“The music is more than a backdrop here; it is the living sensual pulse which beats in the dancers’ blood”
Tango originated in the impoverished port areas of the Argentina/Uruguay border in the 1880s; a unique and fiery blend of European ballroom traditions and dances from Africa, Cuba and Argentina itself, it is now danced throughout the world, with its performance epicentre being the great tango houses of Buenos Aires. German Cornejo – creator of the company and choreographer of the show – is native to Buenos Aires, and has been steeped in tango tradition since he began his dance studies at the age of 10. Tango Fire aims to showcase the different styles of tango, and also gives the six couples the opportunity to perform their own individual routines created for the show.
The dancers perform in front of a live tango quartet of piano, bandoneon, violin and contrabass, and there is no doubt that these four terrific young musicians are absolutely essential to this spectacle. The music is more than a backdrop here; it is the living sensual pulse which beats in the dancers’ blood, and in the audience’s too. And no recorded backing track could ever replicate the staccato of Clemente Carrascal’s fingers on the bandoneon’s buttons, or Facundo Benavidez’s rhythmic slapping of the sides of the contrabass. Although the stage does seem empty in the interludes in which the musicians play without the dancers, their moments in the sun are richly deserved.
The dancing itself is extraordinary; skilful, precise and gymnastic, and often performed at breathtaking speed. The second half, in which the couples present their own routines, sees almost unbelievable feats of technical mastery, bringing roars from the crowd and a partial standing ovation for German Cornejo himself and his long-term dance partner Gisela Galeassi. The atmosphere is akin to being rink-side at an ice-skating championships – the competition between the couples is palpable – and the show suffers from a lack of warmth as a result. Moments of emotional connection and passion between the couples are few, lost as they are in technical display, and the pure joy of dancing this extraordinary form only rarely flows out from the stage. These moments, when they do come, are pure gold. Camila Alegre seems in a higher realm of emotional being in Watashi, her duet with Ezequiel Lopez, and it feels a privilege to witness it. Similarly, the fun of the men dancing together, and the women playfully passing the fan between themselves, towards the beginning of the show, is infectious. Marcos Esteban Roberts and Louise Junqueira Malucelli also shine, oozing class and tradition, in the tango clasico Gallo Ciego.
Taken as a whole however, Tango Fire remains a whisker away from raising the roof, for whilst the costumes sparkle and the dancers impress, no souls are stirred.
“The makeup is also important to defining characters, and is incredibly effective and intricate”
Peking Opera, or Jingju as it’s known in China, is an art form which began in the eighteenth century as an amalgamation of several existing traditions. It involves singing, mime, movement, acrobatics and stage combat. It is highly stylised and features four major ‘types’ of performer. There is the Sheng character, or male lead, the Dan, or female lead, the Jing which is the painted face character and the Chou, or clown. Each performer will have studied for up to eight years to achieve the necessary understanding and expertise, and will usually only perform one character type. It’s Opera Jim, but not as we know it. There is little that western opera goers would recognise as a chorus, and there are no duets, almost always everyone sings alone. Actually. it’s not really opera at all, Jingju means ‘capital drama.’
I was lucky enough to be invited to go on a backstage tour before the show. It was fascinating to see the beautiful costumes and props close up and to meet Fan Wu, the Production Coordinator and Kevin Zhang, the Producer. They were charming, and clearly enjoyed explaining the meaning of the costumes and some of the traditions of Peking Opera. All the costumes are hand embroidered, and feature dragons and phoenixes and flowers. The male high class characters can wear dragon robes, and the high class females wear phoenixes. High status characters have ‘water sleeves,’ very long white sleeve extensions that float and flow, and symbolise the fact that they have no need to work. The tour definitely helped with understanding the action when the performance began.
The on stage orchestra play a mixture or percussion and stringed instruments, providing the backdrop to the movement and song. Movement is highly stylised and non naturalistic. From the graceful, willowy hand movements of the maids to the incredible acrobatics of the warriors, they all have to be mastered perfectly by the performers, a process that, along with vocal technique, combat skills and takes about eight years training. There is no room for improvisation or alteration of the established movements, but the actors seek to allow their own personality to shine through the traditional gestures.
The singing is so different to anything in western music that it can be difficult to appreciate. I wish the volume had been less ear bleeding, because to those of us not accustomed to the style of singing it could, at times, feel like an aural assault, especially in the higher register. By half way through the first act I was enjoying the male voices, in particular that of Yu Kuizhi’s Emperor, but the female voices were harder for me to like. The sound is shrill and harsh to the western ear, but clearly very skillful. Li Shengsu plays the Concubine with grace and beauty. I would like to understand the vocal techniques better so that I could appreciate her voice more.
One thing that could be improved on are the text descriptions. I would be surprised if a native English speaker had been involved in writing them, as there are several grammatical mistakes, and some amusing phrases that are not intended to be so.
The sets are sumptuous and the costumes, as I have already mentioned, are stunning. The makeup is also important to defining characters, and is incredibly effective and intricate. All in all The Emperor and the Concubine was an enjoyable and interesting experience, but it is hard to judge the quality of an art form that is so outside our normal experience. From watching the ecstatic response of the Chinese people in the audience, it was very good indeed.
