Published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on May 31, 2000. All rights reserved.
E-mail: NicolePlett@princetoninfo.com
Since dancer and teacher Liliana Attar left her home in Argentina to settle in Princeton in 1989, she has built sturdy ties to her adopted community. As a five-year volunteer for Parents Anonymous, a dance teacher for HomeFront's homeless children, for troubled teens at the Middlesex County youth shelter, for children of the Princeton Montessori Pre-School, the Jewish Community Center at Ewing, a regular at the Arts Council of Princeton's Dance Improv sessions, a wife and mother of three, Attar supplies enough energy to fuel her own small city.
So as she stood on the stage of Taplin Auditorium last month, before a close to full house, portraying a bereft immigrant with nothing but a battered suitcase and a passel of troublesome memories to her name, you could feel the audience's heart go out to her.
"Tango, Memories of an Immigrant," choreographed by Liliana Attar and performed by Connections Dance Theater, a dance work with poetry and music, will be reprised at the Rider University Student Center in Lawrenceville, on Sunday, June 4, in a benefit performance for Parents Anonymous.
Attar tells the immigrant's story in 18 short scenes, many of them introduced by the figure of memory who, swathed in layers of colored tulle, recites the poetry of the song that is to follow. In some scenes, vocalist Barbara Wiesner accompanies the dancers onstage with soaring improvised melody; other scenes are performed to such Argentine classics as Carlos Gardel's recording of "Mi Buenos Aires Querida," as well as the music of Astor Piazzolla, Mercedes Sosa, Al DiMeola, and even Itzhak Perlman.
Attar, who trained as both a dancer and a dance teacher at the National School of Dance of Buenos Aires, performed and studied modern dance, creative dance, and a panoply of Argentinean folk dances in the three-year degree program. Now her seven-member ensemble, Connections, features tango duo Francisco Forquera and Carolina Jaurena. The company also includes Paul Cerna, Olga Klushina, Isabel Meyer, Sharon Savage, vocalist Barbara Wiesner, and guest dancer Irsema Rivero.
As an immigrant who arrived in the United States without any English, dance has proved a universal language for Attar. She formed her group in Princeton in 1998, with members coming from diverse ethnic and professional backgrounds that include a computer consultant and a librarian. The company gave its debut production, "Feeling Tango," last year.
During her early years here, Attar began to immerse herself in the music of 20th century composer, Astor Piazzolla, author of a new tango that fueled by jazz traditions. His music, in turn, drew her to the tango form, which she began to study, just two years ago, at Marjorie Duryea's Lawrenceville studio. The match was a natural one, for the tango was born out of the immigrant experience in turn-of-the-century Buenos Aires, the port city that became a magnet for immigrants from Italy, Spain, Germany, and Eastern Europe. The dance form, a hybrid of many national traditions, flourished in the poorest neighborhoods.
While taking the tango as an icon of Argentine culture and identity, Attar has been rewarded by her association with an extraordinary young professional dance duo, Francisco Forquera and Carolina Jaurena. In "Memories of an Immigrant" they are featured in four set tango pieces, each one a show-stopper.
Francisco was born in Mendoza, Argentina, where he began his training with Ballet Folklorico de Juaymayen. In 1989 he joined the company, performing for five years. He represented Argentina in the Festival of Folkloric Dance in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, in 1993, and in 1996 came to the U.S. with Ballet Alejandra Dondines. During these years he added flamenco dance, Spanish classical dance, and Argentine tango to his repertory. In 1998, Francisco began to dance tango professionally with Carolina Jaurena.
A native of Venezuela, Carolina's earliest dance studies were in ballet. But tango also began early; her father, a bandoneon musician, leads his own tango orchestra, and her mother is a tango singer. Carolina made her professional debut in 1997 in "Tango Mundo," and the following year danced in "Blood Wedding," choreographed by Martin Santangelo (of "Noche Flamenca").
Two years ago Francisco and Carolina made their professional tango debut in the show "Tango and Tango" at the Thalia Spanish Theater. They have also performed at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center and as guests at the Performing Arts Center of SUNY, Purchase, and had a dance role in the 1999 Harrison Ford film, "Random Heart."
Attar's husband, Ricardo Attar, on duty in the current show as lighting engineer, is both a musician and a molecular biologist working at Bristol-Myers Squibb. He and Liliana met in Buenos Aires when both were working in a children's theater production; they are now parents of three children. Liliana was recently hired to teach dance outreach programs for the New Brunswick public schools.
"Tango is not just a dance, it tells you who the people are," says Attar. "We're a melancholic people, a people who came from far away, who were missing what they had lost."
In "Tango, Memories of an Immigrant," Attar and her close-knit group of artists from around the globe continue to explore the sorrows of leaving home -- and celebrate the joys of building a new community.
-- Nicole Plett