There is a new tango show in Budapest:  “La Milonga – the way milongueros like it”. La Milonga is a tango play with choreographes by Katalin Czidor, Fabricio Moroni, and Attila Varga. A production full of fresh and interesting stories and points, promising a great success in the future.

Looking back, it seems funny that, being almost an hour late for the first rehearsal, I saw that the dancers already knew the half of the first choregraphy. I was surprised and thought it could not be their first occasion. I must have I missed the first session!

Fabricio, who is  the choreographer of this sequence, taught the choreography with extremely high skills and experience. Whence his huge experience? We had an exchange after the rehearsal and I asked him where he had learnt all that. I knew that he was from Argentina, but had no idea about his experience.

I decided to make an interview with him. So I did, and he told me about an astonishingly rich tango career.  Let’s see who is Fabricio Moroni!

Fabricio, tango, Buenos Aires

When Fabricio started dancing tango in Buenos Aires, his partner was Magdalena Gutierrez, currently world champion of Tango de Pista. Seeing my astonishment, Fabricio modestly remarked that all that happened early on in their career.

Tango dancers in Budapest may remember Magdalena: together with Horacio Godoy she was one of the performing guests at the Danubiando Tango Festival directed by Aron Ecsedy in 2012. (Now this is festival is rebranded and called El Sabor)

After the first steps Fabricio and Magdalena went to learn at Mora Godoy’s dance studio, and that was when Fabricio’s life took an exciting turn. He realised that that he had a place in the world of stage tango, and was soon included in Mora Godoy’s ballet. As one of Godoy’s team, he had an opportunity to learn not only from her but from such teachers as Martin Ojeda, Eliana Sanchez Arteaga, Dana Frigoli…
In case you do not know who is Mora Godoy:
Recently she has been selected to dance tango with outgoing US President Barack Obama.

From then on there was no getting out. Fabricio performed in various tango shows such as “Complejo Tango”, and had several partners. He was teaching a lot and joined other tango companies. He danced, for example, with Soledad Larretapia in Bar Sur. It should be mentioned that Soledad has recently performed, together with Octavio Fernandez, in Judit and Lucas’s Tango Místico camp. Fabricio laughed when he told me how much one could learn when attending auditions for a company at that time. There was no Facebook and very little YouTube. All had to be learned live, on the spot. You had to present your ability to quickly learn choreography, with training in ballet and jazz, as well as in tango technique. And, you had to be in top shape all the time.

tango show

Fabricio told me about his time with the Estamos Vivos Tango company.

There was a time when there were seven couples in the company and each of them knew all roles – they would be instructed to dance with different partners in each show, and they went and performed impeccably without any prior specific rehearsing.

He told me about funny episodes, too. They were invited to perform in the Miss Argentina show and shared the backstage with all the Miss Argentina candidates. He recalled the faces of the contestants who had only had the company of their mothers or female friends when changing for the show before. And now there appears some male tango dancers…

Fabricio, the choreographer

Meanwhile, Fabricio received more and more important roles, not only as a dancer but as a choreographer, too. He contributed to such productions as Ricardo Romero’s “Magia, Tango y Vinos” and “Sueños Milongueros” presented in Teatro Maipo in 2009 with Lito Cruz and Maria Dütil in it.

Here is a programme in which he is indicated just as an assistant choreographer, but in fact he directed the majority of the group choreographies. (third column)

Estamos Vivos video:

Fabricio and the world

Vietnám – Hanoi

A great change came in Fabricio’s life when he met Daniele, his would-be life partner, at a La Marshall milonga in Buenos Aires. He had worked mainly in Argentina before, and now they decided to travel around. At first, Fabricio started to teach in other countries of South-America – in Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, then, switching continents, in several countries of Europe. What we, Hungarians may find most interesting is that he taught tango in Asia. He worked in, Thailand, Vietnam, and in several cities in China. He learnt a lot about other cultures and human relationships. As he is currently studying Chinese, he would now be more proficient there – but at that time he had no idea when his interpreter had finished and he could go on with his instructions to the group.

Fabricio and Budapest

And here we are in Budapest. Fabricio and Daniele were looking for a city which they have not seen together or alone, a place to discover as a couple. That is how they selected Budapest, a city with international recognition. When they arrived, they had to face the fact that though Budapest is one of Europe’s capitals, it does not have a queer tango community. (See Queer Tango for details)

Building a queer tango community was a priority for the couple, that is why they started organising free tango classes and milongas in their home. Courses in various dance schools followed, and Fabricio has now been successfully teaching tango in Budapest for nearly two years. He established Queer Tango Budapest, now offering beginner and advanced classes each Sunday evening. The classes, which anyone can join, are exciting: all participants will learn both leader and follower roles, exploring a colourful new world. Those wishing to join can contact the group at  Queer Tango Budapest on Facebook or web.

Fabricio and the Tango Company Budapest

Rehearsal – Fabricio and Brigitta

Fabricio plays the role of the argentinian tango star in who is competing with the local teacher. Luckily in a funny way. :)

It was a great experience to watch his professional attitude and patience at the rehearsals. I also noted his arriving on time for the rehearsals – an unexpectedly pleasant surprise from a southerner…

Additionally he resolved problems in the choreographies with such skill and helped the company move on that we decided to call his teaching technique “The Fabricio method”.

La Milonga was premiered on February 17th. The performance is doomed to success through the creativity of its dancers, choreographers, and last but not least the routine of Fabricio built on his years in Buenos Aires.
All in all, it became a colourful performance which would stand the test of other European stages, too.

It is very understandable why this is Fabricio’s motto:

“Si realmente quieres hacer algo, encontrarás una manera. Si no, encontrarás una excusa…”

English version:

“If you really want to do something, you will find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse…”

La Milonga – the way milongueros like it (photos: Milibák Tibor)

Luckily Fabricio is still in Hungary, teaching at Queer Tango Budapest.