María Nieves Rego (born September 6, 1934) is an

Argentine tango Argentine tango is a musical genre and accompanying social dance originating at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It typically has a or rhythmic time signature, and two or three parts repeating in patterns such as AB ...

dancer and choreographer who starred with her long time dance partner

Juan Carlos Copes Juan Carlos Copes (31 May 1931 – 16 January 2021) was an Argentine tango dancer, choreographer, and performer. He started dancing with Maria Nieves when he was 17 and she 14, and the pair later married. Copes and Nieves played a leading role ...

in the 1983 musical ''

Tango Argentino Argentine tango is a musical genre and accompanying social dance originating at the end of the 19th century in the suburbs of Buenos Aires. It typically has a or rhythmic time signature, and two or three parts repeating in patterns such as ABA ...

''.

Early life

Born in the Saavedra district of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

, she was the daughter of modest Galician emigrants. After her father died, she left school in the 4th grade to work as a maid in

La Boca La Boca (; "the Mouth", probably of the Matanza River) is a neighborhood (''barrio'') of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. It retains a strong Italian flavour, many of its early settlers having originated in the city of Genoa. Geography L ...

. She was introduced to the tango by her elder sister known as La Ñata. When she was 14 years old, the 17-year-old Juan Carlos Copes took her as his dance partner; the two would soon become lovers.

Career

Nieves and Juan Carlos Copes brought the tango and the milonga to audiences throughout the world. By 1956 Nieves and Copes had created a dance based on music by

Astor Piazzolla Astor Pantaleón Piazzolla (, ; March 11, 1921 – July 4, 1992) was an Argentine tango composer, bandoneon player, and arranger. His works revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed ''nuevo tango'', incorporating elements from ...

but it was after touring through Central America, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico and Cuba that they were asked to meet Piazzolla in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

. The three of them shared tango music and got on well together. They flew to Puerto Rico in October 1959 where they packed out Club Flamboyan in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

with "Companina Argentina Tangolandia". Piazzolla was serving as the musical director and he dreamt of taking them to North America. The tour continued in New York, Chicago and then Washington. The last show that the three of them did together was an appearance on CBS the only colour TV channel in the US. They featured on

The Arthur Murray Party ''The Arthur Murray Party'' is an American television variety show which ran from July 1950 until September 1960. The show was hosted by famous dancers Arthur Murray, Arthur and Kathryn Murray, and was basically one long advertisement for their c ...

in April 1960. Nieves and Copes had married in Las Vegas; the marriage did not last, yet they continued to be dance partners for decades.''Un tango más'' (2015), documentary film by German Kral In the 1980s, they created and starred in the musical ''

''. The show's run had to be extended as Nieves and Copes had been only booked for a week. It moved to another theatre in October and continued there until the following year. With different dancers, it went on for a number of years in New York. In 1986, it received

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

nominations for best musical, best director, and best choreographer, and during the

40th Tony Awards The 40th Annual Tony Awards ceremony was held on June 1, 1986, at the Minskoff Theatre and was broadcast by CBS television. The ceremony The opening number was "Wanna Sing A Show Tune". The special number was "Forty Years of Broadway Show Music", ...

show a dance excerpt from ''Tango Argentino'' was performed. The book ''The tango in the United States: a history'' incorrectly reported that the show had won a Tony Award. Nieves and Copes went on tour with ''Tango Argentino'' in 1999 before starring in ''Tanguera'' (2002) in Buenos Aires, New York, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo and then in the West End (2010). Nieves was given the role of the brothel keeper as she is thought of as essential to a tango production. Nieves offers a simple explanation for her success despite never having had a dancing lesson: "The first time I danced the tango, it entered my skin through my feet, passed from my skin to my blood and through my blood to my heart. It requires no

acrobatics Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...

, you simply have to devote yourself to your heartbeat." The 2015 documentary film ''Un tango más'' by German Kral depicts the sometimes difficult relationship between Nieves and Copes, dance partners for over 40 years. Nieves attributes her improvement as an artist to the hatred between the two dancers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nieves, Maria 1938 births Living people Argentine female dancers Argentine dancers Tango dancers People from Buenos Aires