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Finland 2004 Photos

Hastily assembled in the charming Seinajoki railway station parking lot, our intrepid band of adventurers are transformed at a stroke into "Gringo Tango," the soon-to-be-legendary tango performing troupe.  Barely in time, we arrive at the VIP tent to perform in the world's largest tango festival, Tangomarkkinat in Seinajoki, Finland, celebrating its 20th anniversary and over 1.5 million attendees in those 20 years.

After introducing us in Finnish to the assembled crowd, Pasi leads Deb in a tango after we regale the crowd with some Spanish-language tangos in 2-part harmony - Finns love singing tangos.  Deb and I dance a vals and a milonga, then more music.

Then out to Tangokatu (Tango Street) to join the afternoon crowds in some curbside tango.  Still plenty of room, but wait 'til tonight, when the dancing crowd tops 30,000 on ths street...

...in the meantime, Anssi lays some tracks with a new acquaintance.

(More pictures to come of the looooong night of dancing, which rolled us into bed at about 4am...we'll have to pull them from the videos!)

Rolling OUT of bed at Anssi's house in time to bid his parents good morning/thank you/goodbye...

...we gear up for the day's tango adventures - watching Pasi compete, shopping, another performance, and of course more dancing!  Our repeat performance at the VIP tent that evening included in the audience the American Ambassador, the former Finnish Prime Minister, and a totally unexpected fellow performer...

...Amelita Baltar, the legendary Argentine tango singer for whom Astor Piazzolla created the star singing role in his tango operita, "Maria de Buenos Aires"!  After meeting her at dinner before her performance, we went our separate ways - we had a tango picnic on the schedule, complete with guitar and saxophone!

In keeping with the Finnish Tango Festival tradition, people drive for days to the festival, then camp out in their caravans, holding such whimsical impromptu events as - "tango jams" on any available level surface...

...complete with portable dance floors!  And yes it sometimes rains on outdoor festivals....

Dancing in the Rain - an innovative new strategy!  Pasi risks his dental health in order to keep dancing. Look for new spearmint-flavored umbrellas at outdoor dance venues worldwide.

As 4am Sunday morning rolls around and the sky continues to get brighter, it's time to find some real food...

...then the "Gringo Tango" band gathers for one last abrazo de tango before parting ways to Norway, Helsinki, Colorado and Australia.

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