I saw their curent production"Romper el Piso" last night at the Schnitzer Concert Hall her in Portland. I hadn't seen any professional AT for some years, and one thing that attracted me to this was that they included Afro-Argentinian elements.
After one candombe like segment, there was one that (now that I think about it) reminds me of what they did in RIverDance - the co-mingling of elements from different cultures. Here it was African, or Afro Carribean meeting the European/compadrito. There, it was an Irish tapper meeting a shuffle based Afrocan American. FIrst competition, then a blending of styles.
Next was .... polka! Well, I can't find the right song they used ( live music were seven - musicians ) but the beat and the dancing was pretty easy to call.
And if I knew what a mazurka sounded or looked like...
That early period had me dancing in my seat, so much so that I told the woman next to me to let me know if I was too out there. (well, had an end of the aisle seat and put all the motion in that direction.)
A quarter to a third of the performance highlighted the music with no dancers on stage. Lots of Piazolla in the last quarter of the show.
As I wrote elsewhere, local AT guy Alex Krebs was doing a demo in the lobb with Hannah Poston. A few years ago, when the Oregon Symphony had a tango program, Alex played bandoneon with them. As announced by the directors of White Bird dance, who brought the company to Portland, Alex loaned his studio for rehearsal space. I believe they also had lessons. (Darn, always wanted to get better at leading ganchos!)
It would be interesting to know what sort of bump in class size he gets from this.
Anyhow, I thought this was an excellent show.
After one candombe like segment, there was one that (now that I think about it) reminds me of what they did in RIverDance - the co-mingling of elements from different cultures. Here it was African, or Afro Carribean meeting the European/compadrito. There, it was an Irish tapper meeting a shuffle based Afrocan American. FIrst competition, then a blending of styles.
Next was .... polka! Well, I can't find the right song they used ( live music were seven - musicians ) but the beat and the dancing was pretty easy to call.
And if I knew what a mazurka sounded or looked like...
That early period had me dancing in my seat, so much so that I told the woman next to me to let me know if I was too out there. (well, had an end of the aisle seat and put all the motion in that direction.)
A quarter to a third of the performance highlighted the music with no dancers on stage. Lots of Piazolla in the last quarter of the show.
As I wrote elsewhere, local AT guy Alex Krebs was doing a demo in the lobb with Hannah Poston. A few years ago, when the Oregon Symphony had a tango program, Alex played bandoneon with them. As announced by the directors of White Bird dance, who brought the company to Portland, Alex loaned his studio for rehearsal space. I believe they also had lessons. (Darn, always wanted to get better at leading ganchos!)
It would be interesting to know what sort of bump in class size he gets from this.
Anyhow, I thought this was an excellent show.
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