Forever Tango Original Cast starJesús Velazquez and

Mariana Castro GonzálezMaster Argentine Tango Dancers in Connecticut

Connecticut Tango Festival 2018, in its 11th Yearwww.CTTangoFest.org

(203) 584-4480

Friday July 13, through Sunday July 22Milford, Norwalk, Danbury, Middletown

A Festival Celebrating Argentine Tangowith Master Dancers

Jesús Velazquez and Marian Castro Gonzálezand

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 20, Milford: Tango Passion Show 2018, 8:00 pm, Tickets $38/$42

Presented by the Milford Arts Council and the CT Tango FestMusicians:

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

Jesus and Mariana, Grupo Folklorico Rio de la Plata, Tango Sueño Performance Group

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

Friday, July 13, Middletown: Opening Tango Social “Milonga” with guest Dale Ellison, 7:30 – 11:00 pmclass: 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 14, Milford: Tango Boot Camp for beginners with Dale and Gem2:30 – 5:30 pm, $50

www.CTTangoFest.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMay 26, 2018

Press Phone: (203) 543 8099, e-mail: CTTangoFest@gmail.com

Milford Arts Council, 40 Railroad Avenue South, Milford

Saturday, July 14, Danbury: Tango Workshops with Dale and Gem11:00 am – 1:00 pm, $40

Vitti's Dance Studio, 10 Precision Road, Danbury

Sunday, July 15, Norwalk: Intensive Tango Workshops Dale and Gem1:00 – 5:30 pm, $75

Dance Dimensions, 15 Cross Street, Norwalk

Saturday, July 21, Milford: Workshops with Jesús and Mariana1:00 – 5:30 pm, $75

Milford Arts Council, 40 Railroad Avenue South, Milford

Sunday, July 22, Norwalk: Workshops with Jesús and Mariana1:00 – 5:30 pm, $75

Dance Dimensions, 15 Cross Street, Norwalk

Tango Sueño Academy and the Milford Arts Council (MAC) present the 11th Connecticut Tango Festival with Forever

Tango original cast star Jesús Velazquez and Mariana Castro González, Argentine Tango Masters visiting from Buenos

Aires. Their activities will include tango workshops on July 21 and 22 as well as a performance on Friday July 20, 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 13. 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 BiographiesForever Tango original cast star Jesús Velazquez started his dance training with Argentine Folk styles under the tutelage of Carlos Saavedra at the prestigious Argentine academy "Ballet Folklorico Nacional" directed by Santiago Ayala "El Chucaro".

His professional tango career encompasses performances and world tours with such famous orchestras and musicians as Sexteto Major, Atilio Stampone and Ruben Juarez, as well as legendary shows such as Forever Tango, Tango Passion, and Tangox2.

He has appeared at the most well known tango shows in Buenos Aires including Michelangelo, Ezquina Homero Manzi, El Viejo Almacen, Esquina Carlos Gardel, and worked as the director and the choreographer of the Tango Porteño Show. He is also a judge at the most prestigious tango competition in the world, "Campeonato Mundial de Tango" in Buenos Aires.

Mariana Castro González has performed in major Buenos Aires shows and venues, such as Cafe Tortoni, Esquina Homero Manzi. With shows such as Tango Emotion, Tango in Action, Tango... via al sentiment", "Argentine Show Company", she traveled throughout five continents in diverse countries including Brazil, Japan, China, Germany, Spain, Turkey, India, England and Italy. She worked as a principal dancer at Tango Porteño show in Buenos aires, and was one of the judges at the Tango Dance Asian Championship in 2017.

As two of the most sought after instructors, Jesús and Mariana teach regular weekly classes in Buenos Aires.

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 24 years, and teaching for more than 14. 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 - High Resolution versions at www.cttangofest.org/press.html

Jesús and MarianaPhoto: Juan Pablo Bullich, 2017

Jesús and MarianaPhoto: Juan Pablo Bullich, 2017

Jesús and Mariana Photo: Eduardo Naranjo, 2017

Jesús and MarianaPhoto: Juan Pablo Bullich, 2017

Raul Jaurena

Marga MitchellPhoto: Sergio R. Reyes, 2011

Emiliano Messiez

Grupo Folklorico Rio de la Plata Dale and Gem

Photo: Gregg Lampson Carr, 2013

Dale and Gem Photo: Artists, 2017

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

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