In the case of Luis Bravo's Forever Tango at the Walter Kerr Theater, it takes 16 to tango. And, boy, can they! One might think, if you've seen one tango, you've seen them all. Well, you ain't seen nothing yet (as they say, down Argentine way); there are vibrant surprises in store at Forever Tango. The tango is a traditional dance, dominated by specific steps and moves (always below the waist), and there are many traditional elements in Forever Tango. It's the not so traditional ones that bring shouts of the show's creator's name -- Bravo! -- throughout the two hour and 15 minute revue. The dancers' sophisticated style and agility -- especially their stunning speed and those below-the calf "windmill" spins that seem to be faster than a speeding bullet -- will leave you breathless. There's nothing one-two-three, one-two-three about how the eight couples have choreographed their moves. From beginning to end, they remain focused to the extreme. Even in the face of sustained and noisy standing ovations, they never break the fourth wall. They strut their stuff and they do it with aplomb. Pay special attention to their intense eye concentration.
By any standard, this company is fantastic, but there are four exceptional standouts: Miriam Larici and Diego DiFalco, Cecilia Sala and Guillermo Merlo, Laura Marcarie and Carlos Vera, and Karina Piazza and Jorge Torres. Larici, with her bold costuming, proportions, and Vegas showgirl moves, isn't easily forgotten, especially partnered with DiFalco. What they do may have you jumping up to shout another Bravo! Sala brings a certain icy professionalism to her moves with Merlo. Of the couples, they seem to be the most believable. You want to put yourselves in their shoes. Marcarie, with her large, slicked down spit curl, provides the comic relief as the coquette and Vera the exaggerated Latin machismo. What's memorable about Piazza and Torres is their intensity -- if the tango's about passionate infatuation and fiery seduction, they possess it in spades (could the fact that they are recently married help?).
"The tango," says Bravo, "is more than an intricate dance. It's a feeling, an emotion. The dance has its origins in the last quarter of the 19th century with the immigrants who fled the poverty of a disintegrating Europe to realize their dreams in America. Instead of landing on streets paved with gold, they ended up working in Uruguay ports or Argentina meat packing houses. At night they crowded into the bars to dull their pain with drink and native songs. They danced to mirror the loneliness of life in a new country." Although the women tango dancers do the "hard" work -- and do it in four-inch heels and backwards!, the male dancer is always in the "take charge" role. This stems from the early stories told in tangos of male confrontation and their fantasies with women of the night. Argentine society shunned tango until it became the craze of Paris in the 30s. Aspects of the tango's combative origins remain (men in wide-brimmed hats cocked over an eye, slicked back hair, dangling watch pocket chains, scarves tied around the neck), but the tango now is an almost ballet-like vehicle to tell stories of passion -- thwarted or otherwise.
No tango performance would be possible without the music, heavily flavored by the mainstay of the tango, the bandoneon -- a sort of tiny first cousin to the accordion. Music director and arranger Lisandro Adrover has assembled 11 top-notch musicians (including himself) who beautifully render the work of such famed composers as Piazzolla, Gardel, and Gade. There are showstopping moments from the orchestra as well, especially from young pianist Fernando Marzan,who seems destined for a concert career, and violinist Humberto Ridolfi. Vocals are rendered by Carlos Morel.
