At the end there was an astonished silence when the announcement was made that two couples had tied for first place. It was a nerve-wracking moment. There was disbelief on people’s faces followed by an incredulous murmur from the audience. The two couples who had been called back — Diego Gorostiaga and Kelly Lettieri from New York, and Adam Cornett and Tilia Kimm from Boston — stepped confidently but tensely onto the competition floor. After third place had gone to Derek Tang and Rachell Lin from Los Angeles both couples had been hoping to be called as second or first place winners, but now they were asked to dance yet another round so that the judges could come to a final decision. The music began again and both couples danced with even more verve than before. Watching from the sidelines, it was impossible to tell who would grab the winner’s title. But this time it didn’t take the judges long to make their decision.
Only a few minutes after the music stopped playing, Adam Cornett and Tilia Kimm were pronounced winners in the “Tango de Pista” category and awarded the title of the 2016 US Tango Championship, a roundtrip ticket to Buenos Aires where they will represent the US at the Tango Mundial 2016, and a one week stay in the city of Buenos Aires.
The “Tango de Pista” category — recently renamed but still better known to the general audience as “Salon” category — is probably the most prestigious category of the whole Argentine Tango Championship. Competition criteria remain the same as before, the main criterion being that feet must remain on the floor — no high kicks or fancy lifts are allowed. Such moves are reserved for the “Stage” category where this is exactly what both the audience and the judges do want to see. It’s what makes watching stage competition a lot more entertaining — especially at this year’s USA Tango Championship where the top competitors danced at a higher level than ever before. One couple, Martin Cardoso and Noelia Guerrero from Fort Myers, Florida, delivered a fiery performance with their own interpretation of Argentine tango combined with Latin dance moves. They brought the audience to its feet with a hot and spicy show of acrobatic lifts, and fast and precise footwork which earned them second place. But it was the stunningly beautiful performance of an all Argentine tango by Daniel Moreno and Amanda Accica from Detroit, Michigan, that was crowned with the first prize in the “Stage” category. They had competed last year, and this time they won the judges over completely. Their stirring, seductive, but elegant performance was touching – all the more so since Amanda’s obviously advanced stage of pregnancy did not in the least hinder the flawlessness of her dancing. In third place was another couple who are no strangers to the US Tango Championship: Roberto Peña and Jacklyn Shapiro from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They delivered a most passionate and theatrical performance, and may well become next year’s champions.
In the “Tango Salon Seniors” category, John Demenkoff and Diana Bradshaw from Scottsdale, Arizona came in first. This couple, who captivated everyone with their elegance, had been trained by former Bay Area residents and Salon Tango champions from 2014, Nicholas Tapia and Stephanie Berg. Second and third prizes went to two couples from Boston: Glen Sickorez and France Potvin, and Varouj Nersesian and Silvia Meyer.
At the end of the event which stretched again over four days, organizer Andrea Monti praised the smooth organization of this year’s competition which saw forty-two couples competing in the “Tango de Pista” category, and eleven couples in both the “Stage Tango” and “Tango Salon Seniors” categories. Unfortunately, since only two groups had registered with performance teams no competition could be held in this category as six groups is the minimum requirement for a competition. “Everything went even better than before,” she said, thanking her staff of volunteers for their extraordinary dedication and work. She also explained the new rules set out by the board of the “Mundial de Tango” in Buenos Aires: There are now ten judges on the panel instead of the previous six. All ten judges rotate during the four days of the competition, and all are “masters” — local judges no longer being allowed. There was, however, one exception this year: San Francisco based Christy Cote, who because of her “super professionalism” had been asked to serve as a so-called substitute judge. And once again, a designated auditor was sent from Buenos Aires to ensure the compliance of the rules and regulations.
The four day long festival – with workshops during the day, the competition and milongas with live music and performances by the masters at night – has become a fixed event and one of the highlights in the calendar and draws more and more people. Saturday night saw a sold-out house with 400 people in the audience, on Friday night the organizers counted 300, and both opening and closing nights also drew a large crowd.
All in all, this year’s competition was a great success; next year’s is eagerly awaited.
Top: Roberto Peña and Jacklyn Shapiro; foto of Tilly Kimm and Adam Cornett by Andrea Monti; all other pictures by Mary Gulick.