One of the magnificent things about dance performances is the immediate and evanescent nature. Sadly, as quickly as the dance happens, it vanishes into the memories of the audience, dancers, choreographers, and production crew. Very few small, low-budget dance companies can present an archive of 20 years of video documentation.
Tango Con*Fusión would like to thank John Campbell as the founder of AlmaVideo, along with Peter Ivory, for this collection and their continued documentation of our dance projects.
One woman struggles to find her place and must ultimately contend with her isolation in this contemplative piece entitled Sola.
Tango Con*Fusión performs Sola in "COLLABORATION! DANCE & MUSIC" 2004 at Marin Center Showcase Theater – Marin, CA September 24, 25 & 26
Video is a restoration from an SD video tape edited onto a DVD. The original footage was lost.
Musical Composition "Sola" by Matt Montgomery Violin Vanessa Montgomery Dancers: Christy Cote, Debbie Goodwin, Chelsea Eng, Michelle Loughlin (now Gorre) and Pier Voulkos
Tango Con*Fusión Costumes by Pier Volkous
(7:30 minutes, 5 dancers)
Video (20:40): Documentary of the early days of Tango Con*Fusión (2005). The dancers in the order they are intervied in the film: Debbie Goodwin, Chelsea Eng, Pier Voulkos, Michelle Loughlin and Christy Coté. Producer: Auriel.
We were inspired to form Tango Con*Fusión, an all-woman's tango dance company by Tango Mujer who had been doing what we aspired to for 10 years already. We suggested to Ted Viviani, Extreme Tango producer that it was our dream to do a show with them and he made it come true and included an all-woman orchestra as well!
This whimsical duet transports us to a 1920s living room.
Music:Azucena Maizani & Monte Criollo
Choreography: Chelsea Eng & Pier Voulkos
A jaunty duet set back in time, El Chamuyo portrays men partnering for practice and competition.
Music: Francisco Canaro
Choreography: Debbie Goodwin & Christy Coté
Tango Clásico
Music: Aníbal Troilo – Quejas de Bandoneón
Choreography: Debbie Goodwin & John Campbell 2002
Jealousy portrayed through a classic ‘ménage a trois’.
Music: Tango No. 9 (Astor Piazzolla)
Choreography: Christy Coté, Debbie Goodwin, Chelsea Eng
El Sol Sueño’s non-narrative narrative seems to ask: In matters of relationship: when, and why, do we engage/disengage? Vibrant costumes, created by Tango Con*Fusión company member Pier Voulkos, lend a Mark Rothko-inspired aesthetic to the work.
Music: Gidon Kremer (Peterburshsky)
Choreography: Christy Coté, Chelsea Eng, Debbie Goodwin, Charity Lebrón, Carolina Rozensztroch, Pier Voulkos
2007/8
(3:30 minutes, 6 dancers)
A playful nod to tango’s glory days in European salons of the early 20th century. Five women in lush tunics vamp and frolic under the watchful eye of their ring leader. One entices another to stay for a bit as the others depart, commencing a mischievous duet.in Tango Land June, 2010.
Music (Part 1): Polly Ferman – El Entrerriano
Choreography: Carolina Rozensztroch, Pier Voulkos, Debbie Goodwin, Chelsea Eng, Christy Coté
A playful nod to tango’s glory days in European salons of the early 20th century. Debbie & Marina dance in a mischievous duet in Tango Land June, 2010.
Music: Alfredo De Angelis – Remolino
Part of TCF's evening long performance "Voragine" 2010 Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco
A solo showcasing tango’s dynamic footwork beneath the motif of a shape-shifting embrace. Imágenes suggests at once the polarity and unity of lead/follow energies.
Music: Polly Ferman & Daniel Binelli (Binelli)
Choreography: Debbie Goodwin
Part of TCF's evening long performance "Voragine" 2010 Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco
Part of TCF's evening long performance "Voragine" 2010 Dance Mission Theater in San Francisco
Embrace was created using the language of tango. Though it originated in Argentina, this language is ‘spoken’ throughout the world. Tangueros truly consider the dance a conversation. Within the circle of an embrace, the leader ‘speaks’ a movement. The follower listens and responds with her own movement. And so the dialogue begins…In Embrace, each dancer engages in multiple conversations: with herself, with various partners, with a group and with the audience.
*This piece is the most widely performed in Tango Con*Fusión’s repertory. Its premiere at two significant venues in the Buenos Aires tango circuit represented pioneering firsts for women in tango: Confitería Ideal (2nd Annual Festival Internacional de Tango Queer/ Buenos Aires 2008 – said to be the first time an all-female tango company performed at this longtime tango venue) and Niño Bien (12th Annual Congreso Internacional de Tango Argentino, or CITA, 2010 – the first time an all-female tango company performed, as featured performers, at CITA).
Music: Astor Piazzolla ~ Bailongo (1:44), Prologue (Tango Apasionado) (1:45) & Street Tango (4:12)
Choreography: Pier Voulkos, Debbie Goodwin, Chelsea Eng, Christy Coté & Michelle Loughlin
New Year's Eve Party Montage with Pier, Debbie, Mariana and various tango couples from SF Bay Area performing.
Performed live with Tanghetto. Choreography by Chelsea Eng
Both pulsing and lyrical, this abstract piece looks at individual strength relative to the pulls of partnership and community. Flowing violet tunics lend a power color visual. Musically illustrative of a top Tanghetto milonga track. Tanghetto founder Max Masri calls Tango Mistico “a great choreography… the audience loved… fresh and new” and “part of the tango queer revolution”.
TCF created a montage of our choreographies we worked up to perform with Tanghetto.
Tanghetto is an Argentinian neotango and electronic tango music project created and led by musician and producer Max Masri. Winner of the Gardel Award and four times nominated to the Latin Grammy Awards. It's based in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Debbie Goodwin and Mariana Ancarola perform with Tanghetto live at Salon Canning, March 22, 2011 Choreography by Debbie & Mariana
Embrace was created using the language of tango. Though it originated in Argentina, this language is ‘spoken’ throughout the world. Tangueros truly consider the dance a conversation. Within the circle of an embrace, the leader ‘speaks’ a movement. The follower listens and responds with her own movement. And so the dialogue begins…In Embrace, each dancer engages in multiple conversations: with herself, with various partners, with a group and with the audience.
Choreography: Debbie Goodwin, Christy Coté, Chelsea Eng, Pier Voulkos, Michelle Gorre
An illustration of music with two-fold fame – Tanguera means ‘a woman who dances tango’ and is a favorite among professional male/female tango couples for the performance of duets onstage. Tango Con*Fusión’s Tanguera offers a novel spin, with three women dancing tango together and often conjoined. It melds the elegance of traditional tango with the dynamism of tango nuevo.
Music: Sexteto Mayór (Mores)
Choreography: Debbie Goodwin, Christy Coté, Chelsea Eng, Pier Voulkos, Mariana Ancarola
Emblems of society’s conflicted feminine ideal, corsets figure prominently in fashion’s past and present. Dualistic in nature – they historically constricted the wearer to the point of broken ribs, yet even today are praised for their positive impact on posture. They bind the wearer to a near-inhuman silhouette, yet consumers choose them for their sex appeal, often with S&M overtones. Light and innocent in some incarnations, they can also take on a dark, Gothic or steampunk sensibility. In Escualo, Tango Con*Fusión explores the corset as a symbol of manipulation – by forces both external and from within oneself. When and how does the ‘corseted’, the target of control, resist and break free?
A jaunty duet set back in time, El Chamuyo portrays men partnering for practice and competition.
Music: Francisco Canaro
Choreography: Debbie Goodwin & Christy Coté
A humorous take on the predicament of the post-feminist woman who enters the machismo-laden world of Argentine Tango, Ladies in Waiting envisions a solution to the dearth of male partners.
Music: Trio Garufa ~ Desde El Alma
Choreography: Pier Voulkos, Debbie Goodwin, Chelsea Eng & Christy Coté
A solo depicting the angst typical of the genre ~ of a lone woman, whose song 'carries the cold of the last encounter,' whose voice 'bears the pain of the bandoneón (key instrument of the tango.) Dancer & Choreographer: Carolina Rozensztroch
Performed Nov 23, 2013 at Tango Con*Fusión's10th Anniversary Celebration. A selection of some of our favorite pieces from the past 10 years! LA MILONGA (2011) Music: Tanghetto The often upbeat, cheerful side of Tango, "Milonga" refers to the music and dance form as well as a gathering to dance tango. This was the perfect piece in which to invite some of the Bay Area's greatest tangueras who both lead and follow to join in celebrating Tango Con*Fusión's 10th Anniversary! Dancers: Tango Con*Fusión's Christy Coté, Chelsea Eng, Debbie Goodwin, Carolina Rosensztroch plus guest artists Mirabai Deranja, Michelle Gorre, Jeannie Lin, Mila Salazar, Rose Vierling, Emily Webb
Music: "La Milonga" by Tanghetto
Performing 2 contrasting favorite duets in TCF repertoire"El Chamuyo" (masculine energy) and "Remolino"(feminine energy) at Milongas in New York City
Tango Con*Fusión "Trading Places" Video Preview In its 9th year, the members of San Francisco's all women dance company, Tango Con*Fusión, chose to concentrate on the further exploration and analysis of lead-follow, and documenting their body of work. Through this video, "Trading Places" (to be released fall 2013) they focus on sharing their lead-follow exchange vocabulary. The artists of Tango Con*Fusión include Carolina Rozensztroch, Pier Voulkos, Debbie Goodwin, Christy Coté, and Chelsea Eng .
Video preview created by Daniel Peters
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