Inspired in part by a two-week tango gathering Lydia attended five years ago at Stanford University, the duo decided to combine day and night dancing with a sunny beach vacation; thus, the Tango Congress (now in its third year) was born. Dancers came from all over the country and Europe. This year's Congress boasts attendees from Australia, Israel, Panama, Chile, as well as the United States.
The week's worth of tangoing will consist of four daily workshops for dancers at any level of proficiency conducted by legendary tanguero Juan Carlos Copes, one of the stars of Tango Argentino and Carlos Saura's recent movie Tango, as well as by cast members from the film The Tango Lesson and the Broadway show Forever Tango. Milongas (dance parties) with a live four-piece Argentine tango band (incorporating the accordionlike bandoneon, of course) will take place Sunday through Thursday night. A dinner, dance, and qualifying contest for six couples to attend the United States Dance Sport Championships' World Argentine Tango Championship goes on Friday night. Saturday's big finale brings a masters' extravaganza, featuring twelve acclaimed dancers including Copes, who will perform in Miami for the first time in ten years.
Ballroom dancing is set to become an Olympic sport soon and one of the aims of the Congress is to help prepare future competitors. But others are there just to brush up on skills and have fun. Although the event might sound like too much tango for one person to handle, Pittman and his partner think otherwise. For them the Congress is akin to a waking dream. "Tango people become fanatics," Lydia explains. "They want nothing else but to tango. It's a mysterious dance. It gets into your veins, crawls right up in you, and you can't leave it. It becomes an obsession." Pittman agrees: "We get a euphoria that's greater than what people who take drugs get. It's a high that's impossible to explain. It makes you tingle from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes."
-- Nina Korman
The United States Tango Congress takes place from Sunday, May 23, through Saturday, May 29, at the Radisson Deauville Resort Hotel, 6701 Collins Ave, Miami Beach. Registration to participate in all events costs $549; $125 per day; or $15 per night. Tickets for the Saturday tango spectacular cost $25. Call 305-274-2705.
