DJs
Shorey Myers is an accomplished tango teacher whose primary goal is to give her students those tools necessary to make their dancing as enjoyable as possible in the shortest amount of time. As great as Shorey’s love of the dance, is her love of the music—a passion that is evident whenever she steps behind the DJ booth. She travels all over the country to DJ at festivals and local milongas, and she loves to keep both very traditional and very alternative crowds dancing all night long.
Robin Thomas has a busy schedule, reflecting his growing popularity as a teacher and tango DJ. Recently, Robin has taught in Portland, Denver, Ann Arbor, Washington DC, Seattle, Berlin, Edinburgh, San Diego, Providence, and Pittsburgh, as well as at the universities: Yale, Princeton, and Cornell. When not traveling, Robin stays busy in his hometown of New York City teaching three group classes per week at Empire Dance Studio. He hosts a practica, El Abrazo, each week and a popular milonga, Nocturne, once a month.
Ramu Pyreddy founded the Argentine Tango Club at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor—a community well known for excellent social dancing skills—where he actively teaches, organizes, DJ’s, and dances. Ramu has become one of the most knowledgeable and sought after tango DJ’s in North America and is a featured DJ at most tango festivals in the U.S. He also teaches tango for the social dance floor with an emphasis on musicality and connection.
Tango Bands
Mandrágora Tango and Conjunto Berretín are the two tango bands performing at our dinner/dance show. Both have albums to their names and loyal fans who seek out their CDs.
Mandrágora Tango
Mandrágora Tango is a vibrant collective of tango musicians based in Minneapolis, dedicated to preserving the nearly-lost musical forms of tango and translating them for today’s listeners and dancers. Tango music defies categorization, living somewhere between classical, jazz, and world beat. Mandrágora dances across those lines and creates a music that is fresh, engaging, danceable and nostalgic. The musicians are Bob Barnes (accordion and bandoneon), Laura Harasa (violin), Scott Mateo Davies (guitar), and Rahn Yanes (bass). You can find more informantion about the band and listen to music samples at www.mandragoratango.com.
Conjunto Berretín
Conjunto Berretín from Portland, OR, brings the musical backgrounds of tango, jazz, classical, and blues into the Argentine tango genre. Its music is created by dancers, for dancers of Argentine tango. The musicians of are Alex Krebs (bandoneon), Joe Powers (harminica and vocals), Erin Furbee (violin), Tom Grant (piano), Allen Regnier (bass), and Risa Rank (vocals). You can find more information about the band and listen to music samples at www.tangoberretin.com/band/band.html.