The Topic is Tango: Interviews Archives

April 04, 2011

Tono Gallesio interviewed by Monica Paz

Double-click to watch in full screen

Here my friend Tono talks about how tango was when he was a child, his first memories of dancing in club Independiente, in the 1950s and 1960s. He was interviewed by Monica Paz at PractiMilonguero, March 22, 2011. He also contrasts the tango of his generation with what he sees at the milongas today.

In those times there was an unequalled respect on the floor.... They didn't collide. You danced tango even to D'Arienzo on 40 centimeters and you didn't collide with anybody. It was very tranquil. Today they use the woman like a bumper car in the Parque Japonés. They're moving the woman like a clothes dryer. They're shaking her in all directions. When I'm dancing with a woman, I'm leading her as if she were a castle made of cards. When she is with me she is untouchable.

RE: throwing coins .... Later in the interview Tono talks about people throwing coins at the dancers who were showing off and dancing badly in an exhibition. As a cultural note, throwing coins at someone is an Argentine way to show disapproval. Tono talks about being a kid and picking up the coins, but it wasn't explained the significance of the coins. (My friend Maria remembers seeing an audience throw coins at Piazzolla. No wonder he went to Europe.)

Tono's Facebook Page has more of his comments and links to tango videos he likes.

Posted by joegrohens at 12:59 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2011

Olga Besio on Embellishments

Prof. Olga Besio (2007)

Translation: Maria Celia Arias

In order to speak about embellishments, and to give support to all that comes along with them, it would be important to mention some of the origins of the essence and existence of Tango and it’s dance.

It is necessary to clarify that the word “dance” does not only refer to the practice of a technique. On the contrary, its more general use and meaning refers to all forms of dance. And this reference alludes to that which occurs naturally, primitively, remotely, that which is visceral and even animal like in the human experience. In this sense we are talking about an experience that comes from an earlier time historically, chronologically and ontologically than this concept of technique we speak of today.

If we understand the dance as a profoundly natural act, which is born from the human experience, then as we speak of popular and social dance (where perhaps the tango dance is our most intrinsic example) we immediately discard all that would seem redundant or obvious.

So then: What is the Tango? What we already know: a dance for two, a deep communication with the other, and with the music, and then we can even say we begin to “discover” this idea of dialog. The dialog between the dancing couple, the dialog with the music, the dialog that happens between the feet when they draw famous figures on the floor such as the “ochos” and so many others. We can even take this idea further, and mention the dialog that happens between the feet, the legs and the air, when drawing “boleos” with precision and fine clarity, creating and recreating the same, yet new shape, with each occurrence.

But, then what is the embellishment, which has also been called at times, the decoration or the dancer’s expressiveness? The embellishment consists of the precise expression of the essence of the tango. There is no purpose in embellishments stemming from mere technique alone, if one does not understand “what they really mean and stand for.” The legs of the dancers create and form a dancing couple as one. They embrace, they join, dialog together, they caress… and this all technically happens due to a game of rotation in their joints and articulations. But this game of rotation should not be understood as something cold and technical; on the contrary, it is something absolutely natural and as logical as any kind of language. The legs “express”, and are “expressive”, when they have and know the language; not merely because they move or know how to move.

Therefore, we have just destroyed various myths about embellishments.

· One being that embellishments are ‘moves that must be learned or copied from another’. In no way is this ever the case. The technical study and training is of utmost importance, but it is by far not enough. There are excellent dancers who perform embellishments with true emotion, but we also often times see, unfortunately, the mere repetition of movements or copies of those excellent dancers performed by others who did not understand the true essence of the movement. Generally, in these cases, the original dancer is excellent, and the copycats result as irrelevant, and sometimes even unpleasant or grotesque interpreters.

· Another myth is that which state that the embellishment belongs to the woman. In no case is this true. The embellishment is everything that the man or woman does without interfering in the mark of the dance, the steps, figures and sequences, and etc. This includes being able to stay in exact union with the music without producing any awkward pulls or tugs off rhythm. For this to happen, it is absolutely necessary to first know how to lead and follow, and to have a very well developed ear for the music. I always say to my students that they should only realize their partner was doing embellishments when they watch the video. This actually happened to a famous dancer who, when he watched the video of his performance he saw for the first time what his partner was doing, and then understood why she always received so many complements and comments.

· Still another myth is that for the woman to be able to add embellishments, the man needs to give her time. This may be the case when we are speaking about choreography, where these moments can be planned and elaborated in agreement between the partners, or even a third party. But in the improvised tango dance, the embellishments come from one’s intelligence, ability, the “Tanguerismo” of the woman, in the ability to decide whether it would be appropriate or not, and to know when and what type of embellishment is more appropriate for the current circumstance. Of course, if the dancer has little experience, it is not recommended that she try this in the milonga: that is what classes and practices are for.

The last myth I will mention is that of the ear and musicality, and that some dancers consider it enough just to be able to hear the rhythm. Other more advanced dancers speak about dancing the phrase. I must clarify again, that this is not enough; it is necessary to understand the melody and the particular expressivity of each musical piece, of each orchestras arrangement, of each version… and in this same vein, understand the musicality needed by the dancers is much more than rhythm, the compass, the down beats, the silent beats, the double-time beats, and all of those elements that are so often spoken about (and often times confused with one and the other). The musicality, which is required here, is the kind that can translate, create and recreate time and time again the sentiments, compositional structure, and the essence of the particular piece, which the couple has the said opportunity to dance and express.

Last but not least, it is necessary to mention that the embellishment is not limited to movement, and is not limited to the feet and the legs. It is true that this may be the most visible in many cases, but the embellishment exists in the whole body, in one’s attitude, in the silence, in the closing of the eyes, in the pauses, in the changes of speed and in the thousands of variables that can occur and need to be practiced technically, and methodically. The embellishments purpose is to definitively show the love and passion for the dance, that each individual and each couple is capable of feeling and expressing.

Posted by joegrohens at 02:28 AM | Comments (0)

December 20, 2009

Chicho interviewed in El Tangauta

El Tangauta - La revista del tango / The tango magazine no. 182 (December 2009) gives it's feature interview to Chicho Frúmboli. (Once registered, anyone can download the complete issue as a PDF.)

Milena Plebs asks the questions, and Chicho gives some astonishing answers.

CHICHO: Many young people have gotten involved with tango; we are living the beginning of a powerful era. The genre is here to stay, there is no way that it will become hidden or marginalized again. It is constantly evolving.

MILENA: But sometimes those who are starting lose themselves in all the multiple options.

CHICHO: They are completely lost! I learnt with the last great milongueros, I took the information directly from them. Those who are starting to dance don’t have this experience, they learn instead from an intermediate generation that I am a part of; we are a nexus between these old dancers and those who are younger. The problem is that we missed something in the teaching, I take total responsibility, and other colleagues should do so as well. I can’t pass on what I have learned. I was crazy about creating, because I saw a new vein in the evolution of the movement. I threw myself into that, and I lost the way to be able to pass on the tango essence that I have very much inside. Because of this I feel that lately there are a lot of people who don’t understand or know what the real essence of this dance is.

MILENA: You have been dancing for fifteen years. What changes have you noticed in the dance?

CHICHO: Before, people worked with precision and a particular aesthetic, in a functional and mechanical way that gave it a form, and a style. Making a movement or taking a step implied an expression of the entire body. Currently, not only has the essence been lost but the weight of the dance as well, its density and importance. To me, this new tango lost a bit of the respect for what tango is. [ ... ] Yes, it took me five months to get on the dance floor of the milonga of Almagro, I didn’t dare to, and I went every Sunday only to watch. One breathed an air of respect that cannot be found now.

More Chicho

Posted by joegrohens at 03:34 PM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2009

What do Americans Look for in Tango? (from Nito & Elba interview)

.: El Tangauta :. July 2009 No. 177 has a wonderful interview with Nito and Elba.

I became transfixed when I read the interviewer's question "What do Americans look for in tango?", and then Nito's reply.

CARLOS BEVILACQUA (Interviewer): Later you worked a lot in the United States, what do the Americans look for in tango?

NITO:The embrace, the relationship and the friendship. I think that the American has a very solitary life, product of that extreme respect with which they treat each other. They barely greet their neighbors, they would never say to you "You are really fat!" or "how skinny you are!” At best they ask you what you do for a living. With tango the community appears, friends, relationships, conversations.

ELBA:I am completely in agreement.

N:The curious thing is that in spite of the fact that they first fall in love with stage tango, once they begin to practice social tango they forget completely about ganchos and kicks. Now, when they come to Buenos Aires, they go to a dinner-show but afterwards they go straight to a milonga.

It is interesting to see how Nito perceives the Norte Americano personality and how it relates to tango dancing. I can't argue with him about the initial fascination with stage dancing transforming to social tango. Except, sometimes that transition to social tango takes a long time.... like I sometimes wonder when it will ever happen. Ha ha. :-)

But I think he is definitely on the money when he talks about the real value (for Americans and for anyone) of the tango as "embrace, relationship, friendship."

Nito Garcia is a gifted dancer, a kind and sympathetic person, and I think, a very observant and serious teacher. (Elba too, of course.) I think anything he says should be listened to thoughtfully.

That is why, as I read the current interview, I was thinking about Nito's comments in another interview back in 1998 at Stanford Tango Week, which was published in El Firulete Unabashed Tango talk

Listen to this, American tango dancers:

NORA DINZELBACHER
To wrap it up, why don't each of you give the American men some advice to become better dancers?

NITO
Listen to a lot of Tango. Lots of Tango. I don't even like to practice without music. These are habits, of course. You have to listen and listen. Us, we travel a lot; it happens that I arrive at an airport. They come to pick me up. We get in the car and the man who immediately plays Tangos always dances well. The times when somebody picked me up and played salsa or some other kind of music, by coincidence they never danced well. I don't know why, but in my case I would like them to listen to a lot of Tango.

Posted by joegrohens at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)

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)

July 25, 2007

Interview with Juan Carlos Copes

A revealing interview with the patriarch of tango for theater, who is also the originator of seminal teaching methods still used today (for better or worse).

Tango. Milonga. La Noche Porteña. Buenos Aires.

(From Revista La Milonga Argentina.)

(Click to Enlarge)

Posted by joegrohens at 12:20 AM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2007

Interview w. Milena Plebs

(Click to Enlarge)

Amazing Interview Article:
CLOSE TO REVOLUTION
{ via dekay.org }

By Laura Falcoff

“It would be good for tango to continue evolving, so that it could stay alive and avoid crystallization of forms,” says Milena Plebs, who, as dancer, choreographer and also as a qualified observer, is interested in how this dance shows itself and changes.

 Her view is particularly appreciated in a milieu that recognizes her as the great renovator of the tango dance scene alongisde Miguel Angel Zotto, starting with the creation of the Tango x 2 company – which they shared until 1997.

  ¿How do you think the development of the tango dance is possible? Along what tracks?

  I am thinking of how I can do it, or how I can get others do to it through what I write. Wishing tango to keep on evolving, to foster new forms, is not a fanciful wish. What usually happens is that when something new crops up, it soon crystallizes and you can see clones repeating the same sequences, dancing couples who copy each other, perhaps to different music but with the same forms. This is why I am especially interested in improvisation.

  In what way?

  By increasing the value of improvisation as a unique moment from which new forms can arise.

 

What’s your opinion of the tango you see at milongas and the tango you see on stage? Let’s leave aside tango at dance houses, which perhaps is not worth mentioning.

Just like it’s not worth mentioning championships, either. As to the question, I think, firstly, that instructors should take a longer time and more effort to explore the many possibilities each dance instance opens up. Tango is made up of certain elements, certain steps, which can be combined in different forms. Students, and dancers in general –some people know about this, but very few- should be taught that the end of each step leaves the door open to different possibilities.

And to those countless possible combinations which your proposal aims at.

Usually, dancers are taught blocks of sequences which become very difficult to break up later. You will see dancers, both at milongas and on stage, who, when starting a sequence, do not stop until they end it. That sequence may be formed by, let’s say, ten steps, and each of them gives you the chance to break up the sequence with maybe two or three different alternatives. A more active approach should be taken when learning to dance tango, rather than a passive one, taking what the instructor gives me or what I copy from a video. Improvisation is an action in the present continuous, choreography is in the past.

Could you expand on this idea?

Choreography is present the moment you create it with your partner during rehearsals, when you are searching for steps. Once it becomes settled and is repeated, it is no longer present, it is past.

Do you consider, then, that improvisation could, or should, be taken on stage?

I do not have an answer to that today. I only speak about things I think about; let debate take place among everybody. What I can say is that dancers who prepare their choreographies must take pains so that their creation will not look too automatic, too fixed…too boring. A very basic and obvious piece of advice to prevent this is to keep your mark, to have the man keep marking movements on stage because the dynamics that arise from this are totally different. I think it’s all about looking for the way to shorten distances between choreography dancing and spontaneous dancing. I’m not saying that you should do away with choreography, but that it should preserve the freshness and organic spirit of improvised dancing.

Regarding dance show concepts, have you seen anything interesting lately?

I liked some parts of Natalia Games and Gabriel Angió’s show, those in which they really achieve a fusion between tango and hip-hop, and they don’t do this always so I believe they should research some more. And at the Festival Cambalache 2006 I saw an interesting piece by the female dancer –I believe she was Swedish- with Ezequiel Farfaro, based on one of her ideas; the starting point was a meeting between tango on the one hand and contemporary and theatre dancing on the other. There were moments when they succeeded in giving a new meaning to the tango embrace; it seems to me that there is a lot to explore there, even with a broken embrace.

Posted by joegrohens at 12:26 AM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2007

Homer & Christina: the Jackie Wong interview

Interview with Homer and Christina Ladas

Homer and Christina talk about dance, music, personality, dress codes, etc.

Video 1 (alternative): YouTube - Homer & Christina Demo

Video 2 (tango): YouTube - Homer & Christina Workshop Demo

Posted by joegrohens at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)

November 02, 2006

Gotan Interview

Gotan is on tour. Here as an interview with them in Montreal's "The Gazette".

As one sees, this band doesn't really think they are making tango music -- it is something different: electronica infused with tango.

"In the beginning, there was an attraction in bringing a melodic element to electronic music, a melancholy," Muller said. "Electronic music has a tendency to be 'up.' Tango is not at all like that. The only people to (explore melancholy in electronica) before were Massive Attack." Easier said than done. Tango is a complex music with a rich history. Doing it justice while making something relevant to the here and now demanded a delicate balance. "It was a challenge," Muller said. "It's not an easy music. I didn't know a lot (about tango). I knew Astor Piazzolla. Then after a while, I got into traditional tango, and studied with Eduardo (Makaroff). He taught me what it is."
[...]
"Somehow, without wanting to, we have created a new branch in the big tree of tango. Tango has been around for more than 100 years. It has many facets. Now we find ourselves in it, reinventing that music."

Posted by joegrohens at 01:28 PM | Comments (0)

September 06, 2006

Interview with Roberto Alvarez (Color Tango)

http://creativetango.com/colortangointerview.shtml

Color Tango's Roberto Alvarez talks to CreativeTango.... Color Tango founder and director Roberto Alvarez took time during his August 2006 tour to talk with CreativeTango's Lydia Essary about Osvaldo Pugliese, electronic tango, creativity in music, personnel changes, and Color Tango's upcoming theatrical musical.

Posted by joegrohens at 06:23 PM | Comments (0)

January 02, 2005

Torito's web site

Rob "Torito" Nuijten of Amsterdam publishes a very interesting, and attractively designed, web site for tango in Netherlands. Links of interest:

From browsing his "Tango agenda" just now, I learned of the death of Jose Libertella, cited below.

On a lighter note, Torito reports on a great tango video clip ( "Uniquely Spikey".) from a TV commercial of the Singapore travel industry. (Requires QuickTime).

Fun: Webmovie commercial spotted: Dancing Tango for Singapore. Bold man with lady in selfmade SM bra. (Who are they, do you know?)

One must note that Torito takes some very nice tango photographs, as I have mentioned previously.

Posted by joegrohens at 01:41 AM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2004

Junior Cervila

Read Jackie Wong's interview with Brazilian dancer, actor and filmmaker Antonio Cervila Junior, who was seen in Carlos Saura's Tango and figured prominently in the final dance sequence.

Junior: You can dance tango to EVERYTHING. Well, I can because I want to. Piazzolla is a genius. Great to dance, but traditionalists don't like him. So they don't want to dance to his music. Then of course, it becomes impossible. The only possible things are the ones that you believe.

I came from Copacabana and would turn tango into salsa, mixing the two dances. I loved it. And then turn Milonga into Merengue. Anyway, I don't like to say that I am right and traditionalists are wrong because there is no right or wrong. It is only what you really feel. And everybody agrees that tango is a feeling. So, if you don't feel Piazzolla, don't do it. But shut up and let other people be happy.

In the forties Julio De Caro was considered too modern and people from that time used to say that the real tango were the old ones from 1910. So the question is not what is tango, but WHEN. A 40's tango was not tango for a 1910's dancer. So a 2000's tango will never be tango for a 60's dancer. And it's not a physical age, but where in the timeline you place your head. There are teenagers that are more traditional then older people.

[...]Tango is so stuck in one place. I think tango can give much more than it is giving. Tangueros only have to realize that everything is changing. We can't dance exactly like in the 40's because we are not in the 40's. The world has changed and so has changed people. If a tanguero is very traditional and thinks that everybody has to dance like in the 40's ONLY, I think that he should not use TV or cellular phones. He has to live like on those days. My choreography is modern. My dance at the milonga is calm and subtle: introspective. My productions try to bring young people to tango.

I became intrigued by Junior back in 1999 when Alberto and Valorie brought to town a CD music compilation that Junior had made. I don't know if the CD was ever published; it may have been just a pre-release version. It was called "Tangos Instrumentales para Bailar," but Carlota and I always referred to it as "The Junior CD" (as in "oh, that tune was on the Junior CD!"), and it influenced our tango listening at an early stage.

Here is the playlist.

Tangos Instrumentales para Bailar

Cafe Dominguez - Angel D'Agostino

Gallo Ciego - Osvaldo Pugliese

Nochero Soy - Osvaldo Pugliese

Bahia Blanca - Carlos Di Sarli

El Pollo Riccardo - Leopoldo Federico

El Andariego - Osvaldo Pugliese

Racing Club - Angel D'Agostino

Inspiracion - Annibal Troilo

Recuerdo - Horacio Salgan

Comme Il Faut - Carlos di Sarli

Fuego Artificiales - Armando Pontier

Boedo - Francini / Pontier

Shusheta - Horacio Salgan

Cuando Llora La Milonga - Alfredo Di Angelis

El Internado - Los Solistas de D'Arienzo

El Chamuyo - Domingo Federico

El Rey del Compas - Juan D'Arienzo

El Cencerro - Juan D'Arienzo

Ataniche - Roberto Firpo

Sabado Ingles - Roberto Firpo

And now there is his very exciting show Latin Dance Carnival. Not just anyone can put together a dance review like this one! This guy is deeply talented and intellectually very interesting. View the 2002 show video and 2004 show slideshow.

Posted by joegrohens at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

December 27, 2004

Bajofondo Tango Club

Pirineos Sur, Festival Internacional de las Culturas

July 10, 2004 Lanuzza, Spain (Pyrennees)- The international culture festival "El Festival Pirineos Sur" included the first live performance of Bajofondo Tango Club, with Adriana Varela, Javier Casalla y Cristóbal Repetto.

Read here for some interesting Background on some Bajofondo members. Reading this you quickly realize that these musicians do not think they are producing "tango" music. They are trying to create something new, that integrates tango, rock, electronica. I love the creativity and intertextuality of this music. In the song "Corazon", for instance, they sample Polaco Goyenache "senors, senoras...." I get goosebumps.

To quote keyboardist Luciano Supervielle:

- The fact is that I do hip hop. The things that serve me as the tango are those that I can associate with my genre. As in all work of experimentation, there are things that stay of side. But the tango and the hip hop share a dance origin, then there are many things that one knows that can be associated. Anyhow, if I do a contribution to some evolution it is to that of the hip hop or of the electronic music, not to that of the tango. The new tango is going to arise from a type that is tanguero, that he dedicates ten hours per day to doing tango. And if it approaches the electronic music, it will do it from the tango. I am of another side. { from }

J.Campo says the same thing in a different interview:

I think it's clear that this is not tango in a traditional sense. It's electronic music with a Tango flavor. We tried to mix both genres and we got something totally new. We'll wait and see how the public reacts. { from }

Anyway, one of these days, a tanguero musician will weigh in with some contemporary sounds, and then we'll have music for a milonga. On the other hand, Adriana Varela is one of the outstanding singers of tango argentino. The sound of her voice on Perfume and Mi Corazon definitely infuse these tracks with tango weight.

Watch a video of Bajofondo Tango Club in Performance: Bajofondo Tango Club - Sadler's Wells - June 2004

Sample Bajofondo tracks at Tangostore.com.

The Topic is Tango

"There are lots of things that you can do alone, but.... "