Oberlin’s Month of Tango

The queer milonga that took place Saturday night in Wilder Main was the culmination of a semester-long collaboration between Professor of Dance Ann Cooper Albright’s Queer Acts class and Professor of Hispanic Studies Ana Cara’s Tango: The Politics and Poetics of a National Icon.

In the days leading up to the milonga, world renowned tango teachers Astrid Weiske, who has been dancing for 17 years, and Ana María Schapira, who has been dancing for 20, led tango workshops on campus. The milonga featured music performed live by guest musicians Daniel Binelli, an internationally renowned master of the bandoneón, and pianist Polly Ferman, creator and director of GlamourTango, a multimedia music and dance performance celebrating women in tango.

The events were free and open to the public, as are related upcoming events. On Friday, April 26, Binelli and Ferman will join with vocalist Cristina Pérsico for a concert of tango music. And an exhibition of Claudia Marciano’s photographs of the XI Festival Internacional de Tango Queer en Buenos Aires in 2012 is on display in Mudd Library through April 30.

Oberlin’s month of tango has been sponsored by Year of the Queer, the Oberlin Center for Languages and Cultures, the Mary Goetze World Music Fund, the departments of Hispanic Studies and French and Italian, the Latin American Studies Program, and the Conservatory of Music.