Global Hits

PRI's "The World", Global Hits

Tango has traditionally been a masculine musical form. Sandra Luna gives a nod to that past in the title track to her first international release, "Tango Varon," or "Male Tango." The song tells the mythic tale of the birth of the tango.

38-year-old Sandra Luna was infused with the tango ethos early on. Luna grew up in one of tango's traditional strongholds, the stockyard and slaughterhouse district of Buenos Aires.

Luna says she sang nearly non-stop throughout her childhood, singing in church, in school, and at home. By the time she was 11, Luna was also singing in local tango clubs. And her following grew. By her 12th birthday, Luna was a regular weekend performer at the premier tango clubs in Buenos Aires.

Luna was also developing an early passion for such "tango classics" as Cancion Desesperada. Luna sings tangos in the traditional style. Her songs tell stories about passion, lost love, and unrequited love.

Tango has been described as a "vertical expression of horizontal desire." Luna says tango is "a feeling that's so clear and pure. If you haven't met it, it will wait for you. But after you meet it," she says, "you'll need it."

Sandra Luna is enjoying the release of "Tango Varon," and the resurgence of tango not only in Argentina, but world-wide. Luna will be performing songs from "Tango Varon" later this week in New York, Florida and California.

For The World, this is Katy Clark.
07/12/04