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Nuevo Tango: Azul Barrientos Explores Roots Of More Than Just The Dance

The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center in San Antonio will host an interesting performance on Saturday night. 

It starts with AzulBarrientoswho describes herself as a folklorist.  

She's also a singer, guitar player and performer. And what she’s assembled is an unusual look at Tango, which most of us think of a just being a dance. 

"One of those nights that I couldn’t sleep and I was looking into the history of the immigration of Argentina, there was a point in the 1770's that black slaves were brought to Argentina to build the country.”

Then about 1850 the country began a big push to bring in Europeans. This mish-mash of cultures eventually resulted in the Nuevo Tango culture.

“It’s a cultural heritage.  So it’s just an interesting journey to kind of look at.”

And that is a backdrop for what’s going on Saturday night at the Esperanza.

On stage the audience will see Barrientos emceeing, singing and introducing other performers.

It’s music and dance and a history lesson that includes a well-known family of San Antonio artists. 

"The musicians are George Prado, Aaron Prado, Nina Rodriguez. The Prados are really wonderful, the way they musically take and transform and make it their own. It’s really beautiful, what they do.”

The program about the Nuevo Tango culture starts at 8:00 pm.  The Esperanza Centeris located  at 922 San Pedro Avenue.  

 

Jack Morgan can be reached at jack@tpr.org and on Twitter at @JackMorganii