Facundo Posadas has been described as "Master of Tango Liso*, [ and] Milonga in all its diversified styles  - Milonga Lisa*, Traspie and Candombe..." He is also recognized as a master of vals crusado.

Facundo celebrated his 70^th birthday in August in New York where he now teaches. For a number of years he taught with his then-wife Kely in Buenos Aires and those who attended Tango Festivals in BA five or more years ago would probably have met them in the workshops.

In this video Facundo dances milonga-candombe with his student Maria Jose-Sosa, Candombe, the African derived dance/music tradition of Argentina and Uruguay is one of the roots of milonga

Facundo Posados is the grandson of Tango composer Carlos Posadas who wrote music for the great orchestras -  El Simpatico, Retirao, Cordon de Oro. El Toto and El gringo are just a few of his compositions. Facundo has been dancing tango from the age of 13 when many of the orchestras we dance to today were still doing live performances.

In an interview with Facundo on her blog Inheriting the Tango, New Yorker, Kumi asked Facundo how milongas differed 60 years ago. "people danced respecting the line of dance," he said. "Nobody was hardly ever pushed or tried to pass the dancers in front of them. If someone didn't dance well people had the patience to wait until the end of the song. In those years, the codes were respected.... A good dancer (leader) must have enough resources to dance and not to let his partner (follower) to be hit by other dancers. This I call dancing well."

A good dancer (leader) must have enough resources to dance and not to let his partner (follower) to be hit by other dancers. This I call dancing well.

Facundo learnt tango from the senior Milongueros. "They had us walk for months, and they said to us that in order to build a solid house one must have a solid foundation. No figures or tricks. If you don't know how to walk, to step, or to put your feet in the right places; then you will never know how to dance."

Kumi asked Facundo what he enjoyed most about tango! His reply: "I enjoy everything that tango offers me, all its passion, all its melancholy, the scent of a woman's skin, her skin through her hands and cheeks, her perfume, her heartbeat. Mixing everything at once we get a cocktail called "Sensuality"; and without this chemistry, there's no tango. They feel the same when they are in our arms, that we have to be gentle with our marks and movements, stepping correctly and simultaneously on the beat. We must dance INSIDE THE MUSIC and not before, it's not possible to dance and then listen."

Facundo also revealed his description of a ‘good milonguero', what makes a dance beautiful, his disappointment at the disrespectful way many men dress for tango, his favourite milongas and more. For the full interview - go to Kumi's blog.

Facundo has been travelling extensively since 1997 and now makes his home in the USA - for more photos go to his website

*Liso/lisa means smooth. Liso style tango developed in small,crowded dance halls, where dancers had to lean to circle around each other. It is danced with an upright posture, usually with each dancer slightly offset to the right of their partner. If done in a close embrace, the embrace is relaxed to allow the follower to perform turns. The dance involves simple steps -  and decorative moves such as boleos, ganchos, and sentadas are not included.

CREDIT: Photo from World Tango Festival 2003 in Buenos Aires.