Adrian Veredice: "The ideas of the older
maestros can make our development toward new concepts and
technique possible. Without this knowledge distortion is
produced. For a dancer it is absolutely necessary to have
a field of experimentation of new music and movements,
but the structure of this type of elements must produce
tango and not other things such us salsa, rock or
hip-hop. I feel that the older maestros cannot dance like
young dancers and the same occurs to young dancers,
because they belong to different generations and they
receive different stimulus. New tango does not change
traditional tango or vice versa, on the contrary they
enhance each other".
Adrian Veredice & Alejandra Hobert
are surely one of the most charismatic dancing couple of
the Argentinean new generation. The great diversity of
their artistic education lead them to the development of
a very personal style where its homogeneity, its
simplicity and its unique elegance has rapidly build
their reputation and made them became a reference in the
tangueros' world. Accompanied by the Sexteto Mayor,
or Color Tango, Canyengue sexteto or Tanguisimo of whom
they are the official dancers, Adrian & Alejandra
give the milonguera essence throughout the world, dancing
at London, Chicago, Florence, Aspen, Istanbul, Rio,
Denver, Sofia, Paris, Athens, Munich, Tinos (Greece)
various cities in Belgium, Amsterdam and of course Buenos
Aires, where they had the honour to lead the prestigious
closing ceremony of the International Congress of the
Argentinean Tango. As star dancers of the Otango show,
Adrian & Alejandra have also directed the group
choreography.
Otango
website
OTango, movies:
Otango
80 megabyte trailer with singer and all
dancers (Quicktime)
Adrian & Alejandra dance on 'Canaro
en Paris' (WMV
file)
Adrian Veredice & Alejandra
Hobert had their first appearance in the Netherlands
at the Don Tango Festival Amsterdam, in May 2005, as
proposed and prepared by Torito
Event. Now Zandunga
Productions booked them for the yearly december
Tangomagia
Festival, edition 8.
Adrian Veredice & Alejandra
Hobert, website
www.adrianyalejandra.com
In the light of Adrian & Alejandra being invited for
the Tangomagia
Festival 8, Mirella
Colauto had an interview with the couple for
Torito.nl/Agenda
You perform in the
new tango show 'Otango', the content of the show is about
poor immigrants who arrive in Buenos Aires, with loss of
dreams, gathering together in milongas. You are probably
the third, fourth generation of these
immigrants.
How important is
this nostalgic memory for your identity as a tango dancer
of the new generation?
Alejandra: In my case, I'm the
third generation of German immigrants
through my father's line. Spanish and Italian through my
mother?s line. I really don't know whether my
grandparents did dance tango or not because when I was
born they were already dead with the exception of my
mother's mother who brought me up and who was a pianist.
My parents were murdered
by Argentine army officials
during the military process (Redactie: Proceso
de Reorganización
Nacional). They were the
generation without tango. Many were Montoneros,
like my parents, and they represented the opposition to
the military power. I feel that my own history is in fact
influenced by that nostalgia which is reflected in the
music and in tango movements.
Do you make your
foreign students aware that nostalgia is an important
essence of tango, of as an expression of
tango?
Alejandra: Almost all Tango
music produces nostalgia with its lyrics
and melodies. I think a good dancer is a good interpreter
In this case it is important to feel the nostalgia and
then reflect it when dancing. Besides, it is difficult
for a foreigner to interpret the essence of the nostalgia
of a different culture. They will be able to do it from
their own nostalgia.
Adrian: Like in Alejandra's
case, my parents did not dance tango either. Maybe when
they were young the music world was being invaded by Rock
music. The influence came through my grandparents and
their generation. Their parents had been originally from
Italy and Poland.
Adrian, can you
seduce your parents to visit a milonga, or start to dance
too?
Adrian: They love to listen and
see tango music and performances. Sometimes I danced with
my family basic tango in family gatherings, but it was
informally because they don't usually enjoy going to
milongas. Of course, they feel proud of everything I do
about tango.
You studied among
others with Mingo
& Esther
Pugliese,
Nito
&
Elba.
Can you imagine some ideas of this generation will not
survive the development of modern (nuevo) tango?
Alejandra: By the hand of the
older maestros we could learn all and even more than what
they wanted to teach us. And this experience could help
us develop our own vocabulary. For me, the movements are
orally transmitted. I feel it is better when we go back
to the sources.
Adrian: They taught us the
essence, the tango embrace, and how to walk on the dance
floor. The patience and above all respect for the others.
The ideas of the older maestros can make our development
toward new concepts and technique possible. Without this
knowledge distortion is produced. For a dancer it is
absolutely necessary to have a field of experimentation
of new music and movements, but the structure of this
type of elements must produce tango and not other things
such us salsa, rock or hip-hop. I feel that the older
maestros cannot dance like young dancers and the same
occurs to young dancers, because they belong to different
generations and they receive different stimuli. New tango
does not change traditional tango or vice versa, on the
contrary they enhance each other.
Adrian, as many
maestros you mention Gustavo Naveira as the teacher you
learned the most. What was his influence in your
development?
Adrian: I think that
Gustavo
Naveira and Giselle Anne
provided us with many pedagogic tools for our
professional development. They, as maestros and dancers,
are creative models to be followed. Gustavo Naveira and
Giselle Anne can be mentioned also as generous teachers.
Not every maestro is born generous.
Should every
maestro take generosity as a serious skill to
teach?
Adrian: Sometimes it is not
only a question of generosity but of having their own
appropriate pedagogy. We try to teach foreign students in
the same way we would like to learn: step by step,
starting with an exercise so that it will be possible to
build the completion of as sequence.
Alejandra, what is
your best experience with a maestro or maestra you
learned the most?
Alejandra: I would like to
mention Alejandra
Arrue as my great maestra and
friend.
Can you perform
tango on stage without teaching pupils or is teaching
connected with performing?
Alejandra: Normally on
festivals and stages all couples teach and dance. This is
a fixed working rule. I try to enjoy both aspects in the
same way and take advantage from those two activities.
Can you imagine a
day that you don't enjoy it anymore?
Adrian: Not really, but if that
ever happened I would stop dancing. But besides festivals
and stages. and dancing in shows with the Otango company
we are also choreographers there.
Alejandra: In fact, not
everything is perfect, as in other professions. But the
advantage is that dancing is my profession and my hobby
at the same time and at this moment it is my life style.
If sometime in the future I find out that I am not
enjoying it anymore I will not continue to dance.
How important are
the codes of the milongueros for you to teach them to
your pupils?
Alejandra: Beginners need to
know everything about tango to become part of the Tango
World. They need to know more than movements to dance.
Do you mention this
to your foreign students?
Alejandra: There is a
difference as regards the length of time we share with
our foreign students. During festivals it is difficult to
do further things other than tango lessons. So we use
this time to show them our style and pedagogy. With our
regular students with whom we have been working for four
or five months a year since five years ago, we teach them
the rules, codes and everything they are interested
in.
But do you give
your foreign students more content about codes, history,
social context?
Adrian: I try to do it. But
during tango lessons our mission is to teach dancing. If
a student asks us something in particular about rules,
codes or social context we give him/her our opinion. To
have contact with these characteristics, it is very
important to visit Argentine places, milongas
and see the way of dance of older
milongueros.
Is there is a
typical 'Argentine musicality' to dance tango that
differs from the musicality of Europeans or
North-Americans?
Alejandra: I would not say that
there is a typical 'Argentine musicality'. In my opinion
each dancer stands out for their own musicality. There
are other peculiarities that characterize argentine
dancers, such us: the embrace. The safer the dancer feels
to lead, which is achieved through years of dancing, the
less he will feel the need of executing great numbers of
elaborate movements.
It seems that you
both like to dance on music with lyrics. Are lyrics
important for you?
Adrian: Though written quite a
long time ago, the lyrics
of tango are usually up to
date. Discepolo, among other tango composers, was able to
express about facts of life that are everlasting. Several
years ago foreign dancers used to dance only the most
famous tangos; such us La Cumparsita, Libertango or El
Choclo. Later on they gradually started to understand
more and more the music of the city of Buenos Aires, what
in fact is dance in milongas and more orchestras. This
increased the musical culture of European and American
dancers. I feel that the foreign dancers who speak the
Spanish language have more affinity with sung tangos than
those who don't understand the meaning of lyrics.
Alejandra: I love to dance on
sung tangos. I enjoy their lyrics, the stories they tell
add visual elements to the music I dance.
Can you mention a
movie, documentary, a book that inspired in your work, in
developing as a tango performer, or teacher?
Alejandra: I was deeply
impressed by a stage Show on Corrientes Avenue in BA.
There the performers were Miguel Angel Zotto and Milena
Plebs in Perfumes
de Tango.
Adrian: the most important is
to be in Buenos Aires and live together with the tango.
So, you want us all
to move Buenos Aires? Are you sure...?
Adrian: The meaning of my
answer was that the experience of living in BA is very
important for foreign dancers. Maybe fifteen days or ten
or twenty. I know that many people don't have this
possibility, so they have a lot of opportunity to have
contact with Argentine teachers, musicians, and a lot of
materials such us books to read, for example:
'Errante en la sombra' by
Federico Andahazi (Ed. Alfaguara). Fiction.
'Discepolo' by Horacio Ferrer (Ed.Sudamericana).
Life of Discepolo.
'Piazzolla' By M.S. Azzi and S. Collier (Ed. El
Ateneo). Life of Piazzolla.
Also the film 'Sur' by Pino
Solanas.
