Tucson Tango Fall Fest
The friendliest tango festival just expanded! The Tucson Tango Fall Fest is now open for registrations!
2 for 1 Registration for Fall Fest
Save $140 — $280 for two full passes! (Retail $280 for one pass!)
Click here and get a 2 for 1 offer and save $140!!
Yes! If you are flying solo you can register without a partner for $155
Go here:For More Information: TucsonTangoFallFest.com
Instructors
Diego Blanco and Ana Padron
Award-winning Argentine Tango dancers Diego Blanco and Ana Padron are one of the top performing young couples in the world today. Their tango style is energetic, rhythmical, and innovative, and through their fluid moves they fuse nuevo tango with the close embrace look of traditional tango. They co- founded their dance company, Tango for All, to bring this electrifying tango to audiences in America and throughout the world.
Ney Melo and Ellinor Westrup
World-renowned tango dancer and teacher Ney Melostarted in the New York City and Buenos Aires tango scenes, learning from the old milongueros and dancing every night in the milongas. Ney is a dedicated to inspiring students to dance tango with feeling, musicality, cadencia, and connection – the way it is danced in Buenos Aires. The atmosphere in his classes is relaxed, personable and lively, and he places equal emphasis on the lady’s role as the man’s. Technique and the essence of tango, both fundamental to dancing well, are stressed in whatever step is being shown. His instruction is highly respected and sought out by beginning and advanced dancers, as well as other teachers and choreographers.
Brian Nguyen and Yuliana Basmajyan
Brian and Yuliana crossed paths at a milonga in 2007. Together they travel to Argentina a few times a year to continue their tango education with maestros. They’ve taught and performed in several festivals and milongas such as El Congreso in Toronto, Valentango in Portland, Tango MundoFestival in Palm Springs, Mercury Cafe in Denver and La Nacional, Ukraine, and Nocturne Milongas in NYC. They are the 2011 U.S. Tango Champions in Tango Salon, and they took 3rd place in Tango Mundial 2011 Salon Category, the annual world competition held in Buenos Aires. You can find them at Oxygen tango school in Los Angeles where they teach group classes on Monday nights.
Jay Abling and Mary Fu
Mary has persistently studied Argentine tango with both body and mind since she first fell in love with it as a college student in South America. The biggest influences to her understanding and practice of the dance are drawn from world-renowned tango dancers and teachers Gustavo Naveira & Giselle Anne, Julio Balmaceda & Corina de la Rosa, and Graciela Gonzalez. She continues to exercise and push the boundaries of their teachings through her new partnership with J. Abling.
DJs
Jay Abling
Jay loves to DJ and his tandas have been known to melt butter in refrigerators three states away! J Abling believes that a milonga is a “party where tango is danced”. Whenever he DJs, he intends to keep a good party going with select choice of music to inspire both lovers of traditional and alternative music. When not teaching or DJing, he is constantly organizing and listening to his music or looking for more music to add to his extensive collection. He has learned to dj from some of the best DJs in the country including Jaimes Friedgen, Alex Krebs, Dan Boccia, Shorey Myers and Vijay. He has DJd at festivals and regular milongas in Portland, Seattle, Houston, New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, Maui and Ashland, OR.
Paul Akmajian
Paul Akmajian (Albuquerque, NM) has been dancing tango for over 10 years and teaching for the last five. He has been a DJ for most of his tango life and in the last 3 years he has DJ’d in Seattle, Phoenix, Tucson, as well as on a regular basis in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. Recently, he was a DJ for the Denver > Albuquerque Labor Day weekend Tango Festival. He is excited to return to his hometown of Tucson to DJ for the Tucson Tango Festival.
Kenny Bell
Shortly after starting tango, Kenny found himself not only consumed with the dance, but he had also fallen into a deep obsession with the music. Since then, he has spent countless hours not only listening to these golden age classics, but studying them. He focuses not only on orchestra leaders, but also on singers and time periods, listening to the subtle differences of eras, styles, and instrumentals, finding out what makes each orchestra unique and what unifies them, as well as what makes a good dance song and what doesn’t.
Varo Biagi
As an avid dancer himself, Varo has a deep appreciation for 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 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.
Joanne Canalli
Jo’s DJ philosophy is a product of her personal Tango journey as a follower and, recently, a leader. Although her beginnings came from Alternative/Nuevo Jo has evolved over time to develop a deep passion and love for the traditional Argentine Tango music specifically, the Golden Age era. She prepares 100% traditional tandas concentrating on fully danceable music with a mix of the playful, the romantic, the high energy, the sweet and melodic, with maybe a touch of drama. Her goal is for the dancers to leave the milonga with a happy heart, a satisfied craving and an eagerness for more.
