Pan American Symphony Orchestra

Last night we went down to the Lisner Auditorium at GW to see the Pasion por Tango show. We couldn't find a video of the performance last night. The video above is from an earlier performance.

The show last night was part of the Washington DC Tango Festival. It featured the Pan American Symphony Orchestra, The Bruno Cavallaro Quartet, the singer Claudia Gargiulo, along with dancers Carina Losano and Angel Coria.

We really like Argentine Tango music. It is so different from the music we hear when we are ballroom dancing. With ballroom you listen for the beat to figure out what to dance. Four counts for Foxtrot, three counts for a waltz. The Latin rhythms are different for Cha-Cha and Rhumba. American Tango is also distinguished by the beat; slow-slow-quick-quick-slow.

Argentine Tango is danced to the melody. The music is full of passion. Sometimes it is light and lilting, others it is dark and heavy. With ballroom the gentleman leads the lady to a step; in Argentine Tango, the lady is lead through the step. Tango is very much improvised and to do it well the dancers have to feel the passion of the artist that composed the music.

The Pan American Symphony Orchestra was founded with the purpose of highlighting Latin American music that is rarely performed and unfamiliar to the concert public.

Bruno Cavallaro started studying music formally when he was 15 years old and two years later after an intensive audition, he was chosen by Maestro Lysy to study violin at the Music Center Lysy in Carilo, Buenos Aires. A few years later Cavallaro decided to immerse himself in popular music, including tango.

Mezzo-soprano Claudia Gargiulo was born in Argentina and now dedicates her career to promoting in the United States Argentine tango and contemporary Latin American music.

Angel Coria is internationally recognized for his main role as a dancer in the film "Tango" by Carlos Saura. Hi was also one of the stars of the show "Copes Tango Copes", performing nationally in Argentia and around the world.

Carina Losano is a native of Buenos Aires and has studied many forms of dance, included ballet, contemporary, modern-jazz, flamenco, and salsa, but she is internationally recognized for her mastery of tango.