«Breaking with traditions, allowing the tango to evolve – this is the only way to keep it alive». Germàn Cornejo, Choreographer «Break the Tango»
The idea to mix tango and street dance emerged a few years ago in Zurich. The choreographer and world tango champion German Cornejo visited the city on the river Limmat with the classical dance company “Tango Fire”. In a talk with MAAG Halle producer and operator, Darko Soolfrank, he philosophised about new dance forms, developing classical dance styles and mixing the traditional with the modern. How do young generations in Buenos Aires dance the tango? Does the tango rhythm still bear the hallmarks of Astor Piazzolla? How do electrotango, hip hop and breakdance influence traditional tango? Cornejo and Soolfrank dared to give it a go. In December 2014, they invited young tango dancers to a week-long workshop in Buenos Aires to try out new electrotango dance moves – classical tango set to electronic beats and sounds. They then presented the results at El Catedral, the time-honoured tango hall. It wasn’t only the performers who were excited about the outcome of the experiment – the test audience gave it top scores too. German Cornejo and Darko Soolfrank decided to take the project even further and push the tango as a dance as well as a musical style, so they incorporated breakdancers into the company and Swiss breakdancing choreographer Björn “Buz” Meier was brought on board. At another workshop in Zurich in December 2015, the two choreographers combined both dance styles for the first time and created new dance moves and figures. The expressive power, dynamics and enthusiasm of the dance troupe showed the kind of energy that the new company is able to draw on to mesmerise audiences. There was no longer anything standing in the way of the “Break the Tango” stage production. Since then, German Cornejo and Björn “Buz” Meier have been developing the show in Buenos Aires and Zurich.
Artistic Concept
“Break the Tango” is a symbiosis of tradition and modernity, of South America and Europe. Tango meets street dance. Traditions are broken and new moves are born. Visual effects, bold new choreography and an intoxicating atmosphere form the foundation of the concept. The high-quality dancing is powerfully executed. Lighting and probably video projections will help to create many different moods.
The dancers are accompanied by a singer and Otros Aires, an Argentinean live band. The style ranges from electrotango to new arrangements of traditional pieces and contemporary pop music that do justice to the character at the heart of the tango.