Music Features

Tango is the dance of love, of passion, and of a world that transports you to another plane. So say the tango lovers and novices who have re-discovered this emotional and passionate dance expression.

Join Jill for a conversation with Meredith Klein, director of the the Philadelphia Argentine Dance School, and organizer of the Third Annual Philadelphia International Tango Festival, which takes place from May 24th through May 27th. Twenty-two workshops with world-renowned dancers/teachers, five milongas (social dances) and outstanding performers will teach, perform, and work with those who live and breathe tango and those who have had no prior exposure or experience to it.

Tango, unlike other dances, has a mystique surrounding it that is deeply felt and absorbed by the participant, and is also a new world for the novice to discover. Internationally renowned couples, directly from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Javier Antar & Kara Wenham and Guillermo Cerneaz and Marina Kenny will teach workshops for intermediate and advanced dancers and perform at nightly social dances. Tangueros from around the United States are planning to travel to Philadelphia to study with these celebrated masters.

Most events will take place in the upstairs ballroom of the beautiful RUBA Club in Northern Liberties (414 Green Street, Philadelphia), which is reminiscent of some of the elegant and sometimes edgy tango spaces in Buenos Aires. A therapeutic yoga class is available daily taught by Argentine yogi and tango aficionada Monica Moya. More information here.

The cold snap is behind us and we’re feeling the warmth of spring on Now Is the Time, Sunday, May 19th at 10 pm. Ingrid Arauco’s Florescence buzzes and hums for the flute and harpsichord of Mélomanie, and Derek Bermel brings Thracian Sketches in all its Bulgarian-inspired rhythms to viola and percussion.

George Tsontakis takes us to the Mediterranean with orchestral Gymnopedies that are more Greek than French, but France infuses the sound of Avner Dorman’s Moments Musicaux for piano.

Things heat up with the computerized kicks of Thrum by John Gibson, and finally, with the two electric guitars that rock David Lang’s Warmth.

We’re having fun with numbers on Now Is the Time, Sunday, May 12th at 10 pm. Four dances for piano is what Keith Carpenter calls An even number of odd pieces, and Sketches Set Seven, also for piano, is Ed Bland’s contribution to what he calleds “urban classical funk.”

Mr. Bland passed away after this show was produced, so we honor his memory with this look into his wide-ranging career.

Charles Wuorinen’s Dodecadactyl is a fun two-guitar romp through the twelve pitches, and from her set of life-rhythm-inspired Genesis works is Janika Vandervelde’s Genesis V, for four guitars. For two sopranos is the riveting Madrigal III by Sergio Cervetti, setting a text from pre-Columbian Mexico.

Concertos for low instruments bookend a concerto for orchestra on Now Is the Time, Sunday, May 5th at 10 pm. Gunther Schuller conducts Orchestra 2001 in his Concerto da Camera, a classical-sized work with twists. Carter Brey’s singing tone dives deep into Steven Gerber’s Cello Concerto, bringing up a work of warmth and beauty.

The program opens with a perky yet challenging Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra by John Williams. Although he’s known worldwide for his decades of award-winning film scores, he’s written many concert pieces—including concertos. This one has become a repertoire piece for tubists since he composed it in 1985.