REVIEW: “Tango Fire”, Inferno on Stage!
Totally true to the "sold out" preview hype, “Tango Fire” at the Byham theatre was hot, hot, hot!
Ten dancers, a four-piece orchestra, and a single vocalist from Buenos Aires, Argentina made for an explosive night of wonder at the Byham Theater on Saturday, February 12th. To say that Tango Inferno was hot is an understatement. Leaving the theatre we all wished for a Villa in Buenos Aires.Director Yanina Fajar and Assistant Director German Cornejo choreographed a sensuous, athletically demanding show. “Tango Fire “ showcased their artistic vision in majestic execution. Both Fajar and Conejo performed as part of the company.
The first half of the show sparked a contained fire that introduced us to the entire company. We are privy to a collage of all ten dancers as they purposefully happen upon each other in a social setting, complete with tables, chairs, a live band, and a singer. The strength, agility, passion, and grace of each dancer, both male and female, add fervor and passion to an already exotic art form.
The show is interspersed with the beautiful, sultry sounds of vocalist Jesus Hidalgo and the violin, piano, bandoneon (looks like an accordion), and double bass of the orchestra, Quatrotnago. The audience was enraptured by these unfamiliar melodies and lyrics in an unknown tongue, swept away in every spiraling romance. Hidalgo and Quatrotango were like gasoline to a heat that was already beginning to rise, as the flames were fanned by fast and fancy footwork. Yet this was a mere campfire, prelude to the forest fire to come.
In the second half, he stage literally sizzled with the unbridled and unparalleled feats of seductive but athletic dance. Even the costumes become increasingly elaborate as does the acrobatic movement we wouldn’t have believed if not seen with our own eyes. This was not the tango featured in American movies of the fifties by any means.
“The tango cannot be danced individually; the woman seduces and the man leads. He protects and supports her, while she elaborates and outlines the dance breaking balance and resting on his chest.”
They say it takes two to Tango and as evidenced by these five couples, it takes two with amazing chemistry to get the temperature to the fever pitch of this second half. With each couple the audience seems to combust all over again, boiling up and over with amazement- oohs, aahhs, and applause escaped like steam without reservation. Each pair has been dancing together for many years and it shows as the sensuality of their chemistry burns before us. Their expertise is evident in that each couple choreographed their own dance. True seductive art takes passion and there was more than enough to go around.
By the end of the show we are consumed, burned beyond the recognition of what we imagined tango could be. A final black out is followed by a spontaneous explosion of an ovation. Nothing could extinguish the thrill of such an outstanding performance.
Special thanks to Gus Mathews, the Beaver Falls KIA Hamster of the Ron Lewis Automotive Group, for giving me the opportunity to witness such greatness. Gus, the only thing that might have made this better was the KIA Hamster in the audience tapping his foot and getting excited by the music and the dance, if he was on his wheel it would have churned him to butter.
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