[Tango-L] A True tango - Copes

[Victor Bennetts]

Carlos Saura is a great *Spanish* director and I think that comes across pretty clearly in his movie about tango i.e. it is terrible. Just compare it to his earlier movie about flamenco (Carmen) which is superior in every way (the movie that is, not necessarily the dance). Admittedly I may be a little biased given my Spanish blood, but it seems to me that in the first movie he managed to capture the essence and soul of flamenco and nowhere in the Tango movie does he come anywhere near to that. You get a much better picture of tango from something like 'Tango Baile Nuestro' if you can ignore the weird bits in that documentary.  Actually you will find Copes in that film as well. Have a look at him teaching beginners in the documentary and you can draw your own conclusions about his approach to teaching, at least. It is strictly tango by the numbers. Maybe this sort of approach is ok for teaching Argentinians who already have grown up with tango, but as a basis for teaching foreigners I don't think a worse system is yet to be devised. Yes, Copes is a legend of the dance, but things have moved on a lot from his day both in terms of teaching and performance. I think (without mentioning Copes specifically) that was Naveira's main point in his article previously linked by Janis. Tango today is stronger than it has ever been and there is no need to be too deferential to the past.

Victor Bennetts

>Copes is known for being the first person to choreograph tango for
>professional dancers on stage.

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