Medellin’s Annual Tango Festival Shines This Month
The 2016 edition of Medellin’s “Festival Internacional de Tango” steps-out June 17 through June 26 in a spectacle of dance, violins, bandoneones and vocalists.
According to the Medellin Mayor’s office, this year’s festival — the 10th-annual —includes 33 artistic and academic events, including 29 concerts featuring 46 international and 180 local musicians and artists. The link to festival events is here.
Among the international stars featured at this year’s festival: Raúl Lavié, Sandra Luna, César Salgán, Esteban Falabella, Daniel Binelli, Polly Ferman and the “Tango Loco” ensemble.
In addition, Medellin master pianist Teresita Gomez will join with tango musicians Fabrizio Mocata, Marcelo Tommasi and Cármen Úsuga in a performance in honor of Leonardo Nieto — the founder of Medellin’s Casa Gardeliana, owner of Salón Versalles and the creator of the Festival Internacional de Tango de Medellín.
Festival events will be held in various sites including the Teatro Lido, the Plaza Gardel at the Olaya Herrera airport, the Teatro Pablo Tobón Uribe, Salón Málaga, Patio del Tango and the Casa Gardeliana. Several more events for the “Feria Tanguera” will be held outdoors on Avenida La Playa on June 24, 25 and 26.
Aside from Buenos Aires, Medellin today ranks as a leading devotee of tango music and dance – a heritage that traces its roots to the death of Carlos Gardel (the world’s most-famous tango singer) in an airplane crash in Medellin on June 24, 1935.
This year’s festival will pay homage to tango pioneer Horacio Salgán, who according to festival director Julio César Sierra is “one of the most influential figures in the history of tango.” Horacio’s son, Cesar Salgán, will appear with the “Quintento Real” tango group in a June 26 presentation at the Feria Tanguera, he added.
