Argentines win World Tango Championships

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - An Argentine couple captured the stage category at the World Tango Championships on Saturday, followed by Chilean and Japanese pairs.

Fernando Gracia and Natalia Tonelli Attori beat out 17 other duos to win a first prize of $2,250 at the fifth annual tournament in the capital of Buenos Aires, the cradle of tango.

Maximiliano Alvarado and his wife Paloma Berrios placed second, and Hiroshi Yamao and his wife Kyoko, two Japanese natives living in Argentina, came in third.

The event ends Sunday with salon dancing in which 37 pairs will compete, including the New York City pair of Eduardo Goytia and Cyrena Drusine.

The stage tango category is characterized by balletic, acrobatic choreography, while salon tango has less flashy but more popular moves common to the dance hall parties known as "milongas."

The 10-day showcase of Argentina's famously mournful dance features 479 pairs from 154 cities worldwide. Eleven couples are from Japan — the largest country contingent outside Latin America.