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| Posted by: Behind The Scenes |
2/1/2008 9:51 AM |
“Dancing is a vertical expression of a horizontal desire.”
—George Bernard Shaw
Bite the Air, Baby
by Austin Buchholtz
If Portland is as horizontal as I hear, then what could possibly spice it up around these parts more than a good dose of tango—the most diagonal of such vertical expressions—imported directly from Buenos Aires. With a sold-out crowd probably pacing in anticipation the night before their Tango Fire performance at the Schnitz, the members of Estampas Porteñas dine on red meat and wine (not a single vegetarian among them) at a very welcoming welcome dinner in the Milwaukie home of White Bird board members Doctors Norm Kalbfleisch and Neil Matteucci.
As a surprise for the company, the hosts hired Portland’s own harmonica phenomenon Joe Powers to play tangos and milongas for them in the living room. A recent nominee for a PDX Music Award for “Best Male Artist of 2007” by Spectator Magazine, Joe’s soulful and honest approach to three Argentine classics gets the company clapping, and shouting for more. One of the dancers tells me that it’s endearing to hear such a heart-felt manifestation of Argentine culture while so far from home.
Joe Powers makes the Argentine's feel at home.
Noticing there were not enough chairs at the table, Artistic Director Carolina Soler invites me to share hers. I ask her how she selected her company crooner, Javier Di Ciriaco, who now can’t help but join in with Powers and his accompanist. She says that she had a lot of interest from excellent singers, but all of them were too old to represent what she most wanted to show the world: the future of tango. Indeed all of the dancers and musicians are young too, I notice. Yes, she wants to honor tango’s traditions and aims for that in the first half of the show, but also endeavors to update it to something uniquely 21st century. Hmm. Interesting and not implausible notion: tango as fountain of youth. Put on your heels, Portland, and kick off those years of rain and books! It’s clothed tantra time.
The next cold winter night instead seems warm and cozy inside the Schnitz. My buddy and date for the evening Bert is practically salivating, saying he has been waiting months for this show. Jeez Louise. Calm down everyone, I think. Will it be as good for me as it will for them?
The curtains open to a café scene with the band on risers at the back. We’re in another era, another part of the Americas. Their hair neatly slicked back, men in smoking jackets compete for the attention of ladies in tight dresses. It is a spirited world of romantic prowess and articulation. A woman slaps a man's transgressive hand. A gentleman offers a lady a seat. A couple tease each other with a few steps in a close embrace. A slap on the bottom here, a dusting of the lapel there. It appears Tango is born out of the everyday push-pull beats of the hunting heart.
Sultry and sweaty: tango in action. Photo by Tom Oliver.
Beyond the to-be-expected predatory passes and cortés, each couple has their own special chemistry and talents. In short order, lightening-fast kicks backward between each other’s legs comes to seem like a normal thing to do. In Yanina Fajar and Nelson Celis' case, the slit all the way up the side of her leg allows various curving flashes of white to wrap high on his back, their faces close to a kiss. Bert whispers to me: “she has legs up to her neck!”
Javier comes out to sing intermittently with the band.The narrative drama on his lips and longing in his lyrics transports us to moments of very human heartache and hope. Even in the 21st Century, the jazzy/bluesy nature of the tango disallows a pandering to soulless techno or abstract wordscapes. When the band plays by themselves and each instrumentalist solos, I can feel the renewed adoration of the Portland audience—acoustic music aficionados all.
In “Part Two—The Show,” all hair is down and no holds barred. In one sequence, a male dancer holds one of the woman out over the edge of the stage, then after a spiraling lift, unrolls her nearly to the floor. The audience gasps for air. After their bows, her preening smile and hands on hips hypnotize us with the power of latina femininity, only to release us after her slight pause to caress the curtain before exiting.
The final piece involves all five couples dancing, filling the stage with precise raw energy, and understandably brings the audience to their feet calling for an encore, which is granted. One of the ladies plucks Hugo Satorre the bandoneon player from his chair for a few last steps while the others cheer them on.
After the lights came up, the crowd around me appears happily disheveled. Couples clasp hands and dash home. Oodles of Oregon babies will be conceived tonight. I feel like a cigarette, and I don’t smoke. Maybe I’ll finally take up knitting. “Where’s my book, Bert?”
***
Austin Buchholtz is a freelance graphic designer, writer, and teacher of ballroom and latin dancing.
Austin was White Bird’s Director of Audience Services from August 2001 to December 2003.
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Re: Bite the Air, Baby |
By Bernd Schnitzel on
2/12/2008 1:39 AM |
| A well-crafted picture of the show as well as behind-the-scenes peek at the company.<br><br>Bernd, Vienna, Austria |
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