Emocións: Claudia Codega / Esteban Moreno

"...It could be seen in her hips and in her mouth; she was made for tango..."

Julio Cortázar
From Monteleone's exhibition "mirada de tango"

The photograph showed 2 pairs of feet delicately touching in mid-walk. One can imagine Claudia & Esteban moving lingeringly over the dance floor to the strains of DiSarli. Podesta's singing blends in with the muted room.

The air is filled with her. Her deep glaze, her lips, her magnificent hips. Her one look is more highly nuanced than any overdone display of sensuality. By her walk alone, she sets the heart alive and beating, sotto voce.

Her tango allure is special, because it is part artistic creation between Claudia and Esteban, and part arising from the essence of the woman that she is.

She is imbued with an aura, a rare screen presence like the silent movie stars of old. The beauty of her performance is that Claudia expresses the unspoken words, those veiled underlying emocións, by the subliminal use of her body language.

For those familiar with eastern cinematography, she is the western equivalent of Maggie Chueng's iconic female form clad in cheongsam, moving in slow suspension in Wong Kar Wai's movie "In the Mood for Love".

Claudia Codega.
Esteban Moreno.

She is an arthouse screen siren gliding in his arms; they were made for tango.

Claudia & Esteban: mirada de tango by monteleone

Photography exhibition June/July 2003
Paris


This was a photo exhibition by Guillermo Monteleone shown in Paris. Photos of tango masters Claudia Codega and Esteban Moreno filled the walls. Some photos appeared posed at landmark locales in Paris while others captured Claudia & Esteban during performance. To capture a moment of beauty in mid-dance is my yardstick of good photography. To forever record an image of the inner essence of the person, the live ambience of the place, the magic of that instance in time.

What enraptured me was the text by renowned Argentine writers Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar and Leopoldo Marechal accompanying the photos of Claudia & Esteban.

The writings were ardent and expressive. The beauty of the words, the emotions evoked, made the heart race and took one’s breath away.

“…la primavera de Buenos Aires y la mujer de mi develo se habían manifestado juntas…”

“…spring in Buenos Aires and the woman of my sleeplessness had manifested themselves together…”

Leopoldo Marechal

“…Verla, no daba sueño…”

“…Seeing her made sleep vanished…”

Jorge Luis Borges

“…ibamos juntos a los bailes, y yo los miraba vivir…”

“…and we would go to dances together, and I would watch them; they were alive…”

Julio Cortázar


This is my favourite because of the sentiments expressed in this verse:

“..al verla fui entendiendo que yo no sabria mirar otra cosa en adelante, porque mi contemplación nacía en ella y en ella se quedaba, sin retorno…”

“…when I looked at her, I gradually understood that I would not be able to look at anything else from then on, for my comtemplation was born in her, and stayed in her, without return…”

Leopoldo Marrechal

“…la abrázo como para siempre…”

“…he embraced her, as if forever…”

Jorge Luis Borges


Postnote: On the topic of great photography, our good friend Johan Khoo, now relocated to Kuala Lumpur, has this wonderful gift.