By Wendy Weisman

“Dance halls are like temples in Argentina,” according to dance instructor and choreographer Pablo Pugliese, describing the ritual-like fervor surrounding the tango in his native country. It was this cultural mystique, no doubt, that inspired Astor Piazzolla, a.k.a. the “Argentine Duke Ellington,” to create his “tango opera,” Maria de Buenos Aires, in the late 1960s.

Pugliese has been working with choreographer David Parsons to create a contemporary feel for Maria to be presented by Gotham Chamber Opera. In keeping with Pugliese’s analogy, rituals and religious symbolism figure heavily in the show, which chronicles the undoing of a sultry beauty when she’s lured to the gritty urban underworld by—what else?—the music of the tango.

Leave it to the fearlessly scrappy Gotham Chamber Opera to spearhead a fresh take on Maria, a three-way collaboration between Gotham’s artistic director, Neal Goren, choreographer/director Parsons and tango expert Pugliese. Since Goren founded Gotham in 2000, the company has made a niche for itself by breathing life into lesser-known works far afield of the usual operatic canon.

The very idea of “tango opera” could raise some eyebrows; the fiery Argentine tango, often associated with spontaneity and improvisation, might not seem the most suitable match for the formality of the opera house. But for Piazzolla, who had West Side Story on his mind, the opportunity to marry the homegrown art form he loved with a narrative was irresistible. Tango aficionados won’t be surprised to discover that the sensual dance—with its shifting, syncopated rhythms—lends itself well to the imagery of seduction and violence, not atypical operatic themes by any means.

Poet Horacio Ferrer’s libretto will be sung without translation, but those not fluent in Spanish, much less Lunfardo (Buenos Aires street slang), fear not. The choreography, performed by Parsons Dance Company, is an integral component of the story, depicting the events in Ferrer’s poems. So audience members can expect plenty of brawling and trysting. Each of the three main characters is represented by a dancer-doppelganger. The dancers will play all other roles, including the troublemaking firebrand Bandoneon, named for the accordion-like instrument that was Piazzolla’s instrument of choice. (While difficult for contemporary audiences to equate a squeezebox with hot-blooded passion, the Bandoneon was a tango orchestra staple.)

Parsons is quick to point out that the choreography is a seamless composite of traditional tango movements and a more modern vocabulary. The absence of any “pure” tango in Maria is very much in the spirit of Piazzolla’s approach, according to Pugliese. The composer’s efforts to inject jazz and classical music into tango made him the scourge of traditionalists, but Piazzolla believed he was revitalizing the art form. Renewal is a pivotal theme in Maria, which tosses in fugues and waltzes along with more stereotypical tango music.

“If Piazzolla himself called these tangos,” says Goren, “I’m not going to argue with him!”

Sept. 26, 28-29, Skirball Center for the Performing Arts, 566 La Guardia Pl. (at Washington Square South), 212-279-4200; Wed. 7:30; Fri.-Sat. 8, $30-$70.