Long After Midnight at the Niño Bien: A Review
Copyright © 2008 Karin Norgard
After graduating from college, Brian Winter was restless for experience and adventure. Wanting “to go someplace where the stars in the sky are different,” he chose an unlikely location: Buenos Aires, Argentina. Armed only with a handful of stereotypes, he flew across the globe and began exploring the city, the culture, and the tango. In Long After Midnight at the Niño Bien: A Yanqui’s Missteps in Argentina, Winter takes the reader on that journey and paints a vivid picture of his tango world.
I write his tango world because as with any travelogue, the character descriptions and cultural judgments he makes are necessarily influenced by his own worldview. His narrative, though educated, can be overly stereotyped, making his readers doubt the veracity of some stories. Despite this, he communicates his observations with a unique voice and beautiful storytelling that make Long After Midnight read like a novel. Most enjoyable are the ways Winter expresses his impressions of Argentine culture through the medium of American cultural references (“it was the Chicago Cubs of countries”) and laces his narrative with blunt humor that can’t help but elicit smiles and laughter (as when he receives instruction on how to give a cabeceo, “But not like a rapist!”).
For readers who are not very familiar with Buenos Aires, this book will make an engrossing read. Winter does an excellent job of weaving together his experiences learning the dance and the culture with snapshots of tango and Argentine history. As long as the reader recognizes that his caricatures are simplistic (though well-intentioned), Winter’s experiences promise to be entertaining and enjoyable. For readers who have traveled to Buenos Aires and are looking for more cultural depth, this book may disappoint. However, all readers should appreciate Winter’s journey from skeptical student of tango to affectionate lover of Argentine tango and culture.
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“The Enjoyment of Rich Rhythm”: Felix Bambury Webbe
[Chen Lizra:] As a well established dancer, instructor and choreographer, what would you recommend to beginner dancers and experienced ones?
[Felix Bambury Webbe:]
• Understand the origin of the dance that you want to learn.
• Each dancer should interpret their dance steps within the music like an instrument in a musical group.
• Dancers should recognize the details of posture, the correct angle between partners, the interrelationship, the delicacy of maintaining the steps while listening to the rhythm of the music.
• To enjoy the dance, there is an inseparable tie between the enjoyment of the rich rhythm of the music that is man, woman and music.
- from Chen Liza’s interview with Cuban dance instructor Felix Bambury Webbe
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Connected Movement: An Interview with Alex Krebs
Alex Krebs is an Argentine tango instructor based in Portland, Oregon. He has taught and performed throughout the United States and Europe and now owns the studio Tango Berretín in Portland. He is especially known for his focus on musicality in the tango. With a Bachelor’s degree in music and physics from Reed College, Alex has been a musician for most of his life. In 2002, he started playing the bandoneón, the challenging accordion-like instrument that gives the tango its distinctive sound. He is also the director of Conjunto Berretín, a tango orchestra that plays at local festivals and events.
At Portland’s Tangofest in October of 2008, I sat down with Alex in the Tiffany Center ballroom in downtown Portland before Conjunto Berretín’s rehearsal for the Grande Ball. I was especially interested in Alex’s perspective on the concepts of musicality, connection, and flow in Argentine tango based on his unique background and experiences. As we began talking, I immediately formed the impression that Alex has the ability to be analytical and thoughtful when it comes to the tango while simultaneously communicating a great passion for the dance and the music that inspires it. His answers to my questions showed deep reflection and attention to detail, which I immediately identified as qualities that make for an instructor who not only understands what he is teaching but communicates that understanding to his students with great clarity and vision. That vision comes as the result of an interesting journey into the heart of the tango.
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