Magnolias on the Snow
Andrey Klimovich
Vera Kholodnaya
Russian tango dates from the days of Czar ’ s winter palace to the present . The rhythm of the tango reached Moscow when it was first heard in the 1910s . Many very popular tangos were produced in Russia during the 20th Century . This article reviews Russian tango from its earliest days through the fall of the Soviet Union . By the 1960s , tango music and dance had lost their popularity , to be reborn at the end of the century .
Muscovites were fond of everything fashionable , from the early cameras , exotic imports from Africa and Asia , the Art Nouveau style . Moscow culture was very progressive and international . For example , the ballet Russian Seasons by Sergei Diaghilev was performed . in Paris Europeans were stunned by the artists Lev Bakst and Roman Tyrtov .
Tango , was something exotic that instantly gained popularity among the Moscow bourgeoisie . In 1911 , the Russian Emperor Nicholas II , discovered this new passion among the aristocracy , and allowed dancing tango in the Winter Palace . But , the tango was unknown to the general public . It was a dance for the elite . Tango was brought to the masses by performing artists and comedians . By 1914 , this new dance found the way to the cafes of Moscow .
The theatrical actor and singer , Alexander Vertinsky , presented in Moscow a comic performance entitled Tango . Two dancers simulated the dance of love , and Vertinsky recited a parody monologue , talking about Argentina and the passions that were storming there . The name of Vertinsky then was not known to anyone , at the timwe . He will later become the greatest singer of Russian tangos in the 1920s and 1930s .
Another artist , Izabella Kremer . the opera singer , performed romances in Russian and Yiddish , before the Second World War in support of resistance forces .
No tango recordings with her voice exist now . But , many sources name her as the first singer to popularize tango in Russia . Exotic
Argentina and this new dance of embrace , caused many artists to reconsider their repertoire . For example , in 1913 , Kremer performed on stage the new Tango of Death . The song was , in fact , the artistic translation of the lyrics El Choclo . But in the musical terms , it sounded like a classical romantic ballad .
In far off , sultry Argentina , Where the southern sky is so blue , Where any woman is like a picture , There Joe fell in love with Clo ... When she lit the evening lamp , She danced with him in the tavern For a drunk and roaring mob teasing tango .
Tango of Death , 1914 . from the repertoire of Iza Kremer
This lyrics became so popular that the story became a plot for a silent movie , with starring actress Vera Holodnaya . This was a bohemian period of Russian tango . It was performed mainly by self-taught artists , and orders for new tangos were made by the aristocracy . However , in 1917 the situation began to change rapidly . During the revolution the old aristocracy ceased to exist , and many of the artists emigrated abroad .
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