Tango Masquerade

"It was two nights of fun and great entertainment when the Tango Bali Club spear-headed the events Tango Dreams and Latin Masquerade last February 10-11 . The Bali folks most especially the tangueros were enthralled at the world -class performance of three fantastic dancers,all Argentineans, at the Oriental. The well loved couple, Fernanda Ghi and Guillermo Merlo along with Mirian Laricci - Hugo Patyn and Natalia Hills - Francisco Forquera were the stars of the evening. The audience were treated to the different styles of the tango as each couple delineated their interpretation of every piece with much style and bravura. Least to say, all three couples wereat one time, members of the cast of FOREVER TANGO, the highly- acclaimed tango musical that ran for twelve years in San Francisco, USA. Everyone in the theatre had a ball of a time except for the air-conditioning system which could not accommodate the 180 guests who came in attendance.The food was really really great courtesy of WARISAN, Bali Catering Company. Sumptuous dishes that blends east and west, is what best describes the dinner prepared by this popular restaurant.

The Latin Masquerade ball at the Tugu hotel was a big surprise not only because of the theme as people came with their masks and costumes, but because the turn out was so great that the organizers were in awe gazing at people who came for the event. The Tugu hotel was the right choice for the gathering. The party was held at the hotel's lobby where a monstrous size of the Garuda sits.

The party started with a dance presentation by the Bali Salsa Club headed by Yuli and they did three fantastic numbers which was worth remembering. They had a fusion of Balinese dance with Jazz, salsa and another latin dance. Confetti was raining when the group was performing and that ignited the energy from the crowd and the heat...was on. Immediately after their dance, the crowd started taking over the dancefloor to the hot music of Filipino DJ Stevie and the party started. Guests came in splendid masks and costumes.

Sisters Franziska and Victoria came as twins with braided pig-tails a la "Pocahontas", Stefani was Miss Piggy and everyone did not recognize her until she bared herself, Gianfranco came with his stunning gaucho outfit aa-ahhh!!! it's the season of Broke back Mountain as what our friend Mark would say, Anton was in an Indian Maharajah outfit, and we have an overdose of Zorro that evening in Douglas, Ogie, and another guy,..

Oohh!! but all three of them were great.

Sweet couple Galina and Peter came as a "sultan and sultana" with matching improvised drapes andcrowns and they came out beautiful. The Argentinean contingent came with their elegant masks from La Boca. Paging Buenos Aires travelers for the CITA Congress, can you please buy us some of this beautiful mask when you get to Buenos Aires in March?. Also spotted were understatedly elegant "masqueraders" headed by Nancy, Made, Mark, Ricky,Nigel, Kathy, Lily, Omar and a dozen other friends.

Not to be miss out is Rhumba Queen, the statuesque Lady Mercury with her ornate mask in glittering purple that matched her shoes.

Our friends from Dubai, Paul Bradley andMarnix came as Arab sheiks looking every inch like real Arabs behind their cloaks and shades. [photogallery/photo00011918/real.htm]

Well!WellWell! This party was really great and for sure this will just be the start of more big things to come for the Tango Bali Club.

After the party around 3am in the morning, Ibu Made invited us to a Padang Food breakfast

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