Passion for Tango Festival August 22-24 2008, Victoria BC
Click Here for the Calendar of events
Welcome to Western Canada’s first tango arts festival. From small beginnings emerge enduring projects and our first year is like a sneak preview of what tango festivals will become. The core of Passion for Tango Festival is music and support for all arts involving tango.
The highlight of the festival is Maestro Bertram Levy an internationally recognized folk musician, who will stun you with the signature instrument - the bandoneon - the sound of tango. This rare instrument, not made after 1940, is extremely difficult to play and has a deep soulful sound. Pick up your tickets now as there are only 200 seats for this Saturday evening. If you have never heard a bandoneon this concert with the atmosphere of a Buenos Aires café will begin your addiction to tango.
On Sunday Victoria’s young virtuoso guitarists, Monty Saatchi and Jason Corbett perform tango. The guitar is a stunningly beautiful instrument to play tango and was one of the original instruments of tango with the violin.
Check the full performance schedule for Friday to Sunday events. You will find the neighborhood tango quartet Grupo de Barrio using the jazz, classical and ethnic flavors of tango history; a new face of tango in Lynda Raino’s contemporary dance/tango performance; exploration on the edge of tango with Project Tango by Robert Mari and Daniel Lapp; and a late night concert with dance/ performance collaborations, festival musician’s jam and dancing. Please take advantage of our early bird ticket prices listed on our Festival 2008 web page. Tickets will be on sale by July 18th.
To find out more about tango history, come to the dance workshop, music talk, or attend any Festival 2008 events, as they will be informative as well as entertaining. For those of you completely new to tango here is a very brief history. Tango captivates some people on their first experience- watch out, as you may be one of those “hooked” by it passion, beauty and history.
June Waters, for the Festival Committee
Tango emerged in Buenos Aires from the mix of immigrants of Europe, Cuba and Africa. The milonga, music and a dance from a habanera rhythm, is the mother of tango to which the immigrant’s longing of their homeland found expression. This exciting new music called tango traveled to Europe at the turn of the last century and became an international dance and music craze. The dance was banned in its home city in Argentina by the upper class, but gained respectability again after being reintroduced in 1910 by Europeans. The music was developed with Singer Carlos Gardel, who became an international recording star of tango in the 1920’s. Tango evolved further as dance music in the 30’s-40’s Golden era. In the late 60’s the classically trained musician and bandoneonist Astor Piazzolla revolutionized tango music creating great controversy with his classical training and jazz influence. Once again tango became an inspiring new international music, now called Nuevo.
Passion for Tango Festival 2008 is made possible in part by the generous support of the City of Victoria and Department of Canadian Heritage
Passion For Tango is dedicated to the development of Argentine Tango, and is located in Victoria BC Canada