THE MAESTROS
Fátima Vitale & Javier Rodríguez
Javier is one of the most influential teachers in the world tango scene ever since 2002. We were very fortunate to invite him to the first edition of Taipei Tango Festival in 2003, and he has been to almost every edition of TTF, missing just 2005. We have witnessed his path along the years, and he has become our friend and mentor, generously providing us with information only to be obtained from people like him, that take tango as a culture and lifestyle, not just a dance or an art form. He has enormous contribution to the tango scene in Taipei, so that we enjoy milongas with good music, dancing, and etiquette. His partnership with Fatima is ever exhilarating every year with great exhibitions and workshops.
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Fatima Vitale is a dance performer trained in Contemporary Dance, Classical Ballet, Jazz, composition and improvisation, studied at the Instituto Universitario Nacional de Artes (IUNA) and independently. She studied tango with many teachers from Buenos Aires like: Gabriel Missé, Osvaldo Zotto and Lorena Ermocida, Gabriel Angio and Natalia Games, Alejandra Armenti and Daniel Juarez among others. She is Tango Salon dancer as well as Stage Tango dancer, has worked In many tango houses in Buenos Aires and Tango Companies as "Tanguera ", " Deya vu " , "Tango Malambo " " Bien de tango " and "Corporacion Tango". In 2012 she participated in the Buenos Aires Championship and won in two categories: "Tango Salon" and "Milonga" and was 2nd place in the Tango Salon category in the World Tango Championship. She was invited as Judge in the International Championship of Medellin , Chile´s Milonga Championship in 2013 and UK tango festival and Championship in London in 2015. She has participated in important international festivals, performing and teaching in Argentina and all over the world.
Roxana Suárez & Sebastián Achával
The most eminent representatives of the so called young tango de salon generation, combining the greatest traditions with youthful energy and genuine passion. Their style is characterised by lightness and elegance, agility and precision. The tango they dance can be seen at the Buenos Aires milongas. For them, what matters in tango most are feelings and the quality of movement. They both started to dance in their childhood. In 2005, Sebastian won the World Tango Championships. Roxana, having been chosen one of the best young dancer in 2004, honed her skills in the Tango Styles Academy. So they joined their ways to start a common career back in February 2007. Loved by all and sundry, they are invited to workshops and festivals all over the world, and their presence causes a great commotion even at their native Buenos Aires milongas. Since 2010 They perform in great theaters with Tango Mas Tango Company. They also run their own studio in Buenos Aires, called "Ensueño".
Vanesa Villalba & Facundo Piñero
Facundo worked in tango houses as: Madero Tango, Taconeando, Complejo Tango, Barracas Tango, Rojo Tango and Chiquín. Started traveling around the world at the age of 17 with companies like: Latin Dance, Tango Odisea, Tango Emotion, Mora Godoy, Tanguera and Forever Tango.
Vanesa worked in tango houses like: La Ventana, Piazzolla Tango, Homero Manzi and Boca Tango. She was champion of Tango Varadero 2002 and afterwards was jury of the event. Traveled around the world with Forever Tango Company and was assistant choreographer of the company. |
With their work DESENCUENTRO they have participated in the Buenos Aires TANGO Festival. They were juries at the Mundial de Tango at different sub competitions. They participate at numerous festivals as masters and choreographers in different countries like Italy, Greece, South Korea, USA, Japan, Turkey, Russia, France and China.
THE DJs
GUEST PERFORMERS
Lily and Raymond (Hong Kong)
Lily and Raymond are old friends and veterans of the festival, amazing teachers from Hong Kong and great contributors to the tango scene - dance with their students and you will see what we mean. (smile) Their passion for the dance and their care for people place them among the most popular teachers in Asia, with a highly contagious good mood. Raymond Chu and Lily Cheng have won as Champions in both Asia Championship and China Championship in 2011 and 2014 respectively. They have represented Asia and China to participate in the World Championship in Buenos Aires and were Finalists in both years, in one of which they ranked top 4 in the semi-final among over 400 professional couples from all over the world. They are an inspirational reference for the new generations of dancers and performers, widely recognized for their elegance and essence of tango in their dance. |
Raymond and Lily have started dancing Argentine tango since 2003, their teachers are well-respected tango masters in Buenos Aires when they go to Buenos Aires nearly every year. They have started teaching and founded OTROTango in 2006. Over the years, Lily and Raymond have provided exceptional training to hundreds of argentine tango students and international tangueros, traveling around the world to teach workshops and perform in Seoul, Taipei, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Bali, Singapore, Beijing, Brunei and Istanbul etc. They have also been invited to perform in some of the prestigious milongas, such as Salon Canning, Sunderland and La Baldosa in the mecca of tango, Buenos Aires. They are actively promoting and growing Argentine Tango in HK. Their students have won 2nd place and 3rd place in Stage Tango in China Championship, and they were invited to choreograph for some of the top dancers in Asia.
Kyoko and Tzu-Han (Tokyo)
Kyoko and Tzu-Han are rising stars moving ahead at full throttle, making appearances at various mayor events in Asia. Their dance is genuine and sincere, powerful and dynamic, skilled in both salon and stage styles. We look very much forward to their performance this year at Taipei Tango Festival! |
Tzu-Han & Kyoko teach and perform regularly in Tokyo. They believe in the importance of continuous study and improvement. After securing a base of strong fundamentals under DNI’s Dana Frigoli, they started learning from other maestros, incorporating elements and techniques that fit the dance they are creating together. Some maestros who have contributed to their growth include Andres Sautel & Celeste Medina, Hugo Mastrolorenzo, Agustina Vignau, Diana Pujol, Daniel Nacucchio & Cristina Sosa, Facundo Piñero & Vanesa Villalba, Juan Malizia & Manuela Rossi, and Gaspar Godoy & Carla Mazzolini. Recently, they are studying the heart of the dance with Javier Rodríguez, from whom they absorb the feeling and culture of tango. Concurrently, they are studying the beautiful and dynamic flow to be found within tango from Noelia Hurtado & Carlitos Espinoza.
Tzu-Han & Kyoko have steadily increased their teaching and performance activities since partnering together. While teaching their own classes in Tokyo 5 days a week, they are regularly invited to do workshops at other tango studios. They have given classes or performances in Niigata, Nagoya, Osaka, Mantova, Elba, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tianjin, Dalian, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Seoul, and Buenos Aires. They performed at the 9th Taipei Tango Festival 2011, White Tango Festival in Moscow 2013, 12th Mantova International Tango Festival 2014, 2016 Korea Romantic Tango Week, 2016 Singapore International Tango Festival, 2016 Shanghai Tango Marathon, 2016 Saigon Tango Festival, and 2017 Seoul Tango Festival. They were guest artists at the 2nd Elba World Tango Festival in Italy 2015.
Tzu-Han & Kyoko have steadily increased their teaching and performance activities since partnering together. While teaching their own classes in Tokyo 5 days a week, they are regularly invited to do workshops at other tango studios. They have given classes or performances in Niigata, Nagoya, Osaka, Mantova, Elba, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tianjin, Dalian, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Seoul, and Buenos Aires. They performed at the 9th Taipei Tango Festival 2011, White Tango Festival in Moscow 2013, 12th Mantova International Tango Festival 2014, 2016 Korea Romantic Tango Week, 2016 Singapore International Tango Festival, 2016 Shanghai Tango Marathon, 2016 Saigon Tango Festival, and 2017 Seoul Tango Festival. They were guest artists at the 2nd Elba World Tango Festival in Italy 2015.
Nico and Xiao-Pa (Beijing)
Nico and Xiao-Pa are among the top of the first generation dancers from Mainland China. They are well established dancers in Asia, performing at several mayor events every year. Their dance is elegant and playful, musical and expressive. This will be their first appearance at the Taipei Tango Festival, very exciting! Nicholas Zhang (NICO) & Xiao-Pa (Beijing, China) Nicholas Zhang, partner and founder of Vida Mia tango club-Beijing, known as a very good tango teacher, dancer and DJ. He has been invited to perform and DJ for several Asian Tango Festivals and events. Xiao-Pa, senior tango teacher of Vida Mia tango club, has been very active in Tango for the past 7 years as a Tango Teacher and Dancer. She is now devoted to teaching and Tango is now a very important part of her life. |
Shunsuke and Junko (Tokyo)
Shunsuke and Junko from studio La Baldosa in Tokyo are a very exciting young couple on the rise, with huge potential ahead. They are talented yet humble, hard-working yet humorous. They are making big strides improving each year in the fields of Salon and Stage Tango. Having watched them for years, we are very happy and excited to have them perform at Taipei Tango Festival this year. Shunsuke & Junko are Tango dancers and instructors in Tokyo, Japan. They work at studio La Baldosa Tokyo of Akiyoshi & Noriko Tanada. They are learning tango from Akiyoshi & Noriko and many Argentinian masters. On tango escenario, they are studying under Vanesa Villalba & Facundo Piñero. They are a new face tango couple in Tokyo, but they have already perfomed on many festivals and events in Japan and overseas. 2017 Tango Dance Asian Championship Finalists (Stage Tango) Exhibitions 2015 13th Taipei International Tango Festival 2015-17 Fukuoka Sakura Tango Festival 2016 Tango Weekend @ Taipei 2017 Tango Show:El Cxuce Tango Tokyo by Vanesa Villalba & Facundo Piñero |
LIVE MUSIC
Tango Emocional Ensemble (Taiwan)
Tango Emocional Ensemble was created by a group of young and talented musicians in Taiwan in the winter of 2013, including Taiwanese bandoneonist Wu Yung-Lung (Mark). The have performed in Taipei, Kaohsiung, Japan, Hong Kong, and Argentina, being the first Taiwanese tango enselmble to perform at the Tango BA Festival y Mundial of Buenos Aires in Usina del Arte, invited by the Buenos Aires Ministry of Culture, in August of 2016.
Their repertoire includes tangos from Golden Age, as well as pieces composed by Astor Piazzolla. Their music opens for the listener a window to the world of tango music, and their style is full of variety, passion and musicality, combining the excitement of a music pub as well as the artistry of a concert. Tango Emocional Ensemble is composed of violinist Chien Hsian-Chun, pianist Wang Yi-Hsin, bassist Chen Mei-Chun, and bandeonist Wu Yung-Lung. |
Franco Zhao / Guest Singer (Shanghai)
Coming from Shanghai, Franco Zhao started to dance tango in 2010, to DJ in 2012, and to sing in 2013. He has been invited to several major tango events to DJ and sing, and has worked with orchestras from different countries of the world. 2013 in Wuhan, performing with Victor and his orquesta tipica (China). 2014 in Wuhan, performing with Victor and his orquesta tipica (China). 2014 in Shanghai, performing with Trio Los Fandangos (Japan). 2015 in Shanghai, performing with El Cachivache (Argentina). Previous performances include: Poema,Invierno,Fueron tres años,Tu corazón,Tres Esquinas ,Paciencia,Mi Dolor,Tu palabras y la noche,and Te Aconsejo Que Me Olvides. |
Daniel Liu / Singer
Professional tango dancer and amateur singer of tango and flamenco. Performing experiences include tango and flamenco performances with Tango Aroselli, iTango Orchestra, Casa de Flamenco Mirasol, harpist Sarita Chen, Mimbre Flamenco Group, bandoneonist Jun Hakakawa, Orquesta Tango Vivo, Aida Momoko Cuarteto in Tokyo Tango Festival in 2012, and MusiCater Orchestra in Bali Tango in Paradise 2013. |