CHICHOФ FRUMBOLI IN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

CHICHOФ FRUMBOLI IN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

We call symmetry the notion that what we can do on one side, we can do on the other.
WITH CARLOS BEVILACQUA

Many of his colleagues consider him the most original dancer of the present day. In his shows he seems to enlarge the catalogue of possible movements, squeezing to the maximum Gustavo NaveiraТs principles. Now settled in France, Mariano УChichoФ Frumboli is admired almost unanimously for his creativity. In one of his visits to Buenos Aires we had the following dialogue.

How did you come to tango?
In 1994, while I was studying theatre, a classmate invited me to learn with her. I played the drums and preferred rock, so I refused, but as she insisted I finally accepted. Since then, I could never stop dancing.

Why is it that you have never taken part in one of the great tango shows?
It is not something I would like to do. I feel myself closer to the dance floor.

However, your dancing is quite spectacular...
May be, but aesthetics are different. Even involuntary, I think IТve changed tangoТs aesthetics. When I started dancing I just saw students copying their teachers styles. I just felt a little bit more free while dancing. Most of my knowledge comes from the milonga, since I used to practise from Monday to Sunday.

What is the New Tango?
That is my question...

DonТt you know?
(Smiles) First, there is a marketing reason, as it happens with Уthe new tango generationФ idea. On the other hand, I think it is justifiable to consider music rather than dance. Many people link me with electronic tango, for instance, perhaps for the kind of dance I do. But I feel more identification with Troilo, Pugliese and DТArienzo than with e-tango.

Why do you choose such different music in your shows?
We choose music for shows 10 minutes before dancing, according to our mood and the placeТs mood. So we improvise, we donТt follow any previous choreography. I took that from Gustavo (Naveira). Improvisation gives things that cannot be had when you prepare a choreography. Those changes you see in the music are because I think tango should be danced in many different ways and not in just one, as it is danced today. Tango is a very rich form. I am a musician, so I canТt understand dancers that move out of beat. I canТt understand people that dance without any kind of internal life, either.

You mean like moving without feelings?
Yes, the essence has been quite lost. Young people can feel identification with me but it is clear that I dance 100% tango. Some people might not realise that, taking into account my clothes or physical appearance.

How can dance possibilities be multiplied?
I learned all I know about dance structure with Gustavo Naveira. He was the one that found a way to open up tango. The possibilities for creation and evolution of dance are directly related to an absolute comprehension of what happens while we are dancing. In old times, what happened was that the woman had to follow the man as best she could or just received verbal instructions from him. The relation between men and women is now much more a feedback one.

We can also see a lot of playful spirit among dancers.
Yes, but playing can take you to any place. Many of the younger dancers play and search but they sometimes lose the essence.

And which is that essence?
A strong connection between man and woman. In the present day people learn two or three steps and go to dance. I may sound like a fanatic УmilongueroФ but I really think that ritual of dance means things like thinking how to hold a woman, feeling what is her level, how much does she weigh, how she feels, etc. There are many young dancers that do not feel respect for old dancers. We are now here thanks to that people, it is a chain.

In your ads you speak about symmetry and role changes.
Those are concepts that come from times we shared with Gustavo (Naveira) and Fabian (Salas). My experience as a hockey on ice player helped me a lot to understand him. We call symmetry the notion that what we can do on one side, we can do on the other. Everything can be changed, except the hug.

How can you teach improvisation?
We have different elements in tango dance. Taking four of them and combining them in a certain order, you get a sequence. But to be able to play in a free way I must know perfectly those elements.

How social is the tango you teach?
It is as social as the milonga allows. When I go to a place where people dance different from me, I do not do "ganchos", "boleos" or jumps, I adapt to the milonga. And in each milonga space availability changes during the night, too. I teach tango, what you can take from it, is your way. Sometimes my students discover new ways of doing something and I learn from them.

Dancing tango is like being the quintessential Argentine?
Absolutely. It connects you with Argentine history and culture. Dancing tango I travel to times I didnТt live. I guess it is a matter of blood. I think the importance of tango around the world is a social phenomena. In spite of internet and mobile phones, there is a great loneliness and lack of physical communication. Couple dances, and specially tango, are thus quite attractive. The same happens with tango ambience, because in the milonga you feel contenained.

How do you feel entering a milonga?
The milonga has changed a lot. Some years ago, you had to have a certain image, with shirt, suit, shoes. In the present day, fortunately, everyone dresses as they wish. There is also a huge generational gap, both in dance and music, for those three decades in which tango was left aside. ThatТs why in the milonga you can see people 35 or younger and others 65 or older. I think we should try to codify tango in a contemporary way. For example, I have never use the cabeceo to invite to dance, because I just dance with friends but also because I prefer to go to the table.

And are you rejected?
They have rejected me many times.

You once declared that learning tango is harder for American than for European people. Why do you think that happens?
Europe has a more important history and art world. United States is a younger country. However, if they are able to find the deep social and cultural meaning of tango, they will find tango, too.

Where is tango dance going?
I donТt know, it is going somewhere. I like whatТs going on, this search. All this will lead us to an unknown place. I would prefer if it kept tango essence, not producing a hybrid. I would like it evolve keeping the hearts link, related with identity and history.

And where are you going?
I am always going to satisfaction. In my life I tried to do what is pleasant. In the present day the most pleasant thing is to dance, but simultaneously to discover and create.

PERSONAL PING PONG

What do you like to do in your free time?
Making music with my PC and to draw.

Suppose you are walking through a road
that divides into two ways: the first is known
and safe while the second is unknown,
which would you choose?
I would go for a while through the unknown one.

Rhythm or melody?
Both.

Which is your first thought when you wake up each day?
About the time left, and not to lose it.

What is funny for you?
Being with friends. I can also have fun alone watching a Jerry Lewis movie or Alfredo CaseroТs shows.

What is boring?
Wasting the time, so I try not to reach that point.

A movie?
The cook, the thief, the wife and the lover, by Peter Greenaway.

A book?
I like Quino.

River or Boca?
Huracan.

A reason to feel proud?
I am very proud of who I am, though it may sound arrogant. What I am today has a lot of suffering behind.

What would you like to be in the future?
A good father.

ElTangauta April 2005
http://www.eltangauta.com>ed_digital/images/ET%20126%2049%20a%20>56.pdf


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