Tango Pasión and Its People
With Argentine tango reaching its Golden Age sometime in the 1940s, it’s not surprising that the dance would eventually find a place outside of the usual milongas in Buenos Aires.
As worldwide interest in tango rose, the dance soon found itself being brought to the international stage. It wasn’t only the dance, but also the music that captivated the hearts of audiences around the world.
Thanks to movies, TV shows, and theater performances, people — especially those outside of the tango community — became acquainted with a historical and cultural phenomenon that expresses universal yet profoundly human themes such as romance, heartbreak, loneliness, jealousy, and many more.
Among the variety of creative media associated with tango, Tango Pasión is one name that has made itself a part of tango history. As a tango show that began touring in 1992, Tango Pasión has evolved into a celebrated stage performance that spans more than 20 years.
But what exactly is Tango Pasión, and who are the people behind it?
A Brief History of Tango Pasión
Before Tango Pasión was launched, another widely successful tango show came before it:
Tango Argentino. Created by Hector Orezzoli and Claudio Segovia, Tango Argentino debuted in Paris in 1983 and on Broadway in 1985.
A 1985 article in The New York Times describes it as “the season’s improbable hit,” and that the show “violated the Broadway dictum that musicals be elaborate, expensive, and stocked with supple young bodies. ‘Tango Argentino’ wasn't even in English.”
The success of Tango Argentino, though somewhat short-lived, paved the way for many other tango stage shows to emerge after it. One of these shows is Tango Pasión.
Describing the history and creation of Tango Pasión, its official website states:
“In 1982, many years after their triumph on Broadway with Hector Orezzoli and Claudio Segovia’s legendary Tango Argentino, producer Mel Howard and José Libertella (co-director with Luis Stazo of the orchestra Sexteto Mayor) decided to create a new, and totally innovative, tango spectacle — to be much more than a variety show.
Mel Howard and José Libertella, accompanied by choreographer Hector Zaraspe and painter Ricardo Carpani, spent months in Buenos Aires developing a show that would weave together numerous tango stories. During this process, they uncovered a cast of fabulous dancers representing the full range of Argentine society. the result: Tango Pasión, which launched in a modest theater in Miami, Florida, and [moved] next to Broadway before touring the world to critical acclaim. To date, Tango Pasión has enjoyed seven reruns at the théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris.
The Tango Pasión saga has introduced the celebrated dance style to many countries,
with tours in North and South America, in Europe (France, the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany, Finland and other Nordic countries, Portugal, Holland, Austria), in the Middle East, Turkey, and even Libya. Tango Pasión received a triumphant welcome at the Kremlin theater in Russia, in both Moscow and St Petersburg, as well as in Asia (Japan, Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong), and Australia. Tango Pasión is also the first Broadway tango show to be presented in China.”
Tango Pasión’s latest tour was in 2015, with over 31 shows performed in different locations in France, Russia, Switzerland, Portugal, Finland, and Morocco.
Over the years, many of the dancers, singers, and even the Sexteto Mayor have undergone changes. Some of the most notable tango dancers that have been part of Tango Pasión include Alejandra Mantiñan, Gustavo Russo, Osvaldo Ciliento, Graciela Garcia, Monica Romero, Omar Ocampo, and a host of other respected tango dancers in the community.
Tango Pasión’s debut show was performed at the Miami Play House Coconut Grove on November 14, 1992. It was the only show the company performed that year.
In 1993, they performed two shows: one at the Broadway Longacre Theater in New York and one at the Munich Deutsch Theater in Germany. The following year, in 1994, Tango Pasión was able to perform a whopping 23 shows according to the past show dates listed in its official website.
One would think that the reception for Tango Pasión had been overwhelmingly positive in 1993, thus helping bolster its popularity in Germany — but not so much in the United States.
Audience Reception
An excerpt from a somewhat scathing New York Times review of Tango Pasión’s 1993 performance at the Longacre theater reads:
“‘Tango Pasion,’ a revue at the Longacre Theater that banks on fond memories of ‘Tango Argentino,’ offers tackiness in place of the high style that made the earlier show a hit in 1985.
“Not surprisingly, you can't go home again. But you can go slumming and for all its lack of taste in concept and decor, ‘Tango Pasion’ can still entice the crowds of aficionados converted to a new craze by ‘Tango Argentino.’
“Comparisons are inevitable and the mistake of the latest offering, which uses some of the same grand old musicians known as the Sexteto Mayor but not the same marvelous dancers, is to impose characterization and a tinge of plot where none is needed.
“But while the first show's creators, Claudio Segovia and Hector Orezzoli, knew that the passion was in dancing itself, Mel Howard and his collaborators allow some unpersuasive acting to be consistently imposed upon the overchoreographed stage action.
“Except for its music, ‘Tango Pasion’ can barely exude a whiff of sincerity. The Argentine dancers, especially the men, include some excellent professionals. But so much dancing is obscured by 1920’s period ruffles, bustles and cutaways that all the rapid leg work, foot flicking and elongated slinking is gone before it is impressed upon the eye.”
A similar review for a 2004 performance of Tango Pasión appears to also hold the same sentiments. According to the blogsite A Young Theater:
“What the show lacks most, though, is passion — which is particularly unfortunate given its title.
Tango, when done well, provides an incredibly sensual experience, both for the closely intertwined dancers and for the audience. It is through the careful execution of movement and interaction between the couple that skilful choreographers and dancers are able to draw out an intense eroticism. Unfortunately, artistic director Osvaldo Ciliento felt, perhaps because the show is aimed at international audiences, the need to make this sexuality obvious, particularly in the memorable scene where female dancers cavort in stockings and suspenders.”
Of course, this is just one side of the coin when it comes to the audience reception for Tango Pasión. Just as there are critics, many other audiences also hold fond memories of their experience upon seeing the performance. Another 2004 review for Tango Pasión posted in the site Vancouver Plays has a more positive take on the show:
“All my superficial, clichéd notions of tango went out the window after about 20 minutes. There was little of the slinky, vampy, sultry tango we’ve come to know from Hollywood movies.
The music is dramatic but mostly up-tempo and the choreography is distinguished by fast footwork and muscular elegance, speed and precision, and of course coordination, since nearly all the dancing is in couples. The most distinctive moves are quick kicks between each other’s legs and behind each other’s knees. And there’s real gender equality in the dance.
Though the men do some lifting and the women get lifted, there is little sense that men lead and women follow. This is a dance of powerful, independent women and macho men. If tango is a metaphor for sex, it sure ain’t the missionary position.”
A November 1997 copy of The Virginian Pilot also has positive remarks for Tango Pasión, which was performed at the time in Chrysler Hall in Norfolk. Instead of making comparisons with Tango Argentino, the author of the review compared Tango Pasión to Forever Tango, another tango-themed Broadway performance. In its review, The Virginian Pilot states:
“‘Tango Pasión,’ which is here through Sunday, is the latest, and perhaps the most flashy, representation of the phenomenal rebirth of tango interest in this country. With choreography by Hector Zaraspe, who was once ballet master for the Joffrey Ballet,
‘Tango Pasión’ is a good deal better-paced than ‘Forever Tango,’ the show which is experiencing a long run on Broadway currently.
While ‘Forever Tango’ is more showy, one suspects it is less authentic than ‘Tango Pasión,’ since Zaraspe's background is firmly in the classical field as well as in the lore of his native Argentina. [...]
“But why 1997? Two hit tango shows, ‘Forever Tango’ on Broadway and ‘Tango X Two’ off-Broadway now flourish. Take a look at the intricate dips, flare-outs and kick-steps of these dancers and you see why. This is theater as well as dance.”
It’s probably safe to say that tango on stage — just like any performance art or any creative medium for that matter — will always elicit various opinions. However,
what is undeniable is that Tango Pasión has definitely struck a chord among international audiences, helping bring about the renaissance that tango needed.
With these stage performances, tango became more than just a cultural and historical phenomenon tied solely to Buenos Aires. Tango was now something that the rest of the world could enjoy, even if audiences did not have the capacity to travel to Buenos Aires.
Some tango purists may argue that show tango or stage tango isn’t authentic tango. Such a mindset persists today, even as there have been many changes within the tango community itself and its definition of what makes tango tango. Mel Howard, in an interview with The Olympian, believes that there are not too many limits to tango. He remarked:
“‘The only limit to the vocabulary of tango, aside from certain rules of style and form, is the limits of your imagination and passion,’ director Howard has said of his dancers.
“'The Tango is the eternal battleground between a man and a woman, it is the definitive act of love... in stylized form, of course.’”
While it’s inevitable that Tango Pasión might often be compared to tango shows such as Tango Argentino, Forever Tango, and others of its kind, Tango Pasión’s more than 20-year run is testament to its unique personality and impact. It’s also no surprise that producer Mel Howard was at the helm of creating Tango Pasión as he — according to a New York Times article — was the one who first saw the Broadway potential of Tango Argentino and helped the show raise enough money to reach Broadway. With the help of early collaborators such as Hector Zaraspe for choreography, musicians Jose Libertella, Luis Stazo, and Juan Carlos-Zunini, Mel Howard was able to introduce tango dancing and music to a wider audience.
All the World's a Stage
Regardless of whether one may consider stage tango as authentic or not, the fact remains that shows like Tango Pasión have helped give tango the resurgence it needed, especially after the 1980s, when Argentina was ruled by a dictatorship.
There is actually another Tango Pasión — a documentary about Tango Argentino in Berlin, which is considered the largest tango community outside of Argentina.
Far from being confined to Buenos Aires milongas,
tango has inevitably become an international phenomenon thanks to stage shows like Tango Pasión.
It is unclear at the moment whether Tango Pasión will return to the stage given the current state of the world, but one can be hopeful that it will do so in the future.