Artists

DJs

Robin Thomas

A well-known and respected dancer and DJ, Robin's enthusiasm for Argentine tango can be seen most clearly in his wholehearted dedication to teaching. He believes that it is very important for students to dance simply and musically from the very beginning. Building that strong base of connection and musicality early, Robin believes, will allow even very new beginners to feel comfortable and confident on a crowded dance floor and will also lead to a more comprehensive and fluid understanding of more complicated techniques later on. Robin's teaching style reflects this philosophy, and his students appreciate the humorous but still down-to-earth way he presents the material.

Shorey Myers

Shorey is an accomplished teacher whose primary goal is to give her students those tools necessary to make their dancing as enjoyable as possible in the shortest amount of time. As great as her love of the dance is her love of the music, a passion which is evident whenever she steps behind the DJ booth. She travels all over the country to DJ at festivals and local milongas and she loves to keep both very traditional and very alternative crowds dancing all night long.

Ramu Pyreddy

Ramu is the founder of the Michigan Argentine Tango Club at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor - a community well known for its excellent social dancing skills - where he is actively involved in teaching, organizing, DJing and dancing. He is one of the most knowledgeable and sought after tango DJ's in North America and is a featured DJ at most tango festivals in the US. He teaches tango for the social dance floor with an emphasis on musicality and connection. His teaching and dancing are characterized by a keen musical interpretation, an infectious enthusiasm and a deep love of the music and the dance that is fanatic.

Lung-Kuei Lin

Lung-Kuei started studying tango in 2005 and began deejaying in 2007. Gradually he built a solid reputation as a deejay and now he's invited to spin tunes at the most popular and best milongas and practicas in town. Tango festivals fly him in to DJ. His choices are not strange: he just plays one good song after another, placed in sequence with sensitivity. Lung-Kuei has zero attitude about what he does well, and always keeps a sense of humor about things, while remaining a serious milonguero. 100% dedicated to the craft, the life, and the music of tango.

Felipe Martinez

Felipe embodies a very fluid style of dancing, moving seamlessly through all ranges of the embrace. His dance is at once dynamic, smooth and extremely musical. As teacher, his dedication, enthusiasm, and sheer knowledge of the dance always come across with great clarity. To watch him and to work with him is extremely inspiring and instills a real joy and respect for the dance. Felipe has an extensive background in other forms of movement and has been influenced by the most respected tango masters and dancers. He is a prominent tango teacher in the San Francisco/Bay Area and shares his passion for tango all over North America and Europe.

Jay Abling

For nearly a decade since he first started tango, J. Abling has been refining his dance and his teaching method. He has learned from some of the most renowned teachers including Jaimes Friedgen, Luciana Valle and Tete Rusconi, melding elements from various tango styles into his own. He approaches the dance with critical thinking in an organic and fluid fashion that engages, challenges and enlightens participants of all levels. His classes blend practical technique, musical morsels and flavorful figures with a touch of quirky humor. J. has taught, DJ'd and performed in cities across the U.S, from Maui to New York, Seattle to Albuquerque. He has performed with some of the best teachers in the scene, including Luiza Paes, Brigitta Winkler and Mitra Martin. Currently, he resides and teaches regular classes in San Diego, with the invaluable help of Mary Fu from Los Angeles.

Mercy Chen

A transplant from Los Angeles, Mercy Chen has been dancing Tango since 2000, and DJ'ing music in the Houston tango scene since 2004. A local favorite, Mercy started by playing at small get-togethers, where she learned the art of keeping a party moving and a crowd dancing. Since then, she has been MP3J'ing tango music at regular milongas in Houston. Mercy takes influence from her tango DJ friends across the States and in Buenos Aires. However, Mercy's biggest influence is always her audience. Her respect for the dancers is conveyed through her music selection - to play music so engaging that one has no choice but to dance.

Viju Rao

Viju Rao has been dancing tango in Houston since 2008. He has traveled to numerous festivals across the country and frequently DJs at local milongas. Viju enjoys playing music that inspires emotion, dynamics and fun on the dance floor. The Houston Tango Marathon is Viju's debut as DJ at a major tango event.

Sponsored Instructors

Rebecca and Eric

Rebecca and Eric began teaching together regularly in January of 2009. Since then they have taught in many major US cities and are quickly becoming popular instructors at festivals around the country. Coming from very different tango upbringings, Eric and Rebecca offer a unique blend of modern ideas about technique and vocabulary while maintaining a strong emphasis on traditional aesthetics and values in the dance.

Jaimes Friedgen & Christa Rodriguez

Jaimes and Christa are two of the most influential dancers in the United States.Christa is an extraordinary teacher and dancer. She takes great pride in the progress of her students and continues to pursue her study of dance as a student and a teacher. Jaimes is sought out for his creativity and deep insight into the inner workings of the dance. A dancer of extraordinary accomplishment, he is hailed for his beautiful movement and musicality. Jaimes is driven to be a full time tango teacher by his love of watching people continually grow and blossom through their exploration of tango.

Eli Leserowitz

Eli is an exceptionally creative and sensitive dancer who is in a constant state of fascination with the structure of tango moves and music. Eli's unmistakable presence and unique style of dance made him one of the most recognizable figures in the milongas of New York. Eli is a thorough teacher, going to great lengths to convey the fundamental techniques and musicality of a movement to his students. He has an uncanny ability to incorporate the newest moves into traditional dancing. Eli's attitude of being a constant learner makes him an approachable and a widely popular teacher. His enthusiasm for tango is contagious. He has taught at Princeton University (NJ), Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Hunter College (NY), and the University of Minnesota as well as at various milongas in the New York Area.

Photography

Alejandro Almanza

Born and raised in South Texas, J. Alejandro Almanza has the mind of an engineer led by the heart of an artist. He is formally educated in Michigan as an electrical engineer and photographer. His medium of expression for the past nine years has been photography with a focus on fine art photography. Alejandro's photographs reside in private collections, galleries, and publications in Europe, South America and North America. The publications include The Mirror, La Cadena, and El Tangauta. He currently lives in Houston, where he is an avid tango dancer, and is currently working on a tango photo book.