BURBANK — Rose and Larry Esgurra, husband-and-wife dancing partners from Chino Hills, sat quietly in plush chairs while dozens of others learned some of the basic intricacies of the tango.
As they sat, still reeling from a beginner class they had taken earlier, the Esgurras reflected on their love of tango.
“The melody, how it goes from fast to slow . . . we’re addicts,” Rose Esgurra said.
The Esgurras were two of more than 250 tango lovers from around the region who descended on Burbank over the weekend for an international festival devoted to the sensual Argentine dance.
The tango docket included a costume contest on Halloween followed by a dinner show and gala Saturday night and a Sunday night fashion show and tango extravaganza.
A portion of the proceeds from the $30 tickets and donations were given to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, organizers said.
Throughout the weekend, tango classes were offered for fans of all experience levels — from novice dancers to experienced tango aficionados with lessons from world-class instructors.
Orlando Paiva Jr., who co-produced the event with girlfriend Laura Tate, said tango’s popularity is beginning to rise as its influence spreads from South America to the United States.
Paiva’s father, world-renowned tango dancer Orlando Paiva Sr., toured the U.S., teaching tango around the nation until settling in Los Angeles years after his initial trip.
Orlando Paiva Jr. caught the family bug for the Argentine dance, setting off on a national tour of his own in 2002.
“It’s catching on,” he said. “There is a lot of improvisation. People feel free of movement.”
But the real reason for tango’s popularity, Tate said, is the dance’s inherent intimacy.
“It’s romantic,” she said. “There’s something intimate about tango; it’s almost indescribable.”
Paiva Jr. chose Burbank as the epicenter of tango last weekend to offer dancing fans from Southern California and the nation a centralized location.
He settled on the Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel & Convention Center for its proximity to Bob Hope Airport and said Burbank’s closeness to Los Angeles was important.
But the cost of renting multiple ballrooms in the hotel for three days may preclude the organizers from holding the festival at the Marriott next year, though they would like to stay in Burbank, Paiva Jr. said.
Plans of the future, however, did not dampen enjoyment of the present, especially for the Esgurras.
The couple had been ballroom dancing for years until they discovered what Larry Esgurra considered the more interested dance.
“Ballroom dancing was boring. Once we started tango, it captured us,” he said. “We love attending these festivals. It gets to us.”
