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Chapter 3, p.5: The Second Legend: Antonio Todaro




The Second Legend: Antonio Todaro
Celia Blanco is an important person in tango. She is the Profesora de Tango Salon in Argentina’s official school of culture and dance (Teatro San Martin), she is a famous tango choreographer, and she is a woman of the milongas as well. In fact, she runs one of the best tango clubs in Buenos Aires. In the clubs it’s common for the walls to be covered with pictures of well-known tango dancers… but in Celia’s club there is only one: Antonio Todaro. 
If Petroleo’s tango was characterized by exuberance and quick and complex cadences, Todaro’s style was a catalogue of modern tango movement. Petroleo broke tango out of the old restrictive embrace of the 1920s (more about that later), and gave both partners more freedom to move. But even though both partners were freed up a bit, the woman was still more or less a prop for the man. Her job was to hang on, and match Petroleo’s steps, while his feet flew. It was with Todaro that the creativity of both partners flourished. In Todaro’s tango both the man and the woman stand up and put tango on display—and it’s not surprising that Todaro’s protégé, Miguel Zotto, has become the greatest stage performer of this generation. Todaro’s dancing was based around precise and complex figures and embellishments. This makes it less practical for everyday use in crowded milongas, but you often see elements of it in the barrio clubs with large floors, where people have the time and space for it. In Todaro’s tango, the dancers remain separated, for the most part, and perform the kind of athletic and energetic moves that theater audiences can see and appreciate.
I have to say, when I began to review the videos of Antonio Todaro, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I saw all the things I had enjoyed in tango movies and stage shows. But on the other hand, I also saw the same things I was exposed to early on in tango by teachers who had managed to memorize sloppy versions of Todaro’s steps, and build a series of classes around them. In any case, it was Todaro who was able to look around the clubs and put together a brilliant, beautiful and entertaining tango that is very much alive today both on the stage, and in classes as well. And it is the picture of tango that most people in the world carry around in their imaginations:


There are dips and kicks...


boleos ganchos, and side leans...


reverse sacadas and sacada kicks between the woman's legs...


sandwichitos and corriditas where he moves sideways like Petroleo...


...and even jumps.
****
It’s clear that Todaro was a very creative and talented tango dancer (maybe the most creative ever), and he was also a great teacher. It seems like half the people you meet from the generation that followed the milongueros (the ones in the clubs today who dance well, but learned tango in classes) were taught by Todaro. And his influence runs through people like Celia and Zotto, to almost everyone who performs or teaches in the world today.
But it should be obvious from these stories that my real interest lies in the milongas, and the people who dance there. I suppose, in a way, this is a search for the ultimate milonguero—for the greatest dancer of social tango in the world. And like trying to pick the best book ever, or the greatest movie of all time, it’s not easy to do (Although Alej and I each put together lists of our top ten greatest dancers one time, and… surprise! They are exactly the same!). I do have a candidate in mind for the greatest of all time, and I’d like to talk about him. But this site is really about dancing tango, even more than it is about tango dancers—and you can’t dance tango in BsAs without knowing all about the cabeceo. So first, we’ll talk about the cabeceo, and reveal some of Alejandra’s secrets for practicing it with success. 
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