Luis Pereyra (born 9 July 1965) is a dancer and choreographer of Tango Argentino and Argentine folk dances.
Luis Pereyra was born to a humble working-class family, in the province of Santiago del Estero. At the age of five he danced in folk dancing groups. At the age of eleven he made his first professional appearance as a member of the ballet Argentino directed by Mario Machaco and Norma Ré. He made his first appearance on stage at the legendary Caño 14, [1] [2] where the famous bandoneón player Aníbal Troilo appeared at the same time. Later Luis Pereyra became a member of the Ballett Salta, directed by Marina and Hugo Jiménez.
Luis Pereyra studied choreography under Maestro Alfredo Caruso direction in Teatro Colón, [3] the opera house of Buenos Aires, and at Escuela Nacional de Danzas. He took studies with renowned maestros such as Santiago Ayala "El Chúcaro", [4] [5] Hugo Jiménez, Mario Machaco, Héctor Zaraspe, Irene Acosta, Ana Marini, Vasil Tupin and Mercedes Serrano. His professional education comprises modern dance, classical ballet, jazz dance, folk dances, tap dance and he studied music.
He took part in all of the outstanding tango productions, e.g., Forever Tango, [6] Tango Pasión [7] and – from 1987 to 2000 in the musical Tango Argentino, [8] produced by Claudio Segovia and Héctor Orrezoli. It was here that Luis Pereyra was nominated for the Tony Award [9] He went on tour through the U.S.A., Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Japan, Austria, Switzerland and France. In 2001 he danced the solo part in the opera Orestes – Last Tango, [10] directed by choreographer Oscar Araiz, produced on the occasion of WMTF Festival, the Netherlands. [11] In the course of his career he danced on the important stages e.g., Gershwin Theater [12] on Broadway, Théâtre du Châtelet, [13] [14] Paris, Aldwych Theatre [15] in London´s West End - where in June 91 Lady Diana assisted the performance, [16] Cologne Philharmonie, Alte Oper in Frankfurt am Main and Deutsches Theater München (Munic). In 1994 he danced for Paramount Pictures and was presented by Al Pacino. In 1995 he danced in the Castro Theater in San Francisco on stage with Robin Williams and Peter Coyote. [17]
Luis Pereyra was invited to Buckingham Palace to show Lady Diana and King Charles III, then Prince Charles, the Tango Argentino. The journalist Colin Wills then published an article in the Sunday Mirror with a photo collage of both couples. [18]
Luis Pereyra´s choreographic work is influenced mainly by his Argentine origin. His works are closely related to popular and folk dances and show a pure choice of elements. His oeuvre is based on his principle: "Unity. What belongs together, should not be separated." He regards the culture of Argentine as a unity, and Tango Argentino as an integral part of Argentine folklore. From his very start he has followed this principle. It is his aim to unite all of Argentine's dances on one stage: Argentine Tango, Chacarera, Milonga, Milonga Sureña ("Souther Milonga"), Zamba, Gato and Malambo, Chamamé just to mention a few of them, being on the same level, in connection with each other and creating a picture of the country Argentine as a whole, as one unity.
Luis Pereyra considers music as genesis of all dance. For this reason he chooses carefully strong and expressive compositions of original Argentine music and cares about authentic instruments, as Bandoneón, Cajas, Bombo, and others.
Tom Noga wrote on 19 August 2004 in Frankfurter Rundschau , German daily paper: "El Sonido de mi Tierra is a revue of dance and music. A declaration of love to Argentine, her people and landscapes."
In most of his productions Luis Pereyra personally takes part as a dancer and musician. Among his last productions you can find Café de los Angelitos – El Tango [19] as well as all of the productions of his music and dance company El Sonido de mi Tierra (The Sound of my Earth).
Since 2001 Luis Pereyra has been collaborating with his partner under the name of Nicole Nau & Luis Pereyra. The company he created in 1996 is named El Sonido de mi Tierra - The Great Dance of Argentina. In 2016 he renames his company in El Sonido de mi Tierra - VIDA! Argentino
Aníbal Carmelo Troilo, also known as Pichuco, was an Argentine tango musician.
Bernardo Verbitsky was an Argentine writer and journalist.
Laura Ana "Tita" Merello was an Argentine film actress, tango dancer and singer of the Golden Age of Argentine Cinema (1940–1960). In her six decades in Argentine entertainment, at the time of her death, she had filmed over thirty movies, premiered twenty plays, had nine television appearances, completed three radio series and had had countless appearances in print media. She was one of the singers who emerged in the 1920s along with Azucena Maizani, Libertad Lamarque, Ada Falcón, and Rosita Quiroga, who created the female voices of tango. She was primarily remembered for the songs "Se dice de mí" and "La milonga y yo".
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Ada Cornaro was a prominent Argentine film and theatre actress, tango dancer and singer of the 1930s and 1940s.
Norberto Esbrez was an Argentine tango dancer, choreographer and teacher.
Víctor Hugo Díaz was a tango, folklore and jazz harmonicist.
Elías Isaac Alippi was an Argentine actor, theatrical impresario, film director and theater director, who was born and died in Buenos Aires. He is also remembered as an excellent tango dancer.
Juan de Dios Filiberto was an Argentine violinist, conductor, poet and composer who became prominent in the Argentine tango genre.
Nicole Nau is a German dancer of Tango Argentino and Argentine folklore living in Argentina and Germany.
Fernando Egozcue is an Argentinian guitarist and composer.
German Cornejo & Gisela Galeassi are an Argentine tango dance duo. They have been dancing together since early 2011, currently dancing for German Cornejo's Dance Company (GCDC), performing as lead dancers for the company. , Gisela and German won the title of World Tango Champions in 2003 and 2005, respectively, at the Campeonato Mundial de Baile de Tango . Both German & Gisela have appeared in numerous TV shows, Films and have toured extensively throughout the world. They have been judges in regional tango championships in Chile, Spain, Italy, Colombia and Japan. The duo is mostly known to Anglo-speaking audiences for their appearance in the American reality television show ¡Q'Viva!: The Chosen. and recently in America's Got Talent. They were winning finalists in Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony's TV show Q Viva culminating in the Las Vegas stage show of the same name in May 2012, at the Mandalay Bay Arena. In June 2012 they were JLO's special guest artists at her first-ever concert in Buenos Aires.
Olinda Bozán was an Argentine film actress and comedian of the Golden Age of Argentine Cinema (1940–1960). Born into a circus family, she acted on the vaudeville circuit, and performed in silent and sound movies. She was trained by the Podestá brothers, one of whom she married, who have one of the most prestigious Argentine acting awards named for them. Bozán' appeared in 75 films and was considered one of the best comic actors of Argentine cinema in the 20th century.
Ovidio Cátulo González Castillo was an Argentine poet and tango music composer. He was the author of many famous works, such as Organito de la tarde, El aguacero, Tinta roja and Caserón de tejas, María and La última curda, and El último café. The tango La calesita, which he composed with Mariano Mores, inspired the film of the same name directed in 1962 by Hugo del Carril.
El Sonido de mi Tierra is a company from Argentina, for Tango Argentino and Folklore Argentino, founded by Luis Pereyra in 1996. "El Sonido de mi Tierra" means "The sound of my land". The Great Dance of Argentina is the international name of the same company, but used outside of Argentina and Spanish speaking countries. Both names are of the same company and same production.
Nelson Avila is an Argentine born dancer, choreographer, and instructor. He is widely recognized for his expertise and knowledge of all types of Argentine dance, including Argentine folk dances and Argentine tango. He was part of the original cast of Tango Argentino, and together with his partner Nélida, was one of only three couples to perform solo in the original production. Tango Argentino is viewed by many as the catalyst that began the 1985 revival of Argentine tango in Europe, North America and then spread throughout the world. As an original member of the cast, Nelson Avila was an integral part of that Tango Argentino revival. He has always been noted for his quick feet and athletic ability on the dance stage. Nelson is a member of Academia Nacional del Tango de la República Argentina and is recognized as an authority of tango dance, history, music, musicians and its many styles and interpretations.
Tango Argentino is a musical stage production about the history and many varieties of Argentine tango. It was created and directed by Hector Orezzoli and Claudio Segovia, and premiered at the Festival d'Automne in Paris in 1983 and on Broadway in New York in 1985. The Mel Howard production became a world-wide success with numerous tours culminating with a Broadway revival in 1999–2000. It set off a world-wide resurgence of tango, both as a social dance and as a musical genre. Tango Argentino recreates on stage the history of tango from its beginnings in 19th-century Buenos Aires through the tango's golden age of the 1940s and 50s up to Piazzolla's tangos. Most of the dancers in the show did their own choreography.
Doris Beatriz Petroni is an Argentine choreographer, dancer, and dance teacher. She was married to the musician and arranger Oscar Cardozo Ocampo until his death in 2001.
Roberto Herrera is an Argentinian dancer, choreographer and dance teacher, known for the Tango.
The folkloric music of Argentina traces its roots to the multiplicity of native indigenous cultures. It was shaped by four major historical-cultural events: Spanish colonization and forced African immigration caused by the slave trade during the Spanish domination ; the large wave of European immigration (1880–1950) and the large-scale internal migration (1930–1980).