Paris was related to the development of Argentine tango from the very
beginning.
This city was considered to be the cultural center of the world at the time
when tango was developing.
Many Argentinean families considered it necessary to send their children to
Paris to complete their education. It was precisely those young Argentineans
that took tango to the French capital at the beginning of the twentieth
century. From there tango irradiated to the rest of the world.
The history repeated exactly twenty years ago, November of 1983, the
Parisian Theater of Chatelet initiated an unique phenomenon in the history
of popular culture: the rebirth of tango.
Choreographer Claudio Segovia and designer Hector Orezzolli dared to gather
musicians, singers and dancers at a time when tango had been almost
forgotten and created the musical "Tango Argentino".
To their astonishment the musical became a great theatrical success.
Horacio Salgan, Juan Carlos Copes, Maria Nieves, Sexteto Mayor, Virulazo y
Elvira, Roberto Goyeneche, Miguel Zotto y Milena Plebs, and many others took
part in this extraordinary success. Jovita Luna with her great experience in
scene was the singer that captivated the audience of journalists,
photographers and critics on the first night.
The following day "Tango Argentino" was in the cover of Liberation, Le
Matin and Le Monde.
Tickets were sold out and despite the snow people waited patiently in long
lines to enter the theater. The following year, the show went to Venice,
and then on to Broadway. Success for "Tango Argentino" stretched over the
next decade, generating spin-offs and imitators reviving the moribund genre.
Today like in the 1940s. the porteños, those from the capital city of
Buenos Aires, the cradle of tango, the same as many people from all over
the world from Alaska to Singapore carry on this love affair, with passion.
In cafes, hotels, clubs, restaurants, parks and plazas, one can again hear
see and feel the tango: the sob of the bandoneón, the whispers of lunfardo,
and the sleek bodies in sexy attire. - Sergio Suppa
