Here are some of our favorite Tango movies
- Scent of a Woman 1992
Al Pacino plays a cantankerous blind retired army officer whose big plans for a wild weekend in the Big Apple includes a tango with a beautiful woman.
Starring: Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell
- Assassination Tango 2003
A professional hit man on a job in Argentina, forced to kill time instead of his target, learns about tango, and meets a beautiful young dancer who teaches him the art. This complex thriller is an interesting character study and provocative look at the world of Argentine tango.
Starring: Robert Duvall, Ruben Blades, Kathy Baker, Luciana Pedraza
- The Tango Lesson 1997
A love story set in Paris and Buenos Aires filled with inspired choreography and captivating dance sequences.
Starring: Sally Potter, Pablo Veron
- Tango 1998
A dramatic love story set against the backdrop of a film director's passion for his art and the woman he loves. Tango is the star of the show with an amazing variety of dances beautifully done.
Starring: Miguel Angel Sola
Suggested Tango and Dance Books
- Conditioning for Dance, Training for Peak Performance in all Dance Forms
by Eric Franklin, ISBN: 0-7360-4156-7
Features 102 imagery exercises paired with dance-specific exercises to help maximize body-mind conditioning and develop more fluid mobility, balance, and tension release. The book culminates with a 20-minute, full-body barre workout routine designed to help dancers warm up, condition, and refine their dance skills that give power without the risk of injuries.
- Argentinean Tangos for Keyboard (Archives Editions Series)
by Bill Matthiesen, ISBN: 978-0786635344
Piano/Latin Solos. Mel Bay Publications, Inc. Aug. 2008. 96 pages
This is the first extensive collection of early tango music ever published outside of Argentina. Includes classics written during the tango's formative years between 1900 and 1920. Many of these pieces evoke musical parallels with American piano rags of the same era.
- Astor Piazzolla, a Memoir
by Natalio Gorin; translated by Fernando Gonzales; 2001; published by Amadeus Press, Portland, Oregon; ISBN 1-57467-067-0.
Astor Piazzolla (1921—1992), a cult figure for jazz lovers, was a brilliant world-renowned tango musician and composer who revolutionized Argentine tango. This series of frank interviews told to long-time fan and journalist Natalio Gorin in the Spring of 1990 includes "Piazzolla's Musicians & Singers" with brief bios for all 44 of them.
Great pictures and a fun easy read, you'll find fantastic info on tango music and the bandoneon. The stories about Carlos Gardel, Anibal Troilo, Osvaldo Pugliese, Horacio Ferrer, and others who moved back and forth between New York, Europe, Argentina, and Hollywood take you from the U.S. Depression & Big Bands on through the years of Piazzolla's work with Gary Burton and his friendships with Gil Evans, Sting, and the young rock and roll musicians.
The book also includes complete "Discography of Recordings by Astor Piazzolla"—1945 through releases after his death including the 1998 releases of Yo-Yo Ma and Gary Burton. Book includes Chronology, Bibliography, and Index. Take what you will from this book; your take will be huge.
- Tango Quest—Seeking Argentine Tango
by Polly McBride, Director, Paradise Ballroom , Portland, Oregon
Exquisitely honest book relating the author's personal journey with the Argentine Tango beginning in 1991. Delightful one-page information treatisies include: "A Touch of History"; "Truths"; "Fractured Floor Craft"; "Ego Tango"; "Mediocrity"; "Pot-Luck Partners"; "Dancing for Each Other"; "Gender Think"; and the wonderful "A Few Things to be Grateful For". Simply a must read.
For purchase info please email the author.
