Tango Stories

Tango Stories Episode 15 -- Aired October 24, 2018

Tango and the Parkway Dances of the 1920’s

Guest: Association for Public Art

Episode 15 aired on October 24, 2018 and featured an interview with Penny Balkin Bach, Executive Director of the Association for Public Art in Philadelphia and Caitlin Martin, Media and Communications Director for the same organization. As part of the Parkway 100 celebration of the 100th birthday of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, we talked about the huge parkway dances that took place throughout the 1920s, including a tango dance with about 10,000 attendees on July 24, 1924. After the interview, we listened to a selection of music featuring pianists Pablo Estigarribia & Emiliano Messiez.

Websites mentioned in this episode:

• https://www.museumwithoutwallsaudio.org

Links to the Musical Examples in this episode:

1. "La Vuelta de Rocha" - Francisco Canaro

Tango Stories Episode 14 -- Aired October 17, 2018

Guest: Agustin Venturino & Natalia Aguero

Episode 14 featured Agustin Venturino & Natalia Aguero, my co-organizers for Tango Experience 2019, a guided trip to Buenos Aires & La Plata, Argentina in April 2019. For more information about their upcoming workshops, refer to their website nataliayagustin.com (www.nyatango.com).

Links to the Musical Examples in this episode:

1. "Una Noche De Garufa" - Orquesta Típica Tanturi

Tango Stories Episode 13 -- Aired October 10, 2018

Guest: Mario Ferraro & Marcela Trapé

Episode 13 of Tango Stories aired on October 10, 2018 and featured tango dancers, choreographers and teachers from Buenos Aires, Mario Ferraro & Marcela Trapé. They were in Philadelphia leading workshops and performing for the Philly Philly mini tango festival September 21-23, 2018. In addition to traditional workshops, Marcela specializes in teaching a "Body Awareness Method". Mario currently teaches and lives in New Orleans, LA. This episode is in Spanish. 

Links to the Musical Examples in this episode:

1. "Bahia Blanca" - Carlos Di Sarli

Tango Stories Episode 12 -- Aired September 22, 2018

Guest: El Cachivache

Episode 12 of Tango Stories was recorded live at the Lithuanian Music Hall on Saturday, September 22, 2018, shortly before El Cachivache gave an absolutely amazing live concert / milonga at the Philly Philly Tango Mini-Fest. 

Music, videos, concert tours and additional information about the band can be found on their website: elcachivache.info

Links to the Musical Examples in this episode:

1. "Montan" - El Cachivache

Tango Stories Episode 11 -- Aired September 19, 2018

Guest: Andrés Amarilla on Julio De Caro

Andrés Amarilla returned to Tango Stories for Episode 11 on September 19, 2018 for a show about the importance of Julio De Caro as a musician, composer, orchestra leader, and theorist about how to write and arrange tangos. De Caro’s dedication is hard to match. You call yourself a tango lover, but have you been kicked out of your parents’ house over it?

Links to the Musical Examples in this episode:

1. "El Monito" - Julio De Caro

Tango Stories Episode 10 -- Aired September 12, 2018

Guest: Andrés Amarilla

Episode 10 of Tango Stories aired on September 12, 2018 and featured an interview with Andrés Amarilla. Andrés started dancing tango in 1987, when he was 11 years old, and had the amazing good fortune to study with and perform in the dance companies of Juan Carlos Copes, Gustavo Naveira and Rodolfo Dinzel; all before his 18th birthday. He has personally witnessed most of the modern history of tango and the remarkable resurgence that has taken place in tango as a social dance and living art form over the past 30+ years.

Links to the Musical Examples in this episode:

1. "A La Gran Muñeca" - Carlos Di Sarli

Episode 9 aired on September 5, 2018 and featured Tango Superwoman, Veronika Kruta, who dances, teaches, DJs, and organizes tango events. I interviewed Veronika by phone from her home in San Francisco (which led to some internet connection lapses - ah well!). We talked about the upcoming tour that she is organizing for El Cachivache Tango Quintet, and her Buena Onda Tango Immersion.

Links to the Musical Examples in this episode:

1. "Pocas Palabras" - Ricardo Tanturi y su Orquesta Típica with Alberto Castillo

Tango Stories Episode 8 -- Aired August 29, 2018

Guest: Amy Yang

Episode 8 aired on August 29, 2018 and featured Amy Yang; a dancer, teacher and family therapist who has been involved with the Philadelphia Argentine Tango School nearly since its inception. A beautiful tango follower and leader, Amy has taught group & private lessons, helped run innumerable small and large events and makes gorgeous tango clothes as well. In this episode, she talks about “active listening” as both a tool in family therapy and a communication method that everyone can use. We look at how similar “active listening” is to lead-and-follow communication in tango improvisation.

Links to the Musical Examples in this episode:

1. "Tres Esquinas" - Angel D’Agostino & Angel Vargas

Javier Antar & Kara Wenham performing to Buscándote at the 2013 Philadelphia Tango Festival

Tango Stories Episode 7 -- Aired August 22, 2018

Guest: Octavio Fernandez & Carla Marano 

Episode 7 aired on August 22, 2018 and featured Octavio Fernandez & Carla Marano, who stopped by USALA during their month-long residency at the Philadelphia Argentine Tango School. They talk about growing up around their tango-loving grandparents in Buenos Aires; how they started to dance, and then teach, tango and their joint teaching project, La Propuesta. They also provide an introduction to lunfardo (the slang in which tangos are written).

Note: This episode is in both English and Spanish.

Links to the Musical Examples in this episode:

1. "Nocturna a mi Barrio" - Anibal Troilo

Tango Stories Episode 55 -- Aired February 12, 2020

Guest: Bassem Youssef

Episode 55 aired on February 12, 2020 and featured Bassem Youssef, an Egyptian comedian, writer, producer, media critic, actor, surgeon, physician and tango dancer. He was television host of the show El-Bernameg, a satirical news program, from 2011 to 2014. He is author of the book Revolution for Dummies: Laughing Through the Arab Spring and subject of the documentary Tickling Giants. In 2013, he was named “one of the 100 most influential people in the world” by Time Magazine. 

Bassem will be appearing in a stand up comedy one man show in Philadelphia on February 28th and 29th, 2020 at the Punch Line Philly. For other performance tour dates subscribe to @bassem on Instagram. 

For more about his educational work regarding a plant based diet: https://www.plantb.tv

Links to the Musical Examples in this episode:

1."Sur o No Sur" - Kevin Johansen

2."No Está" - Carlos Di Sarli & Alberto Podesta