Modern Tango World #9 (Rome, Italy)

Shows like Tangox2, Forever Tango and Tango Pasión had
regular loyal attendance, The dance company of Alejandro
Aquino and Mariachiara Michieli almost always accompanied
their performances with milongas and parties.
Other important moments for the modern develop,ent
of Italian tango were the shooting of two films, Incontri
Proibiti and Milonga, starring Alberto Sordi and Valeria
Marini in one and Giancarlo Giannini and Claudia Pandolfi
in the other. The films contained important tango
scenes that required several dance couples on the floor.
Pina Bausch selected some Roman tanguèros to perform
in a milonga staged at the Teatro Argentina.
It was in the late nineties that Roman tango assumed
the beginnings of a true social phenomenon, with new
evenings that maintained their significance for many
years. These events were imporrant not only in the
metropolitan scene, but also in the national panorama.
These events included Domenica all’Alpheus of Julio de
la Fuente and Alberto Valente, Venerdì a Tanguera of
Eduardo Manfredi with Felix Picherna as resident DJ
and the Villaggio Tango of Graziella Polesinanti, a summer
outdoor event held six days a week, and to become
il Giardino del Tango..
The tango phenomenon began to have that depth of
history and breadth of experience that would lead to
its current blossoming. The film Tango Lessons would
launch tango nuevo gonto the world stage. In 2001,
the Argentine economic crisis marked the end of the
dollar-peso parity. Many new opportunities opened up,
especially among the young who were attracted to an
alternative style, For many, this meant an opportunity to
stay in Buenos Aires for extended periods, while engaging
the milonga experience.
After a short period of gestation, they gave birth to
FAItango, a federation that brings together various cultural
associations to promote tango. This initiative was
fundamental to the spread of tango. FAItango provides
a service to those who organize the evenings, providing
assistance with all bureaucratic issues and obligations
that need to be fulfilled. As an association, it provides the
tangueros with a single valid card for entrance to all the
affiliated milongas. This is a significant savings for those
who enjoy dancing in different places.
Around 2000, tango mailing lists were introduced, which
allowed those with little knowledge of e-mail to participate
in the exchange of news and conversations through
a single address. That is, by mailing to the group a message
can be sent to all the members of the group. Before
that, there were only sites whose address needed
to be known or traced through the search engines. Now,
the information could be transmitted by the organizers
reaching all of tango community with updates on milongas,
lessons etc. In turn, the members could interact with
each other in the discussions.
The very first national list is called TangoItalia/ There are
also regional lists. Even Rome has its own. list The tango
mailing list for Rome is called Malen@. Before the advent
of Facebook, it played an essential role in the growth of
the tago community of tRome as a meeting point and
exchange for enthusiasts who were curious to know
what was going to happen in Rome. See:
http://it.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/malena/info
Even today, after so many years, it continues to maintain a
remarkable number of subscribers. The information business
has never stopped.
But at the dawn of the new millennium, the numbers
continued to remain low, and most of the tango activity
took place in large cities. Seldom could it be found in
the provinces. However,
something was
changing, the most
active groups, especially
in northern Italy,
had gathered together
with some independent
volunteers.
— 17 —
TO SUBSCRIBE, CLICK HERE