USA 2008
Tango company is on ‘Fire’ at Cutler Majestic Theatre
Estampas Portenas has been promoted as Buenos Aires’ “most acclaimed tango company,” which seems like hyperbole - but these glamorous men and women are the finest tango artists I’ve ever seen.
I’ve followed the scene closely since the beginning of the American tango craze in the early 1980s, and “Tango Fire,” which opened Friday night at Cutler Majestic Theatre, represents significant advances in sophistication and contemporary interpretation, thanks to artistic director Carolina Soler.
Audiences adore tango because it is simultaneously rhythmic, technical and erotic. It is also a style that seems to absorb all of the space around it; one traveling couple is all that is needed to illuminate the largest of stages.
Like the successful Broadway revue “Tango Argentino,” “Tango Fire” attempts to survey the history of tango, but without resorting to chronology. The first part offers a series of intimate duets and ensemble dances focused on “Milonga,” a countryside dance from the early 19th century that originated in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as a popular song style in duple meter.
Singer Javier Di Ciriaco, with his matinee-idol good looks, offered soaring vocals in the passionate melodies of “Grisel” and “Ventarron.” It made perfect sense, since the entire first half is set in the imaginary “Caf del Tango,” complete with tiny tables and lamps. Along with the blazing duets, there is even a staged fight for five men that transforms into a rousing unison dance.
Part two segues into modern tango, epitomized by the wide-ranging compositions of the late Astor Piazzolla, and features extreme, daring lifts and aggressive choreography. Pablo Sosa and Mariela Maldonado in a handsome rendition of Piazzolla’s classic “Libertango” provided the artistic arc of the show.
Boston Herald, Jan 13 2008
‘Tango Fire’ blazes with danger and exuberance
Rarely has the tempestuous tango looked like so much exuberant, out-and-out fun as in Estampas Portenas’ “Tango Fire”. This is tango with a big smile and boisterous high jinks performed by 10 exquisitely skilled dancers with spirit and charisma to match. All in their 20’s and 30’s, they are uniformly gorgeous. The women are lithe with deeply arched backs and finely sculpted legs that slice like machetes with stunning precision and flexibility. The men have taut, muscular torsos of commanding confidence, and feet and legs as nimble off the ground as on.
The Boston Globe, Jan 15 2008
AUSTRALIA 2007
Burning Down the House With Flair and Fancy Footwork
The Age Melbourne August 2007
The dancers are highly accomplished and the music is fabulous. By the end of the evening tango had worked its magic on us all, giving rise to whistling and shouted applause and multiple curtain calls.
The Age (Melbourne August 2007)
USA 2006
Cultural high point:
Anyone who didn’t see “Tango Fire” at Town Hall
on November 12, with the troupe of Carolina Soler dancing to the music
of the greatest composer of the twentieth century, Astor Piazzolla,
missed out on the most important music and dance event all century.
I could explain why, but you really had to be there.
Tom Wolfe
New York Magazine Dec 2006
Tango That's Playful as Well as Passionate
If you like tango shows in one shade -- dark and
brooding -- the Argentine company Estampas Porteñas isn't for
you. This troupe of
five couples, directed by Carolina Soler, takes dancing seriously
but also emanates a playful grasp of theater. ''Tango Fire,'' which
was performed twice on Sunday at Town Hall, glides along as smoothly
as an express train without ever derailing into a pseudo-seduction
melodrama.
In the show Ms. Soler, a former ballet dancer who formed the group
in 1996, presents a fresh look at the tango form. Part of the allure
is the numerous, exceptionally well-cut costumes, created by Ms. Soler
and the show's wardrobe manager, Maria Spingola. The excellent orchestra,
Quatrotango, was led by the youthful, shaggy-haired Gabriel Clenar,
who directed three musicians while he played the piano. Diego Fama
was the singer.
The only disappointment was that Ms. Soler didn't take a curtain call
of her own; beyond the admirable performances, it was clearly her
visual sense and choreographic skill that knitted the two-part show
together. ''Tango Fire'' transformed the theater from a nightclub
atmosphere in ''The Milonga'' to a more traditional display of stage
dancing in ''The Show.''
In the first half, as couples performed tangos in the center, other
dancers stood or sat at tables along the perimeter of the stage, arguing
and gossiping with adorable precision. In the second half two couples
-- Pablo Sosa and Mariela Maldonado, and Mauricio Celis and Inés
Cuesta -- added complicated lifts to their numbers and daring speed,
their legs cutting and dividing the air like machetes.
No couple, however, was as beautifully lavish as Luciano Capparelli
and Rocío de los Santos. In each of their tangos, tension gave
way to voluptuous softness, and powerful overhead lifts melted onto
the floor in silken extensions. As the title goes, they were on fire.
The New York Times Nov 2006
UK 2006
“… a sizzling, sensual taste of
the real thing … sexual electricity crackling at the arch of
an eyebrow, exploding at the twitch of a hip. Turning the genteel
confines of Sloane Square’s Cadogan Hall into a sea of writhing
libido takes some doing, but Tango Fire pulls it off”
The Evening Standard (London Sept 2006)
“A dazzling and sophisticated show”
The Scotsman (Edinburgh Festival Review 2006) “Combines a virtuoso
four-piece band with seriously sophisticated tango”
TOP FIVE Scotland on Sunday (Edinburgh
Festival 2006)
“High energy and sensual sophistication will induce beads of
sweat across the brow of even the most unflappable spectator”
Scotland on Sunday (Edinburgh Festival
Review 2006)
“Tango Fire is back and hotter than ever”
Edinburgh Festivals Magazine (2006)
Edinburgh Festival August
2005
THE SCOTSMAN, Edinburgh
LATIN American dance and the music that's indelibly tied to it are
having their biggest popular resurgence in Britain for years. Dance
classes are as much a part of modern urban life as cafés, and
the popularity of movies such as Shall We Dance? and television's
Strictly Come Dancing - with its inept soap stars and celebrity gardeners
- make everyone into instant experts.
This show imported from Buenos Aires, though, is as far from that
as Argentina is from Edinburgh. This is the real thing and when you
see it, you know instantly that no number of lessons could get you
close to capturing the artistry of tango - born of a culture where
it's not a hobby but an integral part of life.
It's not a dance performance as such. Four dancers appear for only
around half the show, which is based on the four musicians of La Quartada
Tango, who are a revelation, especially in comparison to the neutered
forms of Latin music we tend to hear most often.
This music is not smooth; it's as twisty and kicky as the dance steps,
and faster than seems possible, with notes spiralling and chasing
each other - just as the dancers shadow and mirror each other's steps.
It's dissonant, even harsh at times, but quite thrilling at others.
The musicians are extremely tight as a group, and their timing is
excellent. Even without the dancers, there is plenty of drama in their
performance, but when the two couples - in a succession of to-die-for
outfits - are on stage, the connection between the heat of the music
and the sensuality of the dance comes through.
This is not the elegant flirtation of Western ballroom, nor the rhythm-led
sway of salsa, but complicated, grown-up passion.
At first, it's nostalgic, a throwback to the roots of tango in sleazy,
19th-century bars and brothels - all cocktail skirts, tailored suits
and fiery jealousy. By the end of the show, though, a distinctly modern
take on the dance comes through, with unusual moves showing the influence
of other forms of dance, coupled with music that seems utterly contemporary.
A striking and stirring show. (Andrew Mullaney)
THE LIST, Edinburgh
Sexual politics, Argentinean style
a sophisticated show … fusing jazz, classical and traditional
South American sounds, the band fan the flames of the increasingly
passionate dancers before them.
The two couples perform without any pretence at subtlety or innuendo
– this is foreplay on the dance floor. Wearing high split cocktail
dresses, feather boas and fishnets, the two women press up against
their sharp-suited partners seductively. Knee joints move at lightning
quick speed, as the couples intertwine legs to the driving rhythm,
while a closing duet, peppered with high lifts and sudden drops, proves
just how versatile modern Tango can be in the right hands
THE TIMES, UK
If you are expecting some Latina bent over backwards with a rose between
her teeth gliding along the parquet, you will be disappointed. There
are excellent dancers whose fleetness of foot is as dazzling as the
women’s frocks and the men’s black and white shoes. The
dances are heavily elaborated but still maintain the characteristic
intimacy as if the couples are dancing for each other rather than
the audience.
The stars are the four-piece band La Quartada Tango. These are not
ruffians who have grown with tango in their blood or some such romantic
nonsense. They are musicians who have been to the conservatoire. The
arrangements from Piazzolla as well as from less well known composers
are original and clever, and the musicianship is extraordinary.
It’s easy to play together in a regular beat. But the tugging
around of tempi and rhythms here requires an almost telepathic level
of communication. Individually on piano, string bass, bandoneon and
violin they are superb. Marcello Rebuffi wrings sounds from his violin
that would have you believe the instrument itself is weeping
Australian Tour
April/ May, 2005
Sensuous twists and turns, lightning sharp interaction between a pair
of dancers, great music, sexy costumes and glamorous performers make
Tango Fire a show that is full of adrenalin and good humour
(SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, Sydney)
Burning with sensual energy … leaves you wanting more …
the execution is perfect, the passion intense … this is tango
at its best êêêê
(SUNDAY HERALD SUN, Melbourne)
Incorporating aerial moves and some daringly sexy material, Tango
Fire is a glamorous display of agility, ardour and showmanship …
fiery entertainment from a high-quality production
(THE AGE, Melbourne)
This tango from Estampas Porteñas is hot. It is precise, tight,
well connected and supported by a band of exemplary musicians …
pure and simple, whether upbeat or sultry, executed with clean, razor-sharp
timing and emotion
(HERALD SUN, Melbourne)
… the authentic tango of Buenos Aires danced to some of the
most supple, liquid tango music ever heard from a touring company
… served with sensuous sizzle and grace, Tango Fire is the real
deal
(THE WEST AUSTRALIAN, Perth)
Estampas Porteñas demonstrate in a bravura performance why
the tango is regarded as a national treasure …
(THE ADELAIDE ADVERTISER, Adelaide)
Sex on legs
(THE COURIER MAIL, Brisbane)
Dazzling earthy passion … moments of sculptural beauty
(DOMINION POST, Wellington)
Other International Quotes…
So good it makes you shiver
(EL CORREO, Guatemala)
