ARGENTINA: Sixth annual World Tango Championships draws to a close in Buenos Aires, and an Argentine couple takes home top honours

Record ID: 446618

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Sixth annual World Tango Championships draws to a close in Buenos Aires, and an Argentine couple takes home top honours
  • Date: 7th September 2008
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF TANGO COUPLE, CHIZUCO YAWAMOTO (JAPAN) AND HUGO MASTROLORENZO (ARGENTINA), DANCING
  • Embargoed: 22nd September 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Argentina
  • Country: Argentina
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment / Showbiz,Lifestyle
  • Reuters ID: LVA7FPGE1GEK51VC3AO2SJ3OM466
  • Story Text: It takes just two to tango, as the old chestnut goes, but it may take two native Argentines to dance it right.
    The sixth annual World Tango Championships drew to a close in a packed stadium in downtown Buenos Aires Monday (September 1), and an Argentine couple did the host country proud and won the championships in the seductive national dance.
    The championships took place just two neighbourhoods north of the La Boca neighbourhood where the accordion-, string-, and piano-accompanied dance was born. The journey of the sensual dance and its racy "lunfardo"
    slang lyrics has been more complicated than a quick 20 block jaunt.
    Created during the 19th century immigration boom in the South American nation by a fusion of African and European traditions, tango was begun between two men and initially caught on in Buenos Aires burlesque houses.
    Tango has been seeing something of a revival in the last 20 years, with younger generations picking up the complex sliding dance patterns in Buenos Aires "milonga" dance halls, and an infusion of both electronic beats and eager foreign tourists.
    The nine-day event, which immediately followed the tenth-annual International Tango Festival, concluded at one of Buenos Aires' premiere downtown stadiums, Luna Park. In total 16 couples were competing for the top prize. The night's festivities also included performances conducted by the famous Argentine pianist, Mariano Mores, instrumental in tango's recent revival.
    Of the final 16 couples, 11 were Argentines, four were from Colombia, and the last was Japanese.
    The third place prize went to a Colombian pair, Yaisury Salamanca and John Raigoza, who were representing the western Colombian city of Cali.
    In second place was an Argentine couple, Maximiliano Cristiani and Maricel Giacomini.
    And the championship Argentine couple, 22-year old Jose Enrique Fernandez and 19-year Melody Celatti, was one of seven couples representing the province of Buenos Aires out of the 11 Argentine entrants.
    The results were decided upon by a jury of seven members, and according to the winning pair, their victory was anything but an obvious choice.

    "It was a very difficult competition, very good dancers, we are very happy. It was a very high level of tango, very high," Fernandez said.
    Local media reported that a total of 61,000 spectators took in the nine days of events.
    And hopefully some walked away from the championships encouraged by the knowledge that the winning couple only began dancing tango just two years ago.
    But it remains unknown whether any of the competitors won the true tango prize - love.
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