Think of tango music and an image of a man with a fedora, singing his soul out all for the love of a woman or Buenos Aires (or both) is easily conjured up. You could be forgiven for thinking that women tango singers don´t exist as so much of the popular tango music is sung by men and Carlos Gardel has his image well ingrained as THE singer of tango music.

But whilst driving in our car the other week, listening to one of the myriad of tango radio stations, I was pleasantly surprised to hear a very antique recording of a woman singing which got me thinking about how little I knew about the women who wove their own magic into tango music.

The Golden Age of Tango is generally agreed as being from the mid 1930s through to the early 1950s. Throughout this time there were many women who left their mark on the tango scene. Here we give you just a quick taste of three to whet your appetite.

Azucena Maizani

Azucena Maizani has been considered as the female equivelant of Carlos Gardel - rising quickly in the 1920s with her talent as a performer on stage and radio.  Not only a performer, she was also a lyricist and composer and her song ´Pero Yo Se´ was recorded by Angel D´Agostino in 1942.  Interestingly, she was knowing for portraying her female characters as suit wearing, tough yet sensitive and romantic male figures - a figure which is well ingrained in tango. She suffered many tragedies throughout her life and sadly died in 1970 after a stroke several years earlier that she never fully recovered from. She recorded 270 tracks during her career and here is one for your listening pleasure:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65POcgqA6Ok

Libertad Lamarque

Libertad Lamarque was awarded the Konex Platinum Award for ¨Best Tango Singer in Argentina¨ in 1985, cementing her place in Tango Singer History.  An actress and a singer, she performed in film, stage and music throughout her career amassing a staggering amount of recordings (above 800) and appearing in 65 movies. Rumours abound about a rift between her and Eva Peron as they both appeared in La Cabalgata del Circo together and she had mentioned several times the lack of respect Peron had given to the film and those involved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ8A9punz4I&feature=youtu.be

Ada Falcon

Setting Ada Falcon apart from her peers was her mezzo-soprano voice. At a time where most women singers were sopranos, Falcon reached fame through singing with the orchestra of Francisco Canaro. She recorded over 200 songs during the 20s and 30s - the peak of her career. She was involved romantically with Canaro but he refused to leave his wife. Suddenly in 1942, she withdrew from public life and became a recluse, eventually leaving behind all the glamour and expensive lifestyle she had previously thrived on and moved to Cordoba to live as a tertiary nun, eventually dying in 2002. She is buried in Chacarita Cemetary and there is a film about her life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eePCfnNayb4

If this is something you would like to explore further, visit Female Tango Singers Milonga Project https://www.facebook.com/TangoFemenino/.  The woman running it has shown just how much female tango music there is out there that should be listened to. It makes for an interesting playlist with 173 songs available. It is also interesting to delve into the mostly tragic lives that these artists had, as dramatic and soulful as the music they sang.

(photo credit: Beatrice Murch)

Feliz Navidad! The festive season is upon us again and with the splash of purple springtime now well past, the sun is heating up for what will undoubtedly be a sweltering summer week of festive celebrations.

If you have never experienced a summer Christmas before, you're in for some distinct differences. Christmas lights don't seem to make sense as having just passed Summer Solstice means the days are at their longest; everyone is out and about in flip flops, singlets and shorts; and having a very large meal (usually meat filled) just seems to go against all logic but it is what we southern hemisphere dwellers do. 

Buenos Aires in years past has lit up with an abundance of fireworks when welcoming in Christmas Day and New Year, and while this tradition still continues, it has somewhat lessened probably due to the fact that it can be up to 35 degrees come midnight and no one really wants to head outside away from their air conditioners. Nevertheless, it is a noisy family occasion and traffic jams continue well into the wee small hours as family members move between houses wishing each other well and entertaining the noctural children with gift giving. 

So if you are in Buenos Aires, the most logical thing to do is to make your own celebrations sparkle with a little bit of tango. After all, the magical essence of the city will be sure to make your own festivities just that little bit more special. Only La Ventana, Gala Tango,  El Viejo Almacen, Piazzolla Tango and Madero Tango are offering special shows on Christmas Eve.  Each has a unique evening planned that usually includes welcome cocktails, a gala dinner, elaborate tango show and after the midnight toast, a party with a DJ and regular shuttles back to hotels.

Since transport over the festive season is very limited (and in light of the recent transport strikes), booking your tango show can take all the hard work out of figuring how to move about the city as most offer free transfers. Note that on celebration days between the hours of 9pm and 3am, there are almost no buses or taxis.

If you are arriving between Christmas and New Year and still want to get in a tango show, most are offering specially planned events to welcome in the New Year - a unique way to welcome in 2017. Transfers, cocktails, dinner, tango show - all followed by parties until the wee small hours of the morning. Madero Tango is even offering the additional surprise of watching fireworks go off over the docks of Puerto Madero. Whether it’s traditional (Esquina Carlos Gardel, Cafe de Los Angelitos), romantic (Gala Tango, La Ventana), extravagant (Madero Tango, Señor Tango, Rojo Tango) or bohemian (El Viejo Almacen, El Querandi), you´re sure to find a New Year´s Eve tango show that suits your style.

Whatever you decide to do, may you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

You may have heard that Al Pacino is in town at the moment. Anyone who has seen Scent of a Woman will remember the infamous tango scene with Pacino´s blind character whirls a female around the dance floor while a tango orchestra plays on. While arguably lacking in actual tango dancing (besides the initial embrace and walk), the song he dances to is one of the most famous songs in the tango world. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2zTd_YwTvo

Por Una Cabeza (By a horse´s head) was penned by Carlos Gardel and Alfredo Le Pera and is the voice of a horse track gambler that relates his addiction to horses to his attraction to women. Written in 1935, it has been sung by many famous singers and used in multiple movies. It premiered in 1935 in the movie Tango Bar starring Carlos Gardel. It was in Scent of a Woman and is the song to which US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama danced (with Mora Godoy and José Lugones) to during the visit to Buenos Aires earlier this year. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ1aTPM-dyE

It was also used in the movie Easy Virtue with Colin Firth, who does a much more convincing version of actual Argentine tango, although mixed with a bit of showy Ballroom Tango. It is good to note that Gomez Addams is not actually dancing what the Argentines call tango but that´s another story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcxv7i02lXc

The song is so famous that it is not limited to the golden age of tango singers who have given us such personal interpretations of the song. Singer Andrea Bocelli has also given his version of the infamous song, singing alongside two stage tango dancers as his honey voice gives a beautiful rendition of this traditional work. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2RWpEktYFw

So how did Al Pacino fare on his second public performance of this song? If the Buenos Aires press is anything to go by, he gave a rather disappointing 10 second interpretation of the famous movie scene. With an Argentine girlfriend and an entire performance (An Evening with Pacino) the Teatro Colon, one might expect at least some knowledge of the basic steps. You can be the judge of it with this glimpse of his performance (and the theatre) here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nm4x6P4NmI0

It was like a scene out of a movie. Most of the crowd had dispersed from the New York style loft where the late night milonga was being held. Its warm brick walls were dimly lit by tall lamps, reflecting their light in the mirrors that ran down one long wall. The tall sash windows were open to the night air, letting the murmurs of the city entangle themselves with the strains of tango music.

With a simple tilt of his head, he indicated his desire for one final dance before the night ended. Having recently become infatuated with tango, I accepted his proposal immediately. I had been milking every milonga I could, from opening strains to the final close, dancing at every possible moment. He took me into the embrace and from the moment when he began to gently sway and shift our weight, I felt myself falling into what dancers describe as the ‘tango moment’. Everything fell away. It was simply myself, my partner and the dark moody tango bandoneon. Our feet moved simultaneously across the wooden dance floor, free to move as we wished being the only couple on the dance floor. Our own private moment.

These “tango moments” actually last for one song, or potentially a tanda (set of three songs). It is when you lose yourself completely in the music, your partner and your dance. You no longer worry about whether you are dancing correctly, whether you will to be able to follow the lead or whether you might bump into someone else. All nervousness drops away and there is a shared bubble of consciousness that draws you both in.

You may wonder that if you dance a lot, surely this must happen often? But the truth is, it doesn’t. Tango requires a presence from each dancer that is directly affected by their frame of mind. If you have had a bad day you can’t shake off, or even a bad dance the tanda before, the chance of a tango moment diminishes.  The moment itself also requires a wee bit of magic as small factors determine whether it will happen or not. Some dancers have analysed their own tango moments, finding that they happen more often with a dancer of the same ability (a better dancer causes nervousness and a less experienced dancer requires more attention), or that dancing with a new partner heightens their awareness of their partner’s subtle movements.

Tango moments do not require big fancy movements. It is not the thrill of mastering a challenging sequence of improvised steps - although that is quite an experience that usually brings a smile to the usually sombre face of a dancer. It can be as simple was walking together with your partner, in time, in sync, connected.
It is what we dance for. These sweet gems that sparkle amidst the many many tandas. It is what keeps us coming back.