Tanguerafest Guest Instructors

Karina Colmeiro is a very complete dancer, having explored many forms of dance since childhood. She is a teacher and choreographer and has always looked for the development and study of movement as well as its pedagogy.

With more than 20 years of teaching experience in tango and other dance forms, Karina teaches and dances around the world at numerous festivals and congresses, schools and championships where she generously shares her knowledge, her experiences and her tango.
Her great strengths include bringing fluidity and knowledge of other dances to tango, to which she adds her milonguera touch, the connection of her abrazo and her musical footwork. Renowned for her great versatility, she has experimented with different styles of tango and has worked with several partners, which has contributed to the basic development of her expression and the quality of her dancing.

Karina has the spirit of the milonga in her body and in her movement a fluidity that takes you away from the time and space where you are observing them. She is also the co-organizer of Práctica Las Malevas, an emblematic tango space in Buenos Aires.

Karina has visited Montreal several times, most recently in 2019 when she taught a series of workshops and performed with Rodrigo Palacios. MonTango and Tanguerafest are thrilled for this opportunity to work with Karina and benefit from her knowledge once again.

See Karina dance here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3FYBcPKw20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dN_XkSwwKk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvNgdt4Rowk

See the full Tanguerafest schedule here

Hebe Hernández is a graduate of the Colón Theatre's Classical Dance School and the Jorge Donn National School of Dance. She honed her skills through such disciplines as contemporary dance, lyrical jazz, Spanish and Argentine folklore. She joined the ballet companies Ballet Estable del Teatro Colón; the Neoclasico Ballet of Bs. As.; the Municipal Ballet of Avellaneda and several independent companies. In 2010, she began her tango studies with renowned teachers. She has worked in some of the best tango shows in Buenos Aires: Tortoni Café, Tango Sabor, Taconeando, Tango Gala, La Ventana, Tango Madero, Complejo Tango, Esquina Carlos Gardel and has performed in milongas in Argentina, Brazil, Tokyo and Montreal. She is a three-time finalist at the World Tango Championship. Hebe has danced with the companies Tango Street, Amor Tango Company, Tango, Adorado Tango and Compañia de Leonardo Cuello. She is currently part of: German Cornejo's Dance Company, which performs in London and Taiwan with the show Tango After Dark and in the television show La Hora del Tango; the company Estampas Porteñas, performing in Lima-Peru with the show Margot; the TANGOASIS show, created and directed by Sol Cerquidez and Fernando Gracia. Hebe also works with the independent organizations Pucará and Tempo Tango.

Hebe has visited Quebec on several occasions in recent years to perform and teach. A couple of years ago she performed with the Orchestre symphonique de Drummondville. In 2019 she taught and performed with Leandro Haeder at Montreal's Festival International de Tango as well as at MonTango, where she was greatly loved for her beautiful dancing and generosity as a teacher. We are greatly looking forward to working with Hebe again for this year's Tanguerafest.

Click for Hebe's Facebook Page
Find Hebe on Instagram

See Hebe dance here

See the full Tanguerafest schedule here

From Brazil, Juliana Maggioli considers Buenos Aires her second home after having studied tango there for 15 years, with both contemporary and old-school "maestros."

She has participated in many festivals in Argentina and Brazil in recent years, and she has toured Europe and Asia, working with such partners as Maximiliano Cristiani, Pablo Rodriguez and Csongor Kicsi. A few years ago, Juliana worked with Enrique de Fazio, one of the Hermanos Macana, at the IXth Congreso de Cultura Latina in Brazil.

Juliana is the owner and organizer of Tango Academy Brasil, which has invited a pretty selective casting of artists, such as Noelia Hurtado, Javier Rodriguez and Moira Castellano, while nourishing her tango community and promoting her Mucho Tango Milonga in São Paulo. Juliana chose the word “Academy” to represent her didactic method, which has taught hundreds of students in more than 13 years, some of whom have gone on to become tango professionals. Delving deeply into the leader role in the last 5 years, Juliana has been studying the old-school secrets of the viejos milongueros, with particular attention to musical interpretation. Known for her ornaments and a specialist in women's technique workshops, Juliana has experience in the world of show tango, though she still believes the milonga is where the real tango lives. Her last teaching trip took her on a three-month tour of South East Asia, including the Thailand Tango Festival in 2019.

Juliana was the featured guest for the first three years of Tanguerafest, having been so popular the first time we couldn't resist inviting her back. We are very excited to have her with us once again for this virtual edition of our festival.

See Juliana dance here:
https://youtu.be/jVaGHiB44Vo
https://youtu.be/s4gMSDpwftM

See the full Tanguerafest schedule here

Of Mediterranean background, Sandra Naccache speaks, reads and writes four languages (English, French, Spanish and Arabic) and is currently based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. With a degree in graphic design, creativity has always been her forte.

Coming from a diverse dance background (ballroom and bellydance), she is an award-winning choreographer and founder of the “Academie de Danse Sandra Naccache.” Tango came into her life at a time when she was seeking something deeper in her dance. In 2007 she decided to dedicate herself full time to the art of Tango.

Sandra has studied with Carlos and Rosa Pérez, Gabriel Angio y Natalia Games, Nathalia Hills , Daniel and Cristina Nacucchio, Gustavo Naveira, Ruben and Sabrina Veliz, Martin Ojeda, Silvio Lavia, Leila Rezk & Leandro Oliver. They have been the most influential teachers who have given her the proper tools to investigate the tango and grow as an artist. Sandra has travelled the world and is a sought out professional, teaching and performing in famous festivals and milongas such as Salon Canning, Porteño y Bailarín and La Baldosa among others. She is regularly invited by numerous agencies to teach and perform on some of the most renowned cruise ships (including Princess, Cunard, Norwegian Breakaway, Oceanía Sirena). Sandra has worked in television and movies including the Warner Brothers movie “Upside Down,” “L’Univers en Direct” and the Asian reality TV show filmed in Buenos Aires “Sisters Over Flowers." She toured Switzerland with one of Argentina’s most successful and famous orchestra,s Color Tango. She recently took part in the "Encuentro 100% Tanguero" show in Tucuman, Argentina and danced in the short film "24M" under the direction of Hugo Mastrolorenzo, filmed In Buenos Aires. Sandra performed in Lyon, France’s Hotel de Ville as guest dancer in honour of "Handi-Tango." She has had the honour of participating in the “World Accordion Festival” in Victoria, British Columbia. These are a few of Sandra’s highlights as she consistently travels internationally promoting Argentine Tango culture. Her trajectory has been written about in several famous international magazines such as “Dance International."

From October 2006 to April 2017 Sandra worked in partnership with Alexander Richardson. Together they taught and performed around the world. Sandra began to collaborate with Jorge López in various works, building the foundation for their new partnership. They currently dance together full time. Today they stand out as one of the most sought-out couples for their charismatic performances and dynamic teaching approach.

Many people ask Sandra why she loves tango and her answer would be that it is probably the only dance that cannot be truly felt and transmitted unless it is 100% authentic. That is why she has chosen it and it has chosen her.

Sandra and Jorge divide their time between Montreal, Buenos Aires and travelling the world. Since 2017, they have worked regularly with MonTango, teaching workshops and performing at various events, during their time in Montreal. MonTango appreciates the quality and professionalism of Sandra and Jorge's teaching and is extremely pleased to count Sandra as part of Tanguerafest this year.

See Sandra dance here

Visit Sandra's website here

See the full Tanguerafest schedule here

Andrea Shepherd and partner Wolf Mercado are the owners, teachers and artistic directors at the MonTango dance school in Montreal.

Andrea has been dancing since age 4, when she took her first ballet class. She studied classical ballet throughout her teenage years, also touching on other forms of dance. In her 20s Andrea discovered Latin dance, throwing herself into the world of salsa, merengue and the other Latin "club dances." She took her first tango lesson in 1997 and within a couple of years was assisting her teacher with his classes. In her early years in tango, Andrea was lucky to learn from such legendary masters as Carlos Gavito, Pablo Verón and Hernán Obispo.

Andrea is a former copy editor whose teaching experience also includes nine years in Concordia University’s Journalism department. In 2010 she was certified as a fitness instructor by the YMCA. She also began practising yoga regularly and in 2017 she became a certified yoga instructor and has continued her yoga teaching and teacher training since then.

Tango brought Andrea and Wolf together in 2003, and after a few years of teaching together at various places in and around Montreal, they opened their own studio, MonTango, in 2008. In their years together the couple have honed their skills through teaching, training and studying together, with the help of workshops in Montreal and Buenos Aires. Andrea and Wolf’s dance style blends the best elements of traditional and modern techniques. The couple are known for the passion they convey when they dance, and their school for its welcoming and unintimidating atmosphere. Their teaching style underlines the importance of connection as well as body awareness. posture and alignment.

Andrea and Wolf are frequently invited to teach and perform at various local events and festivals, including Festivalissimo, the Festival International de Tango de Montréal, Juste Pour Rire and Montreal Loves Tango. In January 2013, they won first place in the Argentine tango three-dance event at the Chic de la Danse competition. They have taught in various cities around the country and perform regularly with Montreal musicians El Trio Argentino and Fiestango. They have produced four Historias de Tango shows, featuring the MonTango professional team as well as some of the school's students.

Andrea writes a popular tango blog, titled Life Is a Tango. She has been organizing Tanguerafest, a unique celebration of the women of tango, since 2016.

Click here to read Andrea's blog

See Andrea dance here:
La Mariposa
Soñemos

See the full Tanguerafest schedule here