TWO GOOD: Florencia Labiano and Hernan Rodriguez in action.

By Anand Holla

As they strut, glide and mime into a unique, animated tango performance, the swagger of their moves, dipped in  theatrical dramatics, seem to pop out at the patrons seated all around them. At various turns, the crowd lets out a collective wave of cheer, and eventually applauds the famous couple Los Guardiola in unison.
Everybody gathered at the Al Jawhara Ballroom, InterContinental Doha The City, on the weekend, were speaking and connecting through one language – not made of words, but of moves and magic. Witnessing Los Guardiola live, or any of the three other tango couples, take to the dancing floor, was mesmerising to say the least.
The Third International Tango Festival Doha featured sparkling tango performances by some of the finest contemporary tango dancers, and an audience of close to 300 soaked in all the wonder by watching the performances from a mere 4ft away, before enjoying a dinner and ending a well-spent night with milonga, which is basically a tango dance party.
The star performers of the evening were Los Guardiola from Argentina, Walter Suquia and Ayelen Sánchez from Argentina, Hernan Rodrigues and Florencia Labiano from Argentina, and Ceser and Elizabeth from Colombia – and each couple shone with their brand of feisty, soul-stirring tango, that stood out for its signature style.
The theatrical Los Guardiola, for instance, features the couple Marcelo Guardiola and Giorgia Marchiori, who are artistically known by the now popular name. They are the major representatives of Buenos Aires TangoTeatro and their shows have been seen in theatres and milongas around the world. Sixteen years ago, actor, dancer, musician and theatre director, Marcelo created “the theatre investigation, TangoTeatro, the objective of which is the creation of a new form of show which integrates the music, the dance and the poetry of the tango.”
Sometime in 2003, he began working with Giorgia, who is a dancer, actress, choreographer and Doctor of Philosophy, thus forming the duo Los Guardiola. Ever since, they have won tremendous acclaim and have created together numerous tango shows that tell a story through mime, dance and smart humour.
Soon after the show, Giorgia and Marcelo tell Community, “It was a fantastic experience here in Doha. It’s great to perform to an audience comprising a whole lot of nationalities. That’s because every country has its humour and people of different countries have different sense of humour. It’s interesting to see who catches what bit of the humour in our performance. We had fun addressing and responding to the tastes of everyone.” Voicing the view of the other couples at the show, Los Guardiola added, “We have performed here in Qatar before and it’s always been amazing.”
The author of Qatar’s sole tango festival is Anil Kumar, who has been single-handedly putting together the event for three years in a row. While the first edition drew 135 participants and the second 160, the third one now registered close to 300 patrons.
“Tango enthusiasts are extremely passionate about it because it is beyond dance and art. It’s a sad story that can be sung,” says Kumar.
Kumar and other tango enthusiasts of Qatar connect on the Facebook page – Tango Club Qatar – which engineers everything from regular social gatherings of the community to events such as this. Apart from receiving support from the Argentinian Embassy in Qatar in the way of solid word of mouth, the tango festival also draws in big shots such as CEOs and business honchos because many of them happen to be tango enthusiasts, Kumar points out.
Tango has often been hailed as the ultimate communication between two people, and even called a four-legged animal with two beating hearts. And why does Kumar love tango so deeply? “It helps me forget all my worries, all the stress and concerns. I feel happy and relaxed. Tango music has that amazing power and so does the dance,” he says, “Tango is like an addiction.”