The blurb in the program said that the show would take me from the red light district of Buenos Aires to the glamour of the roaring twenties and on to the world of contemporary ballroom dance… and that it did… and not in a subtle way either.  It seduced me from beginning to end.  There was just so much to see at one time your eyes could not take it all in… just like a real club.

The show opened in an underground Argentina dance club called Café del Tango.  Five couples entered and introduced themselves through dance… and then, like a soap opera, the drama began as the couples began to interact.  The women flirted the other men.  The men returned the seductive glances across the room and tried to outdo each other with bravado.  Just like real life, huh?  All the while, an orchestra of four brilliant musicians called Quatrotango, who clearly love what they do, played out the musical themes. 

All of the women were beautiful and had legs that went on for days, and all the men were gorgeous and chiseled and brown with slicked back hair and piercing eyes. Yay, eye candy.

In between these beautiful vignettes came a male vocalist singing traditional Argentinian songs.  His voice was beautiful and clear and while he didn’t move very much he translated the songs beautifully with his animated hand gestures and body language.  Now I could pretend that I knew these songs but fortunately, I didn't have to as I couldn’t help but hear that the man behind me knew all the words and felt it quite necessary to share that fact with the rest of us throughout the first act.

Each number drew you into the world of the tango even more as the moves became even more intricate and yet they were still able to use humor in the midst of all the precision and difficulty.  There were some dancers that your eyes were just drawn to constantly, whether it was from the delicate changes of facial expressions or the fluidity of their movements.  With every couple, you were able to see the technique used by each and the different styles employed to make the dances their own.  There was a palpable energy and chemistry between them. 

Every few numbers, the vocalist would come back out and serenade us again… and while it was beautiful it left me anticipating the return of the dancers even more.  But Lord knows, they needed the time to rest - not only were they working their butts off, but they also had so many costumes changes it would make anybody tired just from getting undressed that many times.  I was praying that they had an army of dressers backstage to help them out.  The gorgeous dresses in jewel tones and sequins were laced to show just the appropriate amount of skin - enough to be sexy without being vulgar. For the men it was zoot suits and silk ties that were cut to accentuate the curve of each muscle beneath.  Clearly this did not go unnoticed as the women in front of me let out audible gasps at the end of each and every number and clapped themselves silly. 

The last dance of the first act involved all the couples dancing together to the traditional piece of music that I associate with the tango... you know the one... La Cumparsita Tango… ok, so maybe you didn’t know the name but you know the melody.  As each couple started this piece they were all doing the same choreography, but then it evolved into their personal interpretation and showed the many different ways the tango can be done to the same piece of music. Ultimately they came back and ended together again, which was

choreographically stunning.

Intermission left me time to soak in the atmosphere of the old American Theatre.  It was nearly filled to capacity and, to my surprise, had a wide variety of age ranges, which is something I have not seen in local theatre in a long time.   The theatre itself has been refurbished beautifully and made for the perfect venue for this particular show because in the telling of the history of the tango you also came to appreciate the history of this beautiful theatre, which itself has evolved since being built in 1908.  It has been through several transformations from vaudeville house to movie theatre to the playhouse that it is today with exposed brick walls left with the scars of all its history.

As the lights went down after intermission the orchestra opened with an instrumental piece called the Nocturna (plaza) Milonga, which was one of the most intensely emotional pieces I have heard in a long time.  It was like something out of a movie and overwhelmed the entire audience to complete silence (except for the audible gasps from the ladies in front of me, of course).  The set had been transformed from the café scene into something more upscale and modern, including lighting the orchestra with squares of light and leaving the rest of the stage bare and open to lighting interpretation of each piece.

Each break had instrumental pieces instead of the vocalist, much to dismay of traditional song man behind me I am sure.  But now was the time that the couples were really allowed their own time to shine.  The acrobatics and pure sensuality led to the pinnacle of the show and death drops, spins and lifts abounded. 

It was an evening of dance that was erotic, passionate, intense, humorous, and uplifting and made me want to get tango lessons immediately!!   This show is on tour around the country, so if you are lucky enough to be in a place where it is showing take the time to grab your man or your woman and spice up your life a little.