Luiza Paes si Juan Fossati

Luiza Paes, Brazilian-born, music student since age six, worked in musical education and vocal technique for many years. Her very first tango experience was in 1997 in Portland, Oregon where she took a group class with Clay Nelson and was immediately struck by the music and fascinated by the idea of the connection in the couple.

Back in Brazil, Luiza met Norberto "El Pulpo" Esbrez who became her teacher and then partner for nearly 10 years. Luiza and "Pulpo" traveled the world teaching and performing: Russia, Japan, Netherlands, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Greece, Spain, Denmark, United States, Canada, Mexico, Uruguay, and Brazil.

They taught at numerous tango festivals including CITA in Buenos Aires, Portland, Las Vegas, Boston, Amsterdam, Tango del Norte in Denmark.

Luiza is a fun, caring and articulate instructor and teaches technique emphasizing the leader's and follower's roles, improvisation and the ability of adapting. Since February 2008 she started teaching and traveling on her own and her focus has been teaching musicality along with a technique that opens up possibilities for creativity in the dance.

Luiza (and her partner, Nick) have been performing and teaching together since 2008 and they have been very successful in generating a relaxed and humorous environment for the students to enjoy and take the most out of their learning process. They taught together at Tango Masquerade in Los Angeles, Portland Tango fest, Tango de los Muertos in Boston as well as several workshops throughout the United States. In 2009 they will be working together again in a US tour and a Europe tour in summer.

Videos of Luiza and Nick Jones:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKPKmXVSMek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynDFdsSK-sg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M291Sf0hsI

Juan Fossati first came into contact with art when he was very young at the Instituto Vocacional de Arte (Vocational Institute of Art) where he had his first encounter with music, dance and drama and the plastic arts in a very free play-oriented approach. Some years later, he began to study Piano with Jana Purita seeking out the harmony-rhythm base of the music through improvisation. In 1993, he joined the Grassi Conservatory, where he worked on a classical repertoire and basic technical issues. At the same time, he began dancing tango in the Tango-Dance workshop at the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires (National School of Buenos Aires). In 1995, he met Nicolás Ledesma, with whom he blended the two artistic crafts: music and tango. For 3 years he studied the peculiarities of tango music while improving his dance training with Gloria and Rodolfo Dinzel. In 1998, he started attending the Escuela de Música Popular de Avellaneda (School of Popular Music of Avellaneda) from which most of the present tango musicians stem. At the same time, he began to dance professionally and continued studying tango at Dinzel’s Studio. In 1999, he found his dancing partner, Gimena, and has since then defined his own form of expression through dance.

Juan y Gimena began to work together in 1999, shaping their personal touch of performance and exploring all the different aspects of expression within tango. That same year they began to give lessons together and to dance in different Tango-Shows. In 2001, they won the Hugo del Carril Award. In the meantime, they continued their training exploring different styles with Héctor Falcon, Roberto Herrera and Graciela González. In 2002, they were chosen sub-champions at the Metropolitan Championship of Tango , and they began to study other forms of dance, such as contemporary dance and ballet with Alejandra Libertella, Rita Caride, Mónica Fracchia, Cristina Barnils, among others. In 2003, they took part in the film “Tango, un giro extraño” and they continued giving lessons and dancing in different shows. In 2004, they joined Ballet Escuela de Tango o where they studied the nuances of dance-floor tango accompanied by mainstream milongueros. In 2006, they joined the Company called No Bailarás (You will not dance) in their search for a more contemporary style of dancing tango. With this company they perform in Teatro Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome.

With No Bailarás they perform in the Hong Kong Arts festival, “Festival Temporada Alta” in Gerona, Spain and in the Bangkok Cultural Centre, among others. Again this year they made part of the Moscow’s Milonguero Nights Festival, Pulpo’s Tango Week and they perform and teach in different cities of Europe.

In 2008 with No Bailarás Company they perform in the Theatre National de Chaillot of Paris, France and in the Teatro Municipal of San Pablo, Brasil. In Buenos Aires, they make part of the “Café de los Angelitos” Tango Show. Actually, they are artistic directors of a show in the Four Seasons Hotel of Buenos Aires.

Videos of Juan y Gimena:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f9rtztXKa4&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH7iINsFhmQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KUtZB_qwBo&feature=related