Aromas de Tango

Created a superimposed atmosphere of imagery and locales to highlight a very stylized tango dance and the accompanying music. All photos and imagery are from Buenos Aires and Montevideo and many represent traditional tango bars.

The group Bajofondo represents a new modality of music called neotango or electrotango. Some of their music is outstanding.

Music: Perfume – Bajofondo :: Remixed by Leo Bar

Special thanks to Paul Holman for the use of portions of his video Milonga de Milongas. See more of his videos at youtube.com/user/paulrholman

Tango Euro Klez

Music: Tango Bar & Kiev Swing by Garry B :: https://vimeo.com/garryb; listen to his music :: http://soundcloud.com/garry-b
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– The migration of tango from Argentina and Uruguay to Western and Eastern Europe -
1900 – 1920 : Tangos were mainly sung and played by small instrumental bands (fundamentally trios and quartets), until “La Orquesta Tipica” arrives on the scene, with the incorporation of the bandoneo’n. In 1907, one of the very first genuine Argentine Tangueros to visit Paris (France) was composer Angel Villoldo, who wanted to do some recording. (At the time, Paris had the best recording facilities and techniques.) In 1918, writing lyrics for the tango became all the rage with singers such as the tragic Carlos Gardel and celebrated salon orchestras like Francisco Canaro‘s giving the music a new legitimacy and acceptance. Carlos Gardel is still revered today, many decades after his death.
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By 1912, dancers and musicians from Buenos Aires, traveled to Europe and the first European tango craze took place in Paris, soon followed by London, Berlin, and other capitals. Towards the end of 1913 it hit New York in the USA, and Finland.
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One of the most popular ballroom dances in Europe during the 1920′s and 30′s was unquestionably the tango. This explains why this music appeared later in ghettos and concentration camps. Following a boom in Western Europe, the tango reached the east by the late 1910′s. However, as opposed to countries like France and Germany, frequently visited by Argentine Orquestas Típicas, most Eastern European countries became acquainted with the tango only through records, the radio and journals. This indirect connection may explain the character that this music developed in such regions. With increasing popularity and a new stream of local tangos, the style’s re-embodiment gradually drifted away from the South American model. Poland, which had regained its independence after the Warsaw treaty of 1919, quickly became one of the capitals of European tango at a time when most of its musicians, both in the classical and the popular scenes, were Jewish.
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Enjoy the show,
Leo

Tango Sureño

This dance is a Milonga danced to milonga music – a cousin of the Tango. Enjoy the sow!
“In a book published in 1883 Ventura Lynch, a noted contemporary student of the dances and folklore of Buenos Aires Province, noted the influence the Afro-Argentine dancers had on the “compadritos”, who apparently frequented the Afro-Argentine dance venues, “the milonga is danced only by the compadritos of the city, who have created it as a mockery of the dances the blacks hold in their own places”.
Milonga uses the same basic elements as Tango and requires a greater relaxation of legs and body. Movement is normally faster, and pauses are not made. It is rather a kind of rhythmic walking without complicated figures, with a much more “rustic” style than Tango”. {Source: Wikipedia}
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Photography:
CB1985IFY – Palermo; Omar Guebel – Photos of La Boca :: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohgg/collections/72157600270319242

Leo Bar :: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leobar-pixinmotion/ 
Music: Reliquias porteñas – Francisco Canaro – - (November 26, 1888 – December 14, 1964) Uruguayan violinist and tango orchestra leader.

 

 

Tango Macho

Why do men dance with each other? What made men dance since early times?
Many theories exist; ritual, religion, celebration, brotherhood, spiritual expression, war preparation, hunting practice or recreation and possibly sheer joie de vivre.

But why tango dancing between men? The first reason is related to where tango was initially danced. Remember that tango, was the dance of the poor, the underprivileged – the ‘lower class’. This group of people had less access to venues where to dance, and furthermore had less cultural taboos or boundaries. As a result of these influences there evolved a culture in which it was acceptable for tango to be danced in the streets. Hence even before tango was danced between men, we can imagine a culture where it was quite common for couples to dance out in the open. In fact a very specific style called Tango Orillero, evolved from outdoor suburban tango dancing.

Another of the reasons for men dancing tango with men is that tango was considered immoral by the Argentinian upper class and authorities. So much so that there was a formal initiative to close all cafes and ban tango music from being played on the streets. In 1916 a law was passed in Buenos Aires that banned dancing between men in dance establishments. An attempt was made to slowly eradicate it from Argentina, and there’s an account in 1919 by Joaquin Belda, who during his 6 months visit to Buenos Aires, wrote that most of the cafes were either closed or empty. This of course resulted in further reduced access to couples dancing tango, so to dance tango, men ended dancing with each other.

Another key reason is probably the lack of females and catholic morality in the early 1900′s. Most men in the lower classes were immigrants who came to Argentina from mainly impoverished areas in Italy and Spain.
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Featured are the world-renowned tango dancers "Los Hermanos Macana" The twenty-some Argentine brothers Enrique and Guillermo De Fazio have become the famous dance couple: “Los Hermanos Macana.” They are known worldwide for their breathtaking and witty tango interpretations. With their two-man shows they thrill audiences from the Americas, Europe and Australia.

Special thanks: Josep Antoni Lahoz for dance video. See more at :: http://www.youtube.com/user/pepetantonet
Music: Reliquias Porteñas – Francisco Canaro

Enjoy the show,
Leo

Tango Predator

When I first listened to this music, it touched me in such a way that compelled me to produce this piece. The rhythmic nature, constant variation and counterpoint of violin versus bandoneon, makes this creation by Astor (The Master) Piazzolla a great example of tango and classical fusion.

To represent the sensuality, heat and desire projected by the music, I chose to use a large amount of paintings, blended with Astor’s orchestra and real tango dancers. At times they are superimposed and counterpointing, as the music does with the instruments.

I hope you enjoy this creation, whether or not you’re a tango fan, since it’s more of a classical composition.
Leo

~Music: Escualo (Shark) by Astor Piazzolla

~Paintings: R Young; Juarez Machado; Pol Ledent; Virgil Stevens

Tango a la Loca

Continuing with the series of tangos, this piece features Juan D’Arienzo and his Orchestra playing “Loca” from a 1970′s Argentinian TV program. Together with superb dancing and great photography by Graciela Pierre (see credits) this production came together smoothly. The challenge was to synchronize the music (re-sampled) with the video portions and the dance. After a few failures and out of sync renderings, it all came together. I’ve tried to construct this piece in the same style of the band beat leading the dancers and using the power of the 2-4 beat to accentuate and cut the scenes.
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Juan D’Arienzo is known as “El Rey del Compás” (King of the Beat). Departing from other orchestras of the golden age, D’Arienzo returned to the 2-4 feel that characterized music of the old guard, but he used more modern arrangements and instrumentation. His popular group produced hundreds of recordings.

In 1949 D’Arienzo said: “From my point of view, tango is, above all, rhythm, nerve, strength and character. Early tango, that of the old stream (guardia vieja), had all that, and we must try not to ever lose it. Because we forgot that, Argentine tango entered into a crisis some years ago. Putting aside modesty, I did all was possible to make it reappear. Furthermore, I tried to rescue for tango music its masculine strength, which it had been losing through successive circumstances. In that way in my interpretations I stamped the rhythm, the nerve, the strength and the character which distinguished it in the music world and which it had been losing for the above reasons. Luckily, that crisis was temporary, and today tango has been re-established, our tango, with the vitality of its best times. My major pride is to have contributed to that renaissance of our popular music.”

D’Arienzo, at the end of his career, dug-in his own style; of course, without knowing it and without even thinking of it. People saw him making faces in front of the musicians and the singers; they saw him with fondness, there was something of nostalgia and something of mockery. Of course, the orchestra beat was leading the dancers’ feet. And the dancers’ feet still follow the beat when D’Arienzo´s records are played back and his figure keeps on raising a great fondness.
(Some excerpts from TodoTango.com; Wikipedia.com)

I hope you enjoy my interpretation of the “King of the Beat” and his band playing “Loca”.
Leo

Tango neoclasico

Just some great modern classical music by the master of new tango, Libertango by Astor Piazzolla.
I just had to do it! Been thinking for more than a year, and finally did it!
Enjoy,
Leo

Tango Pa’ Bailar III

This is a modern tango you probably have heard in many settings, including if I’m not mistaken, in car commercials. The rythm is so contagious and mesmerizing that I had to build a tango video around it.
I kept it dark in tonality on purpose, since I believe it has dark overtones.
Mixed and edited an outside night concert video with a live dancing performance and photographs of common people dancing tango, together with art and paintings.
Hope you enjoy watching this different take on a tango.
Leo.
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Photography all @ Flickr.com:
Graciela Pierre; Vince Alongi; RSepulveda
Animation: Leo Bar

Tango a las Patadas

As I started crafting this video a couple of things came to mind. First, keep it simple, and second, make it fun. The whole premise of this milonga is to make fun and/or joke about a bunch of a guys from the neighborhood who go to a dance hall to meet up with girls and have a good time. Instead they end up getting in trouble, fight and other mischief.

So I kept it relatively fluid, not too many fancy moves or animations and instead injected some images that go (dance) along with the gist and humor of the lyrics.

You can see the video at :: http://www.vimeo.com/9175824

Elements used in this production are:

• Photography (all @ www.Flickr.com)
  • Xomiele
  • Gimmenine - Alberto Concejal
  • RoBeE
• Music: Un Baile de Beneficio by Gotan Project
• Art, Graphics and Paintings by Leo Bar

Enjoy the show,

Pix In Motion – Creative Imagining

by Leo Bar

Tango Complicado

With excelent photography of my good internet friends Cris Fer and Marcelo Romeo Photography, from Buenos Aires, I started developing this montage. The music, Epoca by Gotan Project, was so special that it lent itself for a lot of interpretation and historical retrospective.  So I went for it, and included chapters of a tragic war (that shouldn’t have ocurred), a deflation and financial disaster (that was waiting to happen) and a few other chaotic events in the past of Argentinians. Together with some local flavor images and sensual poses, this piece has a lot of moving pieces which I tried to tie into a cohesive story. The song addresses (vaguely) to events in the past, so I felt free to give it my own interpretation. Besides this, I liked the beat, tempo and flow of the music, which guided me with some striking images to put together a different type of tango, than what I did in the past. I Included also some mattes and treatments to the dance sequences to surround it in as if in another era (and mystery). See the video at: http://www.vimeo.com/7624403 Hope you enjoy it… Pix In Motion Leo Bar