Ein Brief aus Turin

Turin is traditionally linked to French culture, so it is not surprising that a few years after the huge success of the long-running Parisian show “Tango Argentino” by Claudio Segovia and Héctor Orezzoli, premiered in 1983 – a gorgeous revival of the early twentieth century wave of the typical Argentinian mix of music, song and dance, created in Paris – the Piemonte capital became “the” tango capital in Italy. The first association to promote and organize lessons, rehearsals and milongas in Turin was El Barrio Tanguero, led by Alfredo Petruzzelli, in 1990.

Barrio Tanguero started inviting “maestri” like Pedro Monteleone (Madonna’s coach for the film “Evita“) and Alejandro Aquino to teach and perform as well as top musicians such as Color Tango and Trio ­Esquina to play tango live. In 1994, then, the picturesque Café Procope Milonga was opened, a kind of French-style boîte de nuit, where it is now possible to dance in two different spaces, one devoted to classical tango and the other (the stalls of the Teatro Juvarra, cleared of chairs) to contemporary tango music from Piazzolla to Gotan Project pieces. The Barrio Tanguero also published a book on Carlos Gardel songs and a CD, “Dieci ...