[Tango-L] ACETA -- Academia de Estilos de Tango Argentino -- graduation program

[Janis Kenyon]

The graduation program for ACETA was held on Tuesday evening at the Academia
Nacional de Musica in San Telmo.  Its purpose of ACETA is to preserve and
transmit the existing knowledge and experiences of the tango.  Funding comes
from the Secretary of Culture.

Objectives are:
* to preserve the knowledge and experiences with the most outstanding
milongueros
* promote the dissemination and continuity of this knowledge
* transmit to young dancers the principal styles of social tango
* stimulate the young dancers to form their own styles
* register, in a systematic order, the distinct techniques, figures and
styles of social tango

The maestro milongueros transmit their figures and sequences and share the
characteristics of their own style of
improvisation and musicality.  They also share anecdotes during lectures.

Foue maestro milongueros who participated in the program have died in the
past two years: Carlos Gavito, Orlando Paiva, Ernesto "Pupy" Castello, and
Gerardo Portalea.

The ACETA program states:
The old milongueros are a living testimony of styles, experiences, steps and
cultural conduct that won't stay registered in an ordinary manner, and that
constitute a true intangible heritage.  The preservation and transmission of
this legacy is the fundamental work of ACETA.

I didn't see the objectives of ACETA demonstrated in the graduation program.
I expected to see the results of studying with milongueros.  Instead, the
graduates performed a choreography appropriate for stage to inappropriate
music--Roberto Goyeneche reciting a tango.  The music had no steady beat.
After they performed a 15-minute choreography, each student invited a
maestro or teacher to dance.  This was more interesting than the
choreography.  Present were Carlos Perez, Ricardo "Chino Perico" Ponce,
Eduardo Pareja, Eduardo Arquimbau, Osvaldo Cartery, Ernesto "El Flaco Dany"
Garcia, Eduardo "El Nene" Masci and Pedro "Tete" Rusconi.

I commend the directors Silvana Grill, Patricia Lambert, and Ramiro
Gigliotti for organizing the program.  There have been 176 participants
since its inception.  However, the program falls short of its objectives.
This program, based on the legacy of the milongueros, missed the mark by a
mile.  It turned out a group of young stage performers doing choreography
rather than young social dancers prepared to carry on the tradition of the
milongueros.