Carole Edrich Weblog

... more tango, less time

With less than two weeks notice for my trip to Argentina there has been so much to do. With seventeen commissions and more possibilities my four weeks there will be more than full so I'd have much preferred stay in, pack and get some serious writing done before I left. But before knowing I was going I had made commitments to write articles that could only have been researched tonight.

The first piece; an interview with Miguel Angel Zotto for Ballet.co.uk, was to place at the Peacock Theatre in Holborn. While there's no deadline as such, Zotto will have left London with his troupe Tango Por Dos by the time I return, so must be done today. The second article is due tomorrow. It's about Sadler’s Wells Dance Club's Samba Night and was commissioned by Dance Today.

Miguel Angel Zotto preparing for the show
(c) Carole Edrich, 2008

An article published online is accessible to anyone and will be around for quite a long time it needs to be both well written, have a content that is accessible, interesting and won’t age too badly. Because I had interviewed Miguel Angel Zotto before getting it right was more challenging.

Zotto’s personal assistant, Paolo, met me in the lobby about twenty minutes after I had believed the interview would start. This would normally not be a problem but time was short as I had to get to the Sadler's Wells Dance club too. Paolo walked with me into the auditorium where I was surprised to see the troupe still rehearsing on stage. The interview was rescheduled for 6:30pm which left me about 30 minutes to get what I had planned for an hour.

One of the women on stage was familiar, but I’m short sighted and had left my glasses in the car so decided to sit down and wait. As I did so a good-looking, fit, lithe young dancer turned from the stage, said “Hello Carole!” and walked towards me. I recognised him as soon as he was close enough to focus on (I had not been able to recognise his outline because he had cut his hair since we had last met). That provided a link with the tanguera on stage and everything fell into place.

Leandro of TangoSoul told me he was at the theatre to support his partner Romina. They’re great tango dancers and teach regularly in London too. I’ve written about them several times, think they're a lovely couple and enjoy their company immensely.

Romina met Leandro while dancing the female lead to an earlier Tango Por Dos performance. They fell in love in London and she stayed on. After a three month ‘holiday’ back in Buenos Aires, they’re back in the UK teaching and performing around Europe to a rigorous schedule. It turns out that Leandro has other plans too. He’d like to talk to me about a tango magazine he plans to launch this year. That’s really exciting. I’d love to work with them more. If there's time I'll even try to catch some lessons. We’ll talk about it more when I’m back but I plan to start gathering information for pieces for the new magazine during my stay in Buenos Aires.

I hate the clichés into which many dance interviews descend and was determined not to deliver the same sad superficial stuff that I'd found on the internet as part of my preparation. So I took a different tack and asked about the source of Mr Zotto's creativity, how he chose his music and about the new project about which he has been dropping many hints. That worked well and by the end of the interview he had given me the phone number of a friend in Buenos Aires who he said would help me around.

Miguel Angel Zotto and Diaiana Guspero
(c) Carole Edrich, 2008

We did the interview in Zotto's dressing room. Naturally it's the one closest to the stage. Although my Spanish is good enough for interviews I can’t always say things the way I’d prefer so get less no time to think things through. This time Leandro had volunteered to translate. That gave me more time to think and meant the interview had more depth.

I wrapped up just after the 15 minutes warning. Zotto seemed happy that I stay and talk some more but the idea that I might somehow get in the way made me intensely uncomfortable. I also knew I should be leaving for Sadler's Wells Dance Club or I'd miss the lessons' start.

It was great see how it all worked work from inside. The level of organisation required by Zotto, production and troupe was clearly shown by the way he dealt with people on stage and how his dressing room was set up. Show clothes were pressed and neatly aligned and grease paint and cosmetics ready by the mirror. His shoes were clean and shiny, each in its own place, he reached for his dressing gown without thought and way he got ready for the performance spoke volumes about the man himself and way he dealt with his troupe.

On the way out it was thrilling to discover that the hall was already full. I've been backstage at the Peacock before as performer, journalist and guest but as I had arrived earlier by climbing onto the stage from the auditorium I had to reorient myself upon realising that I couldn't to use the same route.

It was a good interview and the start of a great evening. I do so love my job.

Go to Buenos Aires Tango for my review of the performance

Posted by carole at February 7, 2008 11:00 AM