Self-introduction
- Hello, Good afternoon.
M: Good afternoon Jesica!
- Good afternoon, it is an honor to be here talking with you and…would you like to send a greeting to the Chinese public and simply introduce yourself?
M: Well…why not? For me it is an immense honor in this case to have the possibility of come to Beijing for the first time, in China, which for us is one…majestic country, enormous, and mysterious, far away, but also with a lot of contact, like we just mentioned, the Chinese bros who live here. So, I see it as an immense honor to go to Beijing, taking a little bit of the culture of our country, of this region, to interlace us in an embrace, in the music of tango. So, for me it is an immense honor and I also hope that I could reach the height of our friends’ expectation of the music, as they deserve.
- So good! The truth is that it is such a great honor for us to have you in the other side of the world.
M: No…the honor is ours. It is to be an immense pleasure, and ok…the truth is when I was proposed by this invitation, this possibility of participation there for me…was like…for the first time, so with many expectations and desires, and also anxiety coming at this moment.
Tango DJ Career
- And you may tell us a little bit…how did you start your DJ career?
M: Well…I started with…we can say it was a coincidence. I was a DJ, when I was a young child, for other types of music, such like pop, rock…and I was really young, then by chance, for the life issues, I started to work in a milonga, working in the bar. And it resulted that at on night, a DJ was angry with the manager and the organizer of the place, and left. So, I said ok, I will play the music.
M: Then I started it. I have listened to some tangos then…I am influenced because I come from a barrio very tanguero, which is the barrio of La Boca, a barrio very traditional in Buenos Aires. This is how it adds up. The job of DJ always depends on the people. I started to take notes, to find the tangos that the people would like to hear, the people would like to dance, and that is where I started from gradually. We are talking about when I was 22 years old, more or less.
- And well, I had the possibility to start to play the music, started to work in the milongas, and then started my career in the milongas and festivals, started to organize my own milonga in a place very emblematic and traditional in Buenos Aires, which is “La Confitería Ideal”. After that, again appeared the highest point of my career which is to work here, in the radio.
Official Tango Radio of Buenos Aires "La 2x4"
M: In the radio of “La 2x4”, to be exact, where we are right now, the Official Tango Radio of the City of Buenos Aires. I am in charge of all the music selection work here, which is an honor. I am talking about working for the City of Buenos Aires, the cradle of tango, which would be responsible for the music played for the tangueros of Buenos Aires, and the whole world who is listening, so it has to be very responsible. It was a task that permanently need to know what is happening, what happened and to be a musicalizer with no conflict for everything. I don’t have problem with the history and the presence, I don’t have precise preferences for one orquesta, but I like the people to try to enjoy a great quantity of music that includes a very large range of history and present of the tango. So, the idea is this…the tango goes all around the world, it arrives in traditional form, in a contemporary form and that it arrives in the form of many expressions both locally and internationally. As the UNESCO said: "Tango belongs to the world.” So ... then, let the whole world try to embrace in the compass of the tango.
Official Tango DJ
M: According to information, were you also the musicalizer in the Tango Mundial as well? And in the Metropolitan?
- Yes Yes Yes…I had the possibility of playing music in the Mundial of Tango, in previous years. The truth it was an immense responsibility because many dancers from all over the world come to dance, and well…to show up here to win the competition...well, that is also important...it was also a great pleasure to have done that task. Yes yes…
Asian Tango
- For Asians who love tango, which is another totally different culture but want to learn more about this, what advice would you give them?
M: I…above all, think the barrier out there ... I think the first and only barrier that we can have is the language, nothing more...it seems to me nothing more than that. But surely, we are people with feelings, we are people who like to socialize, we are people who believe in the embrace with the other, to the beat of music...but above all is that they should take tango not only as a musical expression but as a culture. Tango is a culture. It is the culture of this region of the world, in the River of La Plata…so this is important: tango values this side, not only in the strictly musical sense. Because when you evaluate it only as a musical genre, you would fear that it will go out of fashion. Sometimes there are rhythms that go out of style because they are heard during some time and then people no longer have interests. No no, THIS(tango) is a culture that was transmitted from generation to generation. Considering that we are a very young country, relatively young compared to the rest of the world, we have...let’s say two hundred... two hundred and fifty years of history, more or less we can have a well-formed society...with the country's own history. And the tango has practically half of the history of the country until present, and is transmitted from generation to generation. and the tango is also a reflection of how we have been and how we are as a society. Tango has had a time of splendor at that time, it was in the years in the 40s, because the country was strong, because the country was...economically well, socially well, then when the people are happy and satisfied, obviously, there are many expressions to flourish. It had its time...it has decayed...there are times of fallen, because we also had many political problems, such as the censorship, the persecutions, the tango has also fallen. So, let's say, tango is not alien to what happens ... to what constitutes a society, let's say tango is…for example in the milonga, I say that the milonga is a reflection of how we are as a society, if we are happy and satisfied people, the milonga will surely be like that too; If we are very structured, very formal people, the milonga will be like that too. It is an expression of how we are.
M: And above all...fundamentally, coming back to the issue of advices I would give to Asian friends about the dance, well…I would say that they should take it as a culture, they should listen to a lot of music, with no conflict. That is, listen to history and the present, always not only stagnant in a single era. Tango has many nuances, has rich and important varieties in the history, but there is also a promising present, there are many new musical expressions now...they are valuable and then it is also important that they do not stop knowing them. Today, technology allows us to be in contact and we have a lot of information, and we, well, can classify and take advantage of everything, all expressions of all times. Especially to the dancers, to advise them to respect that between man and woman, or between man and man, woman and woman, because tango is a music, it is a cultural expression that does not care about races or religions or sex or age, it is only interested in hugs and having fun. Two people dancing together become one, that is what is important: when one embraces, when one proposes to the other person…the feature of the dance, in which moment there is a connection, and when one gives that connection, it is magical, one seems to be flying. And as I always say, when you enter a milonga it has to be like when you go to the theatre. When you go to see a movie, at that moment it seems to be in another place, in your imagination. Well, that's also important. This…to fly, to imagine, and to have a good time because the milonga is that moment...is a social diversion. And if the milonga is a social diversion in a sense that we usually go to dance, surely there are many people with many, many problems. Then what we have to do is when entering a milonga, we try to forget and have fun. And my work as a musicalizer is that: to make them enjoy themselves and have a good time. The problems stay outside, they are not welcome, hahaha.
- Thanks so much for the comments! The truth is like listening to the whole story of tango, and it's hard to believe that you do not dance, because...?
- That is incredible!
- ... Everything you say looks as if you a wonderful dancer...
- No no no...
Survival Advice
M: Well, in my work as a musicalizer, the fundamental thing is the work of observation. I am standing watching. When I am putting music on, while I am aware of the music that I am going to offer the people, I am very aware of what happens in the dancefloor. I'm looking at the expressions of people, if you're having a good time, if that girl is there, why you do not dance? What is happening? You do not like the music? Or they don’t dance with her? You do not know how to dance? Like this, I will be permanently watching all the situations that happen around the track...because my interest is that the whole dancefloor will be full and the chairs are empty, and the tables are full. Why the tables are full? Because I also think that the tables have to be full, because there has to be consumption, that people buy something. Because the milonga is also a business, if the tables are empty, the milongas do not work and ... if they do not work they will go down. That is important too, I say: empty chair, full table.
M: Because in the milonga, although it is a cultural space of musical diffusion and a lot of things, it is also a business, I say is also important. I always say, if people do not ... the milongas do not work, economically it would be very difficult to sustain. And well, I say...if there is a bar, people will surely take something, and well, everything works and they could eventually pay the DJ, which is the important part, hahaha.
Beijing Tango Marathon "La Ideal"
- Well, thanks so much Marcelo, an honor truthfully.
M: No, please ... thank you Jesica, thank you Alec, thank you Frank. And…I want to see everyone there. So a grand kiss, an enormous hug, I greet you here. Marcelo Rojas is my name, of “La 2x4”, and we are going to be here, yes yes...let’s meet here, in Beijing, for the first time, to dance and milonguear with all the music of Buenos Aires, the music of “La 2x4”, Official Tango Radio of Buenos Aires for the world, presenting in the milonga night in Beijing. A big hug and see you. Chau.
- Interviewer: Jesica Wang
- Camera, Editing & Production: Tango Ideal