Aníbal Pachano and his last dance steps

distinguished citizen. distinguished visitor. Guest of honor. In Aníbal Pachano’s apartment there is a wall full of plaques. On the other, a shelf with prize statuettes and a bookcase that ranks first Recipes on paperthe book of his daughter Sofía which makes him proud.

Born in Tostado, province of Santa Fe, Aníbal Pachano also lived in the province of Córdoba and then came to Buenos Aires. With a very intense professional and personal life“resilient to life”, survived various adverse diagnoses, at the age of 67, Pachano returned to the theater with So … I’m backat the Regina Theater.

is approx an autobiographical show premiered to Carlos Paz and now brought to Buenos Aires. Directed by the famous dancer, choreographer and director, also TV speaker and jury, is a music hall, with more than ten artists on stage.

Political father and discovering mother

His mother, a housewife, was the one who quickly realized that Aníbal was a boy with a particular talent. “He discovered, when I was 2, that I had the conditions to draw and he bought me a lectern”, he says the artist of the top hat and mustache, which are already his trademark. Aníbal and the two sisters are the product of his father’s last marriage.

Dentist and politician, Juan Norberto Pachano had 9 children in total, with three wives. At the age of 5, during a trip to Buenos Aires, Aníbal discovered that his father had other children and a story that not even his mother knew. “A father quilombo” was put together, but the spouses continued together.

“My father took me to Buenos Aires and there, first without knowing it, he played with his grandchildren, who were my age. Then he told me everything. “And he took him for a walk along Corrientes Avenue, to distract him a bit. They passed the Tabarís and discovered that his father was a famous cabaret character at the time, and even had the stage of he.

Although he was very young, he remembers in detail that first tour of the avenue of theaters.

Childhood memories

“I was a happy boy. But he was also very crybaby”, He comments. When he was 6 years old, escaping the threats suffered due to his father’s political position, the Pachano moved to Carlos Paz.

“My father was the police chief for the entire province of Santa Fe. Dady Brieva’s father was the one who took care of him, it was a career, ”he comments. “I come from a radical and frondist family,” she says. “Because of diabetes, my father started losing his sight, so he gave up on dentistry. When we arrived in Buenos Aires, we arrived with one hand behind and one in front “.

“I did high school in a public school, Manuel Belgrano, where I met the son of the artistic director of Canal 13 and this allowed me to have a job in the entertainment world. My father could no longer work and I had to take the lead, “says Pachano.

-Is this why you started working at the age of 12?

-Of course. I used to be a cadet in a pharmacy. And besides, he did everything. I didn’t want to see my old wounded. We lived in a conventillo in Las Cañitas. A Portuguese family rented the rooms and we stayed there for about three years, until we were able to move in.

What happened when you finished high school?

-At that time I was a cadet in a cattle company and worked long hours. I signed up for Engineering, but it lasted two months. Y Eventually I studied architecture and graduated. I have worked in architectural firms and independently.

From there I have the opportunity to travel to New York for the first time and discover another world. Without knowing English, I see avoidthe most controversial show of the 80s. And Dancin, Bob Fosse’s latest show.

After, everything was very dizzying. At the age of 27, as a hobby, he began studying tip tap with Alberto Agüero. There he met Ana Sans (her partner from 1983 to 1996), at the age of 28 he went to live with her and they got married. In a few months they founded Tap the buttonan emblematic artistic company that has shone on stage for 13 years.

He left the profession of architect, to which he has now returned driving city ​​of domes, by Canal a. As a result of that marriage, Sofia was born in 1988.

Was your partner with Ana your longest relationship?

–he was my only love. It’s hard when you’re in a relationship like this to have another one again. Not even I am one who seeks him, because I think that if I look for him it is worse, I find nothing …

“More than a choreographer, I am a presenter”, says this artist who has decided to tell his life in So … I’m back -which includes several musical images-, “but from the positive”, he points out.

Farewell

-This show, do you have something goodbye?

-Yup. Goodbye dancer. I think I have already reached a stage. But I’m not leaving the stage. I stop dancing because I want to teach and direct the new generations. I am a teacher by nature. But I will continue to act and direct.

“I fought it and I keep fighting it all the time. I am looking for work, I generate it and I try to move forward ”, she assures us. “I live life and take the lead,” he says. He smoked two packs of cigarettes a day and also used drugs. “But I managed to get out of everything“.

HIV, diabetes and cancer: With each diagnosis he felt that something was happening to him and that something had to happen to him. “When I got HIV (which I have had for over 20 years), there was no fault. You already knew that you had to take care of yourself and if that didn’t happen, who will I blame? Who would I be angry with? “, He thinks.

In 2015, she found out she had diabetes, but says it was almost a foregone diagnosis, because her mother and father were diabetic. Finally, in 2017 cancer has arrived. at his show what a tango, who had forgotten the song lyrics, but thought it was due to a lack of enthusiasm for what he was doing; but he was one of the first symptoms of the disease.

Other signs have been added: sadness, anger, dizziness. “Coincidentally, Jimena La Torre had thrown the cards at me and told me that I had to be calm, that I had to take care of myself, that I would not do any shows, which would happen later,” he reviews.

I was trying to escape fear and think positive while he went from car to car to do his studies at the Fleni Institute.

“I shed a tear, but not out of fear. It was a very special emotion. Lung cancer with brain metastases: my head exploded“He says.” When the doctor told me I had six brain tumors, I started laughing. It was the only organ that wasn’t supposed to get sick, “he says.

The garment, always decorated with a top hat, where its verbiage reveals it, holds a large volume of ideas, stories, anecdotes and projects.

“They operated on me, I recovered from the farts and while I was in intermediate therapy, I tried to distract myself from the sadness and anguish, ”he recalls. “After two months, I already wanted to go back to work. I did it Valentine’s house at the theater, “he says. The picture also required three chemotherapy sessions.

-How is your health now?

-Optimal. Let’s see what the last MRI I did looks like. I think I’m fine. Also, I move a lot. I thought I was doing a quarter of what I do. My biggest problem today is my stomach, it is due to the mixture of remedies I take. This is the only thing that puffs me up a little kumquats. And I can’t do a pommel, no matter how much diet I do, there is no solution.

-Your recovery and good response to treatments, do you attribute them to a miracle?

-Look, in 2015 I went to the Virgen del Cerro de Salta. When I went up I started to smell the rose. And when I arrived, I felt peace. I’m not very religious, but it happened to me. Y When I am diagnosed with cancer, Ana (Sans) tells me: “I am going to Salta to see the Virgin”. And things happened to him. He saw María Livia, showed her my photo, told her about my case and told her to stay calm, that everything would be fine. And I’m fine. Sometimes I have inflammation. One of the six tumors has been removed and I need to get checked.

– Are you going to operate again?

There was a conversation a while ago about this and I said again, no. I don’t care … But if I have to do it, I will.

Do, that’s what it is. Nothing stops Pachano: “I wrote a biopic. This is where the idea of ​​making the show came from. So … I’m back, one of the most beautiful I’ve done. Now I’m going to see how that eight-part biopic can be developed. Because I’ve had a rich and eventful life. A wonderful life “.

Information

From July the functions of So … I’m back They can be admired at the Regina Theater (Av. Santa Fe 1235). It will be on Fridays and Saturdays at 9.45pm.

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