CIA. UNIÓN TANGUERA Makes NYC Debut at The Joyce Theater Tonight

The Joyce Theater is thrilled to present the NYC debut of the France and Argentina-based tango company Cia. Unión Tanguera for a two-week engagement from tonight, September 23 - October 5. Under the direction of Esteban Moreno and Claudia Codega, Cia. Unión Tanguera will perform the NYC premiere of Nuit Blanche (Sleepless Night), an evening-length work of stunning tango danced by the company's seven members, and accompanied by its four live musicians. Tickets range in price from $10-$49 ($26-$37 for Joyce Theater members), and can be purchased through JoyceCharge at 212-242-0800 or via the internet at www.joyce.org. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street.

Cia. Unión Tanguera, the celebrated French Argentinean company, is an ensemble of extraordinary dancers and musicians who weave together sensuality and human emotion through contemporary and traditional Argentinean tango. Set in a milonga - a traditional tango club - the piece opens with one couple dancing for a small crowd of onlookers. It soon becomes clear that simply watching isn't enough and, before long, the initial couple's passionate moves inspire the others to dance the night away right along with them. Set to classic tango recordings and original compositions played live by a quartet of Buenos Aires' finest musicians, Nuit Blanche (Sleepless Night), often with humor, examines the desires and fears that are revealed in the course of one magical night.

Cia. Unión Tanguera was created from Claudia Codega and Esteban Moreno's commitment and willpower to document, teach and bring to the stage profoundly real Argentinean tango. Originally from Argentina, Codega and Moreno have worked together since 1990, where their first steps were created together in the Villa Urquiza neighborhood in Buenos Aires. Codega trained in ballet, contemporary dance, jazz and composition (with the renowned Argentinean choreographer Ana Maria Stekelman). She performed as a contemporary dancer in various theaters, finding tango in 1990.

Moreno graduated from the National College of Technical Education with a degree in electronics and began a career in graphic design. He discovered tango in 1988 through courses at the Centro Cultural Gral San Martín, and at Centro Cultural Fortunato Lacamera. His immersion in tango led to work with "Ballet Ciclos," where he met Codega. Since representing Argentina in the Universal Exposition of Seville where they worked with renowned Argentinean choreographer Oscar Araiz (1992), Codego and Moreno have been invited to the most important tango festivals around the world.

They are part of a generation that has been credited with reviving tango as a social dance and has been integral in creating the conditions for its current popularity. Students of the greatest tango maestros of the 80's and 90's, they have created a style which serves as a reference for the new generation of tango dancers and teachers. Their dance is grave, intense and dynamic; a synthesis of styles reinterpreted, in which fantasy and imagination are joined inside the logic of improvised tango.

Cia. Unión Tanguera, founded in 2002, is a French Argentinean contemporary tango company based in Lyon, France and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The company's works are created and directed by Co-Artistic Directors, Claudia Codega and Esteban Moreno and utilize the music and dance of traditional tango as the foundation for their creative process. With deep respect to tradition and legacy, Cia. Unión Tanguera seeks to reformulate the theatrical expression of tango by incorporating elements of contemporary dance while respecting the purity of the traditional social dance that is tango. The company has worked with renowned maestros such as Antonio Todaro, Pepito Avellaneda, Roberto Grassi, Alberto Villarraso and Lampazo Vazquez, with whom they share a common love for this type of traditional tango. Prior to Nuit Blanche, Cia. Unión Tanguera created and toured Efecto Tango (2005), Tango Vivo (2006), and Buenos Aires hora 0 (2008). Cia. Unión Tanguera has been supported by Tango de Soie, a school and home for tango in Lyon, since 2006 and has formed many important partnerships with various funding institutions in France, including La Maison de la Danse de Lyon (Both Efecto Tango and Tango Vivo were co-produced with Lyon's Maison de la Danse).

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