By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, Oct 18 2002 (IPS)

Twenty-five university graduates from various fields are the first students in a post-graduate programme focused on the tango, the only higher degree available in Argentina in this century-old music form emblematic of the Rio de la Plata region.

More than 400 applicants were immediately attracted to the initiative, which the Konex Foundation and the Buenos Aires Municipal Government’s Education Secretariat launched in July, requiring a university or tertiary-level diploma in order to enter the new programme.

A tribunal presided by the director of the tango graduate degree programme, Jorge Gottling, selected the 25 – just six percent of the applicants – who then began studies in mid-August to deepen their knowledge of tango. It is a two-year degree with nine hours of class-time per week, and an extensive bibliography.

One noteworthy characteristic of the first cohort seeking to become academic experts in tango is its diversity.

Among the 16 men and nine women ranging in age from 26 to 63, and including two Uruguayans and a Belgian, there are various university degrees, doctorates from other countries, fluency in other languages, books published, songs written, and much more.

"I spent my life studying things that were related to my profession, and then I decided it was time to study just for the pleasure of it," psychologist Sergio Pérez Alvarez, the oldest of the group, told IPS. He holds a degree in education sciences, a doctorate from Madrid’s Complutense University and has published 25 books.

His reasons for studying tango are very similar to those cited by his classmates. "I was born in southern Buenos Aires, in Lanús, in the neighbourhood of Valentín Alsina, which is a tango neighbourhood. But my parents were recent arrivals from Spain, and they had very Spanish tastes and customs," said Pérez.

"One day I opened the front door and the tango found its way in. A natural link was born then, and it has never left me," explained Pérez, noting that there is a tango dedicated to his neighbourhood "Nobleza de arrabal", written by Homero Manzi and Francisco Canaro.

A theoretical definition is likely to state that tango is a popular music genre of the Rio de la Plata, encompassing both the Argentine and Uruguayan sides of the "River Plate", but the psychologist says this does not cover its true magnitude.

"The tango is a ‘cosmovision’, it is a way of feeling, of living, of being in this world. It’s like rock music – a lifestyle," he said.

Tango is indeed a broad concept. The genre encompasses a style of music, song and dance that emerged in the Buenos Aires outskirts in the early 20th century. Some say its origins lie in the dances and music that were heavily influenced by the culture of the African slave communities in the Rio de la Plata region.

Its profound impact on Argentine culture and identity – through tango songs, danceable tango, or instrumental tango – is undeniable.

Among the students now deeply engaged in their tango studies are graduates in fields like music, dance, literature, history and theatre. But there is also an architect, an attorney, an accountant, a dentist, several doctors and psychologists, a business manager and an expert in international trade.

Leandro Ragusa is an electro-mechanical engineer, but he also plays the bandoneón, accordion-like instrument characteristic of tango. Dentist José Kokubu, of Japanese descent, is a tango singer, as well as a composer and expert in classical music. Meanwhile, physician Guillermo Sagari has the pleasure of being a dance instructor in his hours away from the clinic.

A similar programme has existed for years in Argentina, the University of the Tango, but it does not require its students to hold a prior university degree to participate in the courses.

The extent of the fever surrounding the desire to learn tango – in all its forms – is manifest in the hundreds of tango dance classes and music classes, and in the emergence of new tango orchestras.

"Introduction to popular music", "Tango themes", "Tango dance" and "Tango and popular culture" are some of the courses of the new advanced degree programme taught by instructors including musicians Horacio Salgán and Atilio Stampone, writer Horacio Salas, dancer Rodolfo Dinzel and collector Oscar del Priore.

"There are some students who think the degree will provide new career options, such as a cultural attaché at an Argentine embassy abroad or as instructors for tango-related courses, or allow them to travel to take part in seminars," Pérez said.

The variety of different interests or ambitions of the 25 does not prevent the group from enjoying cohesion. "We have to study a great deal," and often "the students contribute much to the professors’ knowledge," he added.

One of the students, a manager at the tango bar Taconeando, invited his fellow students to a dinner and show at the club.

Already it has become customary to celebrate birthdays together or to attend book presentations or performances by the members of the cohort.

The organisers of the graduate programme told IPS that interest in the tango degree is so great that they are already preparing to begin with new cohorts in March and in July 2003.

Excerpt:

By Marcela Valente
BUENOS AIRES, Oct 18 2002 (IPS)

Twenty-five university graduates from various fields are the first students in a post-graduate programme focused on the tango, the only higher degree available in Argentina in this century-old music form emblematic of the Rio de la Plata region.

More than 400 applicants were immediately attracted to the initiative, which the Konex Foundation and the Buenos Aires Municipal Government’s Education Secretariat launched in July, requiring a university or tertiary-level diploma in order to enter the new programme.

A tribunal presided by the director of the tango graduate degree programme, Jorge Gottling, selected the 25 — just six percent of the applicants — who then began studies in mid-August to deepen their knowledge of tango. It is a two-year degree with nine hours of class-time per week, and an extensive bibliography.

One noteworthy characteristic of the first cohort seeking to become academic experts in tango is its diversity.

Among the 16 men and nine women ranging in age from 26 to 63, and including two Uruguayans and a Belgian, there are various university degrees, doctorates from other countries, fluency in other languages, books published, songs written, and much more.

“I spent my life studying things that were related to my profession, and then I decided it was time to study just for the pleasure of it,” psychologist Sergio Pérez Alvarez, the oldest of the group, told IPS. He holds a degree in education sciences, a doctorate from Madrid’s Complutense University and has published 25 books.

His reasons for studying tango are very similar to those cited by his classmates. “I was born in southern Buenos Aires, in Lanús, in the neighbourhood of Valentín Alsina, which is a tango neighbourhood. But my parents were recent arrivals from Spain, and they had very Spanish tastes and customs,” said Pérez.

“One day I opened the front door and the tango found its way in. A natural link was born then, and it has never left me,” explained Pérez, noting that there is a tango dedicated to his neighbourhood “Nobleza de arrabal”, written by Homero Manzi and Francisco Canaro.

A theoretical definition is likely to state that tango is a popular music genre of the Rio de la Plata, encompassing both the Argentine and Uruguayan sides of the “River Plate”, but the psychologist says this does not cover its true magnitude.

“The tango is a ‘cosmovision’, it is a way of feeling, of living, of being in this world. It’s like rock music — a lifestyle,” he said.

Tango is indeed a broad concept. The genre encompasses a style of music, song and dance that emerged in the Buenos Aires outskirts in the early 20th century. Some say its origins lie in the dances and music that were heavily influenced by the culture of the African slave communities in the Rio de la Plata region.

Its profound impact on Argentine culture and identity — through tango songs, danceable tango, or instrumental tango — is undeniable.

Among the students now deeply engaged in their tango studies are graduates in fields like music, dance, literature, history and theatre. But there is also an architect, an attorney, an accountant, a dentist, several doctors and psychologists, a business manager and an expert in international trade.

Leandro Ragusa is an electro-mechanical engineer, but he also plays the bandoneón, accordion-like instrument characteristic of tango. Dentist José Kokubu, of Japanese descent, is a tango singer, as well as a composer and expert in classical music. Meanwhile, physician Guillermo Sagari has the pleasure of being a dance instructor in his hours away from the clinic.

A similar programme has existed for years in Argentina, the University of the Tango, but it does not require its students to hold a prior university degree to participate in the courses.

The extent of the fever surrounding the desire to learn tango — in all its forms — is manifest in the hundreds of tango dance classes and music classes, and in the emergence of new tango orchestras.

“Introduction to popular music”, “Tango themes”, “Tango dance” and “Tango and popular culture” are some of the courses of the new advanced degree programme taught by instructors including musicians Horacio Salgán and Atilio Stampone, writer Horacio Salas, dancer Rodolfo Dinzel and collector Oscar del Priore.

“There are some students who think the degree will provide new career options, such as a cultural attaché at an Argentine embassy abroad or as instructors for tango-related courses, or allow them to travel to take part in seminars,” Pérez said.

The variety of different interests or ambitions of the 25 does not prevent the group from enjoying cohesion. “We have to study a great deal,” and often “the students contribute much to the professors’ knowledge,” he added.

One of the students, a manager at the tango bar Taconeando, invited his fellow students to a dinner and show at the club.

Already it has become customary to celebrate birthdays together or to attend book presentations or performances by the members of the cohort.

The organisers of the graduate programme told IPS that interest in the tango degree is so great that they are already preparing to begin with new cohorts in March and in July 2003.

Excerpt: