the whole group and a goodDJ. It is simply exhilarating and totallysatisfying.

Many of us have experienced greatnights out dancing. It might have been

disco or ballroom or Latin. Think aboutwhat made it great. The answer is themusic. Great DJ or great band. Whenyou come home from a “bad” night, thecomment usually follows that the music“sucked”.

To school themselves as DJs, peopleneed to listen and use some of the dancemusic that is already pre-mixed. Manycompilations are being carried backfrom Buenos Aires. So if you are going,or you know someone who is going,make it a point to buy these CDs ortapes (usually available at the milongaoffered for sale by the DJ’s). If youknow a DJ here that you like, ask for amix. All of these mixes share the samepremises as discussed above. They getthe dancers on the floor and keep themthere. Gradually you’ll hear commonthemes and will be able to make yourown successful mix for dancing.

Don’t be fooled if developingdancers in your community dance towhatever you play. Remember they havelimited choice and are desperate todance, and also that their knowledge ofmusic is scant. But take a look around atwho might be sitting your sets out. Itmight be the more experienced. It is truethat mixing music is a subjective art thatcannot possibly please everyone.However, you should aim for 95% of thedancers being on the floor, allowing theother 5% time for trips to the rest room,the bar or for taking a breather.

A Music Primer

When it comes to approaching theway a Tango party develops, the idealsituation is to go with the "Big Bands"and the "Hit Parade."

A typical CD will run on the aver-age for about an hour. On the averagethere are 20 selections on a CD. TakeCarlos Di Sarli, Osvaldo Pugliese,Anibal Troilo, Juan D’Arienzo,Francisco Canaro, Ricardo Tanturi,Miguel Calo, Alfredo de Angelis,Rodolfo Biagi, Osvaldo Fresedo.

Next, consider that Di Sarli,Pugliese and D’Arienzo have two andeven three distinctive periods, then youhave about fifteen orchestras to chosefrom. If you were to just take four oftheir hits, you come out with sixtythemes enough to fill three CDs, aboutthree hours of the greatest Tangomusic form the Golden Era. Thisshould be enough music to cover 95%of the so-called milongas in the USA.There are only a handful of milongasthat last longer than three hours.

Each one of the fifteen orchestrashave more than four hits to pick from,at least a dozen are classics, so thatgives you nine CDs, about nine hoursof uninterrupted dancing to the clas-sics. You can go through three"milongas" without ever repreating atheme. Randomly alter the sequence inwhich you play the orchestras, or CDs,if you are smart enough to make or getpre-mixed CDs, and it would take ayear or two before the dancing com-munity is totally familiar with the music,the rhythms and the orchestras. Bythen one hopes that they have alsolearned how to dance to them.

That’s how I approach all dances,either as a host or as an invited DJ. Icarry about nine such CDs which Ihave mixed, fortunate as I am to havean extensive library and an educatedknowledge of the music and the way itis danced. I wonder sometimes whyfriends don't take advantage of awealth of experience and knowledgethat is available to them just for theasking.

TangoMan

Osvaldo Pugliese music can be identified in three distinctive periods andthree totally different styles. His first recording was Farol, and it took placeJuly 15, 1943. The sound of the 1940's orchestra can be typified byRecuerdo, Mala junta, Tierra querida and El arranque.The sound of the orchestra during the fifties can be sampled in Chique,La rayuela, Emancipacion and Nochero soy.Finally, in the sixties and seventies, Pugliese recorded perhaps the finestand most memorable tangos of which we consider to be his legacy to theTango Hall of Fame. Listen to Que noche, La biandunga, A EvaristoCarriego, and Nobleza de arrabal among many others.Juan D'Arienzo also went through three distinctive stages punctuated bythe men who sat at the piano: Rodolfo Biagi, Juan Polito and FulvioSalamanca.Carlos Di Sarli's sound didn't change much, but the quality and sonorityof his arrangements have two major periods, before and after 1950.


A rgentina’s black population allbut disappeared, decimated inthe 1800s by yellow fever,

intermarriage and massive militaryrecruitment of blacks, who then died inwars. Across the River Plate, in Uru-guay, people of African descentaccounted for about half the populationtwo centuries ago; they now numberabout 189,000 in a nation of 3.2 million.

After independence was declared in1825, civil wars disrupted the republicfor almost seventeen years. Militaryrule muzzled Uruguay from 1973 untildemocracy was restored in 1985, whenmany refugees came home. Aboutninety percent of Uruguayans - most ofSpanish or Italian descent - live incities, with Montevideo home to two-fifths. Education is compulsory andfree, one of Latin America’s mostliterate.

On Sunday nights, the drummers of

Barrio Sur assemble by firelight at anintersection in the historic black neigh-borhood in a tranquil corner of SouthAmerica. Flames dance in a gutterbonfire lighted to tone the hides of thedrums. Rows of drummers pound downthe street in a blur of muscle, sweat andsound, filling the night with an African-derived rhythm known as candombe.Candombe (can-dome-bey) is an

African derived rhythm that has been animportant part of Uruguayan culture forover two hundred years. Uruguay, witha population of approximately 3.2million, is a small country located inSouth America, bordered by its twomassive neighbors, Brazil (162 million)to the East, and Argentina (34 million)to the West. This rhythm traveled toUruguay from Africa with blackslaves, and is still going strong in thestreets, halls and carnivals of this smallenchanting country.

To understand how this rhythm,which is so strongly rooted in Uru-guayan culture evolved, one wouldneed to turn back the pages of Africanand South American history to look athow this contagious rhythm anchored atthe shores of Montevideo. The text thatfollows are excerpts from books andarticles written about candombe, as wellas the viewpoint of individuals whohave been close to this scene. The entirematerial and photos of this article arereproduced by courtesy ofwww.candombe.com.

Montevideo, the capital of Uru-guay, was founded by the Spanish in aprocess that was begun in 1724 andcompleted in 1730. African slaves werefirst introduced to the city in 1750. Theroots of this population were not homo-geneous, but rather a multi-ethnic swathof Africa that was culturally quitevaried. seventy one percent weresourced from the Bantu area, fromEastern and Equatorial Africa, whilethe rest came from non-Bantu WesternAfrica: Guinea, Senegal, Gambia,

Special Feature

Of Candombe and TamboresThe Tango developed simultaneously in Montevideo and BuenosAires. Although typically regarded as the creation of Italian andSpanish immigrants, the Tango’s music and the dance move-ments associated with it were deeply influenced by Africandance and music.

Text and photos courtesy of www.candombe.com


Sierra Leone, and the Gold Coast(what is today Ghana).

The Bantu area is an enormouscultural region of Africa with anextremely complex mosaic ofethnicities, consisting of over 450groups with a linguistic heritage thatoverwhelms man’s migratory limits:more than twenty linguistic groups andseventy dialects.

It is believed that no less than tenmillion “ebony pieces” disembarked onthe coasts of North and SouthAmerica. This implies a bleeding ofsixty million souls, if we consider thatonly one of every six victims of thishuman traffic ever made it alive to theharbors where they were to be auc-tioned. To understand what this meant,in demographic terms, it is sufficient toconsider that at the beginning of the19th Century, Buenos Aires had apopulation of merely fifty thousand.

Candombe is what survives of theancestral heritage of Bantu roots,brought by the blacks arriving at the Ríode la Plata. The term is generic for allblack dances: synonymous with andevoking the rituals of that race. Its

musical spirit sums up the sorrows ofthe unfortunate slaves, who were hastilytransplanted to South America to besold and subjected to brutal work. Thesewere pained souls, harboring an incon-solable nostalgia for their homeland.

During colonial times, the newlyarrived Africans called their drumstangó, and used this term to refer to theplace where they gathered to performtheir candombe dances; by extension,the dances themselves were also calledtangós. With the word tangó, theydefined the place, the instrument, andthe dance of the blacks.

At the dawn of the 19th Century,

Montevideo’s Establishment wasdeeply troubled by the existence of thecandombes, which they indistinctlycalled tambo or tangó. They bannedthem and harshly punished their partici-pants, considering the dances a threat topublic morals. In 1808 the citizens ofMontevideo requested that the governorrepress these dances even more severelyand “prohibit the tangós of the blacks.”

In Africa, Tambor and the personplaying it are defined by the same word,Tambor.

It was the voice of the old “tatas” ofcandombe from the middle of the 19thcentury, bellowing in the halls of blackclandestine gatherings, sons and grand-sons of those brought over in the holdsof the slave ships. From 1751 to 1810,Montevideo received large contingentsof Africans aboard vessels flyingEnglish and Spanish flags. While theirculture was quickly repressed by theSpanish, their need for expression, theirliberation, was maintained through theirTambor.

The Tambor of candombe is thepresence of ancestral Africa in Uru-guay.

The houses where the slaves gath-ered, with their masters’ permission,were off-limits to the general public inMontevideo of old. These were calledtangós, and within their walls the slavescelebrated their festivities and ceremo-nies to the sound of the Tambor.

From this period of original celebra-tions in Uruguay, only the musicalgathering is retained today, and findtheir principal manifestation in thellamadas of Barrio Sur and Palermo. In

Tambor Piano

Tambor Chico

Tambor Repique


the sounds of the piano, the chico andthe repique, the slaves have been able topreserve their ancestral memory.

Impassioned by the rhythm, with afleeting and naive joy, the dance is thereward for their tasks in the stables, forthe jobs as porters that leave their agilebodies bent.

On the 28th of October, 1846, thepresident of the Republic, JoaquinSuarez, abolished slavery in Uruguay,in a process that began in 1825.

Uruguay abolished slavery, docu-ments described African dance ritualsin Montevideo and the countrysideknown as tangós, with the accent on thesecond syllable. The word referredvariously to the drums, the dances andthe places where the religious ritualswere held. Therein lies an intriguingmusicological tale about the obscureorigins of the tango, one of the best-known Latin American musical genres.

The street-corner ritual is part of aneglected chapter of the Africandiaspora. The drums tell a story of theprofound impact that African culturehas had in Uruguay and elsewhere inLatin America. In fact, Afro-Uruguay-ans celebrate an often-ignored piece ofhistory

The Creole, who once formed thewhole nation, now prefers to be one of

many. So that there may be greaterglories in the land, glories must beforgotten. The memory of them isalmost an act of remorse, the reproachof things abandoned without the inter-cession of a goodbye. It is a memorywhich is rescued, as the Creole destinyrequires, for the gallantry and perfectionof its sacrifice.

The candombe rhythm is createdby the use of three drums (tambores),tambor piano, tambor chico andtambor repique. When these threedrums heat up, it’s like nothing you’veever heard before.

The piano is the largest in size, and

lowest in pitch of the three drums,holding the rhythmic base of candombe.Its rhythmic function is similar to theupright or electric bass. Its drumheadmeasures approximately sixteen inchesin diameter.

The chico (small) name givenbecause of its size and thinner drum-head, the highest in pitch of the threedrums, and the rhythmic pendulum ofthe cuerda. Its drumhead measuresapproximately eight-and-one-half inchesin diameter.

The repique's (ricochet) name tellsus this drum embellishes candombe'srhythm with improvised phrases. Itsdrumhead measures approximatelytwelve inches in diameter.

Together these three tamborescreate candombe. Together these threedrums are called a Cuerda. Cuerda isthe name given to the family of the threedifferent drums (tambores) consisting ofthe tambor piano, tambor chico andtambor repique. At a minimum, acuerda consists of three people, eachplaying one of the three tambores,however it can also consist of morepeople, as long as each of the threetambores are being played. Eachtambor is played by one person. It ishung from the shoulder, struck with onehand, and by a stick in the other. Onoccasion there are as many as onehundred drummers playing Candombein the street.

An old candombe photo. At the dawn of the 19th Century, Montevideo'sEstablishment was deeply troubled by the existence of the candombes,which they indistinctly called tambo or tangó.

A typical candombe cuerda


Planet Tango is pleased to invite you to celebrate theNew Year the Tango Way, at The Original PierreMaspero's, 440 Chartres at St. Louis in the FrenchQuarter. For reservations call, 504.592.8256

Dance every Friday at The Original Pierre Maspero's Tango Room,440 Chartres at St. Louis. Complimentary lesson and great ArgentineTango dancing with hosts Alberto and Valorie. Doors open at 9 PMand they close when the last dancer had enough.

New Orleans' Orchestra Milonga

Santa sez,Naughty or not, I want to see youdancing at Pierre Maspero's onthe night of December 22.Yes, that's the Friday night PlanetTango Christmas Party.Wear red, wear green, I'll know ifyou've been good (or not...).

Tango Tuesdays at Le chat noir, 725 St. Charles Ave.


TANGO PASSIONJanuary 12 & 13, 2001 - 8:00 PM

The Orpheum TheatrePhoenix, Arizona

A collection of the best tangos andvalses authored by FranciscoCanaro, as they were recorded byFrancisco Canaro's successfulorchestras such as the memorableQuinteto Pirincho and QuintetoDon Pancho.

Pugliese’s labor straddled overfour decades of uninterruptedcreativity. There is a period of timewhen his arrangements exceedednormal human expectations. Thiscollection of old and new classicsfall under what we call “VintagePugliese,” the legacy of the great-est artistic mind the ArgentineTango ever produced bar none.

Available for educational pur-poses and personal enjoymentonly from Planet Tango.Each CD is $15 which includesFirst Class postal delivery.Send your check to,



Chapter 21Copyright (c) 2000 Planet Tango

All About EvaThe biblical story seems to indicate

that Eva got to take the rap for turningParadise into a living hell for theCreator's ultimate creation, Da Man.Looks like the First Guy leisurelyenjoyed the pleasantries of an idealworld created just for him and the fruitof his ribs, with only one caveat to beaware of (actually two, stay away fromthe Forbidden Tree and don't dance toPiazzolla). One day, the First Gal washanging around the garden followed bya snake who kept telling her, an apple aday keeps the doctor away. EventuallyEva succumbed to the temptation andtook a bite from the fruit of the Forbid-den Tree and sweet talked Da Man intodoing the same.

And so the story goes that they gotthrown out of Paradise condemned topay for their sin with the sweat of theirforeheads. Da Man now had to workand be a provider. Eva stayed homebarefoot and bearing children. Thisinequality and injustice prevailedthroughout the centuries, until the

roaring of fed up females sick of beingcalled follows decided to do somethingabout it. It takes two to Tango, youknow, was their battle cry. Although weare still living in an imperfect world,when it comes to Tango, the roles ofmen and women have become lessstereotypical, and progress towardsequality continues at a steady pace.

For many, the Tango has become ametaphor for higher levels of men/women relationships. Long gone are thedays of the early 1900's, when toughmen killed each other to gain the favorsof mischievous women, who withoutmissing a beat would turn away from thebloody bodies laying outside the bar tofocus their attention on those insideeager to be the next ones to go out andfight.

The Roaring Twenties importedfrom the Parisian halls an air of sophis-tication and the elegant Buenos Airescabarets where musicians had to dressup in tails. Class warfare was respon-sible for so many broken hearts and somany great Tango lyrics. However, theGolden Era of Tango provided the

blueprint for the codes and protocolsassociated with the social appeal ofArgentine Tango dancing. During aperiod that roughly begun in the mid1930's and lasted into the early 1950's,the relaxation of social constraintsallowed men and women to socializepublicly at social clubs, night clubs andjust about every other place whereTango dancing took place.

Many marriages resulted from theromances started on the dance floorbecause for as long as we can remember,the main purpose of going to themilonga was for boys to meet girls andvice versa. To be able to dance Tangowell was a given, and the codes ofconduct at the milongas were strictlyadhered to by those who wanted tosucceed. The entire body of activities,social interaction and behavior at themilongas of Buenos Aires fall underwhat we would like to call the tradition,myths and legends of Argentine Tangodancing. For most Argentinos this ispart of their idiosyncrasy and most trulybelieve what George Dumesnil said onthe subject: A country that no longer haslegends, as the poet said, is condemnedto freeze to death. It is quite possible.But, people without myths wouldalready be dead.

Lead Thyself Not Into TemptationCountless numbers of women have

spent lots of time walking around achair. That's how you learn yourmolinetes, they have been tempted tobelieve. The more they walked aroundthe chairs, the more they kept pullingtheir partners off balance while they didtheir molinetes.

More and more women are realizingthat men don't have four legs like chairs.They are also learning that there is nosuch thing as molinete steps. They arebeginning to acknowledge that they aredancing with men, not leads. They arebeginning to assume responsibility fortheir balance so they can tell when themen they are dancing with stop, butkeep them walking around them. Theyrealize that going around the man makestheir hips move their legs in a predict-


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able and repetitive sequence, forward, tothe side and back.

Many women have spent lots oftime leaning against a wall whilepracticing their ochos. Knees bent andpressed hard against each other. Ankleslocked into each other. Collect, collect,said the voices of temptation.

The more they practiced, the morethey fell off their ochos regardless ofhow hard they leaned against theirpartners. More and more women arenow realizing that men are not walls tolean onto and that there are no stepscalled ochos.

They are learning that an ocho, is aninvisible pattern resembling the numbereight drawn on the floor by their feet. Itresults from a motion created by theirpartners that asked them to step forwardwith one leg, pivot on that leg maintain-ing balance, and step forward again withthe other leg back to where they camefrom.

Their awareness of the men theyare dancing with affords them plenty oftime to realize that they are not walkingalong with them on a straight line.Rather, the men are either stationary ormoving in such a way to create thepivoting necessary for the changes ofdirection after each forward step.

They know that bending and press-ing their knees together, locking theirankles against each other and forcing thehip of the trailing leg to make the body

turn, make them heavy, throws them offbalance and renders their legs unable torespond to the natural flow of the dancerequired to carry their bodies whereverthe men are taking them.

Many women have lined up behindanother woman, who repeated numeroustimes a sequence of steps asking them toimitate her and memorize the steps.They have then proceeded to demandthat men lead them to recreate the steps.They have been heard calling each stepfor the tentative leads who went alongwith the game.

More and more women are nowrealizing that real and skilled men don'tlead. They dance with a woman in theirarms.

More and more women are givingup memorizing steps and the unnervinganxiety that results from wanting to begood follows. They are assuming theresponsibility for their posture and theirbalance. They are willing to put into thelearning process as much effort as theywant to get out in terms of satisfaction.

They know that there is a logicalaspect of the learning process thataddresses specifically the techniquesthat allow them to be empowered to be afull fledged partner. They seek thosewho are qualified to impart that impor-tant wealth of knowledge.

After all, Tango dancing has alwaysbeen done in wondrous ways in the city-country we call Buenos Aires by very

simple and humble men and womenwho considered learning their roles avery important stage leading to themutual enjoyment of the dance.

In Tango We TrustMany Tango communities are

graced by the charming presence ofwomen who manage to feel good andlook the best in the realm of the em-brace, knowing where they are at alltimes with relation to the men they aredancing with. They are the women whogood dancers enjoy dancing with.

They know that they only need torecognize which one of only threefundamental moves will make theirbodies reach another space on the dancefloor.

They connect to their partners,friends, lovers, or total strangers, asthese men navigate. They dance el-egantly with their bodies fully con-nected to their partners, letting their legsbe free to move forward, back, or toeither side providing comfortablesupport for their bodies.

Albeit, they overwhelmingly andsilently outnumber the vocal few wholaugh at the traditions of ArgentineTango by claiming that in this countrypeople have a different approach. Theones who impose themselves on anyman to fulfill a quota on their self-centered agendas, trading cheap easydances for cheap, easy frills for pervertsdisguised as milongueros.

Alberto and Valorie


This is a copy for you with our complimentswith our invitation to subscribe and join thehundreds of readers who enjoy El Firuleteevery month around the world.


Planet TangoYour complete connection to the world of Argentine Tango

Private, semiprivate and group lessons.Exhibitions and performances.

Lectures and conferences.Publishers of El Firulete

Weekly milonga and monthly workshops in New OrleansMonthly workshops around the country

Open dates still available for 2001

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