May 11
12
Interview with Ney Melo – Part 2
PDF AM. You are known as a salon Villa Urquiza Dancer. What drew you to choose this Style?
N.M. The salon Villa Urquiza style is a very elegant style that gives a lot of space for the woman to adorn. I think Jennifer’s footwork technique puts her among the best female tango dancers in the world. It would have been a waste for me to throw her around and place her in these awkward positions for tango nuevo steps and not let her adorn to the music. Another thing that drew me to the style was that it filled a 
void that existed in tango in the US at the time.
When I started dancing in NYC, there were only 3 styles that the young people were dancing at the milongas: the Susanna Miller “milonguero style”, Tango Nuevo, or an ugly hybrid of the the two. “Tango Salon” was taught in the dance studios by Argentines who used to be classical ballet, contemporary dance, or stage show dancers and it resembled
tango for the stage. So the thinking was that if you were studying tango salon, it was because you were aspiring to get into Forever Tango or something like that. Furthermore, if one took a step back and looked at the US as whole, Americans would further classify Tango as either “open embrace” or “close embrace”. You basically had to choose one or the other. Although the nuevo dancers would talk about a flexible embrace, when they actually danced “close”, it didn’t look right, it didn’t look “tango”. So I chose to dance close-embrace, milonguero style.
Dancing milonguero style was great at first but eventually I felt that there was something missing in my musicality, in my movement, and even in my embrace. Then I went to Buenos Aires in 2003. I took classes with everyone: Chicho, DNI, Julio y Corina, Tete, and Mingo Pugliese among others. They were all excellent teachers and I learned a lot but it still wasn’t complete for me.
One Tuesday night, I saw Javier Rodriguez at Porteno y Bailarin and I was blown away. He wasn’t teaching in Buenos Aires at that time, so I asked friends about where to learn to dance like that. Someone told me that Javier is “re Villa Urquiza” and that I should go to Sunderland if I want to see more. When I went to Sunderland that Saturday night, it was like all the pieces fell into place. I saw the role models of how I wanted to dance when I grew up: I saw El Chino Perico, Carlitos y Rosa Perez, and many others. In addition to the Saturday night milonga, I started going to the Sunderland practica on Monday and Wednesday nights. This practica was great: for the first hour, all everyone did was practice their walk, afterwards everyone would just dance and Carlos Perez would come over and correct you.
Then I saw Jorge Dispari and Marita’s ad for “Tango de Salon al Estilo de Villa Urquiza” in El Tangauta. (Jorge and Marita are the parents of Geraldine Rojas and Samantha Dispari, and they also taught Javier Rodriguez.) I started going to those classes as well. From the Sunderland practica, from Jorge and Marita’s classes, and especially from Javier Rodriguez’s guidance, my tango started taking shape.
So “Villa Urquiza style” was the tango salon taught to me and Jennifer by Javier Rodriguez, los Disparis, Carlos Perez, and influenced by El Chino Perico and the past milongueros of Sunderland and Sin Rumbo. Their style of tango, their “Villa Urquiza style” had a noticeable aesthetic and musicality that we wanted to incorporate into our dancing.
After studying this style and practicing for months, we returned to New York City and I remember being very nervous before our first performance. You must understand that, at this time, all the young dancers were dancing nuevo or show. Everyone was going in one direction and I had a crazy dream of going the other direction: I wanted Ney & Jennifer performances to consist of elegant walking and turning in a nice embrace; the social tango that we enjoyed dancing with each other in Buenos Aires. We started performing this and it was a success because it was different and it was good.
Young dancers think that they are being rebellious when they do crazy steps to nuevo music. They are not being rebellious because this is what EVERYONE is doing. If you want to be a rebel, then put on a nice suit, and just walk, turn, and pause with your partner for one performance. I can assure you that, at first, it is the most nerve wracking thing that you will do because every fiber of your body will say “move faster, do something crazy!” but once you finish the tango, you will feel great because you will know that you have done something that really took guts. And furthermore, the people who really know tango, the connoisseurs, will appreciate it. Soon everyone else will notice and…well that is how we can start to change the madness that is happening in US Tango.
A.M. You have travelled to many places around the world… Which country/ city have you visited to teach tango was the most “enjoyable” for you as a teacher and professional tango performer?
N.M. I love teaching and performing in Florence, Italy. I love the beauty and the energy of the city and I also learn a lot from Patricia & Matteo. Patricia & Matteo are one of my role models for a tango couple because of the way they dance but also because they are true tango professionals. They have one of the biggest schools in Italy, one of the biggest festivals in Europe, are constantly in demand for workshops around the world, and it has been this way for over 10 years. It is a talent to be financially successful in an artistic endeavor and to be able to do it consistently year after year.
I see all the behind the scenes work that they do and it is astounding. They arrive at the studio office at 10am and work straight through until the night; a day that includes teaching, creating choreographies, going to the gym, and administrative tasks. People like this raise the standard of what is a “professional” in tango.
A.M. Comparing the many tango communities that you have met here in the US and abroad, is the level of tango comparable?
N.M. The US has a nice and friendly tango atmosphere. I love to go out dancing in different cities in the US. But I will be frank: the level of tango is better abroad, even if you just travel a few hours to Montreal, you can see the difference. The foundation of the way they dance tango is from Tango Salon. Whether it veers off to more Nuevo, or more apilado, one can still recognize the Tango Salon in the dance. I am not sure where the style that Americans dance came from. Americans don’t interpret the dance with their feet but with their bodies; they don’t place importance on their footwork. Also, they usually dance with alot of flexion, they take huge steps, and they do some funky wiggle with their bodies. The men don’t really embrace (they don’t give their chest and they don’t hold you with their arms) and the women don’t adorn. And to top it off, the musicality! It is very literal (no one dances the mood of the music) and it is very whimsical (they interpret things in a way that is almost comedic, there is no gravitas in their dance). Anyone that has spent a long time in Buenos Aires or in Europe and then comes back to dance in the US will tell you that it is a big shock to the system!
I was once hanging out at the studio of a well-known tango couple from Buenos Aires (who dance a very modern/tango nuevo type of tango). We were looking at the teacher performances from a large festival here in the US. They looked at me afterward and asked “Y que es esto?”. Americans have become too nuevo even for the BsAs dancers who dance nuevo! Perhaps we are uber-nuevo?!
Why is this? One reason is that American tango dancers take classes from teachers with different techniques and and then try to include everything in their dance. I say “If you try to be everything, in the end, you are nothing”. You cannot mix technique. If I want to dance like a certain teacher, then I will take classes from that teacher and do EVERYTHING that they do. I will copy everything about their dance and stick with their technique for a long time.
Another reason is that good tango teachers who teach social tango make more money abroad. Therefore, all the Argentine teachers go to Europe and the US dancers that get recognized enough, eventually just go to Europe and mainly work there. I know tango couples that have more work than they can handle in Europe but then go to the US and have to fight for every dime. Why don’t Americans support their local teachers? I think Americans still have a bias against either non-Argentines or non-Champions who teach Argentine tango and they also, many times, don’t know the difference between show tango and tango de salon. This is a recipe for disaster. This allows for Argentines who don’t know how to dance to just claim “I am Argentine!” and start teaching badly, or for a couple that claims that they were Tango Champions in “such and such years” to get a following of students.
That being said, things are getting better here in the US. There are organizers that strictly promote tango salon and there is a new
generation of Tango Salon dancers, especially in Los Angeles, that are starting to change things.
A.M. As a tango teacher or a dancer, who inspired you the most?
N.M. Javier Rodriguez inspired me the most as a dancer and teacher. He helped us not only with technique but with the aesthetic of the dance. He always inspires me and I learn something every time I am able to take his class again. I also like what Sebastian Misse & Andrea Reyero do.
To Be Continued…
For more information about Ney’s teaching, go to : www.studiotangovida.com
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