Tango Time
Sunday, July 21, 2019
5:30 pm
Hosted by Luisa Zini Fortuna and Art Fortuna
30 Guests • $100
TANGO — in its syncopated rhythms, in the yearning discords of the bandoneon — quickens the pulse and brightens the eyes! Join the excitement at this magnificent home in the Northwest Hills where professional tango dancers demonstrate their flashing footwork and sinuous turns to live music on a dance floor out beneath the stars. Vibrant Table Catering brings their culinary talents to the event with an exceptional display of food and drink.
Classical music fans have probably heard Piazzolla, but what beautiful, sensuous, deeply human tradition (of tango) did he come out of, and what did he do with tango that was different? The program includes both instrumental and sung tango, traditional and non-traditional instrumentation, poetic and more entertaining songs, and various rhythms.
Guest artists include:
Dancers: Hannah Grenfell, Gabriel Magni, Matthew Miller, Dessa Bingley, Bassel Hamieh, and Remanda Xiang
Musicians: Megan Yvonne, Tim Morgan, Joel Morrissette, Jerry Bobbe, and Margaret Bloomfield.
No Refunds
- More About Hannah Grenfell
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Hannah has been a dancer and performer for most of her life but she fell in love with Argentine Tango in the fall of 2006. During her first lesson in her home town of Aspen, Colorado she saw a demo by two visiting instructors from Argentina. Hannah was mesmerized and forever hooked on tango.
Hannah moved from Aspen to Ashland, Oregon in 2007 where she completed her undergraduate degree at Southern Oregon University. There she studied Theatre Performance in one of the most sought after programs in the country as well as taught tango in the local community. After graduation, she had the pleasure of understudying with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and also performed with the local community theatre.
In the fall of 2013 Hannah moved to Portland, Oregon. There she continues to seek experiences that help her grow as a person, teacher, and as a dancer. She has learned from and danced with some of the most accomplished instructors and performers of our time. She travels regularly to tango events around the country as well as to Buenos Aires and also teaches, DJ’s, and performs in Portland.
Hannah encourages grounded, comfortable movement while maintaining good technique and fluidity. She believes that both lead and follow have equal opportunity of expression and responsibility within the tango embrace. Tango, like any skill, gives back what you put into it, and most importantly, it should bring you joy!
Hannah offers private lessons as well as group classes and workshops at various venues around Portland and Oregon. Check out her calendar of upcoming classes. - More About Megan Yvonne
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Megan (aka Kitty Lambkins) developed a passion for singing after spending two and a half years studying art, music and language in Mexico and Brazil. When she moved to Portland in 2005 she began learning Argentine tangos and years later (after a raucous night of tango karaoke) was asked to join The Alex Krebs Tango Sextet. Since then, she has been performing with the sextet at various tango festivals and social dance venues in Portland, Seattle, and Minneapolis. In 2013 she teamed up with local composers Alex Krebs and Andrew Oliver to write lyrics for their record “What the Tango?!”, an all original modern tango album. Also in 2013, Megan began working with Pepe Raphael performing duets and has appeared with his long standing band, Pepe and the Bottle Blondes. In addition, Megan leads her own Latin Jazz group, Pérola, which focuses on Bossa Nova, Latin American folk, and Argentine Tango. In 2015 Megan won a grant from The Regional Arts and Culture Council in Portland to pursue a tango music project with Pepe Raphael and famed duo from Buenos Aires, Duo Fuertes-Varnerin. After the grant performance in August of 2016, Megan toured with the duo along the west coast performing with them as a trio.
- More About Jerry Bobbe
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From his home in Portland, Jerry Bobbe maintains dual careers as both a professional cellist and internationally respected numismatist. Mr. Bobbe’s primary teachers included Frank Miller, former Principal Cellist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Georg Solti, and the celebrated Karl Fruh. He served as Principal Cellist in both the Chicago Chamber Orchestra and the Chicago Civic Orchestra, Assistant Principal in the Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Symphony, and Principal Cellist of the Florida Orchestra. For more than a decade, he served as Principal Cellist of the Vancouver (Washington) Symphony, appearing three times as soloist with that organization. Jerry was named Portland’s Best Cellist in Willamette Week’s 1994 “Best of Portland” issue, where he was pictured on the front cover as his Charlie Chaplin cello-playing alter ego. Along with Maria Choban, he was a founding member of the critically acclaimed piano trio St. Elvis. In 2007, Jerry and Maria completed a recording together of the sonatas of Barber, Villa-Lobos, and Muczynski, under the Alitisa label, entitled “St. Elvis, Back in the Building.” Jerry performs on a cello of the Venetian master Eugenio Degani, dated 1891. - More About Gabriel Magni
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Gabriel Magni discovered dancing late in life. He lived for a year in Argentina where the local scene and culture inspired him to dance socially. On his return to the States he began taking salsa and flamenco classes before finding tango.
As a poet and athlete the transition to being fully immersed in tango has been challenging. It required a full commitment, so he moved to Buenos Aires in September 2018 for 6 months. He lived, studied, danced and trained in tango — connecting, not only with the culture of tango, but also with his roots as an Argentine American.
Gabriel has competed at various times in the United States and achieved first place in stage at the Southern California Tango Championships in 2018. His focus in tango is on connection, embrace and body awareness. He is here temporarily in the States before moving permanently in Buenos Aires.
- More About Bassel Hamieh
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Bassel was introduced to the world of tango in 2015. Ever since then, he has obsessively traveled and social danced all around the states and the world as he explores the beautiful essence of Tango. In addition to his love for dancing, Bassel produces and directs tango films and photoshoots for many high profile dancers and teachers in the hopes of capturing tango in its truest form. Grateful for all of the opportunities presented to him in tango thus far, Bassel enjoys to showcase his love of tango and dance style through performances for tango concerts and shows he is asked to join. He is excited and honored to do the same at the Friends of Chamber Music event “Tango Time.”
- More About Remanda Xiang
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Remanda started Tango in 2007 after 10 exciting years in Salsa. She has traveled and social danced domestically and internationally. Though she doesn’t teach, she truly enjoys sharing her love and passion for Tango through performing. Throughout the years, she had the honor of performing in various Tango Festivals, Tango shows & Live concerts such as the Tango Éxtasis Theatre show in 2010, the Joe Powers’ tango passion concert in 2011, the Tango Live Vancouver 2011, the Tango Pacifico live concert in 2018 and the Dúo Fuertes Live concert in Portland in 2018. She hopes to inspire more people to find the beauty of Argentine Tango and also really get to enjoy and understand the essence of this dance! Aside from Tango, she is also a fashion blogger. She loves to bring in her passion for fashion into Tango to help enhancing her experience. To check out her fashion blog, click here
- More About Dessa Bingley
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Dessa Bingley began dancing tango in 2011 while studying at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine. Her extensive knowledge of physiology and body mechanics inform both her acupuncture practice and her tango teaching. She always comes back to an emphasis on self-expression and connection. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
- More About Matthew Miller
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Matthew Miller started dancing tango in 2007 in Orlando, Florida. He moved to Buenos Aires in 2012 and spent three years there training in dance full time, studying ballet, modern dance, movement anatomy, and improvisation along with tango. A writer of poetry and novels, he now lives, dances, and teaches in Portland, Oregon.
- More About Tim Morgan and Joel Morrissette
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Guitarists Tim Morgan and Joel Morrissette have been members of the five piece Latin Jazz band, Perola, since it’s beginning in 2012. Both musicians play a variety of traditional jazz, gypsy jazz, classical, and Latin styles. Perola occasionally plays as a trio but more frequently as a quintet for milongas and festivals.
- More About Margaret Bloomfield
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Margaret had early training as a classical pianist in London, and in the U.S. at Tufts University, while completing dual BA degrees in the fields of German and French. She pursued M.A. and Ph.D. studies in Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan, and taught at universities in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Oregon for two decades. In Portland she added Nonprofit Management to her professional portfolio, with a focus on arts management. Margaret is a Director of the nonprofit Classical Revolution PDX. For 20 years she has also co-directed a nonprofit philanthropic Foundation. Margaret put her soul back on its daily diet of piano practice in 2015, and is active in Portland’s classical music scene, playing for retirement communities, Portland Piano International, Friends of Chamber Music, House Concerts PDX, Classical Revolution PDX, and Associated Chamber Music Players. An avid tango dancer, Margaret also has a tango trio to provide live music for the Portland tango community.
