Attitude, passion and nerves swirl at World Tango Championship

Dancers in love with tango’s passion bit their nails and hit the floor on Wednesday as more than 700 couples from far and near converged on Buenos Aires, focused on being best.

They were here from 43 countries for the qualifying round of the 2015 World Tango Championship.

If they can glide and embrace their way through the qualifiers, the dancers will make the cut to be among 590 pairs competing in the ballroom tango and stage tango semi-finals.

There is no more appropriate place for them to compete in this passionate partner dance. The tango dates back to the dance halls of the slums of 1850s Montevideo and Buenos Aires, packed with immigrants — most of them from Italy.

The championships, held every year since 2003, have drawn international enthusiasts from Britain, South Korea, Canada, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Mexico.

Scores of couples also came in from around Argentina to try to make their mark at the big event.

“I know we are not very good. But it was a goal for us to get here, dance in the championships and also visit bars to see people dancing their dance” in Argentina, said Nozomi Akanuma, a Japanese psychiatrist paired up with Mark Phoenix, 56, an actor from Britain.

The duo met at a tango dance hall in London.