Monday 11 January 2010

Tete: just a bit more...

Jantango has just posted her response to the recent death of Tete: it consists of a quote from the open letter to the tango community that he wrote four years ago, making very clear his views on tango and how it is taught. She also includes a link to a video of Tete's last performance with Sylvia, at Salon Canning ten days before his death – and also a link to a video of Tete's nephew, Adrian Rusconi, dancing with Mirta Tiseyra at Maipu 444, just a few days ago, just a few days after Tete's death, as a tribute.

I find this extraordinary. I watched this guy dancing several evenings in December without knowing who he was, as I know nothing about Tete's family, and I was really astonished by him. In Europe it's not so unusual to see big guys who are amazingly light and sure on their feet, but watching this I can see the apparently reckless 'sin miedo' energy of Tete, the speed and certainty of foot to carry it off, the same grounded walk, that same delight in dancing, that same incredibly precise musicality. The dance just seems to pour out of him. & when I was watching him on a crowded floor he still managed to dance with a lot of this energy and delight without getting in anyone's way. Sadly it seems to be the only video of him at present, but it's enough to show that tango carries on, even when the older dancers are no longer there.

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