Learning to Dance Argentine Tango at Reading Tango Club
We aim to provide the best possible experience of learning authentic Argentine Tango and to help all our students enjoy the art and culture that surrounds this beautiful dance. We only use professionally trained Argentinian Tango teachers who have studied the dance from its roots and whose teaching focuses on technique, dance structure and musically. All our teachers work to a structured programme to ensure consitency of learning.They all share our enthusiasm and passion for tango.
Our Wednesday class teachers usually teach in blocks of 4 - 6 weeks. We also run workshops with visiting expert teachers to give you the opportunity to work with dancers and teachers at the top of their field. And each autumn we organise Reading Tango Festival, a fabulous weekend of workshops, milongas and world class performances. We hope you'll enjoy dancing with us!
Our Wednesday class teachers usually teach in blocks of 4 - 6 weeks. We also run workshops with visiting expert teachers to give you the opportunity to work with dancers and teachers at the top of their field. And each autumn we organise Reading Tango Festival, a fabulous weekend of workshops, milongas and world class performances. We hope you'll enjoy dancing with us!
Our Tango Class Teachers
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Alexandra Wood & Guillermo Torrens
Alexandra Wood is one of the most experienced Argentine Tango teachers and dancers resident in the UK today. In 2002 she co-founded ‘Tango in Action’, the first Argentine tango school in London. She left this school in 2011 to create her own Tango School. Alexandra has danced since the age of three, starting with classical ballet and going on to study most forms of dance. She has a BA (Hons) degree in Dance (specialising in Contemporary), a distinction in Recreational Arts for the Community (Dance) and a BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts. After graduating she worked as a contemporary dancer and ran her own dance company for 5 years before becoming a tango dancer. Alexandra studied tango mainly in Argentina, and with the Tango star, Andrea Misse, who she was honoured to work with for 5 years. Alexandra is a regular performer at the most well-known milongas in Buenos Aires including 3 shows in the prestigious Sunderland Milonga Buenos Aires. She has danced alongside some of the most famous tango dancers, including Miguel Angel Zotto (Tango Por Dos), and Osvaldo Zotto. She has toured extensively, dancing and teaching all over the world and was recently invited to represent England dancing Tango de Salon in two festivals in Italy and in Spain. In 2011 Alexandra performed Midnight Tango starring Vincent Simone and Flavia Cacace. She was invited to be in the show for the second successful tour and in the West-End debut in 2012 where she became Dance Captain. She danced in Deborah Bull’s BBC documentary ‘The Dancers Body’, and appeared dancing Tango on BBC’s Zingzillas in January 2012 and on ITV's 'This Morning' performing with Milos Karadaglic. She was honoured to perform again with Milos at The Royal Albert Hall for The Classic Brit Awards. Alexandra performed on the BBC's 'Strictly Come Dancing' on November 11th 2012 in an excerpt from Midnight Tango. She is currently dancing in the UK 2017 tour with Tango Motion show with Tango Siempre, dancing with Guillermo Torrens. Guillermo Torrens was born in Argentina and Tango soon became his life. He watched it performed in houses, theatres, at Milongas and in the streets and longed to Tango professionally himself. His studies began in Rosario, Argentina with the legendary Orlando Paiva along with Claudio Omar and Maria Veronica and intensified when he moved to Buenos Aires in 2002 to study with teachers such as the “Maestro de Maestros” Raul Bravo and Angela Ruth Manonellas, Silvio Lavia and Mimi Santapa. Studying classical dance at an early age influenced Guillermo. His artistic background has a strong emphasis on technique and dance interpretation. He studied ballet at Teatro Colon and was a member of several highly regarded ballet companies in Argentina. He has performed tango in many shows and theatres in Buenos Aires including Teatro Nacional Cervantes, Teatro Avenida, Centro Cultural Borges as well as at famous Tango Houses such as Confiteria Ideal, Cafe Tortoni, and Esquina Homero Manzi. Guillermo has taught and performed around the world. In 2007 he toured the UK as the lead dancer in Tango Nuevo with the Tango Siempre Company and in 2011 Guillermo and his partner Maria performed in Midnight Tango both in the West End in London and the national (UK) tours in 2012 and 2013. Guillermo's latest performing work includes his appearance on the iTV live show "This Morning" and the "Classic Brits Awards 2012" at the Royal Albert Hall dancing the music of Miloš Karadagli? |
Diomar "Giraldo" Escobar
Giraldo graduated from the IPC Drama School in Colombia and for four years was a member of Danza Experimental de Cali (DECA). In 1993 Giraldo came to London where he continued to study dance and choreography at Lewisham College until 1996. In 1994 he co-founded artLat and went on to become a lead-performer of the company. He has been dancing Argentinean tango since 1990 and travels frequently to Buenos Aires to further his training with recognised Masters like Roberto Herrera and Osvaldo Zotto.
Giraldo teaches Argentine Tango throughout the UK and is regularly invited to teach abroad. He has appeared dancing in the films Evita and Dance, a Channel 4-commissioned film, and collaborated with Deborah Bull’s BBC dance season Travels with my Tutu. Giraldo has toured with the acclaimed shows Subitango and Tiempo de Tango and was a leading tango dancer in the west end tango production MIDNIGHT TANGO with Vincent and Flavia.. Giraldo was a guest dancer performing Argentinean Tango at BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in the 2005, 2006 and 2008 series. In 2007 Giraldo performed in Carmen, directed by Sally Potter. Together with Mina he is invited to coach Strictly Come Dancing Couples for their Argentine tango.
Mina Ojeda-Patiño
Mina" studied Latin American folklore and urban dance at the Instituto Popular de Cultural, Colombia. She co-founded Danza Experimental de Cali and studied Philosophy at Universidad del Valle gaining her degree in 1992.. In 1993 she left Colombia and came to Britain to pursue a 3-year Dance and Choreography diploma. She then established the Latin American Dance Project in London now known as artLAT.
2002 Mina gained her MA in Choreography from Middlesex University and went on to Tiempo de Tango, a national touring production funded by the Arts Council of England . In 2009 She performed in the film Evita with Madonna, created choreography for Dance, a Channel 4-commissioned film, and collaborated with Deborah Bull’s BBC dance season Travels with my Tutu. She collaborates with BBC Strictly Come Dancing as resident tango trainer for the competing celebrities. In 2015 Mina was chosen to play Lucille in the UK film Crowhurst..
Giraldo graduated from the IPC Drama School in Colombia and for four years was a member of Danza Experimental de Cali (DECA). In 1993 Giraldo came to London where he continued to study dance and choreography at Lewisham College until 1996. In 1994 he co-founded artLat and went on to become a lead-performer of the company. He has been dancing Argentinean tango since 1990 and travels frequently to Buenos Aires to further his training with recognised Masters like Roberto Herrera and Osvaldo Zotto.
Giraldo teaches Argentine Tango throughout the UK and is regularly invited to teach abroad. He has appeared dancing in the films Evita and Dance, a Channel 4-commissioned film, and collaborated with Deborah Bull’s BBC dance season Travels with my Tutu. Giraldo has toured with the acclaimed shows Subitango and Tiempo de Tango and was a leading tango dancer in the west end tango production MIDNIGHT TANGO with Vincent and Flavia.. Giraldo was a guest dancer performing Argentinean Tango at BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing in the 2005, 2006 and 2008 series. In 2007 Giraldo performed in Carmen, directed by Sally Potter. Together with Mina he is invited to coach Strictly Come Dancing Couples for their Argentine tango.
Mina Ojeda-Patiño
Mina" studied Latin American folklore and urban dance at the Instituto Popular de Cultural, Colombia. She co-founded Danza Experimental de Cali and studied Philosophy at Universidad del Valle gaining her degree in 1992.. In 1993 she left Colombia and came to Britain to pursue a 3-year Dance and Choreography diploma. She then established the Latin American Dance Project in London now known as artLAT.
2002 Mina gained her MA in Choreography from Middlesex University and went on to Tiempo de Tango, a national touring production funded by the Arts Council of England . In 2009 She performed in the film Evita with Madonna, created choreography for Dance, a Channel 4-commissioned film, and collaborated with Deborah Bull’s BBC dance season Travels with my Tutu. She collaborates with BBC Strictly Come Dancing as resident tango trainer for the competing celebrities. In 2015 Mina was chosen to play Lucille in the UK film Crowhurst..
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Gaston Camejo & Lorena Cattaneo
Lorena Cattaneo took her first tango steps with her maternal grandfather who had a passion for tango; from him she inherited the love for this music. Following her childhood dream, Lorena began dancing in 2006, working across different disciplines including jazz, Belly dance, flamenco and salsa as well as tango. In 2007 she took her first professional steps working in many “Casas de tango” in Uruguay. These traditional multicultural tango places, where the past and present of the tango Montevideano of El Rio De La Plata mix and remain intact gave Lorena a strong foundation. In 2010 she was chosen to join the "Boom Company", a prestigious dance company where she worked for three years before moving to Buenos Aires where she trained intensively with top tango teachers. In 2014 Lorena participated for the first time in the Tango World Championship (Tango Mundial) and won first place in “pista” category, boosting her career internationally. Gastón Camejo From childhood, music was a big influence for Gaston. At 17 he saw for first time a young couple from the National Folkloric Ballet of Uruguay dancing tango, and was so impressed and motivated by the experience that the following year he joined a similar dance organization. During the following years, he developed his dance further and eventually moved to Buenos Aires to be with Lorena. Here his tango technique grew from experimentation to a way of living and he made the decision to devote himself entirely to the profession of dancing Tango. In 2015 Lorena and Gaston merged their artistic careers began to teach tango around the world. |
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