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Tucson Tango Festival

Wednesday, 23 February 2011 06:07

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Want to learn how to tango?

Take a hint from Rusty Cline, Tucson Tango Festival co-organizer, “it takes more than two to tango, it actually takes an entire group.”

The third annual Tucson Tango Festival hits Tucson March 2-7. The main events are at the Holiday Inn & Suites on Palo Verde.

Highlights include a two day “ten Milongas and a Practica,” 13 tango instructors, eight DJs, 27 tango classes, a Tango Allure performance and more.

The “ten Milongas and a Practica” sounds strange to an untrained ear, but Cline assures, “It will be a night to remember. We just keep dancing, take a break at 3 a.m. to eat breakfast and replenish, then go ahead and start dancing again. It’s crazy, but there is never a face in the room that isn’t smiling.”

One of the eight DJs premiering at the festival is MoMo Smitt.
Smitt has taken the tango festival scene by storm, and has introduced the tango community to a new technique of sound, tango rap.

The festival will feature both new and older style music. “We use music from orchestras from the past,” said Cline.  The orchestras come from Buenos Aires in the 1930s to the 1950s when the dance most popular.

The Tango Allure performance, the big production this year, will feature older style music, but newer style dance. “We are interesting in presenting the social side of the dance in the performance, the typical flashy stage performance has lost its allure because it usually doesn’t show the dance realistically,” Cline said.

The style of tango seen in clubs and on the streets has become the new approach to dancing tango.

When looking for a theme for the tango performance Cline and his partner Joanne Canalli agreed on, “How has tango changed you, as a student, as a teacher, as a individual, and as a community?” The two organizers asked their performers to draw inspiration for the performance from these questions.  The performers will bring photographs and a story to the stage and tell their story with dance.

“We give everybody a thrill with this performance and I hope to change the audiences’ lives, too,” Cline said.

In the meantime, watch this informative tango dance video to learn some basic moves.

Written by McKenzie Sheldon You are reading Tucson Tango Festival articles

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