June 28, 2009
Eugenia Parrilla Interview, Part 3
Chicho & Eugenia dance to "Poema" at CITA 2005
Final installment of interview with Eugenia Parrilla, August 2006, Chicago.
Beatriz: When I see the couples dancing tango salon, I can more or less tell which couples are connected and which ones aren’t. Can you do the same and tell which couples dancing "new tango" are connected and which ones aren’t?
Eugenia: Yes, by all means. And for me it doesn’t have to do with what type of tango you dance. There are things that I would never do, and I like them, but I know I would never do them.
B: Like what, for example?
E: There are couples that I see and I say, “Okay, I would never do that because it’s not what motivates me.” But I might still love it. I know I’m not going to dance canyengue style. Maybe I could as an interpretation of a time, but I’m not going to dedicate my life to doing that. But I love it when I see it. I love it. There are things that reach you even though it’s not exactly what you would want to do.
[…]
Joe: What do you want to do for your personal goals in tango?
E: The idea of integrating more and more things interests me, of being able to integrate theater. It might not have much to do with tango, but I also really like aerial things. I would like to be able to integrate other arts with tango.
B: You’re referring to aerial dance?
E: Yes, aerial dance. I would like to be able to do theater quite a bit.
B: You’d like to integrate that with tango?
E: I would like to, that with tango, and theater, and for everything to have a common thread. To get to the point where I can do something more open, more thus like the dance [[la danza]], more artistic. So that the tango would be seen more like something like a dance [[la danza]] and not like a closed circle that only knows tango. That it would expand more each time, that it could go further to la danza, more to expressivity, more to something credible, of expressivity. And I would like to be able to deal with real topics about actual problems, about what’s happening in the world. And not just from the point of view of the cabaret and the cafishio who manages the crazy women. It seems that that makes you able to… Well, it’s fine. It’s the roots. But if that is managed in an intelligent way to be able to do a show, I think in that way it will be interesting. But if it’s always the same story, I think it’s always frozen. You can take something old and relate it to something more current. Because even today there’s lots of prostitution, there are a lot of things, through another context, through another place. And I think that that’s interesting, being able to approach the emotions, what’s happening with emotions, from a more psychological viewpoint, than through something so closed. I don’t know. Something open, more artistic.
J: You said that you studied music?
E: I studied piano.
J: From the point of view of music, do you like the direction that contemporary tango music is taking today with the tango electronico?
E: It seems to me… Mmmm. It’s difficult to talk about this because I think that each person wants to do the best they can do, and they try to do the best they can. And those people that try to do the best they can in my mind are very respectable. It’s not the same as someone that wants to take advantage and make some money. No, it’s not the same. That’s why it’s difficult for me to talk about this.
B: Do you personally like to dance to electronic music?
E: Not all of it, not all of it. But there are things I like and others I don’t. But I think that electronic music is missing a little bit. Like if there’s a hollow space between Piazzola, who was more modern, and electronic music. I think that maybe they have to go a little further back to get to something better. But all the same, I don’t know. I think there’s something missing. But I still like it.
J: What do you think tango music could be like if we had new tango music?
E: I imagine it with more participation from the instruments, like the bandoneon, like the violin, with more rhythmic changes, like with integration of perhaps a little of classical music, maybe a little of something of Pugliese, but without it being Pugliese, but a little of the essence of each thing with an electronic bass. But for me electronic music isn’t that march music that goes “Boom, boom” the whole time which I can’t stand. I imagine it as like something more symphonic without it getting to the point of being classical music.
J: Are you working on any theatrical projects now, today? Or do you have anything coming up that you can work on?
E: There are projects that I have in mind. But in this moment I’m not doing anything. I want to prepare myself for that. But right now, nothing concrete. But yes, I know what interests me. I try to write the ideas that come to me.
B: If there were a 10 year-old kid that asked you, “What is tango?” and you had to answer him at a 10-year old level, what would you say?
E: (Laughter) How difficult! It’s very hard. That tango is like when you love someone and you can move freely like you’re playing in freedom with the body.
[…]
Carlota: Do you have a favorite tango performance that you’ve seen recently that you really liked a lot? That made you think, like, “Oh, yeah, I’d like to do something like that.” Not exactly like that but, oh, that’s what I’d like to see happening in a tango performance.
E: I wouldn’t do it. (Laughs). I wouldn’t do the same thing they do. But I love Melina Brufman and Claudio Gonzalez. It’s totally different than what I would do. But they impress me, they touch me. They’re incredible. And there are a lot of people I like. A lot. I think everyone has at least one thing I like. In everybody something I like. But always you can take something from somebody. But I like Melina and Claudio…I don’t remember now because it’s a lot.
End of interview conducted August 2006 in Chicago
Posted by joegrohens at 04:38 PM | Comments (0)
Eugenia Parrilla Interview, Part 3
Chicho & Eugenia dance to "Poema" at CITA 2005
Final installment of interview with Eugenia Parrilla, August 2006, Chicago.
Beatriz: When I see the couples dancing tango salon, I can more or less tell which couples are connected and which ones aren’t. Can you do the same and tell which couples dancing "new tango" are connected and which ones aren’t?
Eugenia: Yes, by all means. And for me it doesn’t have to do with what type of tango you dance. There are things that I would never do, and I like them, but I know I would never do them.
B: Like what, for example?
E: There are couples that I see and I say, “Okay, I would never do that because it’s not what motivates me.” But I might still love it. I know I’m not going to dance canyengue style. Maybe I could as an interpretation of a time, but I’m not going to dedicate my life to doing that. But I love it when I see it. I love it. There are things that reach you even though it’s not exactly what you would want to do.
[…]
Joe: What do you want to do for your personal goals in tango?
E: The idea of integrating more and more things interests me, of being able to integrate theater. It might not have much to do with tango, but I also really like aerial things. I would like to be able to integrate other arts with tango.
B: You’re referring to aerial dance?
E: Yes, aerial dance. I would like to be able to do theater quite a bit.
B: You’d like to integrate that with tango?
E: I would like to, that with tango, and theater, and for everything to have a common thread. To get to the point where I can do something more open, more thus like the dance [[la danza]], more artistic. So that the tango would be seen more like something like a dance [[la danza]] and not like a closed circle that only knows tango. That it would expand more each time, that it could go further to la danza, more to expressivity, more to something credible, of expressivity. And I would like to be able to deal with real topics about actual problems, about what’s happening in the world. And not just from the point of view of the cabaret and the cafishio who manages the crazy women. It seems that that makes you able to… Well, it’s fine. It’s the roots. But if that is managed in an intelligent way to be able to do a show, I think in that way it will be interesting. But if it’s always the same story, I think it’s always frozen. You can take something old and relate it to something more current. Because even today there’s lots of prostitution, there are a lot of things, through another context, through another place. And I think that that’s interesting, being able to approach the emotions, what’s happening with emotions, from a more psychological viewpoint, than through something so closed. I don’t know. Something open, more artistic.
J: You said that you studied music?
E: I studied piano.
J: From the point of view of music, do you like the direction that contemporary tango music is taking today with the tango electronico?
E: It seems to me… Mmmm. It’s difficult to talk about this because I think that each person wants to do the best they can do, and they try to do the best they can. And those people that try to do the best they can in my mind are very respectable. It’s not the same as someone that wants to take advantage and make some money. No, it’s not the same. That’s why it’s difficult for me to talk about this.
B: Do you personally like to dance to electronic music?
E: Not all of it, not all of it. But there are things I like and others I don’t. But I think that electronic music is missing a little bit. Like if there’s a hollow space between Piazzola, who was more modern, and electronic music. I think that maybe they have to go a little further back to get to something better. But all the same, I don’t know. I think there’s something missing. But I still like it.
J: What do you think tango music could be like if we had new tango music?
E: I imagine it with more participation from the instruments, like the bandoneon, like the violin, with more rhythmic changes, like with integration of perhaps a little of classical music, maybe a little of something of Pugliese, but without it being Pugliese, but a little of the essence of each thing with an electronic bass. But for me electronic music isn’t that march music that goes “Boom, boom” the whole time which I can’t stand. I imagine it as like something more symphonic without it getting to the point of being classical music.
J: Are you working on any theatrical projects now, today? Or do you have anything coming up that you can work on?
E: There are projects that I have in mind. But in this moment I’m not doing anything. I want to prepare myself for that. But right now, nothing concrete. But yes, I know what interests me. I try to write the ideas that come to me.
B: If there were a 10 year-old kid that asked you, “What is tango?” and you had to answer him at a 10-year old level, what would you say?
E: (Laughter) How difficult! It’s very hard. That tango is like when you love someone and you can move freely like you’re playing in freedom with the body.
[…]
Carlota: Do you have a favorite tango performance that you’ve seen recently that you really liked a lot? That made you think, like, “Oh, yeah, I’d like to do something like that.” Not exactly like that but, oh, that’s what I’d like to see happening in a tango performance.
E: I wouldn’t do it. (Laughs). I wouldn’t do the same thing they do. But I love Melina Brufman and Claudio Gonzalez. It’s totally different than what I would do. But they impress me, they touch me. They’re incredible. And there are a lot of people I like. A lot. I think everyone has at least one thing I like. In everybody something I like. But always you can take something from somebody. But I like Melina and Claudio…I don’t remember now because it’s a lot.
End of interview conducted August 2006 in Chicago
Posted by joegrohens at 04:38 PM | Comments (0)
May 28, 2009
Eugenia Parrilla Interview, Part 2
Continuation of interview with Eugenia Parrilla, Chicago 2006
B: It seems like what you were saying is that what fascinates you about the milongas is the closeness of the people even though they’re strangers, and the connections and that sort of thing. But when you went to study with Mauricio Castro and Fabian Salas you found something different and you call it the movement.
E: The freedom of the movement.
B: As opposed to what?
E: The opposite of the intimacy, of the intimacy from the contact. And this appeared to me to be a contrast, but now I think that both have to go hand in hand. One cannot exist without the other, because the dance… the freedom in the dance… without entering into the depth in the connection with the other, and from something spiritual that carries you to the music, is an empty dance. Movement for movement's sake and nothing more for me seems difficult to provoke a sensation in the other. To me it has to go to the depths to be able really get into what the music is saying.
B: Mm hmm. That’s very interesting because you tried tango in the milongas and you liked the idea of the intimacy, the closeness, that age isn’t important. And then you went to study with Salas and Castro and you were fascinated by the movement. And now it seems like you’re at a stage where you think that the two things need to be integrated.
E: In my eyes the two can’t be separated.
B: For example, let’s take the show you guys did yesterday. Do you see yourself dancing in this way that you’re saying you think it should be? And how do you see the other couples that danced with regards to the freedom of movement and the intimacy?
E: Well, I’m not sure how I see myself. In reality, I attempt. I attempt to unite both things that for me have… they’re connected to the music and to each other. To be able to reach that state. It’s like yoga. You reach a spiritual state to be able to go into the depths of a sensation. Because the music doesn’t consist of just the rhythm. It has… life, sadness, happiness.
B: So you, for example, when you were dancing yesterday, you felt like… Well, a show is a little different, right? But when you talk about that you mean…
E: It’s really not different because we improvise, so you have to go to that. I think in reality in both types of dancing you have to go to that. Whether it’s choreography or improvisation. But since the improvisation is completely spontaneous, I think it’s very important to reach that state. It seems to me that tango is in a process at the moment. It’s in a process of integration. And if that integration doesn’t occur, for me it will be lost. Because already, all the people are crazy about the tango that’s more free, more new. But for me it’s not about doing the craziest moves you can, but instead being able to integrate the two things because otherwise in the end, it’s like, for me, what happens to me is I reach a point where I stop watching because… the movement by itself is empty.
B: It's empty. And it tires.
E: And it tires. Because it becomes, well, I don’t know. You don’t know what they did ... if it was a sacada ... it’s like ... well, it’s all the same. But if it goes along with the music, and if you’re like another instrument in the music and you can connect with the other person intimately, it seems to me that that is when it becomes interesting. I believe that’s the point the couples hope to reach. I think that this is in process with the young people. Also, it seems that it is a question of being open or a matter of taste. [inaudible] Because they’re not interested in doing a tango that’s more free, more new.
To be continued.
Posted by joegrohens at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2009
Interview with Eugenia Parrilla, Part 1
Interview with Eugenia Parrilla. Chicago, August 2006. Interviewed by Beatriz Dujovne and Joe Grohens and then transcribed and translated from video tape.
Eugenia: I was born in the Province of San Luis. When I was 18 I moved to La Plata which is about one hour from Buenos Aires. I studied Plastic Arts in La Plata. I would go to "colegio" in the morning, and in the afternoon all day long go to the art school, so it was a little tiring. It was like I never had time left to, I don’t know, be with your friends, or do other things.
Beatriz: Did you study dance in La Plata?
Eugenia: No, I studied dance before going to La Plata. I started studying when I was young. I started, first, because they don’t accept you so young in Fine Arts, I started around the age of 6, then I continued and around. And then I started from age 12 to age 16 en Fine Arts.
Beatriz: Did Fine Arts include ballet too?
Eugenia: Yes, but it’s a complete school. Fine Arts offers drawing, piano, French, jazz…
Beatriz: And this is the one that demanded a lot?
Eugenia: Exactly, because it’s the type of school you’re there all day, from, 7 in the morning until 6, 7 in the evening, more or less.
J: So at what point did you start dancing tango?
E: When I lived in La Plata, I used to go to a café. It’s a long story. First, they called me because I studied. First I studied industrial design, and everything about industrial design, visual arts, music, and what else… Well, plastic arts that are all in the same university. It was a very big university. And so, there… oh, and film too. And I was at a stage in my life when I wanted to do things involving theater and film. And since I had some friends that were making a short film, some here and some there, they called me to play a role in a short film. And when they starting filming the short film, one of the cameramen gave tango classes, he danced it. And so one day I ran into him on the street and he asked me what I was up to and just by chance I had that day off and he invited me to a tango class and I went and… it was like a game, really. I didn’t get hooked. I went that day and that was it.
Well, later what happened is some time passed, like a year, and it’s because, you know… And I would go to the café where you generally take textbooks and each person reads what they want. And that day there wasn’t, the café wasn’t there, there was a milonga. And I stayed there watching the milonga and I liked it a lot. So there was an old man there and I got close to him and asked him if he could teach me and he was the one that takes care of the universidad! And he gave classes where I studied in the carpenter’s workshop. And it was neat, because where they would make all the designs out of cut wood, it was a carpenter’s workshop with machines. They would make some space and everyone that wanted to would go in their free time and dance in the university. And so, there I started to learn, and on my birthday a friend invited me to go to a milonga in Buenos Aires, and I loved it! And each time, I was more hooked.
J: Which milonga?
E: La Viruta
B: Do you go to the milongas now?
E: Yes. Not a lot, but yes. Sometimes I go more and sometimes not.
B: La Viruta in Buenos Aires. You were around what age? 20?
E: Let’s see, in ’98.
B: ’98, yes. That was your first exposure? That was your first contact with tango where you really got hooked, and liked it?
E: Yes, yes. But I only used to go once a week because I lived in La Plata.
B: And in La Plata there wasn’t tango like there was in Buenos Aires?
E: No, no. But all the same I went and danced and that was it and then…
B: And when did the tango itch really start getting to you?
E: Well, after a year I said okay, I’m going to the coast, I’m going to work and save money so I can keep studying and taking classes. So I moved to Buenos Aires. So I went and I worked a lot. It was funny because I was working a lot to be able to keep studying and taking classes. When I arrived to Buenos Aires I moved with a friend and it was hard but we arrived. We rented a house, but we were ripped off. I had to start working. And then with work and taking classes it was very difficult.
B: We’re talking about tango classes now, right?
E: Yes, yes. But I also kept going to the University. But since they ripped us off and we had to spend a lot of money, well, it was a mess.... So, I had to work a lot and take very few classes.
B: And whom did you take classes from?
E: At first I took around 10 classes with Horacio Godoy.
J: At La Viruta?
E: No no, in the Estudio de Mora [Godoy]. With Horacio. Yes. And then I met… I went to a class with a friend who was friends with Fabian Salas. And Mauricio Castro was there also, since he gave Fabian’s classes when Fabian wasn’t there. And so… I loved it. I loved it because it felt like it was more like dance (la danza).
At first in the milonga I loved the idea that the people didn’t know each other, but they were acting like they did. It’s very special. And the contact with the other person, they’re so close, I loved it. And the older men with the younger girls, it seemed like they were in love when in reality they weren’t. Well, it was very special. And then I got hooked on the idea of the movements being more free. Almost like the movements were like a dance (una danza).
(to be continued)
Posted by joegrohens at 06:17 PM | Comments (0)