Tucson Tango Festival DJs and Instructors 2011
Next Tucson Tango Festival: March 3-7, 2011
Instructors:
Jaimes Friedgen & Christa Rodriguez
Murat & Michelle Erdemsel
Maria Olivera & Gustavo Benzecry
Varo Boyajyan & Naomi Hotta
Santiago Croce and Amy Lincoln
Meng Wang & Vladimir Estrin
DJs:
Maria Olivera
Sabah Chammas
Paul Akmajian
Larry Richelli
Martin Rybczynski
Lampis
Varo Boyajyan
Murat & Michelle Erdemsel
See Video Last Year’s Performances
Murat Erdemsel has been described as one of the strongest leads in the United States as a dancer and Argentine Tango instructor. He has taught in most of the major Argentine tango events in North America and has influenced large numbers of dancers with his unique perspective of dance and instruction while he maintains his teaching position for Dance Manhattan in NYC. Born in Istanbul, Murat followed his parents path to art school. He has partnered with well known dancers and including with Michelle, has shared the stage with the masters of tango. Performed to the live music of important Tango orchestras such as Hector Del Curto, Raul Haurena and Color Tango. Murat can also be seen on TV and in Movies with his dance.
Michelle Erdemsel took her first steps in dance at the age of 6 at the world renowned San Francisco School of Ballet and continued with such greats as David Howard in NYC. Her dance experience can only be described as eclectic, ranging from modern, jazz, flamenco, hula and theatre dance. Michelle spent many years touring with famous Musical Artists such as Liza Minelli in prestigious venues like Prince Albert Royal Hall in London, Off Broadway theatres in NYC, Stadiums and Arenas in Europe, South America and the US. Michelle has dedicated her life to teaching and dancing tango with her husband and partner Murat. Together they travel to teach at major festivals and perform at the milongas as well as with live music such as the Color Tango Orchestra.
Murat and Michelle have been living on the road and teaching for 6 years now. Their teaching and performing style is in high demand in Europe, Australia and the USA.
Maria Olivera & Gustavo Benzecry
Maria Olivera & Gustavo Benzecry
Gustavo Benzecry Sabá & María Olivera are a couple of young dancers representing an authentic way of experiencing an artistic expression known around the world for its elegance, sensuality and expressiveness. Dancers of the so-called “Tango Salón”, they show this dance the way it is danced in its original ambience: the “milongas” of Buenos Aires, the Capital city of Argentina. They teach regular classes at one of the most prestigious dance halls of that city, the “Salón Canning” located in the Palermo quarter.
During 2008 and 2009 they’ve toured more than 20 cities including New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Chicago and Portland, where they got the highest ratings for their instruction in the several of the Festivals.
Besides teaching and performing, Gustavo Benzecry Sabá has written two tango-related books, the Tango Danza Glossary – Key Tango Argentino Dance Terms (Abrazosbooks – 2004, endorsed with a prologue written by Carlos Gavito and Juan Carlos Copes, and an epilogue by Miguel Angel Zotto) a dictionary containing more than 300 terms, and Embracing Tango – Techniques and metaphors between Tango and life (Abrazosbooks, 2006 – prologue by María Nieves and epilogue by Aurora Lúbiz). This last one, translated by María Olivera, is the first written approximation to the original Tango Salón (also known as “close embrace”) style, that has been danced in Buenos Aires for over a hundred years. It includes the explanation of 6 basic sequences as well as articles related to the embrace, the improvisation, the dance floor and the surrender. It is finally the first written guide to the so-called “milonga codes”, the rules of behavior and interaction of people in the context of the “milonga”.
During 2009 Gustavo produced a documentary film: “The history of Tango Dance: 1940 -1960”, edited by María. This piece contains a profound research about the way Tango developed in the Golden Years, and includes interviews to several of the living legends of that period, as well as footage of the iconic dancers who made the Tango become the social phenomenon of those two decades.
Gustavo and María have both studied from world-wide prestigious Masters such as Rodolfo Dinzel, Roberto Herrera, Dany García, Alejandra Arrué, Nito & Elba, Omar Vega amongst many others.
Jaimes Friedgen & Christa Rodriguez
Jaimes has been a full-time tango teacher for most of his adult life. Before that, he traveled from town to town with a suitcase and his guitar, sleeping on rooftops and singing songs for bus fare. A dancer of extraordinary accomplishment, Jaimes is hailed for his beautiful movement and musicality. His teaching career began early in his life, giving classrooms composed of various stuffed animals and plastic toys lessons in reading, writing, and basic arithmetic. He has since passed this responsibility on to his daughter, Ravenna, who was born in the fall of 2006.
Christa began her affair with tango as a completely incompetent beginner. Of course all beginners are incompetent at what they are beginning, by definition; that’s the freedom and pleasure of being a beginner. But Christa was really bad. The veterans of the scene thought she might not make it, despite her extraordinary enthusiasm and hard work. A few years later, she is one of the most influential dancers in the U.S. and serves as the primary inspiration for a whole generation of female dancers (not to mention keeping the guys in line). She takes great pride in the progress of her students and continues to pursue her study of dance with the same voracious appetite as when she was that wobbly, wide-eyed teenager years ago. Those who know Christa well know her to be a master of creating beauty out of anything; be it sheet metal, a beat-up old guitar, oil on canvas, the intricate movements of tango, or a friend with two left feet.
Varo Boyajyan & Naomi Hotta
Varo Boyajyan and Naomi Hotta
Varo and Naomi met in 2006 as student and teacher in a tango class. Throughout the years they taught/learned from one another, danced and shared the passion of tango. In 2010, they started traveling and teaching together. Varo and Naomi cherish the abrazo and the connection; through their love of music and expression of creative musicality, their dance expresses the emotion, the sensuality and the elegance of tango.
Varo’s immersion into the world of Argentine Tango started in 2004 in Los Angeles, California. Over the next few years he has become an active participant and an integral part of the Los Angeles tango community. He devoted himself to becoming a skillful social dancer, mastering floor craft, musicality, and establishing connection with the partner.
TEACHING: Varo’s rapid progression and extensive knowledge has led him to being invited as an instructor for the UCLA’s Argentine Tango classes, as well as becoming permanent staff member at the “Tango Room”, one of premier Tango studios in Los Angeles. Varo has taught and performed at numerous tango and dance related events in Los Angeles and Southern California, including the recent “Flamenco Loves Tango” production at the Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center.
Naomi was exposed to Argentine Tango while teaching salsa, swing, and ballroom dance classes at Southern California’s West Los Angeles and Harbor Colleges. Her attraction to Argentine Tango was instantaneous. In 2004, in order to further her tango abilities, she traveled to Buenos Aires, the Mecca of tango, where she spent 5 months in rigorous training and nightly milonga dancing. There she attained top-caliber techniques and absorbed the essence of tango. Her great maestros included Jorge Dispari, Carlos Perez, Fabian Peralta & Virginia Pandolfi, Francisco Forquera and Carolina Bonaventura, alongside numerous milongueros. She competed in the Second World Tango Competition Salon Category, where she surpassed more than 280 couples, ranking in the top 20 of the world. Since 2004, she has been periodically returning to Buenos Aires to maintain and further her tango skills and expression.
Naomi’s love, passion, and devotion for the dance is everlasting. She teaches and performs on a regular basis in Los Angeles as well as in other cities around the world. Her fluidity and grace are second to none. She strives to continuously explore and evolve as a dancer. Naomi’s goal is to one day become an old milonguera, expressing her life’s experiences through tango.
See Videos Last Year’s Performance
Sabah Chammas
Sabah Chamas DJ
Sabah got addicted to Tango in the late nineties. It started with dancing and now it includes being a DJ.
Tango music occupies my thoughts and energizes my spirit and I am in constant search for good music. Although I try to vary the music I play, I am heavily influenced by the style of dance in Buenos Aires as well as the music played at the milongas there so feel free to call me old fashioned.
Paul Akmajian
Paul Akmajian
Paul has been dancing tango since 1998 and teaching for the last six years. His love for the music and travels to Buenos Aires led him to begin building an extensive collection of songs and become a DJ. He has been a steady in DJ in Albuquerque for almost 10 years and in the last five years he has DJ’d at festivals around the country including Denver, Seattle, Chicago, St. Louis, Phoenix, and the Tucson Tango Festival. Paul has also DJ’d for numerous special events and milongas in Los Angeles, Seattle, Phoenix, Tucson, Salida, CO, and Santa Fe, NM. As a DJ, Paul strives to keep everyone energized and dancing by playing the best, most familiar, time-tested and dancer-approved music from the Golden Age of Tango.
Varo Boyajyan
Varo Boyajyan DJ in action!
DJ Bio
As an avid dancer himself, Varo has a deep appreciation for the tango music as a crucial part of the overall milonga experience for each dancer. As a DJ, Varo strives to create a musical atmosphere that inspires the dancers and connects with them on the emotional level.
While DJ-ing, Varo is always connected to the dancers-either by observing the energy and the interactions of the dancefloor, or dancing in the middle of it. In addition to selecting good tango songs, Varo pays detailed attention to the structure of the playlist.
Varo comprises the tandas and the relationship of tandas to each other in a way to establish a harmonious flow of the energy, and to develop emotional-energetic contrasts with a tasteful climax and rise that resonate within each dancer.
Varo regularly DJ’s at milongas in Los Angeles and Southern Calfornia. He has DJ’d along with Otros Aires and Narcotango. Varo is also invited to DJ at festivals all over the US.
Lampis
DJ Lampis
Lampis is fascinated by tango and continuously expands his understanding of this complex art form. He strongly believes that appropriate music is a critical factor for an emotionally fulfilling evening of dancing and he aims to achieve exactly that with his music selections. He focuses on traditional music that brings the dancers on the dance floor and keeps them there until the very end of the milonga.
(photo by Jan Jaroszynski)
Thanks to Judy Miller all of our guests were welcomed as they arrived!!!
