It was illegal to dance the tango in Argentina while Oscar Casas was growing up.
Fearing subversive activities in the mid-1950s, the government had banned large public gatherings - including the social dances of tango, known also as milongas.
So Casas learned by watching his father, who danced it surreptitiously. Casas absorbed everything tango from him.
The dances they had at home "were kept very private so that there wouldn't be a problem and they wouldn't come to check to see what kind of a meeting it was - if it was a political one under the guise of tango," Casas, 58, said in a telephone interview in Spanish from Buenos Aires. "Those were the fears of my father."
Casas will bring his knowledge and passion for the dance to the Tucson Tango Festival, which starts today and runs through Monday.
People are also reading…
Last year the festival attracted about 350 people from 27 states and four countries, said festival organizer Rusty Cline, who expects more than 300 this year.
Cline is a tango instructor at the Arizona Ballet Theatre. He also has a home studio, Pista de la Milonga, which means milonga dance floor.
The festival features workshops for all levels of dancers, milongas and what organizers call a guerrilla milonga, where participants break out their tango moves in public.
There also will be professional performances by Casas and his wife, Mary Ann, among others.
Casas performs around the world and teaches in a well-known nightclub and dance studio in Buenos Aires called El Beso. He also appears in scores of tango videos on YouTube.
Tango is on the rise
The Tucson Tango Society is a nonprofit group devoted to promoting the growth of tango. It had fewer than 10 members before last year's festival and now has more than 40, said Rusty Cline, who is a member.
Cline said he's also noticed more people attending dances held at Casa Vicente and The Hotel Arizona throughout the year.
Those dances attract people who like to practice a social type of tango, which to newcomers is surprisingly different from what's seen on shows such as "Dancing With the Stars."
"We'd all kick and murder each other with stiletto heels," Cline said.
Casas' old-school tango will interest those who like to dance in milongas.
"The movements are very small, and the embrace is very close," he said recently as he waited to teach a class. "The two people are fused into one. Other styles of tango that are more modern demand space."
Guerrilla milonga
Even if you don't go to the festival, you may still experience some tango if you are out and about Sunday afternoon.
Festival organizers have chartered a bus that will take 55 dancers to a variety of public places, such as Hotel Congress and the Tucson Mall.
Once the bus stops, the dancers will hit the streets and tango to the beat of a portable sound system.
"We keep moving," Rusty Cline said.
When the bus stops at El Presidio Park, for example, the couples will dance onto the bridge that connects to La Placita, then stride their way to the Tucson Convention Center, he said.
The guerrilla milonga has been the first festival event to sell out each year, Cline said, noting that it is popular with dancers - in addition to bystanders.
"All smiles - you never get anything but people just elated and happy to see you," Cline said.
While the Tucson Tango Festival may be unique in using the bus, Cline said local dancers do them throughout the year. They also happen in other parts of the country.
If you go
• What: The Tucson Tango Festival features a variety of workshops for all levels of dancers, topped off with milongas, or social dances.
• When: Today through Monday.
• Where: The Holiday Inn Palo Verde, 4550 S. Palo Verde Road.
• Cost: $295 for the full festival, which includes 27 classes and eight milongas; $120 for all of the milongas; $40 for individual classes; $35 beginner's package.
• Performance: 11 p.m. Saturday during the Grand All-Night Milonga. $5.
• More information: 468-5536 or www.tucsontangofestival.com
