“It’s for people to be able to enjoy the socializing, dancing and the culture of Argentina,” said Orlando Paiva Jr., who is producing the event.
Glendale resident Cristina Benedicto, one of Orlando Paiva Jr.’s students, is planning to attend the three-day event. She’s been dancing the tango since 2003, she said.
“I’m a tango aficionado,” she said. “I dance at least once a week but when I have more time, I dance two or three times a week.”
Benedicto owns an insurance agency in Glendale and is a local Realtor. Dancing the tango gives her energy and a release from her business life, she said.
“I manage my own business and my left brain is always working, but in dance, it’s one period during my day where I give up control,” she said. “Tango is about surrendering and giving up control to your partner and the music. It makes you feel ecstasy. The music is very passionate and very romantic.”
The three-day event is for anyone who wants to learn tango, Orlando Paiva Jr. said. And it’s for all ages.
“It can be a family event,” he said. “I teach my daughter. She’s 8 and she catches on pretty quickly. And I have students who are 80 to 85 years old.”
Studies have been done on the benefits of tango dancing compared to other dances, he said.
“It’s good for mind and body coordination and movement of legs and arms,” he said. “There is a magazine, Scientific American, which published an article on how therapeutic tango is. They are using it with Alzheimer’s patients and found it helps with their coordination of movement.”
