Kellams: This is Ozarks at Large. I'm Kyle Kellams. I have good news. And I have bad news. Which do you want first? Fine. The good news: there are two amazing opportunities for entertainment Tuesday night, just blocks away from each other. Now the bad: you're probably going to have to choose between them. It's highly unlikely you can do both.
The Fayetteville Public Library will host Patagonia Tango Company from Los Angeles. They'll be performing their new show of authentic Argentine tango from 6p.m. until 7p.m. Tuesday night, and at 7p.m. at Walton Arts Center, the Reduced Shakespeare Company brings their show All the Great Books (Abridged) to Fayetteville, that again beginning at 7. Creators of both talked with us this week.
Romina Rodriguez: So when you come to see us, you're going to see eight world-class Argentine tango dancers. You're also going to hear two of the most prominent young tango singers working right now, and you're also going to see a folk ballet.
I am artistic director of Patagonia Tango Company.
Kellams: The troupe's mission is to bring world-class, authentic, and traditional Argentine tango and folk dancing to the U.S. I am L.A.-born to parents who immigrated to this country from Argentina.
Rodriguez: So tango was something that I grew up with in my home. My parents were a part of what we call the lost generation for tango in Argentina, so it skipped their generation. My grandparents were avid social tango dancers in Buenos Aires. And then my parents just did not get into it for a lot of different reasons, but they still liked the music. And so in my home growing up as a kid, we would always listen to tango music, usually on CD at that time.
I just grew up with the music and knew that it was something that my grandparents had really been into, and I was always passionate about dance. I dedicated my life to the study of dance—classical ballet, jazz, modern, contemporary. And so I always had this interest in tango as a dance form, but it wasn't something that I actually started to learn or study until I was in college. And that's when I sought it out, when I was in college, to learn how to dance tango.
I remember that there was sort of this resistance from my grandparents about what we call what I do now, which is stage tango—tango that you put on the stage. For them- from their generation, growing up and dancing tango socially- tango was something that you just did socially. It wasn't something that you put on stage. I kind of got a lot of pushback from them with wanting to really pursue this other type of artistic tango.
So I'd say that that actually put the dampers on my study of it for a good decade, where I said, “Okay, I'm not going to study tango. I'm just going to dance socially for fun.” The other types of dance that I do, that's my career, that's my profession. And then it really wasn't until a decade later that I said, “You know what, I actually am going to pursue this stage tango tradition.”
Then I found that while there were people who naysay stage tango, there was also a whole other community of people who embraced stage tango. So that was kind of an interesting journey for me with tango, both social tango, which is how I started out with, and then eventually stage tango, which is what I now dedicate my profession to.
Kellams: Is there anything between social tango and stage tango that those of us who aren't aficionados, those of us who are kind of coming into this fresh, would even notice other than one's on stage and one might be in a club?
Rodriguez: Oh, yes. Absolutely. So it's interesting. Social tango is something that, you know, the name says it all, right? It's something that you do socially, and it really is more about the environment than anything else. So you'll go to a social event called a milonga, and there'll be tables set up, and you'll sit with your friends or your family and you'll socialize. You'll have something to drink, something to eat, you'll chat, and then you'll also get up and dance.
And there's a whole beautiful ritual around how you dance in these social settings. And the dance itself is very intimate. So you're watching two people dance, and they're very much dancing for each other. Their focus is inward. The steps are tame and subdued, but full of a lot of significance. It's also a very crowded floor, so your floor craft doesn't take up a lot of space.
Whereas when we do stage tango, the foundation is exactly the same. It's 100 percent a partner dance with a lead and a follow. But now we're dancing for someone else. So we're making—we're taking the movements that we would dance socially and we're expanding them. We're adding athleticism to them, and we're crafting a story with it in order to convey what we're feeling inside of the dance to someone watching from the outside.
Kellams: No offense to Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, but it seems when I see tango, that is the epitome of a team working together on the dance floor.
Rodriguez: Absolutely.
Kellams: And I just wonder what it takes to get there?
Rodriguez: Wow, that is such a great question. And first of all, the observation is very accurate. Tango, like many social dance forms, but even more so than other social dance forms, is really about the couple more than the individual. So you need to work as a team, and you need to work on yourself and also with your partner.
In order to get there, it's a two-part process. This is how we teach all of our classes as well. You always have to start off with—I call it tuning your instrument. So you need to do exercises. Awareness exercises to get your body ready to dance tango. Right? So you want to work on your balance. You want to work on your control. You want to work on your fluidity, on your musicality, in your individual expression.
And then you're going to get with your partner. And now you can't be focusing on yourself anymore. And now you have to focus on listening to, interpreting, and working with your partner, which is a whole other type, a whole other process of work. And that process, it takes time.
So when you get started with tango, there's a high learning curve. Other social dances, you can take a few classes and you feel pretty great, you can go out dancing. Tango requires a bit more commitment in the beginning. And then—but then it's worth it. But you really have to dedicate at least six months and then honestly two years to get to a good foundational beginner level. And that's when you start to be able to really enjoy the dancing.
So in many ways, tango relationships are a little bit more involved than just dance partnerships. They end up becoming like partnerships, like marriages. I always say my husband and I, after we've been dancing together for seven years, I always say we have two relationships. Right? We're married in life and we're married in tango. And so we have to maintain both of those relationships.
Kellams: What is it like when it's just, when you're in the pocket and the dance is just flowing? Can you lose yourself in the moment?
Rodriguez: Absolutely. You definitely can. So here's the thing that I truly believe about tango. And it's—for me, it's the best metaphor for people who aren't familiar with it. It's similar to improvising jazz music. So every note is improvised. Every note is being created in that moment.
And so in the tango, it's not just every step, but it's every weight change, it's every shift, it's every pause. And once you can tune into the music, you can hear the music, and you've trained your body enough that you have control over it to respond to that music. I mean, the feeling is just that. It's as if you're playing—you're playing a jazz song with your body and with another person, and in a crowded room full of other people who are doing the same thing.
So the feeling is—it's incredible. It's elating. It is also this beautiful grounding energy that we need so much nowadays, where everything is so fast paced and digital and we are struggling with connection as people. Tango is one of those places where everything slows down. You connect to yourself, you connect to another person, you connect to a room full of people in a very deep and profound way, without having to speak a word.
Kellams: Romina Rodriguez is artistic director of Patagonia Tango Company, based in Los Angeles. They'll perform Tuesday night at the Fayetteville Public Library at 6 p.m.
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