Pablo Nievas and Valeria Zunino Master Argentine Tango Dancers

in Connecticut

Connecticut Tango Festival 2019, in its 12th Year www.CTTangoFest.org

(203) 584-4480

Friday July 12, through Sunday July 21 Milford, Norwalk, Danbury, Middletown

A Festival Celebrating Argentine Tango

with Master Dancers Pablo Nievas and Valeria Zunino

and Latin Grammy Winner Raul Jaurena, bandoneonist, Marga Mitchell, singer, Emiliano Messiez, pianist,

dancers/instructors: Dale Ellison and Gem Duras, and Grupo Folklorico Rio de la Plata

Program Summary: Friday, July 19, Milford: Tango Passion Show 2019, 8:00 pm, Tickets $38/$48

Presented by the Milford Arts Council and the CT Tango Fest Musicians:

Raul Jaurena, bandoneonist, Marga Mitchell, singer, Emiliano Messiez, pianist Dancers:

Pablo and Valeria, Grupo Folklorico Rio de la Plata, Tango Sueño Performance Group

Tickets/Info: (203) 584-4480, www.CTTangoFest.org Milford Arts Council, 40 Railroad Avenue South, Milford

Friday, July 12, Middletown: Opening Tango Social “Milonga” with guest Dale Ellison, 7:30 – 11:00 pm

tango vals class: 7:30 – 8:30 pm, social dance: 8:30 – 11:00 pm. $25 class and dance, $15 dance only. First Church of Christ, 190 Court Street, Middletown

Saturday, July 13, Milford: Tango Boot Camp for beginners with Dale and Gem

2:30 – 5:30 pm, $60 Milford Arts Council, 40 Railroad Avenue South, Milford

www.CTTangoFest.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 28, 2019

Press Only Phone: (203) 543 8099

e-mail: info@cttangofest.org

Saturday, July 13, Danbury: Tango Workshops with Dale and Gem

11:00 am – 1:00 pm, $50 Vitti's Dance Studio, 10 Precision Road, Danbury

Sunday, July 14, Norwalk: Intensive Tango Workshops Dale and Gem

1:00 – 5:30 pm, $75 Dance Dimensions, 15 Cross Street, Norwalk

Saturday, July 20, Milford: Workshops with Pablo and Valeria

1:00 – 5:30 pm, $75 Milford Arts Council, 40 Railroad Avenue South, Milford

Sunday, July 21, Norwalk: Workshops with Pablo and Valeria

1:00 – 5:30 pm, $75 Dance Dimensions, 15 Cross Street, Norwalk

Tango Sueño Academy and the Milford Arts Council (MAC) present the 12th Connecticut Tango Festival with Pablo

Nievas and Valeria Zunino, Argentine Tango Masters visiting from Buenos Aires. Their activities will include tango

workshops on July 20 and 21 as well as a performance on Friday July 19, at the Tango Passion Show co-presented by the

Milford Arts Council. The other activities will include tango intensive days with Dale Ellison from Charleston SC and

Gem Duras from Connecticut’s own Tango Sueño Academy as well as a boot camp for beginners and tango socials at the

Milford Arts Council. The Festival will open with a tango social in Middletown, First Church on Friday, July 12. The

other locations include Vitti’s Dance Studio in Danbury and the Dance Dimensions Studio in Norwalk. For detailed

schedule please visit www.CTTangoFest.org.

Artist Biographies

Internationally renowned dancers and teachers, Pablo Nievas and Valeria Zunino both started dancing in their childhood. Pablo initially learned tango from his grand-father at the age of five by first studying the female part! As his grandfather would say: to do the leader’s part properly in tango it is important to learn the follower’s part. Later he attended the “Escuela Municipal de Danzas” to study tango and Argentine folk dances professionally. Valeria started dancing at the age of four, and later attended the prestigious “Escuela Nacional de Danzas Clasicas” where she studied ballet first. After working as a jazz dancer at various musicals in Buenos Aires and performing at various ballet theaters, she was introduced to tango and became partners with Pablo to create a long and impressive international tango career. They have been invited to teach and perform in most countries in Europe as well as Asia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South America. They have performed in most major milongas and venues in Buenos Aires such as Parakultural (Salón Canning), Niño Bien, La Nacional, Porteño y Bailarín, Confitería Ideal, El Cachafaz, La Baldosa, Grisel and Italia Unita among others. They have danced as guest performers with legendary orchestras such as Color Tango, Sexteto Sur, Narcotango and Los Reyes del Tango. In additional to their international teaching activities, they have been the main instructors at Confiteria Ideal, one of the most important historic Buenos Aires tango venues, which has been featured in many feature films and documentaries. Raul Jaurena, the man that Astor Piazzolla once called one of the greatest bandoneon players ever, is among today’s most saught after bandoneonists. His music plays a very personal tribute to the influences of his South American roots and his adopted hometown of New York. It combines the traditional idioms of the tango and the new tango styles

influenced by jazz. After playing as a member of various tango orchestras in his native country Uruguay, as well as Argentina, Brasil, Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela, Raul Jaurena performed with Astor Piazzolla at the Montreal Jazz Festival after which the conservation of the musical spirit of Astor Piazzolla became his personal vocation: Jaurena’s tango interpretations which are enriched by influences of jazz, his own arrangements and spontaneous improvisations inspire a new generation of listeners and dancers. Raul Jaurena has collaborated with Cuban Jazz saxophone player Paquito D'Rivera, cellist Yo Yo Ma, Giora Feidman and Tango Five among others. As a soloist he regularly performs with prominent ensembles and orchestras throughout Europe and the US. In 2007 with his Album “Te Amo Tango” he won the Latin Grammy. Marga Mitchell was born in Caracas, Venezuela. After moving to the US, she participated in the Midnight Summer Night at Lincoln Center New York, in 1992-1994, Tango Fest-Broadway at Town Hall, the Ravinia Festival in Chicago 1997-1998, the 10th & 11th International Tango Festival in Montevideo, Uruguay. In 1999, she performed at The White House with the group Quintango along with movie star Robert Duval. She was invited as a special guest in the Latin American Concert with the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Official Radio in Vienna, Austria and performed at the San Martin Theater for the first International Festival of Buenos Aires, in Argentina. She has been a soloist with different orchestras around the world, including the Pan-American Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC, the Symphony Orchestra of Richmond, Virginia, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Stuttgart, Germany, and has been a special guest of the group Tango Five, in Germany. Other performances include; All That Tango, winner of the 2002 ACE Award as Best Musical Production, Life’s Tango, Tangomania, & I Love Tango. A native Argentinian, Emiliano Messiez began playing the piano at the age of 3. He has presented a wide range of musical styles in important venues worldwide and made numerous radio and TV appearances. He performed with groups and prestigious musicians such as Celeste Carballo, Alan Plachta, Raul Jaurena, Dino Saluzzi, JP Jofre, Pablo Aslan and Infantino Group, with whom he recorded his first album for which he received the UNESCO Trimarg Prize. Emiliano has been part of the show created by Mario & Daniel Celario "Tango Buenos Aires" as a music director and pianist. He is also the creator, arranger, and musical director of the Buenos Aires show "Barolo Tango.”

Grupo Folklorico Rio de la Plata was created in 2009 by Adrian and Silvana Correa, with a mission to keep Argentine and Uruguayan dance traditions alive through performances and educational activities. Adrian Correa, the director of the group, first started dancing in 1994 in his native country Uruguay, becoming an expert in folk styles such as Zamba and Chacarera. With Silvana, his wife, they have taken their Folklore to NY, NJ, CT and PA, dancing at numerous festivals. They are based in Danbury, CT performing Uruguayan and Argentinean folk dancing exclusively.

Dale Ellison, known in Buenos Aires as Delia, has been dancing Argentine tango for more than 25 years, and teaching for more than 15. She has developed a reputation as a dynamic Argentine Tango teacher and performer in salon, milonguero, nuevo and performance styles of tango. Originally a San Francisco resident, Dale received her tango training from the stars of the famous show “Forever Tango” most notably Carlos Gavito and Marcela Duran. Initially a salsa dancer and club style salsa instructor, Dale was drawn to tango for its sensuality and passion, later winning the first prize in the first San Francisco Tango Competition in 1998. She has traveled to Buenos Aires numerous times to study with Gustavo Naveira, Osvaldo Zotto, Oscar Mandagaran, Chicho Frumboli, Geraldine Rojas, Graciela Gonzales, Marcela Duran, and women's technique with Lorena Ermocida. After teaching in CT for five years with Gem Duras, Dale Ellison moved to Charleston SC, where she teaches and runs tango activities as the director of Tango Rojo. Gem Duras started his tango training in 1995 initially with the original cast members of the famous show Forever Tango in particular the legendary Carlos Gavito. After incorporating his technique, elegance and musicality into his own dancing and teaching, he visited Buenos Aires numerous times to study ballet as well as advanced technique and stage tango with younger Forever Tango stars Jesus Velazquez and Francisco Forquera becoming a certified tango instructor and dancer. During his partnership with Dale Ellison, they founded Tango Sueño and traveled to Buenos Aires numerous times to perfect their technique by studying with Gustavo Naveira, Juan Carlos Copes, Osvaldo Zotto, Oscar Mandagaran, Chicho Frumboli, Geraldine Rojas and Susana Miller among others. Gem recently performed and taught at the Stardust weekend upstate New York, and participated as a performer in the New Year’s Celebration event organized by Akademi Tango, in Ankara-Turkey. As a professional tango instructor he runs Tango Sueño Connecticut Argentine Tango Academy in Connecticut and holds regular classes throughout CT as well as Westchester, NY.

Artist Photos – More photos and High Resolution versions at

www.cttangofest.org/press.html

Pablo and Valeria

Pablo and Valeria

Pablo and Valeria

Pablo and Valeria

Raul Jaurena

Marga Mitchell

Photo: Sergio R. Reyes, 2011

Emiliano Messiez

Grupo Folklorico

Rio de la Plata

Dale and Gem

Photo: fuentes2fernandez, 2018

Dale and Gem

Photo: fuentes2fernandez, 2018

### Not for publication: Please visit http://www.cttangofest.org/press.html

for high-resolution versions of these and other photos for print publication