Dance Festivities - Week 01

In the past 3 weeks, there have been 2 major dance festivals in the city of Medellin.  The first was an International Tango Competition, which was free for anyone who signed up in advance.   The second was the Colombia Salsa Festival which cost less than $10 a night and was worth every penny!  Let's start with the Tango Festival, since that came first.

About a month ago, I started taking Tango lessons with a friend who had a few years experience in this incredibly complicated art form.  When we heard that there was to be an international competition and that all the events would be free, there was no way we could miss out.  Luckily, our new found dance company happened to be sponsoring the event (as well as the Salsa Festival) and hence we were conveniently able to pick up our tickets during one of our lessons.  The following weekend we met up in the afternoon to check out some Tango in the park before heading over to the semi-final presentations.

We arrived on time, which meant we had about a half hour to wait til they actually opened the stadium where the presentations would be taking place.  Once we got in, I realized we'd probably want some water during the 4 hrs or so of presentations we'd be watching and very reluctantly paid the outrageously high price of 4000 pesos for a bottle.  Then we found seats with a nice, if skewed, view and sat down to be entertained.

There were about 20 different pairs who each came out to give their rendition of various styles of Tango.  It was really quite impressive to see the range that was presented.  I don't know much about Tango, but there was everything from old-fashioned, slow, sensuous movements to upbeat dynamic duos.  However, this appeared to be a ballroom style competition, so there were very few tricks or lifts, just complicated steps and good stories.  Nonetheless, it was fascinating to watch.  So fascinating I entirely forgot I'd brought my camera, so you'll just have to trust me that the performances were truly inspiring.  It wasn't until they started the kid's group competitions that I went searching for my camera because this was just too adorable.

The kids in these groups were absolutely amazing!  They strutted about as if they'd been on stage their whole lives (which many probably had) and then took to spinning, lifting, tossing and generally impressing the pants off everyone watching!

By the time the grown up groups came on, it was already late and we decided we'd had enough of sitting on concrete benches for one night.  Besides, we'd be back the next day for the finals!  So, after a couple adult groups, we called it a night and stepped out into a torrential downpour.  The street in front to the stadium was so thoroughly waterlogged that there was nothing for it but to jump in, wade across and wave wildly for an oncoming taxi.

The next day there was an outdoor concert which was scheduled to include an awesome electro-tango group called Tangetto.  We certainly didn't want to miss that, especially since it was essentially in my friend's front yard.  So, we met up for a tasty lunch of traditional Ecuadorian potato soup before descending into a full crowd and fantastic music.

We weaved through the happy onlookers until we found a small patch of grass next to an enormous St. Bernard and enjoyed a band whose name I didn't catch, but who played some beautiful music.

To our significant delight, this first set was also accompanied by a dance performance.  This time, there weren't any competition rules to abide by, so they went all out.  There were lots of sexy moves accompanied by lifts, flips and mind boggling precision.

As the light faded, the first group ended and the DJ took over while they switched over to the next performance, which would be Tangetto.

I decided to take the momentary lull as an opportunity to locate some brews and scope out the rest of the party.  As I made my way through the crowd, I was shocked and delighted to hear someone calling my name!  I turned around to see a whole group of climbers happily enjoying the afternoon fiesta.  Beyond being happy to see friends, I felt a surge of pride at the fact that I now know enough people in the city to occasionally run into people by chance.  Yes!

In any case, I found some beers, collected S from his perch beside the enormous St. Bernard and moved over to enjoy the rest of the concert from the company of many happy friends.  As Tangetto took the stage slightly eerie but magnificently beautiful music swept the grounds and the whole crowd swayed in rhythm with the bandoneón, the accordion-like instrument that defines much of Tango music.  This was accompanied by a keyboard, a digital dj, a cellist, bass and drums.  Quite an exquisite combination.

All too soon the concert came to an end and it was time to traverse across town to catch the competition finals.  Saying our goodbyes to our lovely compañeros, we caught a taxi and arrived just in time to catch the groups we'd left out the night before.  Pretty much every group was jaw-dropping, and I most definitely didn't catch the best on film, but I did grab a few samples for you all to enjoy.

Once we'd seen all the competitors, and the judges scores were being tallied, the organizers took the opportunity to spark our interest in the upcoming Salsa Festival that would be happening in 2 weeks.  Last year's champions were invited to the stage to give a little preview presentation.

And, it worked!  About 20 seconds into the performance, I already knew the next festival was not something I could miss.  But we'll get to that in another post.  For the time being, our Tango evening was not yet over.

After the group performances, there was a milonga style competition.  I'm still a little fuzzy on the details of this, but basically about 10 couples would all come out on the dance floor and dance in a cyclical formation, each passing by the judge's table during a portion of the songs.  I'm pretty sure that this was an improve competition as they would play small sections of various styles of tango music with short breaks in between.  Each couple would start up as they found the beat, but had to keep their spacing with those around them.  Quite fascinating, but incredibly hard to watch all the participants at the same time!

The following hour or so consisted of awards, but we stuck around because the schedule had said the night would include a public milonga, or Tango party, and we didn't want to miss out on that.  Unfortunately, it was after midnight by this point, so our resolve was waning, but boy were we glad we waited!  After all the awards had been distributed, the appropriate pictures taken and the myriad of announcements were over, the judges were invited to perform.  The judges, some of whom happened to be the reigning Argentinian Tango Champions.  Wow.  They were truly amazing.  With no regulations and no pressure to compete, these 3 couples went all out.  Now this was what Tango is all about!

By the time all the presentations were over, it was close to 2am, and they were just beginning to clear a space for the public milonga.  With a full day of festivities behind us, and visions of swirling, sensuous beauty to accompany us home, we decided we'd probably had enough tango for the day, and besides, we might need a few more lessons before we can hold our own in this crowd! 

Exhausted but happy we wrapped up a beautiful weekend of outstanding performances with another slog through the rain.  Luckily this time the river had yet to manifest and we were able to make it to the taxi with (nearly) dry feet.