‘It’s an experience’

Anna Maria Mendieta knew she wanted to play Argentine tango music when she was introduced to it more than 20 years ago. The catch? Her instrument is the harp.

“People would laugh at me and say ‘Oh, you can’t play tango music on the harp,’ ” Mendieta said. “When someone tells me I can’t do something, it motivates me to dig into it and focus on making it happen.”

Today, tango music she adapted for harp anchors a traveling show, Tango Del Cielo, and album of the same name that have won nearly a dozen international awards. Tango Del Cielo, or Tango of Heaven, comes to Moscow’s Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 21, courtesy of the Festival Dance and Performing Arts Association.

Tickets, $35 or $25 for students, are at kenworthy.org. Mendieta, on harp, will be accompanied by strings and percussion, with professional dancers performing tango. The music and dancing is complemented by film montages in homage to the silent film era, which brought tango to mainstream U.S. audiences a century ago.

The result is not a concert, not a dance show: “It’s an experience,” Mendieta said.

Artists before her set the precedent for stretching the boundaries of tango. The late Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla combined tango with modern classical, Latin and jazz music.

“He meshed all of those elements together in his tango music,” Mendieta said.

Piazzolla’s efforts weren’t immediately welcomed, but his break with tradition ultimately was embraced by his home country.

Another Argentine composer, pianist Pablo Ziegler, carried the torch of expanding tango music.

“I was so lucky to meet him,” Mendieta said. “He worked with me, and we created arrangements together.”

The film portion of the show, a collection of tango footage featuring silent era heartthrob Rudolph Valentino, was curated by Mendieta’s brother, a filmmaker. The two later learned those clips included their great-aunt, Nita Naldi, who frequently starred opposite Valentino and herself played the harp.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Mendieta said.

Outgoing Festival Dance Executive Director Deanna Bren had looked for a venue for Tango Del Cielo to come to Moscow, and the Kenworthy, with its roots in the silent film era, seemed made for it.

“It’s such a perfect tie, with their tribute to the silent screen,” Bren said.

Her leadership of Festival Dance ended last week after 4½ years, as she moves into the executive director role at United Way of Whitman County. Her successor, Tim Sievers, began as Festival Dance executive director this week.

A fundraiser for both Festival Dance and the Kenworthy precedes the performance, with specialty wines, hors d’oeuvre and a tango lesson with professional instructors at 6 p.m. at Moscow Contemporary, 414 S. Main St. Tickets, $75, are at kenworthy.org.


Stone (she/her) can be contacted at mstone@inland360.com.