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Our Instructors

| Jaimes Friedgen | Cecilia Gonazales | Tomas Howlin | Florencia Taccetti |

Jaimes Friedgen

North American tango phenomenon Jaimes Friedgen hails from a family of dancers and artists and has since early childhood been immersed in a world of creative movement. With extensive training as a gymnast and a background in a variety of performing arts, including theater, music, and many forms of dance, Jaimes came upon tango at the age of fifteen. He has since learned from and worked with many of the most respected figures in the tango world and remains unclassifiable, transcendent of style and category. He has spent several years dancing, teaching, and performing throughout North America, Europe and Asia, and always continues to explore new territory within the dance.

As one of the most popular teachers in the U.S. today, it is not surprising that he is often booked more than a year in advance. He is well respected by his peers for his creativity, musicality and deep insight into the inner workings of the dance. Countless tango teachers both in the States and abroad have benefited from studying with Jaimes. He is driven to be a full time tango teacher by his love of watching people continually grow and blossom through their exploration of tango, and feels fortunate to be a part of that process.

He is also a dynamic performer, and has brought much inspiration to dancers everywhere through his rare combination of fluidity, subtle elegance, and fierce animalistic intensity. His absolute love of tango is undeniable and shines through every movement he makes and every word he utters.

Cecilia Gonazales

Well respected by the tango community in Buenos Aires, she has taught and danced at numerous festivals around the world. Along the way she has partnered with some of the most famous tangueros of her generation: Osvaldo Zotto, Fabian Salas and Mariano 'Chicho' Frumboli, to name a few.

The technical precision,fluidity and elegance of her movements and notable capacity of improvisation characterize her dance. She began studying ballet in 1975, contemporary dance in 1988 and taqngo in 1991. She began studying ballet in 1975, contemporary dance in 1988 and taqngo in 1991.
 
Her complete knowledge and her passion for teaching makes her a very appreciated and requested tango teacher being invited regularly to give workshops in Europe and North America since 1996. She has taught in Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Turkey, Iceland, Australia, Canada and US.

Since its inception in 1999, she has been a member of the teaching faculty of the Argentine International Tango Congress (C.I.T.A) held annually in Buenos Aires.

Tomas Howlin

Tomas is a professional Argentine Tango dancer, performer and teacher. Each of his movements is deeply inspired by the traditional esthetic that have characterized the style and elegance of this dance for the past sixty years.  He is a patient and devoted teacher with a unique method and approach.

Tomas was born and grew up in Buenos Aires where he studied with some of the most renowned master teachers of all generations, such as Graciela Gonzalez, Gustavo Naveira, Jose Brahemcha, Puppy Castello, Pepe Avellaneda and Vanina Bilous. His learning and teaching experience is complete and exceptional. He has the honor to have partnered Graciela Gonzalez, Florencia Taccetti, Brigitta Winkler, Luciana Valle, Silvana Grill and Chantal Dauphinais.

Tomas is among the few teachers traveling worldwide who taught regularly in the most well known Academies of Buenos Aires. Furthermore, he is a regular participant at international Festivals in Europe and the US.  He worked for the "National University of Buenos Aires", and for the "Secretary of Culture of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires".

During the last year Tomas has been performing and teaching in Canada and in the U.S.A. He was instrumental in the filming of the tango film "Macadam Tango". The great highlight was being chosen to dance for the "Summit of the Americas" in Quebec City, with presence of the heads of state of 34 countries, including President George W. Bush and Dr. Fernando de la Rua, President of Argentina. It was a great honor to be asked to perform for this event.

Florencia Taccetti

Florencia brings a wealth of experience as a tango performer, social dancer and teacher, as well as extensive work as a contemporary dance performer to her teaching of Argentine Tango.  This experience makes her teaching clear and consistent.
Her teaching covers a wide range of social styles including salon-style tango, traditional and new vocabulary, milonguero-style tango, milonga, milonga traspie and tango waltz. She has a special talent for teaching great technique, embellishments and musicality to both followers and leaders.  She teaches the building blocks of the tango and reveals conceptual frameworks and techniques that allow dancers to learn to create their own steps and decorations, as well as to dance with grace and musicality.

Florencia works to develop the subtle communication between partners because she has found in her own experience that this is the communication that takes the dance to a magical and unforgettable level.  The communication is found through a dynamic interpretation of the both the follower's and leader's roles in which both partners find space to be active and passive, and is furthered when both partners develop their own sensuality and grace of movement.

Followers find the active aspects of their role by learning the spaces in the dance where they are able to contribute their own interpretation and expression.  Followers develop this ability by learning how to be in charge of their own movement while listening and responding to their partners.  In starting with a clear mind and open body, followers are able to respond more sensitively to the games proposed by their partners and are able to propose their own.

Leaders find sensuality by offering an embrace to the followers that lets them enjoy the dance from the beginning.  They develop clarity in their leading by learning how to express maximum intent with a minimum of movement—expressing the intent with a soft touch before the follower's action, rather than forcing the movements.  Leaders also grow in the dance through the quality of their own movement and by offering an invitation to a dance journey that is interesting musically and is expressed from the heart, rather than through an intent to impress.  Developing the ability to communicate with the followers requires experimentation and a listening from the heart to discover what pleases and enthralls each follower.