Colombian couple win world salon tango competition

[August 30, 2011]  BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- A couple from Colombia were declared winners of the salon dancing category of the Tango World Championship on Monday night, edging out a Venezuelan pair following an unprecedented tie in the final round.

Diego Benavidez Hernandez and Natasha Agudelo Arboleda were the first Colombians to win the category at the tango competition, which this year drew about 400 couples from around the globe.

A jury of seven experts picked them over John Erban and Clarissa Sanchez from Venezuela after a dance-off between the two pairs. The couple finished the final round tied for first among 40 couples.

"It's a dream. You think it is impossible to achieve, but this is proof that it can," Arboleda said after receiving the first prize of $7,500.

A U.S. couple, Brian Nguyen and Yuliana Basmajyan of San Francisco, won third.

On Tuesday, the final round of the more creative "stage tango" competition, which combines classic tango with ballet. Twenty couples have advanced to that round.

Tango is the embodiment of the "criollo" culture of Europeans and natives who settled around the Rio de la Plata.

Born at the end of the 19th century, the music and dance reflect the passion, drama and melancholy of their experience. The dance is now celebrated worldwide, with many top dancers coming from Japan.

[Associated Press; By DEBORA REY]

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