April 20-26, 2006
Arts : Artpicks
What A Feeling
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Forever Tango may turn out to be a statement of fact as well as the title of Luis Bravo's smash-hit Broadway opus celebrating tangothe music, the dance and its pure erotic lure. Since this tango phenomenon opened in 1994 in San Francisco, it's been on the boards ever since.
The name changes from time to time. For the Annenberg run, the show's simply Tangos. But it's the real Forever deal. Sometimes the cast is bigger, sometimes it's smaller, but it's always composed of first-rate musicians, singers and, need we say, dancersand those are just the ones on the stage.
This is a Philadelphia premiere, which seems overdue. Trust us, there's a local tango audience that will fill up every seat. The performers are from the original Broadway show. Bravo likens tango's appeal to jazz. He gives these superb dancers an idea or a mood and then lets "them go to work." What a jobtwo bodies communicating private feelings on a public stage. As Bravo has said, "Tango is a feeling that you dance."
If you want to get this feeling yourself, you can do it right after the performance. Audience members will be invited onstage for a tango lesson from the pros. This is a performance that really never ends. Once Bravo has sent folks home yielding, bending and having trouble seeing because their eyes are smoldering so much, his own troupe will rest up to do it to another audience12 straight years and as hot as ever.
Tangos, Wed.-Thu., April 26-27, 7:30 p.m., $30-$44, Annenberg Center, 3680 Walnut St., 215-898-3900.

