May 21-28 | Program 3
Vocalist
HERNAN “CUCUZA” CASTIELLO
Of Cucuza, many things can be said: achievements, recognitions… his wife is always telling him to mention the “Outstanding Personality of the Culture” award, the times he has performed on the stage of the Teatro Colón, the tours to Europe, Korea and Hong Kong (also, she tells him to be a little bit more careful).
What Cucuza likes to tell of his career is how he sang with Floreal, with Charly, with Rubén Juárez and with El Diego Maradona (see the video to the left). He likes to recount that he has been singing for 13 years in the Bar El Faro in his own cycle “El TANGO vuelve al Barrio!!!!” (Tango returns to the neighborhood!” But there is nothing more true, more important than saying that he is a singer, a Tango singer, a singer from a certain neighborhood, a certain region…
And he is a singer, because he has been listening to and singing tango since he was 5 years old, since he had short legs and no belly, and today without the one and with the other, he continues to sing tango. He sings tangos, tangos that are often sung, and that everyone knows are good; he sings tangos that are not often sung, or listened to.
Cucuza is such a tango singer that everything he sings comes out as tango. He sings a song by Leonardo Favio or Sandro and it comes out as tango, he sings something by the Babasóncios or El Flaco and it comes out as tango.
When Cucuza sings, he does it with the "Trío Inestable" (ever-changing trio) and it is worth mentioning that sometimes it can be with only one musician, which is usually his son and guitarist Mateo, with whom he has a duet called "CastielLos." That is what Cucuza does, he sings tangos, and occasionally he writes lyrics and music to make tangos... Cucuza is a classic, but a classic of Barrio (the neighborhood) and (for a while already) a classic of today. Cucuza is what he does, and does what he is…
MATEO CASTIELLO
Guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, author and composer
Mateo studied guitar at the "Escuela de Música Juan Pedro Esnaola." Born in 1997, he started playing guitar at the age of 11, and despite his young age, he has already played in places as diverse and prestigious as the bar El Faro, the Teatro Presidente Alvear, Torquato Tasso, Club Atletico Fernandez Fierro, and La Usina del Arte.
He has performed with the singer, Hernán Cucuza Castiello (his father), in several editions of the Buenos Aires Tango Festival, in the Hong Kong Tango Festival 2015, and also in Paris, Barcelona and Naples. He has played with great guitarists such as Hugo Rivas, Carlos Juarez, Horacio Avilano, Diego Kvitko, Leandro Nikitoff, Adrian Lacruz, Mariano Heler, Maximiliano Luna among others, and accompanied several of the most recognized singers of the current scene: Chino Laborde, Juan Villarreal, Cucuza Castiello, and Osvaldo Peredo, among others. He is also a member of the guitar trio "PBT's" (tango and folklore) with which he has performed in "Los 36 Billares" and "Salta y Resto", among others. PBTs were finalists in PreCosquín 2015.
He is part of the duo "CastielLos" (along with Cucuza Castiello) which performs in various places such as "Bar El Faro", "Centro Cultural El Alambique", "La Milonga del Morán", "El Salón Canning", "La Milonguita", among many others.
In 2020, he released his first LP "Rokola", which navigates between several genres, using pop as a medium, and incorporating Bossa Nova, Soul, and R&B. Rokola is a reference to Castiello’s ability to move in and out of any genre with ease and fluency.
LOS TOTIS
Dancers
Los Totis (Virginia Gómez & Christian Márquez) are renowned for their strength, maturity and defined tango style. They have been working together since 1997, participating in many important national and international shows, directed by prominent dancers and choreographers.
Since 2002, they have been traveling to different cities in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, to give workshops and participate in tango festivals. In 2006, they were invited to be the lead couple of the video clip ¨Diferente¨ by Gotan Project.
In Buenos Aires, they are invited to participate in the most important tango festivals such as CITA, Tango Salón Extremo, Argentina Tango Salón, and Mujercitas, among others. They also travel to different cities in the country to transmit their knowledge to new generations of tango dancers.
They are regularly invited by the Government of Buenos Aires to serve on the jury of the Metropolitan Tango Championship and World Tango Championship.
Their dance is characterized by the precision and quality of their movements. They are beloved for their elegance, musicality, and the way they distill and preserve the purest essence of tango.