BY ELKE WAKEFIELD
Takes two to tango?
More like 12: three or four violins, a viola, a cello, three or four bandoneones, a piano and a double bass.
That’s the composition of an orquesta típica, or traditional Argentine tango orchestra.
It is the típica that is responsible for the sensual, suspenseful music that drives the beloved dance. And the típica that has produced some of the most brilliant musicians of the 20th Century.
Think Astor Piazzolla, who wrote the sultry, striding masterpiece Libertango. He cut his teeth in the orquesta típica of tango legend, Aníbal Troilo, before experimenting with his own típica, the 1946 Orchestra.
Sounds very Argentinian – except it’s not.
La Academia Tango Club, Argentina’s biggest school of tango, is putting down roots in Australia, and has chosen Melbourne as its home base. Expect authentic tango music that is elegant and inspiring (and fishnet-stocking-free.)
They’re also planning to make Melbourne music history by founding the city’s first ever orquesta típica: Melbourne Tango Orchestra.
For lovers of tango – the music and the dance – or anyone who appreciates quality music, it is a unique opportunity to enjoy authentic tango. This is the real deal: expect blood, sweat, and plenty of marcato.
The directors of the academy – world-class bandoneonista Rodolfo Roballos, and classical violinist-turned-tanguera Soledad Grigera – are currently in Melbourne hosting a two-week intensive tango music workshop. Twenty professional musicians have signed up to learn the secrets of the genre; some have come from as far afield as South Korea.
The workshop will form the basis for the new típica that will perform over the coming months.
My partner, a bandoneon player involved in the workshop, put me in touch with Rodolfo and Soledad to talk about their plans for the orchestra.
“We’re very excited to be in Melbourne,” Rodolfo says. He’s a master of tango’s emblematic instrument, the achingly complex bandoneon or ‘tango accordion’.
“It feels like the perfect place to open our first international base.”
Why? He points mainly to the appetite for quality world music in Australia, the abundance of professional and semi-professional musicians looking to try new things, and the popularity of tango throughout Asia; particularly China and Japan.
But he’s also interested in the historical resonances between Argentina and Australia.
“Melbourne is a little like Buenos Aires at the turn of the century. There are a lot of immigrants who have come here for a better life,” he says.
“The city is growing rapidly and there’s a mix of cultures. These dynamics helped forge tango, which was born of the mix between African rhythms and European classical music.”
Locals are enthused to learn more about the famously rich and complicated genre, which sounds a little like Mozart on hash and habanero peppers. Says workshop participant Amy Lynch, the pianist and accordionist for Melbourne tango outfit La Busca: “It’s an extremely valuable experience, as we do not have many tango musicians and teachers of this calibre in Australia”.
Rodolfo and Soledad are certainly well placed to introduce local musicians to the yeites, or ‘tricks’, of tango. As founders, directors and conductors of La Academia Tango Club, they spend their lives playing and teaching tango.
More of a movement than a school, La Academia Tango Club is comprised of more than 120 musicians and eight orquesta típica, including an all-guitar orchestra. It has quickly become the foremost tango music space in the world, with new players and orchestras added every year.
Only five years old, the school has just concluded recording its first album, with financing from as far afield as Portland, Oregon. Melbourne is just the next stop on the school’s plans for world domination.
“There’s an expression we use, soldado de tango, which means ‘tango soldier’. That’s how we see ourselves,” says Rodolfo. “We are completely and totally committed to tango.”
For Soledad, who delights in teaching after a lifetime of performing, La Academia Tango Club will offer local musicians something unique.
“Joining a típica is a good opportunity for them to improve their skills in an extremely rigorous professional environment but also to make contacts and find joy in music. Using the MTO as a springboard, they can also start their own endeavours, whether that be a duo or a sextet.”
Típicas are a little different to ordinary orchestras. Musicians practice in a hothouse environment of apprenticeship and camaraderie. Musical excellence is foregrounded but so too is friendship and collaboration. On the weekends, members perform music from greats like Osvaldo Pugliese, Astor Piazzolla, Anibal Troilo, and Juan D’Arienzo in milongas (tango dance studios) and concert halls. Afterwards, they stick around for the whisky and fun. It’s a little like if a classical orchestra adopted [some] of the ethos of the Rolling Stones.
The plan now is for the típica to become permanent and for the workshops to repeat. With time, Rodolfo and Soledad also hope to add new orchestras, organise music exchanges between Buenos Aires and Melbourne, and tour overseas.
In the interim, they’ll be performing at a range of venues across Melbourne. They’re also joining forces with recently revamped dance studio Tango Esencia to host milongas, or tango dance nights. Two Buenos-Aires based members of the school, Monono V.H. and Luciano Nobati, have also flown in to perform with local musician Andrea Katz at the Frankston Street Fiesta in March.
“We are ambitious”, says Rodolfo. “But why shouldn’t we be? Tango started in a tiny place – Buenos Aires and Uruguay – but became popular in all the world.”
Learn more about La Academia Tango Club on the website, and follow on Facebook to keep up to date.
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