El Cadáver del Tango

Co-Director

Director

Overview
El Cadáver del Tango (The Corpse of Tango) is a site-specific public performance exploring the symbolic death and possible rebirth of tango as a living cultural practice. Blending dance, theatre and ritual performance, the work follows a group of mysterious figures who believe they possess the secret to restoring tango’s lost essence through a series of collective ceremonies.

Conceived as both a tragicomic intervention and an artistic inquiry into the boundaries of tango, the performance questioned whether the genre remains a living cultural expression or survives only as its own monument.

Compañía Tragicómica Tanguera
Parque Centenario · Buenos Aires · 2012

Documentation

Context and Artistic Process

Created specifically for the public space of Parque Centenario during the 9th Cambalache Festival, the performance transformed the park into the setting for a collective ritual in which performers and spectators shared the same environment without conventional theatrical boundaries.

The dramaturgy was built around a symbolic resurrection ceremony. Through movement, processional actions and theatrical images, the ensemble searched for the “body” of tango—not as a historical style to be preserved, but as a living practice constantly negotiated between memory, tradition and contemporary culture. The work embraced parody and ritual simultaneously, using humour to question nostalgic narratives while proposing new ways of inhabiting tango in the present.

As Co-Director, I collaborated with José Garófalo in developing the artistic concept, dramaturgy and performative language of the project, investigating how tango could function as both cultural memory and contemporary performative practice within the urban landscape.

As Co-Director of Compañía Tragicómica Tanguera (2011–2015), I contributed to the company’s long-term artistic research, developing site-specific performances that reimagined tango through theatre, choreography and public space, alongside my credited role in this production.

Credits

El Cadáver del Tango (The Corpse of Tango)

Site-specific public performance

Co-Direction

German Ivancic
José Garófalo

Performers

José Garófalo
Adriana Viñals
Diego Nelson Corbalán
Diego Moro
Eduardo Luzzi
Hernán Crida
Laura García
Natalia Scholnik
Ricardo Fernández
Vanesa Robles

Guest Artists

Andrea Hammerschmidt
Florencia Gallo
Jéssica Abraham
Nuria Schneller
Roxana Fontán
Roxy Rivas
Simón Tebele
Tamara Jazmín Odón

Costume Design

La Banda del Tango

Make-up

Vanesa Robles

Production

Compañía Tragicómica Tanguera

Presented at

9th Cambalache Festival

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