Tango events not missing a step

Dancers Morgan Petroski, left, and Chris Morales will perform with the QTango Orchestra in the “Por el amor al tango” show at the KiMo Theatre. (courtesy of dance culture magazine)

Tango takes the stage — and the dance floor — this week in Albuquerque with three performances of a tango show and four days of the Albuquerque Tango Festival.

The show, called “Por el amor al tango,” will be presented Thursday, Nov. 1, Friday, Nov. 2 and Saturday, Nov. 3.

The show features Albuquerque’s 14-piece QTango Dance Orchestra and 14 dancers.

“We’ll have a guest violinist, a guest guitarist, guest singers and guest bandoneón players,” said Erskine Maytorena, the orchestra’s director and lead vocalist. “We’ll put the orchestra in the back third of the stage. That leaves two-thirds of the stage open for the dancers.”

An ensemble of 14 professional dancers will perform choreographed and improvised pieces.

Maytorena said this year’s show is different than last year’s because there will be supertitles in English and Spanish on a screen behind the orchestra. The supertitles will be flashed as the songs are being played.

“We’re doing that because it gives context,” Maytorena said. “Many people, some of them veteran tango dancers, said after the show last year that they didn’t know what (a particular song) was about.”

Some songs in the two-hour show even contain lyrics in lunfardo, which is a dialect associated with early 20th century tango in Argentina.

Maytorena said he will introduce the songs and tell stories about them.

Performances of the tango show are at 7 p.m. Thursday, and 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the KiMo, 423 W. Central. Tickets are available at www.kimotickets.com, at the KiMo box office, or at the door.

The show will present most of the songs on the orchestra’s newly released CD “Por el amor al tango” (“For the love of tango”).

The orchestra also will perform at 6 tonight at a CD release party at the Sheraton Uptown Albuquerque.

The QTango Dance Orchestra also will play for the Albuquerque Tango Festival at a brunch milonga (dance party). The third annual festival starts on Thursday and runs through Nov. 4.

This year the festival has moved its main venue to Hotel Albuquerque.

“We’re taking all of their ballroom space,” said festival organizer Daniel Boardman. “We’re expecting about 600 people, about the same as last year.”

Most of them are dancers. The festival, Boardman said, also is featuring one of the top tango DJs and is offering tango instruction by teachers from Buenos Aires, Amsterdam, Montreal and from the United States.

Most of the instruction is at the intermediate and advanced level, but there is also a beginners package with three hours of classes and a dance party, he said.

The festival concludes with what Boardman called “a guerrilla milonga” starting at 4:30 p.m. Nov. 4.

“It’s a nice opportunity to watch the dancers for free,” he said.

The venues of the movable guerrilla milonga are the Albuquerque Sunport (by the escalators on the ticketing level), in the Apothecary Lounge at Hotel Parq Central, at Yanni’s and winding up at Kelly’s Brew Pub.

“Albuquerque continues to be a mecca for tango,” Boardman said. “Albuquerque is at the top of the second tier of popular destinations to dance tango.”

For advance festival registration and for more information, visit www.albuquerquetangofestival.com or at the door.

Tickets for “Por el amor al tango” shows are $20, $30 and $40 for reserved seats. Anyone buying a ticket will receive a free ticket of the same value for a student of high school age or younger. There are also half-price rush tickets for students with ID one hour before each show.

“We are trying to grow the tango community and introduce kids to orchestral music. I think of tango as the rock ‘n’ roll of classical music,” Maytorena said.