PANTAGES SHOW : ‘TANGO’ BACK AND IT’S STILL TORRID

When it arrived at the Pantages last summer “Tango Argentino” was like that Kiss of Fire, a torrid romance with dance extracted from the barrios of Buenos Aires and drenched in Parisian allure.

Now the show with the Latin beat is back at its Hollywood stamping grounds for three weeks and, happily, little seemed changed at the opening on Tuesday--notwithstanding a few new dancers and one singer.

What was vivid before is vivid now. The jowly bandoneones , for instance, squeezing their small accordions and carving staccato rhythms studded with long, teasing syncopations. The men, their black hair pomaded to a shine, dancing groin-to-groin with the women, their high-slit skirts revealing the outstretched leg.

And that’s just for starters. As the evening progresses from slick street-corner Carloses trying out routines with each other to heated cabaret confrontations, apache style, virtuosity becomes the thing. Entwined couples lock in a mobile drama, punctuated by leg wraps and ankle clinches.

The sly, silken elegance of Juan Carlos Copes was unmistakable as he swirled, bent-legged, his back suavely erect. The daredevilry of Gloria and Eduardo exceeded a prior level, as they dramatized their stunts with a razor-sharp ferocity. And the Dinzels lacked nothing in fast-flying spiffiness.

Cecilia Narova made a more earthy and voluptuous Milonguita than her predecessor, especially for a newly contrived bit of stage business--a flash of bare breast as Copes rips her costume off. But she seemed less notable than the other new dancer, Ines, a sensual kewpie doll, whose partner, Carlos Borquez, was less than imposing.