The Guest List

Early in 1996 we dropped out of the corporate and high tech worlds to pursue our new found love affair with each other and the tango. Looking into the future we reckoned that we had at least twenty years of strong legs on which to dance our way around the world. Unknowingly we become the first full time couple teaching across the USA for a span of ten years on a continuous basis.

With still a few years left on that twenty year investment of good legs, we still dance and teach, but have become more grounded in our adopted city in the South, New Orleans. Unexpected events of life have made us stop, and look back, realizing that we had never set aside the time to rekindle the memories embedded in dozens of photo albums, VHS tapes, Digital 8 and Mini DV cassettes.

One photo in particular brought back memories of an aspect of our lives that we seldom talk about, or arguably brag about. The photo was of a sign that hung on the front gate of our Silicon Valley home. It was the first sign that welcomed those who entered our Planet Tango.

From 1996 to 2000, we served as the gateway into the Bay Area tango community for many well known and a few unknown artists… We promoted, translated for, and provided work opportunities to the initial wave of visiting dancers from Argentina. We were also innkeepers and house hosts to many of them.

Name	Housed	Provided work	Comments
Orlando Paiva	Yes	Yes	Deceased
Rodolfo Cieri	Yes	Yes	Deceased
Maria Cieri	Yes	Yes
Pablo Ojeda	Yes	Yes
Beatriz Ojeda	Yes	Yes
Andrea Misse	Yes	Yes	Deceased
Leandro Palou	Yes	Yes
Pablo Pugliese	Yes	Yes
Esther Pugliese	Yes	Yes	Deceased
Jorge Nel	Yes
Facundo Posadas	Yes	Yes
Kely Landam	Yes	Yes	Deceased
Armando Orzuza	Yes	Yes
Daniella Arcuri	Yes	Yes
Marcos Cuestas	Yes	Yes
Guillermo Merlo	Yes	Yes
Fernanda Ghi	Yes	Yes
Nestor Ray		Yes	Deceased
Carlos Gavito		Yes	Deceased
Pupi Castello			First and only exhibition ever in the USA
Graciela Gonzalez			with Graciela Gonzalez

After our relocation to New Orleans in 2000, we continued the tradition of hosting well known artists at our House of Tango and yearly Tango Fests, until 2005…

Name	Housed	Provided work	Comments
Nestor Ray	Yes	Yes	Deceased
Patricia Garcia	Yes	Yes
Guillermina Quiroga		Yes
Alberto Catala		Yes
Armando Orzuza		Yes
Daniella Arcuri		Yes
Miriam Larici	Yes	Yes
Hugo Patyn	Yes	Yes
Orlando Paiva, Jr.		Yes

Those were wonderful years of non-stop tango life, a period in time when we didn’t realize how important it was to help so many artists to break into the new world that the USA was to become for tango… With a few exceptions, we have never heard from most of them again. So we don’t know if they ever felt the love, dedication and generosity that was gifted to them.

For us, their walking through our doors and in and out of our lives constitutes a collage of experiences we’ll never forget for as long as we live…

Top-flight tango dancers from around the United States, Canada and Argentina, arrived the weekend of August 23-25 for classes, dinners, and a show that gave New Orleans a taste of Argentina, where it all began.

The three days of workshops, dancing, food and drinks, as well as various social events, culminated with the spectacular centerpiece of the three day event, a professional Tango Show, with live music, dinner and social dancing, held at the beautiful International Ballroom of the Doubletree Hotel.

Headliners of the first New Orleans TangoFest were Miriam Larici, star of the Broadway show “Forever Tango,” and Hugo Patyn, of the Oscar-nominated film “Tango.” Bringing the beat for Larici and Patyn were Miguel Arrabal, Jorge Vernieri and Ramses Colon who played Argentine tango music. Completing the professional line up, were Alberto Paz and Valorie Hart, who came to New Orleans in 1999 for a teaching gig; the two never left. They danced their authentic, smooth, elegant tango as danced in Buenos Aires in the ‘40s.

Jorge Vernieri	Ranses Colon
Miguel Arrabal	Valorie Hart-Alberto Paz
Miriam Larici- Hugo Patyn	Miriam Larici- Hugo Patyn

In the tango world — which aficionados believe is a state of mind as well as a physical pastime — the time-honored method of both inviting someone to dance and accepting the request is eye contact and a head nod. This speaks highly of politeness, courtesy and above all about avoiding uncomfortable and at times embarrassing experiences.

“Eye contact and a head nod won’t get you in to TangoFest,” warned the Times Picayune in their Lagniappe section, inviting people to make their reservations right away.

The Gambit Weekly‘s Frank Etheridge wrote, “It takes ‘two to tango,’ is a cliche in both meaning and use, as it can represent anything for a call to partner up in a game of bridge to a smirking reference for you-know-what. But to many, the sensuous and sultry dance is an art form, and a perfect match for the rhythm of New Orleans. Consider the popularity of Planet Tango, a local group led by Alberto Paz, a native of Argentina, and Valorie Hart, a U.S. native, that regularly brings social dances and classes to Uptown within their format of developing education on, and appreciation of, Argentine tango.”

As if New Orleans isn’t hot enough in the summer, the first TangoFest generated a lot of extra heat with its three theme milongas, which started Friday night at the House of Tango in Uptown New Orleans, continued Saturday night at the International Ballroom overlooking the city lights and the Mississippi river, and ended with a bang Sunday night at Muriel’s Restaurant on historic Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter.

Opening night at the House of Tango	Opening night at the House of Tango
View of the Mississippi	Dining room at the Doubletree
Dining room at the Doubletree	Dining room at the Doubletree
The South Americans	Miriam, Alberto, Linda, Hugo

Alberto and Valorie	Miriam and Hugo