We are mourning the passing
of Bob Moretti on June 22, 2005, just days before the
start of Nora's
Tango Week 2005, an event he co-founded with Nora Dinzelbacher in 1997.
As co-producer, Bob kept the Tango Week plane flying
through the cross winds of contentious Tangueros, tumultuous
artistic temperaments, and tired feet. He had a way of quietly
working in the background, so that the Tango could take center
stage.
Tango was a passion that came to Bob early, as a child growing
up in New York City. But his love for Tango went unrequited for a very long
time. Bob waited
until he raised his family and retired from the Air Force as a
Colonel to start studying with Nora. Soon, Bob spent weekend after weekend
driving from his home in Chico
to dance at Milongas from Sacramento to San Jose. Bob also made numerous trips
to Buenos Aires and wrote a stage play about Tango.
I will always remember Bob standing at the door of the
ballroom at the Emeryville Holiday Inn, greeting everyone with
that broad, but shy smile of his. Bob was always smiling at Tango
Week. And I know why, because he shared a secret with
David and me at Tango
Week 2003.
Bob didn't produce
Tango Week for the money or the glory. He did it for this: Before
each Tango Week Milonga, after the decorating crew departed and
the band tuned up, Bob would take his partner and dance one Tango - in the
Grand Ballroom, dancing to live music with no other couple to
disturb that special moment. Then Bob would unlock the doors, and
welcome in the rest of us with his beaming smile.
My heart goes out to all of us Tangueras, who
will never dance with Bob again; to Nora, who along with Ed, will
have to carry on without Bob's broad smile and sage advice; and
to Bob's wife and family, whom he loved even more than the
Tango.
I just wish we had time for one more
Tango, Bob.
Nancy Stevens
Mendoza &
David Mendoza
Donations and more information...
To learn more about Bob and his
amazing career, read the loving obituary created by his son, Johnny Moretti
at http://www.operationplayground.org/bob_moretti.
In lieu of
flowers, Bob left
a special request for donations to be made to an organization
that his son, Johnny Moretti, established to raise funds
for the development of children's playgrounds along the
tsunami-torn shoreline of Thailand. A website has been set up
to receive donations at
www.operationplayground.org.
For more information about the organization, go to
http://www.operationplayground.org/donate.html
