‘Fusion Tango’ is in the tradition

THE only thing wrong with “Fusion Tango” at the Kodak Theatre on Tuesday was the title: Very much in the style of “Forever Tango” -- and dominated by dancers from various editions of that enduring show -- Aniko Tuzko’s 22-part cavalcade of Argentine music and dance never took tango into experimental or crossover territory but stayed resolutely traditional. Passion, yes. Fusion, no.

When it comes to tango, traditional doesn’t necessarily mean conservative. Not with fabrics that clung to the women like baby oil and skirts slit all the way up to the waistband. Or all that clenched body-twisting ornamented with dynamic legwork between a partner’s thighs. Miriam Larici and Hugo Patyn even borrowed the signature “Forever Tango” stunt where the woman is lifted into dizzying spins over the man’s head, then slung along the floor into a dramatic backbend -- though not one that stopped next to a giant bandoneon this time.

Larici and Patyn’s finest dancing, however, came earlier, in “Oblivion,” where her amazing lyrical flow and his superb partnering made them seem to be floating through space and time, a dream of elegant tango romance.

Other duets focused on age or class differences, emphasizing the tango world’s sense that love is always temporary and heartbreak inevitable. In “Zum,” Mariela Franganillo danced as if hiding some guilty secret from the impassive Cesar Coelho and looking for a sign that he still loved her. This dramatic context gave each move resonance -- her walking away and him beckoning her back, for example, or his kissing her neck -- very, very deeply -- after their final backbend-drop.

In “Derecho Viejo” and elsewhere, Natalia Hills and Francisco Forquera danced together with icy, self-absorbed brilliance, suggesting that they’d been together too long, knew each other too well and had, in some profound sense, shut down. Only when he suddenly released her and she stood alone did the mask come off and we saw a flash of panic.

Mariana Dragone always seemed to be reassuring the much older Carlos Copello, stroking his back tenderly while he piloted her through complex step combinations -- especially in “Gallo Ciego,” where he sometimes fondled her thigh as a public declaration of passion but also occasionally drummed his fingers lightly against her shoulders, as if reminding her of private moments they’d shared.

Singers Noelia Moncada and Sergio Eduardo (also accomplished on the bandoneon) punctuated the dancing with expert performances of doleful ballads, often beginning in rueful resignation and ending in throaty defiance.

Led by Anibal Berraute, the five-member musical ensemble contributed forceful accompaniments as well as fine performances in extended danceless segments. Composers weren’t listed in the program booklet but included Gerardo Maltos Rodriguez, Juan de Dios Filiberto, Mariano Mores and, of course, Astor Piazzolla. Marcos Questas directed the production.

lewis.segal@latimes.com