On Saturday, September 17, 2022, the weeklong Tango BA Festival and World Championship concluded with only two couples taking home the title of Tango World Champions. This year was the 19th edition of the annual event.
The open-air finale of the dance competition took place in front of the Obelisk, Buenos Aires’ most famous landmark. There were 20,000 spectators present to experience the excitement of the championship and see who would become the 2022 world champions of tango.
More than 500 couples participated, with around 400 of these couples from Argentina and another 130 from countries from all over the world. From these, 40 couples made it to the final competition in the Salon Tango category (Tango de Pista), and 20 couples in Stage Tango (Tango Escenario).
Only one couple from each category was chosen to win the title 2022 Tango World Champions.
In the category of Salon Tango (Tango de Pista), dancers maintain a sustained embrace in the social style of tango danced in milongas.
Forty couples competed in the finals, coming from Argentina, Indonesia, Russia, Holland, Colombia, Italy, Brazil, Korea and Japan. Only one couple would win the award as Tango World Champions.
The winners of the 2022 Tango World Championship Tango de Pista were Sebastián Bolívar and Cynthia Palacios, with a score of 9.650.
Sebastián is 26 years old and Cynthia Palacios is 33. They competed representing Cipolletti, a city in the north of Argentina’s Patagonian province Río Negro.
«For me, tango is my life, I live for this and I love what I do,” Bolívar said on stage.
He celebrated their win saying, “We came for revenge and here we are, with the trophy in hand.”
This “revenge” spirit is because the couple were finalists for the last three years of the competition, and won second-place last year (2021).
After receiving their award, Sebastián and Cynthia danced «the dance of the champions.» With style and a close embrace, they danced to «Raza Criolla,» by Osvaldo Pugliese.
Bolivar’s emotional acceptance of the award was powerfully touching. It reminds us how hard these dancers work to achieve their dream of becoming Tango World Champions.
Tango de Pista Jury:
This year’s jury for the Tango de Pista category was made up of tango dancers and choreographers: Cristina Sosa, Jorge Firpo, Natalia Games, Fabian Peralta (2006 champion), Noelia Hurtado, Carlos Cortés and Carolina Bonaventura. And for Stage Tango, the jurors were Gisela Galeasi, Leonardo Cuello, Pilar Álvarez, Gabriel Angio, Eduardo Capussi, Romina Levin and Sergio Cortazzo.
Other Placements:
2nd place: Victoria Olivella and Agustín Rojas, from Mar del Plata. (Final score: 9.190)
3rd place: Aldana Silveyra and Diego Ortega, from Monte Grande. (Final score: 9.050)
4th place: Natalia Hassan and Leonel Mendieta, from Buenos Aires. (Final score: 8.829)
5th place: Marina Tevez and Rodrigo Videla, from Buenos Aires. (Final score: 8.807)
The twenty finalist couples in the Stage Tango (Tango Escenario) competition were from Argentina, Russia, Colombia, Holland, Japan and Italy.
In this category, dancers exhibit choreography. Unlike in Tango de Pista, breaking the embrace is allowed in Tango Escenario, as are jumping and other acrobatic skills.
The winners were Constanza Vieyto and Ricardo Astrada, with a winning score of 9.379.
They performed the winning choreography to the song “Mala Yunta” by the orchestra Rojo Tango.
Constanza Vieyto is 35 years old and a native of Guaymallén, a city in the Mendoza Province of Argentina. Ricardo Astrada is 42 and from Pergamino within the Buenos Aires Province. He has more than 30 years of experience in dance and tango.
You can see them perform at El Faena, a luxury hotel in Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires.
Other Placements:
2nd place: Andrea Kuna and Leandro Capparelli, from Buenos Aires. (Final score: 9.357)
3rd place: Lucas Guevara and Daniela Bravo, from Santiago del Estero. (Final score: 9.264)
4th place: Jimena Toñanez and Gonzalo Bogado, from Tigre. (Final score: 9.224)
5th place: Bruna Estellita and Julián Sanchez. (Final score: 9.224)
The city of Buenos Aires encourages citizen participation throughout the Tango BA Festival and World Championship. The couples awarded the title of Tango World Champions 2022 were selected by a jury of renowned tango experts, the couples below won the public vote:
Tango de Pista: Dana Zampieri and Carlos Estigarribia
Tango Escenario: Leandro Capparelli and Andrea Kuna
As reported by Argetina’s «Diario de Cultura,» spectators erupted into applause for the legendary María Nieves Rego, (who was instrumental in the revival of tango in the 1970s and 80s,) and Pancho Martinez Pey, when they danced to «Oigo Tu Voz» in the Tango Escenario finals.
Nieves said, «I am 88 years old. Otherwise I would dance all day.» The audience gave her a standing ovation.
Though we cannot all become tango world champions, we can give our hearts to the beauty of the dance.
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