Tango Fire' on Stage on Feb. 4

An Argentine dance troupe called Estampas Porte'as will present "Tango Fire" on the campus of Fairmont State University at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4, in Wallman Hall.

Tickets are $15 for the general public and free for Fairmont State students. To order tickets, call the Box Office at (304) 367-4240.

According to its web site www.tango-fire.com, Estampas Porte'as was founded in Buenos Aires in 1996 by the distinguished Argentine ballerina and choreographer, Carolina Soler. Beginning her career in classical ballet, Soler was well known and widely celebrated for her dazzling portrayals of traditional classical ballet roles. In Estampas Porte'as she returns to the dance form that is the heart and soul of Argentina.

In its first year, Estampas Porte'as toured China performing over 60 successful shows. On its return to Argentina, the company performed at the Cultural Centre General San Martin, enjoying popular and critical acclaim being described as "dazzling the audience with talent, seduction and beauty." In the same year the company created and performed Musica en Buenos Aires commissioned by the government as a gift to the city.

Estampas Porteñas has performed at festivals around the world including the Caribbean Festival, the Havana Festival of the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba, Recoleta Viva Festival in Buenos Aires and the Beloruss Festival.

The Company toured Australia and New Zealand in 2003 and in 2005 the company toured Australia, Singapore and New Zealand. "Tango Fire" debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2005. The company toured South Africa (March/April), the UK and the U.S. in 2006.

This troupe of five couples, directed by Soler, takes dancing seriously but also emanates a playful grasp of theater. "Tango Fire" glides along as smoothly as an express train without ever derailing into a pseudo-seduction melodrama.

In the show Soler, presents a fresh look at the tango form. Part of the allure is the numerous, exceptionally well-cut costumes, created by Soler and the show's wardrobe manager, Maria Spingola. The excellent orchestra, Quatrotango, is led by the youthful, shaggy-haired Gabriel Clenar, who directs three musicians while he plays the piano. Diego Fama is the singer. "Tango Fire" transforms the theater from a nightclub atmosphere in "The Milonga" to a more traditional display of stage dancing in "The Show."

In the first half, as couples performed tangos in the center, other dancers stand or sit at tables along the perimeter of the stage, arguing and gossiping with adorable precision. In the second half two couples -- Pablo Sosa and Mariela Maldonado and Mauricio Celis and Inés Cuesta -- add complicated lifts to their numbers and daring speed, their legs cutting and dividing the air like machetes.

No couple, however, is as beautifully lavish as Luciano Capparelli and Rocío de los Santos. In each of their tangos, tension gives way to voluptuous softness, and powerful overhead lifts melted onto the floor in silken extensions.

For more information on "Tango Fire," visit www.tango-fire.com.