Luis Bravo's Forever Tango inhabits a signature sensuality and mystique that is tango.

Luis Bravo’s Forever TangoFriday, November 27, 2015 @ 8:00 PMSaturday, November 28, 2015 @ 8:00 PMSunday, November 29, 2015 @ 3:00 PM

Tickets: $40-$100

Irvine Barclay Theatre4242 Campus Drive, Irvine CAwww.thebarclay.org | 949.854.4646

Forever Tango Website

Click here to watch Forever Tango on Dancing with the Stars

A Broadway hit, Forever Tango features Argentina’s best - 12 world-class dancers accompanied by a vocalist and the hypnotic rhythms of a live orchestra.

Passionate and sophisticated, the dancers of Forever Tango inhabit a world where everything can be said with the flick of a leg, the tug of a hand, the tap of a foot and the arch of an eyebrow. Relive the colorful history of one of the most sensuous of all dance forms through mesmerizing vignettes that display all the emotion and passion of tango – from turn-of-the-century Buenos Aires to the golden age of tango of the 30s, 40s and 50s. So Argentine in origin, yet universal in appeal, Forever Tango inhabits a signature sensuality and mystique that is tango.

Led by musical director/ bandoneon player, Pablo Mainetti, the onstage 10-piece orchestra is anchored by the bandoneon, an accordion-like instrument imported to Argentina from Germany in 1886 to become a mainstay of tango music with a melancholy, longing sound unique to the tango. With only 200 bandoneon players in the world, Forever Tango is fortunate to have four bandoneon players on stage.

Forever Tango was first seen in San Francisco in 1994, where it had a highly successful run of nearly two years. It opened on Broadway for a 14-month run from 1997 to 1998, earning itself multiple Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations, all under the artistic production of acclaimed director, composer, and producer, Luis Bravo. The show returned to Broadway in 2004 and 2013.

Forever Tango was nominated for the Lawrence Olivier Award when the show played at the West End in London in 1995. Since then, the show has been seen by more than seven million people around the world, touring and enjoying smash engagements throughout the U.S., Mexico, Korea, Japan, Italy, Portugal, China and England.

"The tango is a feeling that you dance," says Forever Tango’s creator and director, Luis Bravo, "a story you tell in three minutes. It's passionate, it's melancholic. It's tender, violent. You dance it with somebody – but it is so internal, you dance it by yourself. More than just a dance, the tango is music, a drama, a culture, a way of life."

 

LUIS BRAVO

Creator and director of Forever Tango, Luis Bravo is a world-class cellist who has performed with major symphonies throughout the world. His credits include appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Colon Theatre Opera House, the Buenos Aires Philharmonic and other prestigious ensembles.  

Luis Bravo was awarded the Spoleto Festival’s coveted Simpatia Prize for Forever Tango, which closed the Italian Festival in 1996. In 1998, he and Ruben Blades received a special distinction from ACE as the two most successful Latin artists on Broadway. The Boston Pops Orchestra dedicated a special program to his work for the series, Evenings at Pops, for PBS, with Leslie Caron as a host.

Forever Tango also had a critically acclaimed performance on Dancing WithThe Stars, where it mesmerized over twenty-four million viewers.

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REVIEWS & FEATURES

Hollywood Reporter | Huffington Post

Luis Bravo on How the 'Intoxicating Passion' of Forever Tango Leaves Audiences Breathless

 “A must-see!” - The New York Times

“Forever Tango shows that the style is more than steamy – it’s smart, even funny … a sensuous, seductive pleasure.” – USA Today

“An evening of sheer pleasure!  Sensual, elegant, dazzling!” - The New York Daily News

 

ABOUT FOREVER TANGO

Luis Bravo’s Forever Tango traces the colorful history of tango through music, dance and dramatic vignettes, features an all Argentine cast –12 dancers, a vocalist and a 10-piece orchestra. Luis Bravo’s Forever Tango includes world class dancers who utilize their own unique flourishes, each drawing from the wellspring of cultural inspiration offering unspoken insight into this mysterious and passionate art form.  The orchestra is led by Pablo Mainetti on the bandoneon, an accordion-like instrument imported to Argentina from Germany in 1886.

Both beloved and infamous as one of the most sensuous of all dance forms, tango was born in Argentina at a time when holding hands was considered a scandalous development in social dancing. Tango was initially only danced in gambling houses and places of prostitution. Working women developed skill in the dance in order to attract customers; lonely men practiced the art in order to woo and impress the women. 

It was the porteños, the Argentine men who created the tango craze – from the streets to the cafes, and from the bordellos to the great stages of Europe. The tango, which clearly became one of the most enduring and influential popular dance styles of the 20th century, may well be Argentina’s best known export.

Today, the tango’s influence can be found in a variety of dance idioms, including modern dance, jazz and classical ballet.