Carmencita Calderón
La Piba Sin Tiempo
Carmencita Calderón
February 10, 1905 – October 31, 2005
"The Girl Without Age* started dancing with her brother in
1928 when she was 13 and danced her last performance with Miquel Zotto on her 100th birthday in 2005.
Carmencita Calderón literally danced her way through the Golden Age of Tango and beyond, partnering with the all best dancers of her time.
From the beginning in 1932, when she walked into Club Sin Rumbo in Villa Urquiza, she stood out. The best milonguero in the room, José Giambuzzi (Tarila), immediately understood her talent and invited her to partner with him at his dance studio. Tarila introduced her to Carlos Gardel and to the great El Cachafaz, with whom she danced for ten years.
She and "El Chachafaz" created a beautiful dance style of sentadas, corridas and cortes. El Cachafaz died of a heart attack, while they were dancing at Mar del Plata on 7 February 1942
She then danced in "La historia del tango" with Francisco Canaro and at the Palermo Palace with Ángel D'Agostino's Orchestra and singer Ángel Vargas.
She danced with many, many of the other great milongueros, and continued to dance well into her 90's.
In 2002, she was honored at the Teatro Colón and at the Festival Buenos Aires Tango, where she danced with Juan Carlos Copes.
At her 100th birthday celebration, Calderón gave her final public performance dancing with Miguel Angel Zotto. This celebration included an exhibit of her outfits.
*José Gobello wrote a tango tribute to her:
"You are the girl without age
a dancer of highest rank,
you are eternal like the tango that drives you in its soft beat. Carmencita Calderón the floor tiles start to tremble
foretelling your twists, your runs, your sit-downs
now when it is dancing time." (trans. José María Otero)
References
Wikipedia contributors, "Carmencita Calderón," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carmencita_Calder%C3%B3n&oldid=878809510 (accessed February 18, 2019).
José María Otero, Biography of Carmencita Calderón, Todo Tango, http://www.todotango.com/english/artists/biography/800/Carmencita-Calderon/ (accessed February 20, 2019). First published in the Madrid magazine Gilda, "mujeres en el tango." December 2002.
(1974)
En esa percha que lucís ya se deschava
El dos por cuatro rompedor de meta y ponga,
Que desenrosca, cuando suena la milonga
Tu paso airoso con alarde compadrón.
Cuando los fueyes virutean sus lamentos
Va tu silueta dibujando al aguafuerte,
Turbias historias de pasiones y de muerte
O las tristezas del olvido y del amor.
Carmencita Calderón,
Vos sos la piba sin tiempo,
Milonguera de alto rango
Sos eterna como el tango
Que te lleva en su compás.
Carmencita Calderón,
Las baldosas se estremecen
Presintiendo tus quebradas
Tus corridas, tus sentadas
Y tus cortes cuando invitan a bailar.
Hoy nos envuelven en su ritmo jactancioso
Los viejos tangos que tu paso resucita,
“Derecho viejo”, “El Cachafaz”, “La guitarrita”,
“El entrerriano”, “La cachila”, “Comme il faut”.
Con esa estampa de porteña de una pieza
Podés dar dique sobre el patio de ladrillo,
En el bailongo querendón del conventillo
Y entre los lujos y los brillos del salón.
Letra : José Gobello
Música : Luis Felice