Tango Seduction is very aptly named

The history and evolution of Argentina's national dance is the subject of a powerful new performance.

Eider Rua Giraldo , general manager of BNF dance company. Satish Kumar / The National

From one of the top dance schools in the world comes a tale of romance, nostalgia, jealousy and excitement. Tonight, the Dubai-based Ballet National Firulete dance company (BNF) will bring to life the evolution of the tango, through a performance of Tango Seduction for the first time in the UAE.

Following its initial production in Colombia in 2008, and later across Latin America and Europe, the popular show will come to Centrepoint Theatre, Ductac, Mall of the Emirates.

Eider Rua Giraldo, the 33-year-old Colombian general manager of BNF in Dubai, had travelled with a team to Argentina during a 10-year period to research the dance, from its scandalous origins to its current global popularity, and has pieced together a narrative.

The performance

Tango Seduction, which coincides with the sixth anniversary of BNF Dubai, features 18 professional Dubai-based dancers including David Ospina and Diana Díaz, the current world champions in tango. The World Tango Championship is organised by BNF in Colombia each year, where the company is headquartered.

Tango Seduction will explore a variety of styles while immersing the audience in the history and evolution of the dance, taking them on a journey to the shores of Argentina. This is where tango reportedly began, among lonesome bachelors, until it became an integral part of the lives of both men and women in Latin America.

"The choreography is about the passion and feelings that tango possesses. The music is romantic and nostalgic and the show is exciting," says Giraldo. "When tango started, men were partnering with each other during the day because the Catholic religion did not allow for mixed dance, but at night, the men would practice with women."

Giraldo will be performing a solo number that integrates modern Argentinian choreography with acrobatics. "We will have a bit of acting, but it's more about the dance. We show the real tango. It's something so different, with lots of dips, throws and spins," he says.

The show ends with a routine performed to Assassin's Tango, the song used in the famous scene between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in 2005's Mr and Mrs Smith.

Tango evolution

In September 2009, during a convention in Abu Dhabi, Unesco declared tango a part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

"The tango community in the UAE is getting bigger and there are many events. The Argentinian ambassador to the UAE, Ruben Eduardo Caro, always supports our events. He will also be present for Tango Seduction," says Giraldo.

The BNF Dubai office opened with two couples. Today, there are 14 dancers in the company and more than 300 students enrolled in their dance classes.

Giraldo was 12 when he knew that he wanted to be a professional dancer, having grown up listening to his guitar-playing father and musicians such as Carlos Gardel, the French singer-songwriter also known as the "songbird of Buenos Aires". Gardel died in 1935 in an air crash in Medellin, Colombia.

"He was one of the most important singers of tango because he took it to Paris and helped introduce it to the world," says Giraldo. "The tango became even more famous. Everyone talked about Carlos's history. We have a museum, park and statue in his honour and we recognise him in all festivals."

In terms of dancing, Giraldo notes it was Juan Carlos Copes from Buenos Aires who introduced new styles to tango, having begun his career as a dancer and choreographer in the 1950s.

"Juan Carlos took Piazzolla's [Astor Piazzolla, a famous Argentinian tango composer] music and mixed it with contemporary," says Giraldo. But it was during the 1970s that people really started understanding tango, he says. Once it was introduced to various communities, it "took on another level" and attracted the upper class. "It was like an explosion," says Giraldo.

Tickets cost Dh150 and are available at the box office at Ductac, Mall of the Emirates and Time Out Tickets. The student performance starts at 7pm and Tango Seduction begins at 8.30pm. Visit www.ductac.org