An all encompassing venue with over 400 square meters of marvelous smooth wooden dancing floor – The Edward Lumley Hall – surrounded by 600 square meters spread along 3 extra halls.

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Festival & Championship 2017

Judges, Coaches and Performers

Javier Rodriguez & Luna Palacios

Javier Rodriguez & Luna Palacios

Judges and Performers

Javier Rodriguez
tango dancer and teacher, is one of the most recognised figures of the Argentine tango and an indisputable expert in Tango Salon style. For the past 20 years Javier has been a part of the most famous tango festivals in Argentina, Europe and Asia, where he never stopped dazzling the participants with his art of dance and pedagogy.

Javier Rodriguez has begun dancing tango when he was 18. Together with his first professional partner, Geraldine Rojas, they have quickly become one of the most sought after tango couples in the world. They have toured the globe, performing in the best theaters and working in most prestigious tango festivals.

The next stage of Javier’s professional tango career was his partnership with another prominent dancer, Andrea Misse, with whom Javier worked for 9 years until Andrea’s tragic death in 2012. Together with Andrea Javier toured throughout Europe, Asia, Brazil, Uruguay, and Chile and they continued being one of the most popular couples worldwide.
Javier’s teaching focuses on technique, posture, and elegance, emphasizing those many little important details that can polish and perfect your dance.

Luna Palacios
Born in Buenos Aires, Luna Palacios is an authentic “milonguera”, tango dancer, that learnt from the best figures of the milongas of the port of Buenos Aires.
She had many tango masters but from one she received all the skills and inspirations of the dance and the way of approaching tango, and that person was his friend and master, Carlos Gavito, who turned to be his mentor.
She had tango couple with many brilliant dancers and tango masters like Lucas Galera, Oliver Kolker, “El Flaco” Dany Garcia, Horacio Britos (Pibe Avellaneda), Carlos Copello, Paulo Bidart, Jorge Pahl among others) whom she shared many performances and classes all over the world.
Luna Palacios is a sheer traveler showing and teaching, performing in and out of his country, dancing in the best milonga dance halls of Buenos Aires and in the most prestigious festivals of the tango scene.
She owns a profound passion for music and dancing. Luna Palacios is a communicative and original dancer, dedicated and is a real teacher.
Nowadays, Luna travels from Catania, Sicily. She performs in many places around the world, displaying his talent and teaching. Her intuitive style triggers emotions of the people interested in this popular dance art.
Christian Marquez & Virginia Gomez

Christian Marquez & Virginia Gomez

Judges and Performers

Christian and Virginia are a couple united by their passion for tango. They stand out for their strength, maturity, and distinct style of tango.
Their partnership began in 1996. They started training with renowned maestros and gained their first professional experience in 1997. Since then they have participated in many major national and international shows such as “Los tangos de la Cábala,” “Piazzolla Tango, “Copes Tango Copes,” and “O’Tango.” In 2002 they started touring Europe and Asia for festivals and workshops.
They were the main couple featured in the music video “Diferente” by Gotan Project (2006). For two years in a row they participated in one of the most important tango festivals of Buenos Aires, CITA. They are currently dancers of the company “O’Tango” and “Corporacion Tango”.
They give regular classes in Buenos Aires to transmit their knowledge to a new generation of tango dancers. Their dance is characterized by accuracy and quality of movement, with the goal of preserving the elegance and essence of pure tango.
John Erban & Clarissa Sanchez Garcia

John Erban & Clarissa Sanchez Garcia

Judges and Performers

Clarissa started her ballet studies when she was 8, she graduated in the National Dance and danced classic in many of the best schools and events. Several years ago she started her preparation in Tango with Argentinean Maestros and has been travelling around the world teaching and performing since 2008.
John has an artistic career of more than 15 years of experience and have danced, other than Tango, Venezuelan Folklore and Salsa. He was taught by the most well-known Argentinean Teachers in Buenos Aires and his background in the Tango started in 2005.
Clarissa and John as a Tango Couple have participated in several festivals and Championships around the world, among their latest success in 2011 they obtained the 2nd place in the World Tango Championship in Salon Tango and 5th place in the Stage Tango category in Buenos Aires, Argentina; they achieved also the award of Best Foreign Couple of 2011.
They have danced together with the following tango companies: “Tango Caracas” in Venezuela, “Tango Libertad” in Japan and “A Puro Tango” in Colombia and in the most renowned Tango Shows in Buenos Aires as: Tango Porteno, Esquina Carlos Gardel, Madero tango and Rojo Tango in the Faena Hotel.
They have been invited to teach and perform in festivals all over the world.

Juan Martin Carrara & Stefania Colina

Juan Martin Carrara & Stefania Colina

Coaches and Performers

Juan Martin and Stefania are young, extremely talented and currently one of the most popular tango couples. They dance with a great respect for the tradition and the music, but keep working on new forms of expression and their own development. Being extremely popular teachers in Buenos Aires, Montevideo and the entire world, their classes allow one to hear and feel what is most intangible in tango. Their exquisite musicality, charm and sensibility have won them many hearts in all over the globe.
Juan Martin Carrara started his dancing career when he was 13 years old as a ballet and contemporary dancer and an actor of musical comedy. At the age of 16 he entered in the Nacional Academy of Dance of Uruguay and was selected for the “Young Ballet”, touring all the theatres of the region as a performer of modern and classical ballet.
After a few years he met with tango and at the same time with Stefania Colina, and fell in love with both.
Stefania Colina started her career as a ballet and contemporary dancer in the “Orlama” School at the age of 4. She graduated at 17, after 13 years of intense training, and became a teacher of the school. During that time she had the opportunity to experience many dance styles that were taught as a complement to ballet and that is how she met with tango and Juan Martin.
Their passionate life-changing story began, so they left Uruguay and moved almost immediately to Buenos Aires with nothing more than their intense desire to dance and teach tango. After a few years of working hard at improving their level and knowledge, they won the “Intercontinental Championship” in 2009 and the Uruguayan Tango salon Championships in 2012.
Since then, they have been teaching and dancing around the world. They perform regularly in the milongas of Buenos Aires and participate in some of the most important festivals in Europe. Their fame and uniqueness comes from their elegance, sensuality and musicality. They are also known for their successful and engaging teaching method.

DJs

Marcelo Rojas

Marcelo Rojas

DJ

Marcelo Rojas
A famous must-see DJ in the tango scene, one of the most renowned in Buenos Aires as well as at international level.
He is currently the “musical adviser for the Buenos Aires city government”, programmer at the official Buenos Aires tango radio station “La 2×4”, DJ at the Confitería Ideal, organiser and DJ at the Milonga Tango Ideal.
In 2009 he won the Martín Fierro prize for best music programme (“La noche con amigos” with Lionel Godoy). He has DJ’d at the best known milongas in Argentina and Europe.
For many years he has participated at major festivals in Latin America (including the World Tango festival in Buenos Aires, the “Camicando mocca – canyengue” festival, the Congreso Internacional de Tango Argentino “C.I.T.A.”, the Campeonato Metropolitano tango show, the Cumbre Mundial de tango Bariloche) and during his travels in Europe and Asia.
Alejandro Sasha Vicente Grabovetsky

Alejandro Sasha Vicente Grabovetsky

DJ

Alejandro Sasha Vicente Grabovetsky /b>
Sasha got DJing superpowers in Kiev (1986) after being scratched by a radioactive record of Tanturi/Castillo’s “La Vida es Corta” (oh the irony!)
Sasha’s music centres on the Golden Age, with very occasional detours into the Guardia Vieja and 50s, depending on the event. He’s been DJing in Marathons, Festivals and Encuentros in 20 different countries, from the eastern reaches of Ukraine and Russia to the western reaches in US and Argentina, and even in exotic locations in the Emirates.
Andrea Dedó

Andrea Dedó

DJ

“You are Energy for the milonga!” this is one of the best congratulations that I received after a milonga set” ”I like to think the DJ rules like this, gives always new energy at the dancers, try to propose every time the right tanda at the right moment and ignite the magic of the milonga”
Thanks to an intense background as musician, dancer and tango teacher, and to a continuous study, Andrea Dedò always is able to interpret to the best the dance-floor to the delight of our feet! From several years he travel around Europe to playing at the best Festivals and Marathons. His style it’s absolutely traditional. “Todo el mundo a bailar!”
Andrea Dedò is the artistic director of the International L’Aquila Tango Marathon & Festival, www.laquilatangofestival.com, as well as the creator and director of the Italian Tango magazine “El Tanguero” www.eltanguero.it, From 2009 is the resident DJ of the “Milonga di Camila” (Italy).
Andrés Molina

Andrés Molina

DJ

In his nine years as a DJ, Andrés Molina has grown to become a well-established figure of the Buenos Aires and European tango scene. His mixing is always on the spot and is aimed at creating a continuous high-energy vibe throughout the crowd. Because he pays close attention to the dance floor mood, he is able to adapt but also to actively interact with the people around him, making him someone who plays for the people and not according to his own tastes.
His unconventional choices of cortinas also contribute to this idea by being a key tool of the mix selection instead of mere transitions between tandas. For these reasons, Andrés Molina is now considered as a cornerstone of the up-and-coming generation of DJs”
Alberto Ortiz

Alberto Ortiz

DJ

Alberto (Beto) Ortiz is an Argentinian who has lived in London for the last six years. After starting as the DJ at his own Tea Dance, Beto became so popular that he is now invited regularly to DJ at the best local milongas in London, including Corrientes Social Club, Tango The Light, Negracha, Carablanca Tango Club, Tango Etnia … also in Mallorca Tango Festival in Spain every year…
Beto is a traditional DJ who selects the best tangos of the golden age and arranges them in tandas with cortinas.

Some images from the competition...

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