The Perico Tango Festival has been taking place since Thursday in the capital of Jujuy, with the participation of top-level dancers, teachers and orchestras from the country and the world.
Today will be the last day of this event organized by Darío and Beatriz Artunduaga, which includes classes, competitions and milongas, for two-by-four lovers.
In this edition, the festival that was born in the city of Perico (and hence its name), due to its evolution and growth, moved to the capital of Jujuy, and takes place at Belgrano 624, as its headquarters, and also required other spaces .
BARDO TANGO ORCHESTRA | A LUXURY IN THIS EDITION OF THE FESTIVAL
The programming began on Thursday at Espacio Güemes (a rest of the capital’s downtown pub) with the performance of the dance couple Aurora Lubiz and Claudio González, in the Welcome and Exhibition Milonga.
On Friday and Saturday, tango, milonga and waltz classes were given, with renowned teachers such as Demian García and Katia Diamond; and Ernesto Balmaceda and Estela Báez.
Today from 2 to 5 pm, there will be tango classes with Aurora Lubiz and Claudio González.
The competition took place on Friday (stage tango and school tango) and Saturday (Pista competition) at 9 pm.
Today the space for the competition will be that of milonga and milongueros alone.
Another participation that makes the organization proud is that of the Bardo Tango Orchestra, which arrived in our capital for the first time, to provide music for last night’s and today’s galas, completing the dancers’ exhibition. Tonight from 10:30 p.m., it will be with the couple Katia and Demian.
We spoke with Darío, the organizer, who commented that, on Friday night, the exhibition was in the hands of Estela and Ernesto Balmaceda (Buenos Aires); and representing Jujuy, Paola Calisaya and Fernando Moreno, together with the Tango Bardo Orchestra
“Tonight we closed the night with the exhibition of José García and Roxi de Salta, who were the first champions of Perico Tango, in our first edition. Then they toured competitions and stages in Chile and other places,” he says.
We have figures this year who are European champions like Katia Diamond and Demian García.
Tonight it is also expected that all the teachers who participated in the festival will join in improvised dancing.
“It is a festival that grew more and more each year, and since it is a combination of tango and Jujuy, it is replicated in tourism, because it began to be heard about this festival in different places around the world,” explains Darío. Therefore, the combo for those who signed up for the classes and milongas also includes an excursion to the Salinas Grandes.
“This year we have in our programming, people from Switzerland, the United States, France, Buenos Aires, Chubut, Cohabamba and Santa Cruz de Bolivia, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Salta, Tucumán, Chaco, etc. And many people who are approaching to Jujuy not only for tourism, but for tango. Two forces join together to make this grow, first Jujuy as a tourist attraction, and tango as an embrace of dance and hobby,” says Darío.
About the guests
“It is a call for top-level teachers. There are, for example, Katia Daimon, from the United States, who has a spectacular career and is part of the tango environment; Demian García, who is one of the juried teachers of the Tango World Cup , very prestigious, and is always called for the finals and semifinals of these competitions. He traveled the world and is the reference for teachers to study milonga,” he commented.
He also referred to a couple of teachers with great experience and heritage, such as Estela Báez and Ernesto Balmaceda. “They come from a tango family, they have their own milonga in Buenos Aires, La Milonga de los Balmaceda. They are great teachers and are also summoned as juries for tango world championships,” she commented.
Another of the notable couples is that of Claudio González and Aurora Lubiz. “He is a stage tango choreographer, he worked at Broadway Forever Tango and Argentine Tango and his choreographies won several stage tango championships. Aurora, for her part, was in the Argentine Ballet and traveled the world,” Darío detailed, “that is that we have six teachers with world experience in Jujuy at this moment,” he concluded.
About the Tango Bardo orchestra he also offered a separate paragraph, “it arrives with the voice of Roberto Minondi, and it is one of the best of the moment, the one that all the dancers choose to compete. They also tour the world. It has more than 7 years of experience , four albums and two of them, awarded,” he commented on the achievement of having carried out this edition of the tango meeting in our province, which ends with tonight’s milonga.
