The sounds and passion of Argentinian tango are set to add some extra zing to Montreal’s busy festival season as the city gets ready to celebrate the 15th edition of the Festival International de Tango de Montréal on Wednesday.
Sylvi Belleau, one of the festival organizers, said this latest edition will remain true to its true and tested formula by featuring guest orchestras and dance couples from Argentina, free open-air shows, classes and, of course, milongas – the tango dance parties.
The festival, which attracts hundreds of tango aficionados not only from Montreal but also from the United States, Ontario and even Europe, kicks off with an inaugural open-air dance party at the municipal greenhouses in Verdun on Wednesday evening.
Tango groove
“Each year we have people coming from faraway for the week to dance tango in Montreal because Montrealers have got the tango groove,” Belleau said.
ListenAbout a thousand people are expected to put on their dance shoes for the free tango evening that will feature a live performance by the Franco Luciani Trio and dancers Silvana Nuñez and Ivan Romero, Belleau said.
“It’s the nicest place to dance outdoors in Montreal, it really is the best spot,” Belleau said. “And it’s going to be sunny, it’s going to be beautiful and it’s going to be a very nice way to start the festival.”
The open-air milonga starts at 7 p.m., the live music dance show starts at 8 p.m., however many people come early to get a good spot around the canopied dance floor set in a beautiful municipal park on the shores of St-Lawrence River.
Meeting of cultures
There are also performances by Duo de Amor at the Rialto Theatre on Thursday and Friday, featuring the Cinco Esquinas Quintet and dance couples Soledad Buss and Cesar Peral, Milagros Rolandelli and Lisandro Eberle, as well as Nuñez and Romero.
On Saturday night, the festival will present its highlight Show of the Maestros again at the Rialto Theatre, featuring Cinco Esquinas Quinted and five dance couples, Belleau said.
And on Sunday, for the first time in its existence the festival will feature a farewell dance party at the St-James Theatre in Old Montreal with the two guest orchestras playing live music during the night, she said.
“Tango is really an art made from the encounter of not only a man and woman, or of a guider and a guided, but also of all different kinds of cultures,” Belleau said. “This is something we really need these days to celebrate: the encounter of people and to celebrate diversity, and tango is nice way of doing that.”
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