6th December 2014, the day of La Gran Milonga Nacional, and 11th December every year, Dia Nacional Del Tango - and birthday of Carlos Gardel, the great revered tango singer of the early 20th century. These are two days which will delight tango aficionados.
I celebrated Gardel's birthday in fine form, after picking up a gratis ticket to El Teatro Coliseo for a performance of Orquestra Nacional de Musica Argentina. What was unusual for this performance of the orchestra, was the line up of 'directores invitados', all highly esteemed guest conductors and composers of tango: Raul Garello, Diego Schissi, Nestor Marconi, Fabian Bertero, Sania Possetti, Osvaldo Piro and my favourites Jose Colangelo (pianist, arranger & composer) and Walter Rios (bandoneon, arranger and composer).
It was not the usual 'tango show' with breathtaking dances by professionals, glittery costumes, orquestras typicas de tango, but somewhat more alike to a symphonic concert, that illustrated, that tango belongs 'up there' with the great classical music genres of late.
Here is Jose Colangelo, playing one of his creations "Todos Los Suenos" (All the Dreams). It is the same piece he performed during the Dia del Tango concert....
Here is Walter Rios, Master Bandeonista, playing Adios Nonino by Astor Piazzolla. This piece is not only a classic of tango music, but has a rather sad origin. Piazolla composed it shortly after the death of his father - titled affectionately 'Adios Little Father'...
It is such an emotional piece of music, that when played in a concert, there is nothing else that could top it.
It brought the audience to it's feet, many emotionally moved to tears, as the orchestra and the soloists had obviously poured all their emotion into their performance of this sad and lovely piece.
Here a video taken by yours truly of the 'corps de ballet'
The Gran Milonga Nacional....an event downtown Buenos Aires that complemented two more street closing fiestas: the Candombe Processions in San Telmo, and the Rock Concert on Plaza de Mayo. Not a good day to plan a drive downtown, as half of it was cordoned off to make room in the calles and avenidas of the city for the festivities.
The impressive Avenida de Mayo, a short stretch of tree lined avenue, which connects the Casa Rosada (The White House equivalent, only pink) and El Congreso (Seat of Government), was completely blocked to all traffic. The city had erected three gigantic stages at intervals along it's length, plastic chairs in rows in front of them, Johnnies on the Spot in strategic locations. All restaurants and bars had cleaned out their interiors of chairs and tables, which now graced the sidewalks and traffic lanes, to feed the hungry and thirsty and not deprive them of a minute of watching dancing in the streets, and general spectacular people watching.
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| And here to La Gran Milonga Nacional where a pair of revered professors of tango gave a performance with their 'corps de ballet' - in other words, some of their most accomplished tango students - some of which have reached fame in tango competitions and are teachers and professors in their own right. Unfortunately I forgot to note down the names of these two admired tango teachers... The stage closest to the Avenida 9 Julio had not only a stage for musicians, but also a raised dance platform constructed of roughly joined plywood sheets. Not exactly the most suitable flooring for dancing in tacos altos (very high heels) and trying to perform pivots on the balls of one's feet. I danced a couple of times up there, with milonga acquaintances one runs into along the length of the street. It was tough going, almost tougher than street pavement, where I danced with a few more friends passing by... |
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| I was fortunate, that a friend had invited me to the 'exclusive' enclosure at the bottom of the BIG stage - seats and tables, a good view of the performers, and free Coca Cola...obviously, the ply wood dance floor does not keep tango fans sitting down - the raised pista was filled with dancing spectators between every act...of which there were many. For instance, many tango orchestras performing in the most well known shows in the City as well as professional show dancers from tango shows such as Esquina Gardel and Copes' own grand show on the Avenida 9 Julio... |
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| Things happen at night here....the Gran Milonga got under way around 8 p.m. with concurrent performances on all stages as well as dancing in the streets and would last until 3 a.m. |
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| Main traffic thoroughfare, dedicated to 'better use'.... |
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| Podesta, cane and all, 90 years old, and still singing the old beloved tango songs. Argentinians appreciate their old artists, and the crowd breaks into wild cheers - some cry - to show their love and appreciation |
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| Midnight - and time for a copa.... |
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| Looking down the Avenue de Mayo....plugged with dancers to the very end |
