Gustavo Naveira

Gustavo Naveira (born 12 August 1960) is an Argentine tango dancer and teacher who contributed to the detailed analysis of the movements of dancing to Argentine tango.

Biography He was born in Comodoro Rivadavia, province of Chubut. His family moves to Buenos Aires when he was 1 year old. He played the guitar from age 7 to 20 and studied it at the conservatory for 3 years. He has been dancing since the age of 20. His parents met while dancing milonga. His first professors of tango were Dinzels.

My first steps with dancing occurred unexpectedly when I studied economy in the University of Buenos Aires where there was a course which I attended. There I came to know of my affinity with dancing. Later I studied folk music dancing and enrolled in short courses of classical, modern and Spanish dances. But always it was rather out of curiosity than for a professional interest. in which he states: “There is great confusion on the question of the way of dancing the tango: call it technique, form, or style. The term tango nuevo, is used to refer to a style of dancing, which is an error. In reality, tango nuevo is everything that has happened with the tango since the 1980s. It is not a question of a style... The words tango nuevo express what is happening with tango dancing in general; namely that it is evolving. Tango nuevo is not one more style; it is simply that tango dancing is growing, improving, developing, enriching itself, and in that sense we are moving toward a new dimension in tango dancing...There has been much recent discussion, in the community of tango dancers, on the problem of the embrace, dividing the dance into open or closed style, which is also a matter of great confusion. Open embrace or closed embrace, dancing with space or dancing close, these are all outmoded terms. This is an old way of thinking, resulting from the lack of technical knowledge in past eras. This simple and clumsy division between open and closed is often used by those who try to deny the evolution of the dance, to disguise their own lack of knowledge. Today it is perfectly clear that the distances in the dance have a much greater complexity than a simple open or closed... We have learned, and we have developed our knowledge. The result of this is a dance of greater possibilities, and also of a much more artistic quality.”

Tango Legacy He managed to clarify concepts about the structure of the dance. This has allowed many to understand tango dance better and teaching levels have risen considerably thanks to these concepts. He exposed the different uses of the axis and the structure of the turn ('giro'). He managed to translate this structure to the whole dance simplifying it all in 'cruce adelante', 'apertura' and 'cruce atrás'. He also managed to clarify the different ways of understanding and explaining changes of directions and he also transmitted the interpretation of rhythmical patterns specially the so-called 'cincopations'.

The critics in Bs. As. said: "…You could say that three stylistic tendencies contend for supremacy: Urquiza’s style, Almagro’s style and Naveira’s style …" (Clarín 8/8/99, Buenos Aires Argentina).

He was one of the main influences of Chicho Frumboli's beginnings as a tango dancer.

Notes and references