Pablo Veron in St. Petersburg

Elvira Malishevskaya: Mr. Veron, have you ever been to Russia or former Soviet republics?
Pablo Veron: No, never. This is my first visit to Russia.

E.M: We understand that you haven't yet seen anything, but what are your first impressions of our city?
P.V: A very beautiful city. With its unique atmosphere, architecture. Never seen such before.

E.M: How do you assess the level of people on the workshop?
P.V: They were good. Most of them have good technique. But the most important is that they tried hard, wanted to learn and worked a lot. It was nice.

E.M: Have you ever worked with Russian dancers and teachers before?
P.V: Yes. I know two Russian girls who dance tango - one lives in London and another - in the USA. Besides, I met the Russian teacher of classical dance in Argentina.

E.M: How do you think, which countries, except Argentina, Argentina tango is most popular and developed?
P.V: France, Germany, and Holland - that's in Europe. Turkey? Yes, but less developed than in France, for example.

E.M: Could you tell us, which couples or just single dancers lead in the tango elite today?
P.V: I don't know the answer. Firstly, I didn't ever make this top list. The more known are not necessarily the best. Tango is that... There're some teachers that try to… Before tango was a natural culture, was popular, tango was so massive, so big that you couldn't have… there was no intellectual interest created around. And now some teaches wanna like monopolize the tango. They play with the endurance of people. They say "I'm the creator of new tango" or "I'm the one that gives the formula today and that is true". And that is not true because this is a way of limiting all the dimensions of tango. I don't do this. I just show. I try to show the essential things. I don't try to appropriate myself from something that isn't in fact cultural and was created by generations and generations of dancers. I just dance. I just teach. I don't have any ambition of being don't responsible of… because I know what it is. And people who do this are people that have problems with the tradition or not really understand the tradition. And I grew up in the middle of these people in the mirrors, people who came of that essential things and I keep this with me. And when I got all this, when I'm on the stage, what I do is like my … my work creative artistic with this but in the dialogue, the speech, it's not perverse. It's not the interest for combining some people… I give the people final choice by themselves giving them some keys.

E.M: In your opinion, what are the trends in the Argentina tango now (for instance, earlier there was a tendency of leading with hands)? And are there any changes in the technique of dancing expected?
P.V: Tango becomes a way of working, a way of going out from routine, the way of traveling, the way of having the meal day by day … it appeals to creativity of many people. It requires working much more than before. Tango before wasn't so like today a passport to … And it brings that many people experiment new ways of moving and it's changing a lot. A lot of young people, different dancers… And it's growing. Of course, it's good. That's the process of development. It helps to be… It's fantastic.

E.M: Since what age you started to dance tango?
P.V: I don't remember. Well, I think from 17 or 18.

E.M: Who were your teachers?
P.V: Basically, Miguel Balmaceda, Antonio Todaro and Pepito Avellaneda. Pepito is the king of milonga.

E.M: Who of the dancers of the past did you want to be like, to copy?
P.V: It's may be not in Russia, but in Argentina there's no documents of any dancer from the past. There are no films, just a few things. But no one to copy. I tried more to take examples more from the teachers that I have. They inspired me a lot. And I used to go to the milonga and see all many many others dancing. And from each one I took something, a flame. That is my own way. I have no problems with identity in this way. Very soon I… I just believe in myself.

E.M: Do you still have any relations with Sally Potter? And how was it working with her?
P.V: Very well. Very fantastic. Was a big challenge for me. We are friends, very good friends from the moment we started to work. It was a really difficult adventure.

E.M: Was it difficult to star in the film?
P.V: I was hungry for this experience. At the same time it wasn't easy because many many new things for me that I used to work in theatre. I never filmed. And it was very deep. And sometimes was difficult for me. The only problem is that in this small world of tango there're not a lot of films. Everybody talks about the film. And each film that is in the cinema has its own difficulty, its own drama. We live in this world and difficult things are all over. My drama and my difficulty in this moment was not more difficult than you or her have in your own life.

E.M: So, you played yourself in this film?
P.V: No, no. No, I'm an actor. I studied acting. The idea of playing in the film was playing a man with some characteristic and change in this man during the film happen. Of course, some things were common with reality - the name, some bits, short parts of history… But it's a fiction, the film wasn't biography. It was commercial in fact of bring our names. I was convinced by Sally to use our names. Because in fact we thought about it. "May be it's better to put other names? Ok, which one? Juan, Alberto, what?" And we filmed because we were working a lot. It takes more time than you're sure. We worked two years on this film. We were very inside of this film and we didn't want put other names. It creates attractiveness to the people. They believe it was a biography. And that's cool. But the true is it's not a biography. I'm not like this ugly man.

E.M: Would you like to star somewhere else?
P.V: Yes, we did films after, not like this one - shorter periods. But I would like to keep working films. It's not easy because you need to be always in contact with this work to keep working in this work. And my films are other. I'm not in films. I'm Latin, I have a strong accent. I may be not a cute man speaking English that pass all over. But it's ok. Destiny is always heard.

E.M: It's impossible to compare the cinema and the theatre?
P.V: Different things. Theater is like real life, something happening at this moment. People are watching you directly and hearing you. And then it happens at the moment and after… you never know. Instead of film. Film is you work for … it's never like in reality, but some shots… But sort of like processed after, cutting. Sometimes even in film something with one idea in the cutting room it gives another sense. And what you do doesn't have the same sense that you thought. In cinema you are just an element. And all the rest is more artificial like experience. But in the other way the actor has a chance of transmitting… the camera is hear (pointing in front) and what you say at this moment to the camera is watched by may be millions of people for always. And it will stay forever - the film. Theatre disappears forever.

E.M: What is the most important for tango dancer - the techniques, the emotion, the attention or other?
P.V: All this and more. Difficult to explain. It's too complex. It has to be something complete, the whole experience. The technique should not leave the emotion, emotion don't have to leave the technique. And then attention is always there, helping to equilibrate the different levels of experience. It never finishes. It's a way of self-improvement in the way of yourself and in how you deal with the other one. Sometimes the other is the part of you and you are the part of the other. It's very technique, very physical. At the same time technique is not just physics. Many other things. Emotional is the fact of sharing something very private with the person. Having all this understanding, sequent understanding with someone and all the pleasure that brings, and all the things that happen. But we don't realize why we are doing them. It's deep element of metaphysics. It's about the spirit, about the connection, about of not being alone, about realizing that in fact you are completely alone even dancing with another one.

E.M: Who is your favorite tango composer?
P.V: I like many of them. I like Julio De Caro. So many years hearing tango I appreciate different things of each one. In my heart there're Julio De Caro and Pedro Laurenz. Of course, Piazzola is the chief, very strong.

E.M: Do you like any other music except tango?
P.V: All kind. I consume a lot of music. Especially… just from my heart - I was 5 years old I grew listening to jazz and classical music, and they never stop. And all kinds of world music - from Islands, from Africa, oriental, different folklore. Ethnic music, Russian folklore, of course. Latin - all South American and Central American music I like too.

E.M: What are your hopes in life?
P.V: Peace in the world. No more arms. Total peace.

E.M: Which fashion houses in clothing do you prefer?
P.V: I'm not very much in it. I like the craziness of Gautier. It's a reality. It's a big part of the world, each time bigger, that can permit themselves to buy this shit for so much money. It seems for me like unjust. It's terrible. All this glamour... All these money they throw in your face while we know very well that every minute seven children die because they don't eat. Every minute or every second - I don't remember. Let's say, every hour. For me, this is one more way to see the craziness of this world. And I can't take it.

E.M: I heard that you participated in some parties/programmes to raise money for poor people? In Paris and somewhere else?
P.V: Yes, I did it sometimes and I try to do more and more. I try to organize something. I'm passing this way. I think if I do something I want as much as possible to carry the crops. Travelling helps different places doing things for helping. I'm not yet on that because I'm not in the path. But that's for sure one of the directions that I want to take, if it's possible. And it's possible.

E.M: What are your further plans, projects?
P.V: Things are going on. Video and other things. Doing, doing, doing a lot of things. I don't like spending energy telling what I do. I prefer use the energy doing it.

E.M: Thank you very much. This was the interview with Pablo Veron, the best of the best, who can't be compared with anyone in the world. I was very pleased to work with you. You gave the best classes I ever had because you gave the most of the heart of valse and milonga as nobody did.
P.V: Thank you. I do my best.

...

Maestro has broken off. I looked at his expressive face, in his attentive sensitive eyes of sated dark blue color. And I was thinking of what a bright and uncommon person life faced me with, the best of the best dancer of the Argentina tango in the world. I found him very pleasant in dialogue, the delicate person, clearly feeling and understanding other people. I have spent five very fruitful days with him, and they left in my soul the sensation of contact with something powerful and bright. It gave a new impulse to my creativity.

Interview took Elvira Malishevskaja (11.02.04.)

I want to tell many thanks to everyone who helped to organize this workshop: to Dima Kunyashev who worked a lot as the translator and as the fine guide, Volodya Kozlov who made remarkable photos, to Olga Danilova, Maxim Frantsev, to Jury Turetsky and many others.

An article from Chicago Internet tango magazine.

http://www.tangonoticias.com/articles/a2004/mar/musical.htm