TangoTeatro Theatre Company

artistic director Marcelo GuardiolaAv. Congreso 1920 Buenos Aires, Argentina

www.tangoteatro.orgwww.losguardiola.com

PROGRAM

ORGANITO DEL SUBURBIO (Barrel Organ in the Suburbs)In 1929 Roberto Torres wrote for the music of Antonio Bonavena the tango,Organito del suburbio.

"But all has now changedLittle organ in the suburbs,And the neighbourhoods move aheadAnd you have had to move away…"

This number, inspired by the tango of the same name, is paying homage to thefirst diffuser of tango in the streets of Buenos Aires, the barrel organ.In a Buenos Aires where tango was still an indecent and prohibited music, the bar-rel organ had the power to reach even the ears of those who did not wish to hear.A figure long since vanished, today the organ player only remains in the memoryof the tangos dedicated to him.

VIEJA RECOVA (The Old Market)In 1930 Enrique Cadícamo wrote for the music of Rodolfo Sciammarella the tango,Vieja recova.

“And I had seen her as a boy out weaving fantasiesWith her dreams in full flight and her nights of champagne.Poor thing! Who’d have thought of the end of her daysAnd of the tragic, shameful charity they give her today.”

This number, inspired by the tango of the same name, tells of a casual encounter:a beggar asking for alms in the street, a man takes pity on her and in the momenthe gives her a coin they recognise each other. For a moment the images carry usinto the past and tell us how that beggar was once the queen of the cabaret.

TANITA DE LA PROA (Proud Tanita in the Prow)In 1928 Vicente Martínez Cuitiño wrote for the music of Salvador Merico thetango, Tanita de la proa.

“Proud Tanita in the prowGoing to the ArgentineDon’t put on those airs and graces‘cause you could just run aground…”

This number, inspired by the tango of the same name, tells of the journey by boatof a young Italian immigrant (tanita in the local dialect, lunfardo), her arrival inBuenos Aires and of her meeting with a local Argentine rogue.

PA’ QUE BAILEN LOS MUCHACHOS (To Make the Boys Dance)In 1942 Enrique Cadícamo wrote for the music of Anibal Troilo the tango, Pa’que bailen los muchachos.

“To make the boys dance,I’m gonna play you, bandoneón.Life is a milonga”

This number, inspired by the tango of the same name, tells of a night in a milonga(that is, a hall where people in Buenos Aires meet to dance tango.Milongas are mainly divided into two types: the more homely ones to which mainlygo established couples, and the Solas y solos (singles) to which singles go: in this last type it is common to see menand women seated separately at individual tables.The way to invite a woman to dance is with a flick of the head, a cabaceo. Whena man and a woman’s eyes meet, the man makes this gesture as an invitation.All the tangos danced in this number are improvised and demonstrate how thetango is danced in the milongas in Buenos Aires.

AMABLEMENTE (Amiably)In 1930 Ivan Diez wrote the sonnet Amablemente in the local dialect, lunfardo. Thegreat singer Edmundo Rivero, fascinated by the irony and the cruelty of this poem,set it to music in 1963.

“He found her in the flat and in the arms of another…But with finesse without indignation He said to the pigeon: you can leave,The man is never guilty in cases like this.”

This number, inspired by the tango of the same name, tells of betrayal by awoman and her fate in the ancient tango justice.

ANCLAO EN PARIS (Anchored in Paris)In 1931 Enrique Cadícamo wrote for the music of Guillermo Barbieri the tango,Anclao en París.Immortalized by the voice of the great Carlos Gardel, this poem is testimony of aglorious period for tango, when in the French capital there were to be found agreat many Argentine artists.

“Drawn by the nomadic Bohemian lifeI am, Buenos Aires, anchored in ParisCovered in troubles, pressed by demands,I conjure you from this country far.”

This number, inspired by the tango of the same name, tells of the adventures of anArgentine immigrant in the Paris of the 1920s: he, a tango dancer, finds himself per-forming in shows dancing a tango so different to that danced in the dance hallsin Buenos Aires…

LOS GUARDIOLA

Marcelo Guardiola and Giorgia Marchiori, known artistically as Los Guardiola, arethe major representatives of Buenos Aires TangoTeatro. Their shows have beenseen in theatres and milongas around the world.Marcelo Guardiola is an actor, dancer, musician and theatre director.Born in Buenos Aires, in 1999 he created the theatre investigation, TangoTeatro, theobjective of which is the creation of a new form of show which integrates themusic, the dance and the poetry of the tango. In 2003 he begins to work together with Giorgia Marchiori, dancer, actress, cho-reographer and Doctor of Philosophy, forming the duo Los Guardiola. In 2004, in Buenos Aires, they received the diploma Milongueros-bailarines: NuevaGeneración (Milongueros-dancers: New Generation).In 2011, for the originality and distinctive us of tango in theatre, they have had tohonour to be invited to the VIII Holstebro Festuge (VIII Holstebro Festive Week),organized by the Odin Teatret / Nordisk Teaterlaboratorium (Odin Theatre /Theatre Laboratory), Holstebro, Denmark, and directed by Eugenio Barba.

Tango Querido!Dear Tango!

“The one and only show of tango and mime!The poetry in the lyrics of tango told through the magic of mime and the dance of tango.

A hymn to tango, its people and its soul.”

Dear Tango! Is a show combining tango and mime inspired by the lyrics of famous tangos, born of the will to pay tri-bute to tango, with an eye to the special form of its poetry and in its way of thinking. Through the magic of gestureand dance, the different characters of the world of tango come to life: strolling musicians, daring artists, ladies of

the night, pimps, milongueros, each with their story and their destiny still to be told.

Writers and performers Marcelo Guardiola y Giorgia MarchioriDirection Marcelo Guardiola

Photos: Gustavo Cilla, Graphic Design: Carlo D’Andreis