Author: alecoyung

Diego Lanau and Alejandra Saravia are professional tango teachers that have built a following in the Bay Area over many years. Diego and Alejandra teach simple tango figures as a way of helping students improve their technique. They emphasize good posture, walking, and contrabody disassociation (twisting) to create a smooth, beautiful dance. They are also beautiful to watch!

Diego Lanau is from Argentina and began studying tango in 1997. In 1999, he joined the Mora Godoy group in Club Almagro, where he met his first tango partner, Natalia Arcidiacono, with whom he started teaching in 2001. Diego participated in a variety of tango competitions and was a finalist in the 2004 Tango World Cup. Starting in 2006, Diego traveled to various cities in the USA to teach and perform. In 2009 and 2010, his travels expanded to Europe, where he taught and performed in Italy, Spain and France. He returned to the Bay Area in 2010 and 2011. In April 2013, he performed at ATUSA (Argentine Tango USA Championship and Festival). In March 2015, he was a judge at the local championship in Los Ángeles. In 2017, he performed at Buenos Aires City Hall and Club Atlético Boca Juniors (the most emblematic soccer team in Argentina). In January 2018, he participated in TANGO SALON EXTREMO in Buenos Aires. In March of the same year, he was a judge at ATUSA in San Francisco. Currently, he continues to teach and perform in Buenos Aires as well as the United States.

Alejandra Saravia is originally from Bolivia, and has also lived in Argentina and the United States. She started to dance ballet and practice gymnastics at the age of 4. In 2008, tango became part of her life. The greatest influences on her dancing are three of her favorite teachers, the world-renowned dancers Alejandra Mantinian, Moira Castellano and Pablo Veron. Alejandra performed tango for the first time the same year that she started dancing, and has been teaching and performing in the US since 2008. She has also taught in Bolivia (2018), Italy (2019), and Chile (2019). At the end of 2019, she began her partnership with Diego Lanau, with whom she teaches in San Francisco. Together they have a long and varied experience dancing tango and teaching to students of different levels and cultures. They are both professional tango dancers and milongueros, with a broad spectrum of literacy in the dance in all of its complexity.

Felipe Martinez and Ayano Yoneda are well known and beloved tango instructors who have taught in the SF Bay Area for many years. They teach regularly on Monday nights at the Beat in Berkeley and they DJ frequently at milongas all over the Bay. They are especially known for organizing the San Francisco Tango Marathon at the most extravagant venue in the Bay Area, for hosting the All-Night Milonga at the Beat in Berkeley, and for their ever-popular classes at Stanford University. Their beginner series, Tango 101, is also recommended by many!

Felipe and Ayano both lead and follow and are beautiful dancers to watch. Their classes emphasize proper technique, to make dancing comfortable and enjoyable for leaders and followers. They focus on movements that are useful and appropriate for social dancing. They use different types of tango embrace depending on the music and mood of the dance. Both have studied extensively in Buenos Aires, and spend many months traveling internationally each year to teach tango. Catch them while they are here in the Bay!

www.felipetango.com

Luz Castineiras was born and raised in Buenos Aires and brings a unique perspective to tango. For over five years, she researched tango as a therapy tool to improve social-emotional and cognitive skills in palliative care settings. 

​Luz studied contemporary dance and music therapy in addition to tango. She began dancing tango at Studio Dinzel in Buenos Aires, where she was able to incorporate these two disciplines. In 2011, she moved to the Bay Area and began teaching tango with various partners at la Pista SF, Studio 1924, and Alma del Tango Studio.

Luz is a heart-and-soul tango dancer, and her dance communicates her strength and knowledge of music.​ In her classes, students are encouraged to explore tango and dance techniques, connection and musicality.  She creates a friendly, inviting atmosphere for learning and always looks for active feedback from students.

Mira Barakat is a tango teacher, performer, and singer based in Oakland, CA. With a dance background in Modern dance, Contact Improv, Swing and Blues dance, Mira took quickly to tango after attending her first milonga in 2006 and felt especially drawn to the connection and embrace. A few years later, she moved to Buenos Aires to study intensively, dance, sing and soak up tango in its birthplace. She returns to Buenos Aires every year where she co-hosts a tango immersion program, BA. Tango Evolution. She works frequently with the queer tango community, teaching regularly for Abrazo Queer Tango in Berkeley, and she has taught and performed at the Berlin, New York, and Miami Queer Tango festivals. She was a member of the all women’s tango company Tango Con*Fusión from 2016-2019 and toured internationally with the company. She currently offers private classes from her home studio in Oakland as well as group classes around the Bay Area. More info: mirabarakat.com.

Elly Fernandez learned both leading and following from the very beginning of her tango life in 2011 and facilitates learning spaces that transform mystery into mastery of both sides of the embrace.

A lover of the line of dance, she brazenly and impishly seeks to turn a space constraint into a co-created feature – as a result, students gain confidence and competence dancing in small spaces. Elly’s teaching practice is shaped by her background as an innovative public school educator focused on “real world learning”, making the learning process meaningful and full of purpose. She brings that fightin’ Philly spirit to issues of advocacy, belonging, and the prevention and reduction of sexual harm.
Connect with her on IG @elly__fernandez, FB Elly Fernandez, or www.ellyfernandez.com

Christy Cote is an Argentine tango dancer, choreographer and teacher. She is best known for her Dance Vision Argentine Tango manuals and over 400 instructional videos with partners George Garcia, Ney Melo, Marcelo Molina and Eduardo Saucedo. Christy is one of the featured teachers and performers for CITA (Congreso Internaciónal de Tango Argentino), the first North American to be on the judging panel of the U.S.A. Tango Championships sponsored by the Government of Argentina and a founding member of the all-female tango company, Tango Con*Fusion. From 1999 to 2011 Christy was the director of the Argentine Tango program at The Metronome Ballroom in San Francisco where in 2007 she began her popular Tango Boot Camps offering intensive training and drawing thousands of dancers to Argentine Tango. As co-host of the popular Verdi Club Milonga (aka The Mariposa Tango Club) from 1996-2007 with Victor Meneses from 2009 – 2014 with Adolfo Caszarry, Christy became a well known figure in the San Francisco Tango scene.

Christy is currently based in San Francisco where she primarily teaches La Pista and continues her popular Tango Boot Camps with Eduardo Saucedo at various locations around the Bay Area. Her extensive library of instructional videos are available thru subscription at DanceVision.com.

Follow Christy on Instagram (SFTanguera), Facebook (Christy Cote Tango Instructor) or her website at christycote.com

Diego Lanau and Alejandra Saravia are professional tango teachers that have built a following in the Bay Area over many years. Diego and Alejandra teach simple tango figures as a way of helping students improve their technique. They emphasize good posture, walking, and contrabody disassociation (twisting) to create a smooth, beautiful dance. They are also beautiful to watch!

Diego Lanau is from Argentina and began studying tango in 1997. In 1999, he joined the Mora Godoy group in Club Almagro, where he met his first tango partner, Natalia Arcidiacono, with whom he started teaching in 2001. Diego participated in a variety of tango competitions and was a finalist in the 2004 Tango World Cup. Starting in 2006, Diego traveled to various cities in the USA to teach and perform. In 2009 and 2010, his travels expanded to Europe, where he taught and performed in Italy, Spain and France. He returned to the Bay Area in 2010 and 2011. In April 2013, he performed at ATUSA (Argentine Tango USA Championship and Festival). In March 2015, he was a judge at the local championship in Los Ángeles. In 2017, he performed at Buenos Aires City Hall and Club Atlético Boca Juniors (the most emblematic soccer team in Argentina). In January 2018, he participated in TANGO SALON EXTREMO in Buenos Aires. In March of the same year, he was a judge at ATUSA in San Francisco. Currently, he continues to teach and perform in Buenos Aires as well as the United States.

Alejandra Saravia is originally from Bolivia, and has also lived in Argentina and the United States. She started to dance ballet and practice gymnastics at the age of 4. In 2008, tango became part of her life. The greatest influences on her dancing are three of her favorite teachers, the world-renowned dancers Alejandra Mantinian, Moira Castellano and Pablo Veron. Alejandra performed tango for the first time the same year that she started dancing, and has been teaching and performing in the US since 2008. She has also taught in Bolivia (2018), Italy (2019), and Chile (2019). At the end of 2019, she began her partnership with Diego Lanau, with whom she teaches in San Francisco. Together they have a long and varied experience dancing tango and teaching to students of different levels and cultures. They are both professional tango dancers and milongueros, with a broad spectrum of literacy in the dance in all of its complexity.

Felipe Martinez and Ayano Yoneda are well known and beloved tango instructors who have taught in the SF Bay Area for many years. They teach regularly on Monday nights at the Beat in Berkeley and they DJ frequently at milongas all over the Bay. They are especially known for organizing the San Francisco Tango Marathon at the most extravagant venue in the Bay Area, for hosting the All-Night Milonga at the Beat in Berkeley, and for their ever-popular classes at Stanford University. Their beginner series, Tango 101, is also recommended by many!

Felipe and Ayano both lead and follow and are beautiful dancers to watch. Their classes emphasize proper technique, to make dancing comfortable and enjoyable for leaders and followers. They focus on movements that are useful and appropriate for social dancing. They use different types of tango embrace depending on the music and mood of the dance. Both have studied extensively in Buenos Aires, and spend many months traveling internationally each year to teach tango. Catch them while they are here in the Bay!

www.felipetango.com