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Special Thanks

Thanks & Gratitude for SCTC 2018

Dear Tango Community,

I would like to express to you my deepest gratitude. As I sit here and reflect upon the event and all the moving pieces that had to come together in order to deliver something truly memorable and magical, I have to share that it takes an army of very giving people to make it happen.

It was truly a dream come true to be able to bring such high level artists & musicians to LA and create such a magical event that had everyone bursting with fun and excitement.  What an incredible feeling to bring so many people together to share what we all love the most “TANGO”.

To my Sponsors

I would like to thank all our sponsors for their generosity. Without financial backing, an event of this magnitude is impossible. 

Community VIP Sponsors

Natalie Linthorst

Dickran Dadourian

Tanya & Ilya Magid

Carmen Boodaghian & Armenoush Amy Sarian

Caro & Becka Minas

Business Sponsors

To the LA Tango Community, Competitors, SCTC Team, Masters, Guest Performers, Hosts, MC, Creative Director, Competition Coordinator, and Media (photo/video/sound/lighting)

To the community that came out to support the competition and to dance the night away at the milongas, thank you. Without you, this event would not have made it to its forth year. It is your open hearts and your dancing feet that gives me the opportunity to keep bringing back this special event.

To our competitors, wow… I am blown away with how much the competition has grown. This year we welcomed competitors from all over the US and many more local couples as well. I commend you all for daring to put yourselves out there and devoting time and great effort to grow your dance to a higher level.

To the tangueros that jumped into our new category, the Jack and Jill, thank you all for trying something out of your comfort zone, and for letting that adventurous spirit shine through.

I would like to thank Danilo Maddalena, it was such a pleasure to have worked with him. He was gracious in sharing his vast experience in organizing events like SoCal. His attention to detail and infinite patience is unparalleled. He is a true joy to work with.

In addition to Danilo, many thanks to our rest of the maestros and judges who trusted in me and accepted my invitation to come to the United States and be apart of our event. Huge thanks to Alejandra Mantinian, Virginia & Christian Gomez (Los Totis), Vanesa Villalba & Facundo Pinero. It was such an honor to have this cast who put SoCal Tango Championship & Festival to another level. 

Many thanks to the ATUSA Tango Salon Champions: Ana & Michael Thomas and to our SCTC 2017 Tango Salon, Vals, Milonga, and Stage Champions: Maureen & Carlos Urrego for gracing us with lovely performances!

It was great to have Sexteto Milonguero back for the second time. Thank you Javier Di Ciriaco & the group for bringing such joy to us with your show in LA. They graced us with an unforgettable performance.

Many thanks to our wonderful DJs: Robin Thomas from NYC, Avik Basu from Ann Arbor & our very own Vincent Wong and Varo Boyajyan from Los Angeles.

I would like to thank Sidney Grant for taking on one of the most critical roles of the event, that of Master of Ceremonies at the SoCal event. The crowd loved you! Thank you for dazzling us with your charm, keeping our spirits high and throughly engaged.

Many heart felt thanks to Joyee and David who manned the front desk nonstop for 3 full days. Your dedication and devotion to this event is unmatchable. Thank you for being there for me. I know this is one of the most challenging and critical tasks in the event. I trust you implicitly and thank you with all my heart. 

I am forever grateful to my best friend Fay Woodward who decided to take the task of design & decorations. I requested Fay to put her touch and just make centerpieces for the tables but she took this job much more seriously and decided to make SCTC fabulous. She put a lot of thought and attention to detail and as a result dedicated 4 months of her life into creating and designing all the decorations. Her vision and creativity was unmatchable.  

I would like to give a special thanks to the competition coordinators Brian Nguyen & Amanda Di Garley who were instrumental in making sure the competition ran smoothly. 

Many thanks to Elaine Chiu for taking care of all the graphic design work. 

Many thanks to the incredibly talented videographers and photographers that did an incredible job of capturing countless breathtaking moments on these lenses and videos. Thanks to Eric Finke, Robert Le, and Bassel Hamieh for taking videos and photos. Many thanks to Conrad McGreal for making our event go live on facebook. And many thanks to Kiana Stringfield, Adam Cornett and Nicholas Tapia for collaborating and helping out Conrad. Many thanks to Jeff White for providing all the instruments for the musicians as well as helping our sound guy Enrique.  Many thanks to Jason and Enrique from Candela for the lighting & sound.

A big thanks to our vendors:

To Friends, Volunteers, Local Teachers & Organizers

To all my friends & volunteers that helped me make this event take place: 

Roy Amemia for being there day and night for all 4 days in helping in so many various tasks. I feel overwhelmed by your kindness, patience and devotion to this event. Many thanks to Meghan Breanna for doing her best to make sure all the tasks are done and everything is in place. I am grateful to Eric Chien, Mahmoud Vahedian, Arpine Azlvyan, Scarlet Saroyan, Daniel Ledesema, Ardeshir, Ramona Gamache, Olivia Roberts, Romina Daniela Rodriguez-Crosta, Juan Gabriel Magni, Francis Soriano, Barbara Trelles, Andreea Violeta Kenez,  Beatriz Hernandez and Margarita! Thanks to Lynn Lewin, Naomi Harris, Romina Rodriguez and others for hosting our out of town guests.

Thank you to all the local teachers who encouraged their students to participate in the competition and all the LA organizers who supported me tremendously in promoting this event, and thank you for your attendance: Robert Le from Tango Mio, Maria Elena Cattini from Milonga Corazon, Jerry Perez & Chrstine Urgell from Milonga Bombon, Julie Friedgen & Angel Echeverria from El Encuentro, Carlos Barrionuevo & Mayte Valdez, Sandor & Parissa, Leonardo Barrionuevo & Miriam Larici, Ilona Glinarsky from Milonga LAX, Da-Wei from Milonga Astoria, Brandon & Laura from Milonga Sonata, Silvia Askenazi & Ann from San Pedro, Laura & Daniel from Practica Argentina, Shesha Marvin & Lauren Woods from Milonga Atomica, Joshua Lieber from Caltech Tango Club, Dennis Cante from Milonga Gavito, David, Mitra & Magan from Oxygen Tango, Emma Bogren & Richard Cepeda from LATA, Daniel Ledesema, Mahmoud Vahedian from Milonga M3, Makela and Jose Espinosa.

Many thanks also to our featured visiting couple, the magnificent Leandro & Laila Oliver who gave one month of training programs to our competitors right before SCTC 2018 & prepared several couples for the competition. 

To all that I have mentioned, I would like to acknowledge the things that were not perfect. We set out to do our very best and provide you all with an unforgettable experience.  However, there were things that we fell short on. As a team, we want you all to know that we heard you, and we extend an apology to you. We promise to revisit all the feedback we received and tackle these details first so that we exceed your expectations. 

Last but not least, I would like to thank Maria and Hector from Candela for allowing us to host our event in their beautiful venue. Once again thank you all from the bottom of my heart for making this dream come true. 

With love,
Yuliana Basmajyan