>>PREVIEW
TANGO TEMPTATION
Baja Tango
September 8 and 9
University of Calgary Theatre
"Tango is growing in Calgary," says Tango Temptation’s Leo Sato. And why shouldn’t tango grow? As both a dance instructor and performer, Sato has begun to make his mark on the local arts community with this very art form. His first love had not been tango, although this soon changed with his travels to South America. The former bodybuilder is now synonymous with tango in Calgary, where he directs and performs in Los Porteños and has founded the band Libertango.
"I decided to go to South America. I travelled for a year and a half," says Sato, describing his introduction to the sultry art form. "What I found is what we danced changed from country to country – but what was available, what didn’t change was tango. Tango does not change from country to country. There was always at least one tango CD in the household – just like we’d have a CD of pop music here. They don’t always dance to it but they always sing to it, and listen.
"Tango starts talking to people, for people in South America this is part of their life," he adds, noting the poetry within its movement. There is poetry within tango’s very terminology: abrazo is the embrace, barrida is a sweeping of the foot. Parada is to stop.
Sato studied tango in Buenos Aires – the very city that gave birth to the dance form – working with world-renowned dancers such as Ángel Coria and Ángela Toñanez (audiences may recognize the former from Carlos Saura’s film Tango, 1998 Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film). Both Coria and Toñanez are featured performers in Tango Temptation, which marks their debut in North America.
The show also features the talents of Libertango and Alberta Ballet’s esteemed former ballet mistress Mercedes Bernardez.
Sato notes Bernardez is from Argentina – "this will mark her last performance on the Calgary stage" – which is fitting, since it is a performance of a dance that evolved in her country.
Although tango music is noted for its sadness – Sato recalls someone asking him to find a song for a wedding and not finding any appropriate – it also exudes passion.
"It is the passion of life and also the passion of relationship. Tango dance is not like salsa, we hold the partner close, tight. It can be a disaster if we dance with someone socially, but it is great to dance with someone special. Tango is more like a romantic story," he says, comparing the dance to a good romantic film that follows no formula – Roman Holiday comes to his mind. "When I dance with someone special it is so satisfying… that’s why I called (the show) Tango Temptation – we always have the temptation to dance tango."
"When people ask me why I like tango… I think the answer is when we all hit into adulthood, we all face difficulty – financially, physically, emotionally. Every single person shares a sadness as well as a joy," he adds. Both these dualities, this sadness and joy, is expressed in the tango. |
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