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The cast of Tango Por Dos |
Brilliant tribute goes to heart of seductive dance
TANGO POR DOS
Peacock Theatre
THE tango originated in the early 20th-century slums of Buenos Aires, developed by a wave of poor immigrant men who found themselves outnumbering the female population by 10 to 1.
It was a form of distraction, a tool for seduction, and a celebration of the preciousness and complexity of intimacy.
Essentially an improvised dance, tango is about the quality of interaction between the dancers; the ever-shifting drama of closeness.
Buenos Aires Tango, a choreographed show performed by Tango Por Dos, understands this explicitly, and is a brilliant and considered tribute to both the history and heart of the dance.
Its structure is a semi-dramatised journey through the evolution of tango: a gaucho (poor cowboy from the South American Pampas) arrives in the city and performs his traditional, solo dance; men practise and partner each other; women are fought over in cafes and brothels and couples compete in dance halls and town squares.
We finish in the late 20th century when the great composers Astor Piazolla, Anibal Troilo and Julio De Caro were redefining the sound for what had become a high art-form.
The dancing is uniformly stunning. Director, choreographer and principal dancer Miguel Angel Zotto has developed a subtle and involved series of tangos that avoid any tacky show pieces, and give each of his 12-strong company of dancers the chance to display their own chemistry.
The dance could not be this rich without the music: melancholy, playful, convivial, yearning, lustful and tender by turns, when the band (led by Pocho Palmer) play solo, they fill the stage with fluid gravitas.
There was a slight edge of tension around the first half – perhaps down to first-night nerves – but the second was loose, expansive and explosive, a compulsive refinement of energy.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve never been to a dance show or you’re a regular on the tango circuit, if you want to see the real thing, go see this.
Until February 23
0844 412 4322 |
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