We all remember the fiery tangos from Strictly Come Dancing, each one telling a story of sensuality, betrayal and revenge. “Yes, Strictly Come Dancing did awaken the interest in tango,” says Ivan Arandia, tango dancer, teacher and choreographer and the man who has trained with the stars of the tango elite.
Ivan is from Argentina and came to the UK some eighteen years ago. “At that time there was no interest at all in tango, maybe there were fifty people dancing in London but that was it.” He set up Negracha ten years ago, a school for tango, an academy for dancers as well as a club for avid tango dancers. “I saw an opportunity to establish a tango club that had more of a social aspect to it. Here was a place where you could dance until three o’clock in the morning and on a Friday night we have between 200 and 250 people dancing on two different floors.”
The main floor is for the traditional salon tango, the way it was danced in the golden era to the music from the 20’s 40’s and early 50’s. Downstairs is space for tqngo records released from the 50’s to the present day, particularly Tango Nuevo, the music of Astor Piazzola and his contemporaries. Piazzola is one of the most famous tango artists, who was inspired by the new stream in jazz, like Miles Davis.
There is even room for electro tango, a late development of tango-inspired electro-sounds looked upon with horror by the traditionalists. “So in one building we manage to portray the history of tango,” says Ivan with a smile and admits that he loves the piazzola. “ Tango Nuevo is more complex, too complex for most social dancers but loved by the professionals as it breaks down orthodox rhythmical structures and delivers sounds that are far more challenging to improvise to. Let’s not forget that Tango is primarily an improvised dance.”
“Tango is a social dance with certain codes, the leader is in charge and has to navigate around the floor with some skill as not to collide with other couples or kick them, and that takes some practice when you have maybe a hundred couples on the floor.”
Today there are about four leading clubs in London specialising in tango. “Tango is a long-term commitment” stresses Ivan, “it creates passion and attracts strong characters and it can become an addiction. Many became interested after having seen it on television, but that is show tango, very different from the Argentinean tango.”
Ivan took part in the documentary for Channel 4 following the success of Strictly Come Dancing which delved into the different forms of tango. For many, the time spent in the clubs, the milongas, become a way of life. In Buenos Aires the young men initially turn to the milongas to meet girls but then they get hooked by the sensuality and the complexity of the dance and want to learn more.
The same development seems to happen in London now as well. According to Ivan it started fourteen years ago with the film The Tango Lesson, an English movie done by Sally Potter, who immersed herself in the milonga life and filmed the best dancers in the world.
Now we can soon see Ivan Arandia showing off the different styles of tango, including the fiery show tango, in Dulwich. With him will be Tara Pilbrow, considered one of the best in the UK and they are accompanied by David Caswell. It will also feature recorded typical Argentinean music and the whole evening will have an Argentinean theme.
There will be Argentinean food and even wine, and after some demonstration it will be time for those who want to try their own tango steps.
The evening is arranged by Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery and takes place in St.Barnabas Paris Hall, so plenty of room for kicks and flicks, on Saturday 13 April. There will be food for sale arranged by Barcelona Tapas and you can bring your own drinks. The wonderful music, the sensual dance ensures that this will be an evening that will make all of us forget austerity and the slow-coming spring.
This is just one of the many events organised by Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery.
For more information see www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk
For more information about tango see www.negrachatangoclub.com.
Argentinian Tango Evening - With dancers Ivan Arandia, Tara Pilbrow and guitarist David Coswell.
Saturday 13 April at 6pm
St. Barnabas Paris Hall, 23 Dulwich Village
Argentinian themes food will be on sale in the interval and you can bring your own wine and soft drinks for supper.
£18, Friends £15 – to include a glass of Argentinian wine or juice.£10 for under 16s.
Booking:
- www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk
- 020 82998750 Mon-Friday 10 am- 4 pm
- Friends Desk in the Gallery
For more information about tango www.negrachatangoclub.com.
