La Salida (France)

Luis Bruni and Pascale Coquigny are a young dance couple based in Paris. While they maintain a strong interest in the innovative dimensions of tango, they do not neglect its roots, conducting extensive research on the origins of tango, and in particular the milonga candombeada.

What are the characteristics of Canaro in the waltz, the tango, and the milonga ?

Luis Bruni & El Pibe Palermo

Canaro’s milongas and waltzes are excellent for dancing. They perfectly reflect the spirit of old Buenos-Aires. His music inspires dancers to express themselves through its marked accents. Canaro’s straightforward rhythm, a square one indeed encourages dancers to mark the downbeat to the ground.

How is his music similar or different from that of other composers of his era ?

Firpo and Canaro were the first to create a distinctive style. Prior to them all tango orchestras played more or less the same, distinguishing themselves only by the themes they chose to interpret. Contemporaries of Canaro generally imitated their style. Canaro, in his conservative spirit expressed himself through a consistently steady rhythm as well as simple melodies. He was not preoccupied with elaborate arrangements, such as those of Firpo. His popularity is comparable to that of d’Arenzio thanks to his compositions mostly geared to a dancing public.

Do you use Canaro’s music in your classes, and if so, why ?

We especially use Canaro’s slow milongas from the late 1920s in our beginners’ classes because the rhythm is clear and continuous. The well-marked beats are almost like a heartbeat, very organic and therefore reassuring. Paradoxically it is much easier for a beginner to learn rhythm through the milonga than through the tango, in which one finds pauses that can be rather disorienting.

What are the relationships between the music of Canaro and the milonga candombeada ?

Pascale Coquigny &
Luis Bruni

In Canaro’s milongas, one clearly recognizes the candombe rhythm, the black roots. We can recognize the percussions, much more than with the other orchestras of the time. Even in some of Canaro’s tangos one finds this basic rhythm, played by the contrabass. With Firpo, for example, this is much less evident. We have worked extensively on the themes of Canaro with el Pibe Palermo and his wife Norma, especially the milongas ; most notably "la milonga sentimental" by Piana. Even though he is not the composer, Canaro’s interpretation is excellent and marks a turning point in the way to play this type of music. This is the "milonga portena" par excellence. Before this the milongas were of the "campera" or "orillera" style, that is, much quicker. On this milonga, el Pibe Palermo could "negrear’, that is, adopt the body movements he had learned from the Blacks of the Palermo district.

Is there a particular way to dance to Canaro ?

We are fortunate enough to have met several people still living today who are coming from an era where both the music and the dance have faded away : Carmencita Calderon and el Pibe Palermo, as well as Carlito Albornos. Yes, these dancers accent the downbeat, but in a non-mechanical fashion. Above all, they play between the beats either with rapid "boleos" or, conversely, with pauses. Watching vintage films one sees that, while the dancers dance within the characteristically steady rhythmic format, they play more with what is written between the lines than with what is more explicit. Better to not be prisoner to the "obvious" rhythm ; rather, dance within the space left free by Canaro. The dancer is the interpreter of the music : like an additional musician who adds his personal rhythm to the melody, improvising within the clear structural rhythm of Canaro. If one does not play into this game, the music of Canaro can quickly become monotonous.

In conclusion, according to you what does Canaro bring to the tango ?

Luis Bruni &
El Pibe Palermo

A great deal ! He is a well-rounded character, balancing both the artistic and commercial aspects of tango. He represented the ordinary people, thus he didn’t need to be a great musician. He reproduced what he heard on the street : the atmosphere and the sound of his era. That’s why the ordinary people could identify with him. He was also an impresario, the first to struggle for composing artists’ royalties. He created the first organization for the rights of authors in Argentina (SADAIC), and also found them the place in which to arbitrate. One may say that this prolific "auteur" owes many of his compositions to encounters in cafés from whom he bought their works for a few drinks....This perhaps explains the lack of unity in the ensemble of Canaro’s production. His career lasted nearly 60 years. He worked in Greco’s orchestra but left it to create his own orchestra (being a musician without exceptional technique Greco did not highlight him). Canaro always professed a strong admiration for Firpo. These two composers left their mark on their time.