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Breaking Even CE: What made you decide to run the festival in London? CV: London needs a tango festival. It gives people an intensive weekend in which they can learn and grow. You get a different feeling, are introduced to new artists and the whole scene becomes more dynamic. The intensity is important. It’s not just about the dance and the music but the feeling too. Things change when you live the feelings of tango and let them soak through you and a festival helps this happen. CE: What did you learn last year and what did you change as a result? CV: Last year was the first festival I arranged. I learned a lot! The most important thing we have changed is to benefit our clients. By registering in advance and using passes for each class, we expect to cut registration delays right out. We also have bigger spaces. On Friday 13th and Saturday 14th the floor in Corrientes will be extended to make it the biggest ever tango dance floor in the UK. CE: What are you most looking forward to? CV: The performances by Eduardo Capussi and Mariana Flores. It’s not just their technique but the way they combine theatrical elements with the dance. It’s very exciting to think that they will connect everyone with a new manner of expressing tango. Then the Duo Napoli Casales will do a warm-up lecture on “The Birth of the Tango Song” and will demonstrate 1920s tango. Mark Fielding is a great tango artist and his work will be shown throughout the festival and I’m looking forward to people using the tangoblog part of the festival site to find a dancing partner as well. CE: To arrange such a large festival in four different London locations over as many days is a large and risky undertaking. Why do you do it when it must be difficult to know if you’ll even break even? CV: Risk and money are secondary to the love of tango. It has to be like that. Sixteen years ago when I started in tango I didn’t think about the money. It’s all about the tango and doing things from the heart. If you love and believe in what you are doing and then lose money it’s not so terrible. So long as the heart is happy everything is in balance! For me that’s what breaking even is all about! |
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Last modified: 01-Jun-2008 |