El Turco Jose

One evening in the spring of 1996, I was practicing with Graciela Gonzalez at the Galeria del Tango Argentino. I noticed that sitting at a table on the side there was a man looking at us. He was paying close attention to what we were doing. At one point Graciela started talking with him and invited him to show us a step. As soon as he started to walk I realized that he was a dancer. With a calmness, and simplicity of movement he suddenly changed direction and left me speechless. What I did not know, was that that gentleman was one of most important dancer of the Villa Urquiza neighbourhood. He was the famous Turco Jose. For the connoisseurs, Tango style of Villa Urquiza is of an extreme fineness. It‘s a style of refinement and subtlety. The clubs of Villa Urquiza were a source of inspiration for many dancers during the 1940’s and 50’s. El Turco Jose was one of the most faithful representatives of this era.

El Turco Jose & Nely

A month later, he started to give classes with his wife Nelly at the Galeria del Tango Argentino where we had met. It turned out to be a very important experience for me. Until then, I was only dancing the style of the centre, a style where the dancers hold each other very close, and employ small steps and cutting movements. It was like I started to learn to dance all over again. In this first class, although we were all professional or advanced dancers he chose to teach us a simple salida. A salida like I had never seen it, the side step was eternal ; with his left foot he caressed the floor in such a delicate way ! That day it felt like I discovered the true ritual of tango. Every class was unique ; we worked on ways of walking, caressing the floor, working on the cadence and the movements of the body all of that to the most complexes sequences of tango.

However, the classes were not enough to satisfy my need to learn and my curiosity to know Turco Jose better. He was nothing like the other people from the milieu : discreet, reserved, cultured, a constant picture of perfection. At one point he had been a house painter, Nelly, his wife, explained to me how fascinating it was to watch him to paint a simple wall. The time he would take to get the wall ready, the stroke of the paint brush, all with the same quality and refinement as when he was dancing.

One day he told me how he would had love to have become a ballet dancer but in the 1940’s it was not a possibility. I think that the fact that I was a professional ballet dancer strenghtened our relationship. Often we would meet at his house, 4000 Cordoba, with Nelly and his youngest daughter Laura. Nelly was Afro-Argentine, and it is with her that I learned the milonga rhythm to the ground Nelly had rhythm and the candombe cadence in her genes. With Jose we would spend entire afternoons, evenings, talking, watching videos, and listening to music. He would tell me stories and I particularly loved the ones with Milonguita, his dance floor accomplice. He would pull out the photo albums. And then, the time I was waiting for would come, the time where I would ask a question and the only way to answer was actually to show me directly a step, a movement. What a great time !

Luis Bruni & El Turco Jose

One day he asked his daughter to play el sabado ingles at the piano, a tango from the old guard that I particularly liked. We started to practice dancing to this tango. You should have seen my surprise when several months later he asked me if I wanted to present it in public at the Sunderland, a mythical place in the Villa Urquiza n eigbourghood, a meeting place back then for the best dancers. I was scared to death, that evening Portalea was giving a demonstration. Jorge Dispari was the DJ, and other famous dancers were there, el Chino Perico, Carlito Perez & Rosa, Lampazo, Nelson. Despite the fact that I was use to performing on stages in front of thousands of people, the Sunderland, the gymnasium transformed into a dance floor turned into the most terrifying stage. I remember this moment as my baptism of tango. The encouraging words of of Jose and Portalea made me understand that I had earned the respect of the elders, what a wonderful reward !

Today el Turco Jose is retired, but my respect and my admiration for him continues to grow and despite the distance we call each other regularly. I realize how lucky I was to have met this man who continues to influence my dancing and my reflection on tango. I know that, not only, will he be part of me and my memory but also part of the history of tango.