CIA. UNIÓN TANGUERA

For immediate release, please
Contact: Richard Kornberg / Billy Zavelson
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212 944-9444
THE JOYCE THEATER FOUNDATION
PRESENTS
THE NYC DEBUT OF
CIA. UNIÓN TANGUERA
Under the direction of
Esteben Moreno and Claudia Codega
Presenting the NYC Premiere of
Nuit Blanche
(Sleepless Night)
TWO-WEEK ENGAGEMENT
SEPTEMBER 23 – OCTOBER 5
AT
THE JOYCE THEATER
(175 EIGHTH AVENUE)
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 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.
ESTEBAN MORENO and CLAUDIA CODEGA
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.
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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
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).
THE JOYCE THEATER FOUNDATION
The Joyce Theater Foundation, a non-profit organization, has proudly served the dance community and its
audiences for three decades. The founders, Cora Cahan and Eliot Feld, acquired and renovated the Elgin
Theater in Chelsea, which opened as The Joyce Theater in 1982. The Joyce Theater is named in honor of
Joyce Mertz, beloved daughter of LuEsther T. Mertz. It was LuEsther’s clear, undaunted vision and abundant
generosity that made it imaginable and ultimately possible to build the theater. One of the only theaters built
by dancers for dance, The Joyce Theater has provided an intimate and elegant home for more than 320
domestic and international companies. The Joyce has also commissioned more than 130 new dances since
1992. In 2009, The Joyce opened Dance Art New York (DANY) Studios to provide affordable studios for
rehearsals, auditions, classes, and workshops for independent choreographers, non-profit dance companies,
and the dance/theater communities. New York City public school students and teachers annually benefit from
The Joyce’s Dance Education Program, and adult audiences get closer to dance through informative Dance
Talks, Joyce Pre-Show gatherings, and post-performance Dance Chat discussions. The Joyce Theater now
features an annual season of approximately 48 weeks with over 340 performances for audiences in excess of
135,000.
Cia. Unión Tanguera will make its NYC debut at The Joyce Theater during a two-week engagement from
September 23 – October 5 with the NYC premiere of the evening-length work Nuit Blanche (Sleepless
Night). Performances are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30pm; Thursday and Friday at 8pm; Saturday at 2pm
and 8pm; Sunday at 2pm. Dance Chat, a free post-performance talkback with members of the company,
will take place on Wednesday, October 1. This enlightening discussion is open to all patrons attending that
evening’s performance. 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. Please note:
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Ticket prices are subject to change. The Joyce Theater is located at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19th Street. For
more information, please visit www.Joyce.org.
* * * * * *
Leadership support for The Joyce Theater’s 2014–2015 season has been received from the LuEsther T. Mertz
Charitable Trust.
This presentation is underwritten by Amit Wadhwaney and supported by The R. Britton Fisher and Family
Gift for International Dance. Additional support has been provided by The Grand Marnier Foundation.
The Joyce Theater’s Dance Presentation Program is supported by a grant award from the National
Endowment for the Arts; and made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of
Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; as well as supported, in part, by public funds
from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council with special
thanks to Council Member Corey Johnson. Additional support has been provided by the Lila WallaceReader’s Digest Endowment Fund to encourage the performances of out-of-town companies at The Joyce
Theater.
Major support for The Joyce has been provided by the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Ford Foundation,
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Pasculano Foundation, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels
Foundation, and The Shubert Foundation. Additional major support has been provided by First Republic
Bank, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, The SHS Foundation, and the
Windhover Foundation.
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