 The
Gancho or The Hook is a film about the role of the women
in the tango. Itнs never done before, the men always got
all the attention. The dance was often seen as very
simple: the man pushes the woman backwards until he has
his leg between her legs.
There
are several myths about The Hook. One is that it was
invented by the famous dancer Copes, to give more
balance to the stage dance, so much dominated by men.
Others say that in the old days women used it in
brothels to check с with a quick movement of their legs
сif the men really had some money in their pockets.
17 years
ago I travelled to Argentina and made his first film
about tango: El Abrazo, The Embrace. In that film some
performances of a such a Hook:
El
Abrazo
In El Abrazo we only spoke with the men, with the heroes
of the forties and the fifties, the golden era of the
dance. But we did not talk to the women. It is typical
for the tango: people look at the women, while the men
do the talking. In El Gancho I have to correct this.
The old
dancers of El Abrazo are dead. We dedicated the film to
one of them, the famous dancer Virulazo, who already
died during the editing. His widow, Elvira, is still
alive. She is 73 years old now, and she still teaches.
She needs the money, because there is again a very
serious economic crisis in Argentina. But most and for
all: Tango is her life and her soul.
Her granddaughter с Pepita - also dances, like again so
many others of her generation. She teaches and performs,
but the dance has changed, also in Argentina, and took
over new fashions from Amsterdam and Paris.
Vania
Bilous and Alejandro Aquino on stage Nuevo Tango
Like in the new dance, Nuevo Tango, the role of the
women became more important, influenced by other dances
like hip hop. What would Virulazo have said of this? He
didn't approve of anything like that. Tango was tango,
and he hated these changes. They are puteando el tango,
he said.
For The
Hook I'll travel again to Buenos Aires and find out -
with people like Elvira and Pepita сhow the old
generation thinks of these changes now.
In the
film they will talk and dance and we get to know them
better, in their daily life and their struggle for
survival.
The
film
In El Gancho we see the young dancers slide, kick and
try to seduce the old teachers to betray the old secrets
of the Gancho. Intense accelerations and slow motions in
the steps bring up beautiful stories about the dance in
which individualism, loneliness, pride and surrender are
expressed. These stories are tide in with images of past
and present dancers.In Europe the dance is gaining
popularity. In our northern countries this sensual dance
gives us something special which seems lacking: emotion
and passion. Last month, the closing party of the
Thessalonica film festival was dedicated to the tango
and in the city of Utrecht, where I live, are 4
competing tango schools. It is like that in other
European countries as well as in Canada and the USA
where many tango schools can be found.
DVD
of El Abrazo
For those who are interested, a DVD of El Abrazo, a film
of 50 minutes, is available.
Once El
Gancho is finished there will be 2 DVD's: the men, the
history and unique archive footage in El Abrazo, the
women and the future of the dance in El Gancho, men and
women in one DVD box together.
Pitch at
the Festival de Cine in Malaga, org. by EDN, 2006-08-25
Go to DRS
Film
Lo de Celia Tango
Humberto Primo 1783, Teléfono: 4304-2438/15 4184-4244
Ambiente climatizado Precio de entradas: damas $3,
caballeros $5 Horario: Viernes y sábados a las 23hs.,
domingos a las 18hs. Clases de tango:Miércoles a las
21:15hs. Todos los niveles Profesores: Celia Blanco
of om een andere tango-plek binnen te lopen. Veel
mensen kennen Suzuki in elk geval van naam. Een bron
voor tangoplekken in Buenos Aires is het gratis
tijdschrift Tangauta, dat her en der verspreid ligt,
maar vooral op tangoplekken; dus hierbij ook een link:
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