Dancer Milena Plebs honored at Tango BA in Argentina
In Buenos Aires, Argentina, dancer, choreographer, director, producer, teacher and researcher Milena Plebs, who has devoted 40 years to tango, was honored during the Tango BA festival and world championship. The tribute took place at the Usina del Arte cultural center. According to Plebs, she sees this recognition not only as an assessment of past achievements, but also as an impetus for the future of tango.
As the Buenos Aires Times reports, throughout her career Plebs combined the study of traditional Argentine tango with a search for contemporary forms. Before coming to tango, she worked for six years as a dancer at Buenos Aires' Teatro San Martín and had training in contemporary dance.
Tradition and contemporary dance
For her first 13 years in tango, Plebs worked together with dancer and choreographer Miguel Ángel Zotto. They took part in the Tango Argentino production, created by theatre directors Claudio Segovia and Héctor Orezzoli. This production brought Argentine tango to international stages and contributed to its popularization around the world.
Later, Plebs and Zotto created productions as part of the Tango X2 dance company. In her own project, Tramatango, she explored the combination of tango and contemporary dance. The dancer believes that renewing tango requires a deep understanding of its tradition, but that it should not be turned into an unchanging model.
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During the tribute, Plebs performed with Juan Malicia and Javier Rodríguez. She had not danced with Malicia before, but noted his strong training in traditional tango. With Rodríguez, whom she has known for many years, Plebs performed a milonga and emphasized his distinctive individual style.
Technique, improvisation and respect
Plebs encourages young dancers to learn from different teachers, master technique and develop their own style rather than copy a single school, era or manner. In her view, improvisation is an important component of this process, but it also needs to be mastered: new possibilities can be discovered in every movement and sequence of steps.
At the same time, the dancer stressed that at a milonga, the rules of coexisting on the dance floor must not be neglected: respect for one's partner, other couples, the music and the space. She called the embrace the central element of tango, involving physical and energetic exchange and the responsibility of both partners. Plebs also supports an approach in which dancers better understand both roles — leading and following.
According to Plebs, tango is spreading around the world while maintaining its connection with Buenos Aires, which she called the cradle of this dance. She advises new generations to return to the foundations of traditional tango before experimenting, studying its history and the figures who shaped this dance culture.
