12th BAFICI News

This Saturday, the first open milonga of the 8th City Dance Championship will take place at 7PM in the beautiful Barrancas de Belgrano gazebo (11 de Septiembre y Echeverría). Entrance will be free. The same event will take place at Plaza Dorrego de San Telmo (Humberto 1º y Defensa) on Sunday at 7:30PM. If it rains, these events will take place next weekend at the same time and place. Registration to participate in “Salong Tango” (Adults and Senior), “Tango Milonga” and “Waltz”, can be made minutes before the event only being necessary to show an ID.

The selected dancers competing in the first qualifying round of the eighth

City Dance Championship- arranged last Thursday night at El Arranque milonga located in San Nicolas neighbourhood- are already known. The presence of the argentine-japanese pair Juan Carlos Katsuren-Saeko Miyasaki, is the most important in the first election in the three competing categories. In “Salon Tango-Adult”, besides Katsuren-Myyasaky, the Alejandro Luna–María Ayelén Maldonado pair was also selected. In “Salon Tango-Senior”, Ricardo Giménez-Victoria Terella y Héctor Dohnke-Manuela Requena also classified. In “Milonga” category, besides the pairs aforementioned, Hur Yoon Chul-Saito Rui y Jonathan Sotto-Glenda Salas Lozano also participate in the semifinals. And in “Waltz”, Dongjun Kim-Young Ah Yang, Hur Yoon Chul-Saito Rui yand Sergio Fernández-Flora Sanchez are the ones that classified. And of course Katsuren-Miyasaki.

This Thursday at sunset, precisely at 6.30PM, the 8º City Dance Championship will officially start. It is a great tango dance contest held in Buenos Aires. The first Qualifying Round, which will last until Sunday the 16th, will be held at milonga El Arranque, Bartolome Mitre 1759 (San Nicolas neighbourhood). It is important to acknowledge that registration is very simple: it can be made at every ballroom on the very same day and time of the competition, only being necessary to show an ID. On Friday, the rounds will continue at 11PM at La Milonguita, , Jorge Newbery 2818 (Colegiales) and from midnight at Sin Rumbo, José Tamborini 6157 (Villa Urquiza).

The eighth edition of the City Dance Competition will be held from 6th May to 22nd with qualifying rounds and semifinals taking place at ballrooms and public places of Buenos Aires City. Grand prizes are at stake: $ 15.000 (local currency) for Senior and Adult winners of the “Tango Salon” category; and $ 8.000 for the winners of the “Milonga” and “Waltz” categories. Registration can be made at every ballroom on the very same day and time of the competition, only being necessary to show an ID. The final will be held on Saturday 22nd May at 8pm, at San Jose School (Azcuenaga 158), located at “Balvanera” neighbourhood.

The Dance World Championship and Festival will take place from August 13 to August 31, 2010. The conceptual bases will be the rescue of the historical heritage, artistic excellence, and the stimulus to creation. Different generations of artists, music fans, and general audience will participate in an extensive programme which finds its roots in the centennial tradition of a culture which defines Buenos Aires: concerts, special shows, popular milongas, book presentations, round tables, products fair, classes for beginners and for advanced dancers, and the best dancing couples – in the categories “Stage Tango” and “Salon Tango” – from Argentina and from the rest of the world in an unparalleled succession of music, dance, and feeling.

In December, 2009, tango was declared Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in a decision made by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates). Argentina and Uruguay presented tango’s candidacy representing the cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo because both “share the birth, tradition, and passion for the tango,” according to a statement made by the Argentine Embassy in Abu Dhabi. Hernán Lombardi, Buenos Aires’ Minister of Culture, and Eduardo León Duter, Montevideo’s Director of Cultural Promotion, driving forces of the project, were in charge of presenting the proposal to the committee.