Amazing! Tango and Soccer

Tango Soul in commercials

Dancers: Leandro Palou and Romina Godoy

Marriott Hotels Commercial (2007)

Häagen Dazs - Dulce de Leche (2007)

Sensual paintings by Fabian Perez

I have just fell in love with his works.

See Fabian Perez web site and you'll find more paintings of tango dancers http://fabianperez.com/gallery16.html and much more. Simply amazing!

'Tangerine Tango' - color of the year 2012?

Pantone Color Institute has named 'Tangerine Tango', a radiant red-orange, as the top color of 2012.

I find this hue intensively red, which makes me think that it's closer to the stereotypical tango red color than to the orange one. 

As you can see, tango orange from MyPerfectColor.com is not that intense and red. Putting them one next to another, we can see how little orange there is in the new tango color. 

Thinking of orange color and tango, I quickly see the shots form Last Tango in Paris in which orange became a dominant color. It represents danger and potential violence. Moreover this one of the favorite colors of Francis Bacon, whose paintings were the inspiration for Bernardo Bertolucci and Vittorio Storaro.

Orange color is connected with sun, at the sunset. It is related to the figure of a man at the end of his life. It is a symbol of a father. 

Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute says:

“Sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive, Tangerine Tango is an orange with a lot of depth to it";

“Reminiscent of the radiant shadings of a sunset, Tangerine Tango marries the vivaciousness and adrenaline rush of red with the friendliness and warmth of yellow, to form a high-visibility, magnetic hue that emanates heat and energy";

and finally "It’s building on the ideas of courage and action, that we want to move on to better things".

The coming year seems to be the paradise for orange color maniacs!

BTW The color of my blog background is not a coincidence ;)

The story of tango color begins in 1920s

A certain silk manufacturer found himself left with a large stock of satin, dyed such a garish orange-yellow that it proved unsellable. Since the fabric was now badly shop-soiled as well, it was put put on sale at a bargain price, and given the name 'Satin-Tango'. The trick worked  like magic. The stock sold out within days and people clamoured for more but the manufacturer had, to his dismay, lost the formula for that particular shade. This gave his competitiors the chance to leap into the market, and sell every variation from pale lemon to the deepest saffron as 'la véritable couleur tango'.

Quoted form Artemis Cooper, Tangomania in Europe and North America.

11th December

The National Day of Tango is celebrated in Argentina on December 11th., in homage to the birth of two representative figures of the tango Carlos Gardel, creator of the Tango canción (eng. tango song), and Julio De Carothe big orchestra conductor.

Painter - Drue Kataoka

Tokyo Tango by Drue Kataoka


See more her dance paintings at http://www.drue.net/dance-paintings.htm

Tango of pain

Masochism Tango is a brilliant and funny song with a great performance of Tom Lehrer.

Tango songs are often about difficult love that causes pain. Here, the subject is treated with a distance that makes it possible to laugh of something that in other interpretation could be a simple drama. Artist is singing about pain that his beloved causes him. He describes different tortures. Tango is a sadomasochistic game between the lovers.

For those who speak Polish, Irena Kwiatkowska performance of Tango Kat (eng. tango torturer)

The lyrics of the song seems cruel, but the singer change the song into grotesque. What was supposed to be tragic is funny. Singing woman is begging her lover to treat her badly (below my free translation):

Torture! 

Trample!

I'll forgive you that

With your hands

With your shoes

Please oppress me

And torture my body!

Official EURO 2012 ball

A new Adidas ball for EURO 2012 is called Tango 12 :)

Monica Bellucci tango

Tango women are sexy and seducing, but it happens that they have more faces, like in Intimissimi advert Heart Tango (2007) by Gabriele Muccino.

The complexity of woman's heart is suggested by different heroines played by the same actress. Monica Bellucci is playing good and bad women in this video, she is all of them and they are all in her. The tango of hearts indicates that each woman has a few hearts and that each of them has a voice. Here different faces correspond with various models of lingerie. 

Magique Tango by Inga Savitskaya

The Gallopin' Gaucho (1928)

Mickey and Minnie danced tango in The Gallopin' Gaucho (1928) which makes me think of the famous The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) with Rudolf Valentino and Beatrice Dominguez. The picture by Rex Ingram created Rudolf Valentino as a film star and gave an impulse for the popularity of tango. This gaucho tango version hadn't much in common with tango argentino.

The Gallopin' Gaucho (1928)

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), dance scene:

Mickey and Minnie Tango Toy

"An Andalusian Dog"

I need to add An Andalusian Dog (1926) to the list of movies. During the most of this 16 minutes film we can hear tango. An Andalusian Dog was written by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali. It is seen revolutionary in the history of cinema, because of its surrealistic plot. The scenes are connected without any logic, like in a dream. The most difficult scene to watch is the very beginig, where a human eye is being cut. 

Adverts

Tango is a very popular background for many commercials around the world. Both dance and music are inspiring commercial producers to make tango the lead theme of their spots.

Sometimes you can just hear it, like in Calgonit Finish commercial, but usually there is much more than this. There is a short story. In older adverts the story was to show a little bit of Argentina (see Nescafé videos). Now, often there is a very sensual and not rarely sexual context. But still there are ads that show tango, because dance is seen as a way to express oneself and to be free. Of course those different aspects cross each other and some commercials include more than one of them.

Today I will present a list of different commercials where you can find tango inspirations and then I will write some of my thoughts about a few of them. I will try to take a closer look on what kind of message about tango they bring with them.

1. Quantum, Calgonit Finish, music Gotan Project, (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pG-VBiHq0JY
2. Camay Passion, shower gel, (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLrNXz55k4w
3. Clear, shampoo, (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvLhz8X_5LQ&NR=1
4. Elite (2006), shoes, (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKDB3ZtCgIs&feature=related

5. Glenfiddich Whisky: Every Year Counts, Tango (2007), by: 180 Amsterdam, pictures S. Shore, (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3yGfZiik4c
6. Häagen Dazs - Dulce de Leche, (video) http://www.ina.fr/pub/alimentation-boisson/video/PUB2689009105/haagen-dazs-dulce-de-leche-tango.fr.html
7. Heartango – Intimissimi, directed by G. Muccino, (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvBIk7tZvoI
8. Heinz, Dancing with Flavor, (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoDGiN3bXOg 
   
   
9. IBM (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBKUnjhs_QU&feature=related
10. Nescafé - Café à la Carte (1990s), for: Nestlé S.A., (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mflDAgHzTx8&feature=related
11. Nescafé (2003), by: Publicis, for: Nestlé S.A., (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RVwpNEhG04&feature=related
12. Nivada, watches, (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvV3BaAB-uI&feature=related
    
    
13. Pepsi – Shakira Commercial (2003), by: BBDO New York, for Pepsi CO, (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGVTS7HP4-g&feature=related 
14. Restless Tango, Sleepy's, mattress, (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0E59LVegC4
15. Skoda Superb: Tango (2008), directed by M. Langan, (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJF3gGhkzzw
    
    
16. Tango, commercial center in Dubai (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq7xkPxiSBM
17. This Is Chivas Life, Chivas Regal, whiskey, (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQHbAWpL4Mw&feature=related
18. Viva Viagra, (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4TgboFSwd8&feature=related
19. VW Polo: Last Tango in Compton (2010), directed by J. Glazer, DDB London, for: Volkswagen Group, (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-6njVFEq2A
     

To start

The complexity of tango is one of the reasons of its popularity. The number of movies in which tango appears is impressing, there is no other dance that would be presented in so many and so many different types of films, commercials, performances of different types, books and finally songs.

I'll make a list of movies in which you can see tango, hear it or at least it's mentioned in some symbolical way. The Argentine cinema in not included in this list.

European movies

1. Coco Chanel (2008), by Ch. Duguay.
2. Easy Virtue (2008), by S. Eliott.
3. Head in Clouds (2004), by J. Duigan.
4. Hundstage (2001), by U. Seidl.
5. Indochine (1992), by R. Wargnier, music P. Doyle.
6. Le bal (1983), directed by E. Scola.
7. Last Tango in Paris (Mi ultimo tango a Parigi, 1972), by B. Bertolucci.
8. Le Tango de Rashevski (2003), by S. Garberski.
9. Leon: The Professional (Léon, 1994), by L. Besson.
10. Libertango (2009), by S. Hribar.
11. Satantango (1994), by B. Tarr.
12. Soldier of Orange (Soldaat van Oranje, 1977), by P. Verhoeven.
13. Tango (1993), by P. Leconte.
14. Tango (Tango no me dejes nunca, 1998), by C. Saura.
15. Tango Lesson (1997), by S. Potter.
16. Tangos: El Exilio de Gardel (1985), by F. Solanas.
17. The Conformist (Il Conformista, 1970), by B. Bertolucci.
18. The Man Who Cried (2000), by S. Potter.
19. Underground (1995), by E. Kusturica.
20. Valentino (1977), by K. Russell.
    
    
    American movies and series

1. Alice (1990), by W. Allen.
2. Another Cinderella Story (2008), by D. Santostefano.
3. Assassination Tango (2002), by R. Duvall.
4. Chicago (2002), by R. Marshall.
5. Evita (1996), by A. Parker.
6. Flawless (1999), by J. Schumacher.
7. Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), by R. Ingram and K. Brownlow.
8. Frida (2002), by J. Taymor.
9. Gilda (1946), by Ch. Vidor.
10. Gossip Girl (2007-2011), TV Series, by J. Schwartz, S. Savage.
11. Immigration Tango (2010), by D. B. Morris.
12. Love and Other Disasters (2006), by A. Keshishian.
13. Moulin Rouge! (2001), by B. Luhrmann.
14. Mr & Mrs Smith (2005), by D. Liman.
15. Naked Tango (1991), by L. Schrader.
16. Never Say Never Again (1983), by I. Kershner.
17. Ocean's Twelve (2004), by S. Soderbergh.
18. RENT (2005), by Ch. Columbus.
19. Schindler's List (1993), by S. Spielberg.
20. Shall We Dance? (2004), by P. Chelsom.
21. Some Like It Hot (1959), by B. Wilder.
22. Sunset Blvd. (1950), by B. Wilder.
23. Take The Lead (2006), by L. Friedlander.
24. Tango Tangles (1914), by M. Sennett.
25. The Truth About Charlie (2002), by J. Demme.
26. True Lies (1994), by J. Cameron.
    
    
    Asian movie

1. Happy Together (1997), by Wong Kar-Wai.
   
   
   Polish movies

1. Idealny facet dla mojej dziewczyny (2009), by T. Konecki.
2. Kochaj i tańcz (2009), by B. Parramore.
3. Tango (1980), by Z. Rybczyński.
4. Sara (1997), by M. Ślesicki.