Simply put, we have one of the finest teaching staff available for you at ValenTango 2016. All 14 instructors are exceptional teachers and dancers of traditional Argentine tango and have vast international experience in performing and teaching tango. And on top of that, they’re just great people. I think you’re gonna enjoy and learn a lot from them!
Daniela Roig & Hernan Prieto
(Buenos Aires) [video] “Since our childhood we realized that dancing was the play we loved the most; and today we make that play in our way of living. Embraced by tango many years ago, we try to pass on what our teachers have told us and that what we really love.” Consistently Daniela & Hernan rank at the top in the evaluations and so we are pleased that they will be returning again this year.
Gustavo & Maria’s (Buenos Aires) [video] teaching method is both precise and gradual. Because of this, they’re among the most popular teachers. They regularly teach workshops in their home town and in international festival and events. Their kindness and good sense of humor make the learning very effective for the students. Gustavo is patient and reflective, María brings dynamism and clarity in the concepts. Both as teachers and dancers they’ve been touring Europe and America since 2006, taking part in many international events. Gustavo stands out for his elegance, creativity and musicality, and María for her quick adornments and her musical precision.
Homer & Cristina Ladas‘ (San Francisco) [video] vision is to have a tango world without boundaries where we respect and learn from the past, live in the present, and let the future unfold… Their mission statements is to provide globally accessible education and strengthen community resources in Argentine tango social dancing! And their goals are: (1). To develop and sell high quality didactic video lessons, at affordable rates, while continuing to provide free class video reviews. (2) Provide online community tools (i.e. news, forums, blogs, teaching & DJ resources) and special events (i.e. web seminars). (3) To organize live education and community events (i.e. classes, dances, festivals, exchanges) and (4) To help develop and promote music for social dancing including sustainable community orchestras.
Liz & Yannick Vanhove
(Belgium) [video], are one of Europe’s leading “Tango Salon”- dancers and teachers. They love everything about Tango and teach it with openness, humility, patience and a touch of humor to dancers of all levels, always with a strong emphasis on technique and moving naturally.
In their dancing they are able to express the strong connection between them as they strive for simplicity, elegance and musicality in every dance. When they dance Tango Salon in a performance it is 100% improvised.
Maxi & Paloma
(Chile) [video#1, video#2] Tango dancers with over 15 years of national and international experience, with thorough preparation in the styles of Salon and Stage (show). Our academic training includes ballet, Jazz and ballroom dance. Our work and style focus on keeping the traditional tango while emphasizing the technical work to ensure clean movement. We have won several national and international awards, which include 6 finals in worldwide championships, second place in 2007 (Argentina) and first place in 2008 (South Korea)
Ney Melo
(Brooklyn) & Marika Landry (Montreal) [video]
Quote from Ney: To dance tango, you have to embrace. A real embrace, with your arms, hands, chest, and heart. An embrace with feeling and emotion. I see many dancers embrace lightly, or off to one side. They make excuses about the asymmetry of the embrace, or how it hinders their movement, or how it’s too heavy, etc. etc. The embrace is the “card that we are dealt” when it comes to tango. You work with it not against it. You find yourself in it, you lose yourself in it. It liberates you just as much as it “hinders” you. To truly embrace someone is similar to loving them, and just as you cannot give someone “half love” you cannot give someone “half embrace.
Quote from Marika: Dance is the hidden language of the soul.
Santiago Castro & Fernanda Valdovinos (Chile) [video] Known not only for his elegance, precision and musicality, Santiago combines improvisation with the elegance and flavor of the milonguero style. He is faithful and devoted to the kind of tango he believes is the authentic tango–i.e. the kind of tango which emphasizes the embrace, walking, music, the feeling, respect and codes. He nurtures his students to help them become better dancers and inspires them so that they can feel and understand tango not only as a dance, but as an attitude and a way of life.
Fernanda began dancing tango in Chile. Besides her emotional sensitivity and tango experience, she is an intellectual with a PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. With this, she is a wonderful complement to Santiago’s long experience in tango, as together they are able to think and feel deeply about the tango culture, the emotions that emerge through the music, and the connection established by the embrace.