“I told my partner we should aim to not come in the last five, and he said that was too much pressure,” laughed Shreya Shah. “He told me we were going to come in last, and that I’d better be happy with that.” Shah and her dance partner Manoj Unni have traveled from Pune, India, to Buenos Aires, to join over 750 couples in this year’s Tango World Cup.
That number is a record for the championship. Organized by Buenos Aires City government’s culture ministry, dancers widely describe it as the world’s most renowned tango event. The competition is the centerpiece of the Tango BA festival , which runs from August 14-27 and includes more than 2,000 artists.
Events include live music, exhibitions, dance classes, and milongas, at venues across Argentina’s capital. This year, the championship has drawn competitors from 53 countries including Brunei, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Moldova and Myanmar. The competition includes categories for classic tango ( tango de pista ) and stage tango ( tango de escenario ), the more acrobatic variant in which participants are allowed to jump and break their embrace.
Both amateur and professional dancers will compete to be crowned the best in the business. The finals will be held at Movistar Arena, in Villa Crespo, on August 27. Shah and Unni are the only couple this year who made the trip from India to compete.
Many people have told her they didn’t know tango was danced in India, she says, so she feels being at the festival helps put her country’s tango scene on the map. Last tango in Buenos Aires? Shah, 52, and Unni, 69, are among the older couples at the competition. A little over two years ago Shah received a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis.
Unsure how much longer she’d be able to dance freely, she decided to stop putting off her dream of attending the iconic festival. For Sandra Naccache from Montreal, Canada, this festival is a very different story. Naccache and her dance partner Jorge Carlos Lopez teach tango and organize tango trips to Buenos Aires.
The couple ranked 17th in last year’s tango de pista competition. They’re off to a strong start this year, and will be competing in the semifinals on Saturday. Naccache, though, said she was putting pleasure over pressure.
“I take it one step at a time ...
how do I want to feel when I’m going to be on the dance floor in that moment. What are my goals for that moment?” Utha Callen and her dance partner Rommel Oramas also qualified for the semifinals. It’s the couple’s third year at the competition, which Callen said has pushed her to grow as a dancer.
After a “terrified” first year and a “nervous” second round, she’s actually having fun in front of the judges this time. Originally from Boston, U.S.
, Callen moved to Buenos Aires nearly three years ago. She’d been dancing for more than 10 years, and when she decided to move abroad, her passion for tango made Buenos Aires the obvious destination. Tango partners and married couple Pali Delgado from Thailand and Marcelo Delgado from Buenos Aires, are no strangers to the city either.
They’re representing Australia at the competition, as they live in Sydney. The pair comes to Buenos Aires often to take lessons, go to milongas, and “experience the essence of tango.” You may also be interested in: Tango dancers wow Buenos Aires at world championships In 2009, UNESCO recognized tango as intangible cultural heritage of humanity, noting that its “music, dance and poetry” encourage diversity and cultural dialogue.
“We tango all over the world, but there’s nowhere else you can feel more of the tango [atmosphere] than here,” Marcelo said. Even if you’re watching two strangers dance, you can feel their connection, he added. Pali said she was getting starstruck walking around backstage at the championship, and that it was surreal to be competing against dancers who are the “Roger Federer of tango.
” Dancing as a married couple has given them a different experience from most tango partners. If they’re not happy with each other then it shows up in their dancing, the pair remarked, noting that onlookers can see it as well. They feel like their relationship allows them to access a deeper range of emotions on the dance floor.
The couple said that while they might not have the most advanced technical moves, spectators often comment on their connection. Pali added that she wants to keep dancing until they’re an old married couple who can barely walk. “I want to die dancing!” she exclaimed.
To discover Tango BA’s program and reserve tickets, head to the festival’s website. You may also be interested in: The tango show that dazzled Taylor Swift’s backup dancers.
