‘Identidad’ redefines traditional tango during Buskirk-Chumley performance

The violin whined as a spotlight illuminated a man and woman. Their faces were inches apart.

A towering puppeteer arrived, a man clearly elevated from the cast’s crowd and, holding a dress from his marionette strings, the woman slowly stepped forward, put one arm through the dress sleeve and became the puppet.

“We all have felt forced into something that we can’t get out of at some point in our lives,” said Alfredo Minetti, founder and director of This Is Tango Now. “The marionette is completely manipulated by the puppeteer.”

This Is Tango Now, an Argentine tango dance company based in New York City, performed its first national touring production, “Identidad,” this weekend. Crowds of about 230 people attended the two performances of dancers and musicians at the  Buskirk-Chumley Theater.

Audiences watched couples dance fast, traditional tango with a modern twist. Unlike a typical tango show, the props, music, lighting, staging and dancing were designed to tell a story.

“I think it is really neat that there was such a strong narrative connected with the dancing,” IU anthropology professor Jeanne Sept said.

“Identidad” told the story of a marionette and puppeteer struggling for dominance in a string relationship. The marionette longs for freedom and, once she is free of her strings, goes on a journey to discover her identity. Minetti said the story explores themes of identity, willpower and passion.

“Back in the days of traditional tango, people would just do tango for its own sake without much connection beyond that art,” Minetti said. “(This Is Tango Now) believes strongly that tango has components, emotional and kinetic, that lend themselves to great stories. We thought that we should start taking advantage of this medium.”

Minetti and his company’s co-founders, Tony Award-winning dancers Fernanda Ghi and Guillermo Merlo, said their goals are to explore and use tango to tell different stories.

“Our company name, This Is Tango Now, says it all,” Ghi said. “When people come to watch our shows, they know they are going to see something fresh and something new.”

The storyline within “Identidad” connected to the dancing through the use of props. A ladder, bench, trumpet and umbrella were some of the items incorporated into the choreography. Ghi said props help add description to the different situations within the plot, as well as challenge the traditional tango dancers.

“It reminded me a lot of a Cirque du Soleil show,” senior Ellena Kruse said. “I didn’t always follow the story, but I got that emotional sense. ... There was longing when the woman with the veil danced, and there was definitely love within all the dances.”

Dramatic lighting, sound effects and live music were also used to enhance the performance. A crack of thunder, deep blue lighting and spotlight silhouettes set the mood for every segment of the story. The band was also showcased on stage and included bass, violin and bandoneón, the instrument most known for tango.

“This was my first time performing in Bloomington, and it was great,” bandoneón player Ben Bogart said. “The sound quality (in the Buskirk-Chumley) is something I’m not used to in Argentina. This was brilliant and so comfortable.”

Minetti said the lighting, live music and dancers all seemed to come together in Bloomington, even though “Identidad” has taken them to places such as Dallas and Chicago. This was fitting for Minetti, as he earned his degree in cultural anthropology here at IU.

“It feels like a homecoming to be back in Bloomington,” Minetti said. “It’s a safe place to perform and have people respond to it.”

Ghi, Merlo and Minetti said they would like to return to Bloomington every year and with a new production each time. Ghi emphasized the company is always striving to educate more dancers and actors about the creative potential of tango.

“When people go watch a (This Is Tango Now) show, they don’t really know what they are going to see,” Bloomington resident Paulo Dias said. “Everyone I invited to the show was like, ‘Oh man,’ and was completely astonished by the music and dance.”