Art of the tango on full display at Navy Pier fest

'TANGO, THE DANCE OF THE ETERNAL'

When: 8:15 p.m. Saturday

Where: Navy Pier's Grand Ballroom

Tickets: $35-$50

Phone: (312) 902-1500

The tango has been called "the vertical manifestation of ahorizontal desire." That alone should be enough to heat up any dancefloor.

Add to this the fact that for the past week hundreds of tangoafficionados have gathered here for the 2007 Chicago InternationalTango Festival -- with intensive tango technique workshops, an artexhibition, film screenings and a gala performance Saturday night inNavy Pier's Grand Ballroom -- and the temperature begins to riseeven further. It's just the latest proof that this highly chargedsocial dance -- which began life in the late 19th century in therough-and-tumble barrios of Buenos Aires, became a staple ofEuropean night life and the ballet world from the 1920s on, and forseveral decades now has been enjoying a great renaissance -- hasfound passionate devotees around the world.

Saturday's program, "Tango, the Dance of the Eternal," willinclude performances by seven established tango couples fromArgentina and beyond. The festival also has attracted four tangoorchestras, from Italy, Mexico, San Francisco and Chicago. A dinnerwill precede the performance, and a milonga (social dance) with livemusic will follow. Better start warming up!

hweiss@suntimes.com