Jaimes Friedgen

Aug. 18-20th, 2006
North American tango phenomenon Jaimes Friedgen hails from a family of dancers and artists and has since early childhood been immersed in a world of creative movement. With extensive training as a gymnast and a background in a variety of performing arts, including theater, music, and many forms of dance, Jaimes came upon tango at the age of fifteen. He has since learned from and worked with many of the most respected figures in the tango world and remains unclassifiable, transcendent of style and category. He has spent several years dancing, teaching, and performing throughout North America, Europe and Asia, and always continues to explore new territory within the dance.

As one of the most popular teachers in the U.S. today, it is not surprising that he is often booked more than a year in advance. He is well respected by his peers for his creativity, musicality and deep insight into the inner workings of the dance. Countless tango teachers both in the States and abroad have benefited from studying with Jaimes. He is driven to be a full time tango teacher by his love of watching people continually grow and blossom through their exploration of tango, and feels fortunate to be a part of that process. He is also a dynamic performer, and has brought much inspiration to dancers everywhere through his rare combination of fluidity, subtle elegance, and fierce animalistic intensity. His absolute love of tango is undeniable and shines through every movement he makes and every word he speaks.

Fabian and Carolina

June 10-12 2005, Visits in 2004, June 7-9th, 2002, November 2-3, 2002, November 22-23, 2003
Tireless researcher and maestro, remarkable dancer and connoisseur of the secrets of tango - Fabián Salas has brought light to old beliefs and opened new ways in the conception of the dance, creating an unmistakable style of dancing the Tango. Fabián Salas is the principal organizer of the Congreso Internacional de Tango Argentino (C.I.T.A.) - the world's most important annual event, which brings together in Buenos Aires all the tango lovers, practitioners, and the most representative artists of Argentine Tango.

Carolina del Rivero discovered the tango in 1995, and since the year 2000 Carolina dances with Fabián Salas, giving workshops and exhibitions throughout the world. Applying all her artistic knowledge from other dances, she brings to tango, style and elegance, as well as a profound understanding of the technique and dynamics of the dance, and also of the woman’s role in it.

Mauricio Castro

September 2001, February 2002, March 2003, January 2004, August 2005 (Intensive Weekend)

Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mauricio Castro is a renowned dancer and teacher of Argentine Tango and the founder of Tango discovery. He created and developed a personal style of dancing and teaching tango in Buenos Aires and then, through Tango discovery, he brought it to the rest of the world.

To his solid musical education at the prestigious Berklee College of Music (Boston, USA), he added contemporary dance and movement technique studies (Laban Analysis, Bartenieff Fundamentals and The Skinner Releasing Technique, among others). In addition, he also studied Human Sciences in Neuro Linguistic Programming, Design Human Engineering and Human Ecology.

The joining of these disciplines and influences allowed him to create his particular and unmistakable style, systematizing it into an innovative method to accelerate the process of learning to dance.

Breaking out from rigid sequences, his focus is to develop improvisation skills through a simple and dynamic technique where students discover not only a relaxed and released style, but also a new way of expressing and communicating with their bodies.

The synthesis of his method, recognized worldwide by hundred of dancers, is available not only by attending his classes but also in his books and cutting-edge multimedia CD-ROMs, available in several languages.

“From the beginning, Castro insists that the tango may and should be for anyone, something so pleasurable and common like breathing”. From a review of “Tango, The Structure of the Dance Vol. 1”. In the newspaper “La Nación” (10/07/2001). Argentina.

Mario Consiglieri

April 2004, October 2004
Mario Consiglieri is one of the premier instructors around the world - who possesses both the comprehension of, and the ability to share the structure, vocabulary, and limitless possibilites found within the Argentine Tango. Most commonly recognized for his playful musicality and in-depth knowledge of how concepts can be applied in a social setting, Mario is also respected for his ability to shed light to familiar concepts by using his insight to the possibilities found within Tango. Mario's dance background started with hip-hop. At age fifteen he was introduced to tango, through various workshops with visiting instructors, Mario picked out what was going to make the tango his - musicality. Next, to be shown what the structure of the tango looked like and how it could be manipulated. Who better to learn this from than masters of the structure - Fabian Salas and Gustavo Naveira.One of the true representatives of this style of teaching and dancing, you can count on your dance improving if you learn with Mario.(http://www.nuevotango.com)

Jean-Sébastien Rampazzi

July 2001, March 2002, Nov. 4-6th, 2005 for Intensive weekend
Jean-Sebastien and Cecilia - September 2001, May and October 2002

Jean-Sébastien Rampazzi is a world-famous tango dancer, teacher, performer and choreographer. He regularly tours as a teacher and performer throughout North America (New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, Boston, Montréal) and all of Western Europe, Iceland, Russia and Asia.

As a choreographer, he helped originate the show "artango, bal concept", performed by himself, Cecilia Gonzalez and the musicians of Artango. Since 1999 he has been working on contemporary (modern) dance and has originated, among others, the choreographies for Maja Ratkje's opera, performed in Oslo at the 2003 Ultima Festival. In January of 2004 he created his own company: Compagnie Jean-Sébastien Rampazzi. In collaboration with Eliane Decostanzi for choreography and Mathilde Tournyol du Clos for conception, he produced the choreographic triptych for two dancers: "l'écrin". The premiere of this piece was given in Auxerre, France, in May 2005 and the French tour started with three presentations at "Le Théâtre de la Bastille" in Paris in July 2005.

Before becoming interested in dancing, Jean-Sébastien received a master's degree in Mathematics and an engineering diploma from the ESTP (Ecole Speciale des Travaux Publics) in Paris. He also plays classical piano and has been working with the great pianist Alice Ader since June 2004. More on Jean-Sebastien on his Website

Cecilia Gonzalez

June and September 2000 Well respected by the tango community in Buenos Aires, she has taught and danced at numerous festivals around the world. Along the way she has partnered with some of the most famous tangueros of her generation: Osvaldo Zotto, Fabian Salas and Mariano 'Chicho' Frumboli, to name a few.

The technical precision,fluidity and elegance of her movements and notable capacity of improvisation characterize her dance. Her complete knowledge and her passion for teaching makes her a very appreciated and requested tango teacher being invited regularly to give workshops in Europe and North America since 1996. She has taught in Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Turkey, Iceland, Australia, Canada and US. Since its inception in 1999, she has been a member of the teaching faculty of the Argentine International Tango Congress (C.I.T.A) held annually in Buenos Aires.