VIRTUAL PROGRAMMING

THE FIVE TANGO SENSATIONS

The Five Tangos, an original production first conceived for the stage, was scheduled to premiere at the Detroit Institute of Arts Film Theatre in November, 2020. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the collaborators reimagined the project for film and pivoted to utilizing four iconic metro Detroit locations selected for creative ambience and intimacy: the Crystal Gallery at the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Promenade at the Guardian Building, Meadowbrook Hall, and the Scarab Club.

Composer Astor Piazolla’s musical work, The Five Tango Sensations, reflects on the artist’s relationship to the five emotions he experienced when faced with terminal illness: dreaming, loving, anxiety, despair, and fear. That relationship, Piazolla’s personal dance with death, parallels what many experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic. Strict public health restrictions also influenced the creative parameters of the choreographic process including mask wearing, refraining from handholds, and working only in duet form. At the same time, the choreography translates the desire for human connection through touch, breath, and togetherness longed for during quarantine.