Javier Antar & Kara Wenham

Javier Antar & Kara Wenham ( buenos aires ) As one of the principle teachers in BA, we have the highest regard for their teaching and ability. Kara and Javier are known around the world as teachers with exceptional presence, generosity, and effectiveness. Regardless of your level, they will profoundly improve your dance whilst inspiring your latent creativity. As dancers, they manage to be both exceptionally musical and entirely elegant whilst improvising difficult, risky material. Kara and Javier are some of the crème de la crème of Buenos Aires-based younger dancers who, after assiduous study of traditional tango, are now, through their commitment to improvisation, innovation and excellence, bringing tango forward into the future. Don’t miss this chance to study with them locally! Javier Antar & Kara Wenham Watch Video

Burak Ozkosem

Burak Ozkosem, El Turco is recognized for his creative and expressive style and his bold and sensitive interpretations of both traditional tango music and the eclectic, non-traditional music that he incorporates into his djing and instructional repertoire. He is a popular and attentive teacher. His current focus is to develop Tango Nuevo analysis methodology to understand and teach the essence of Argentine Tango more effectively to different populations in North America. Though he is considered a virtuoso of "Tango Nuevo", in his dancing Burak is not adding anything new or "modern" to Tango. Every movement he uses is taken strictly from the Tango vocabulary. He respects the music and responds in the traditional places; his syncopa, or rhythm, is flawless. What he does is deconstruct the usual tango marcado (marking) and reconstruct it in his own surprising way. Burak’s nontraditional use of the vocabulary prompts curiosity, and inspiration for other dancers. He is the creator of prestigious Tango events,in North AmericaTango Joven Festival 2006-2007, Chicago Tango Week 2008-2009, Miami Beach Tango Marathon. He also co-founded the ARTango Center in Chicago. Although he is based in Chicago, he frequently teaches and performs in Montreal, Miami, New York City, Los Angeles. Burak Ozkosem Watch Video

Bulent Karabagli	Bulent Karabagli is a new generation tango dancer and teacher whose style strongly reflects the traditional roots of tango. He makes his home in Montreal and for 10 years has participated in its rich and reputable tango scene. His passion for the dance has also taken him to Argentina and Europe to study with many inspiring teachers. Bulent has become well known for his innovative and improvisational approach to tango as well as his fine sense of musicality and elegance. Bulent also brings to his dancing an extensive background as a visual artist. His paintings and drawings express vibrant colour, simplicity and lyricism of line, humor and the human form. His artistic maturity is now informing his tango. Drawing from these diverse and creative explorations he generously shares his knowledge with students of every level. As a teacher he stresses the importance of investigating the structural foundation of tango, making good contact and communicating clearly, moving smoothly between open and close embrace and developing musical timing. With a keen grasp of these basic elements the dance partners can then find the ease and freedom to bring complexity to their floorcraft and develop their improvisational skills. Bulent likes to encourage in his students, the sensitivity and confidence needed to experiment with tango. The dance becomes more than its steps. The dance becomes creative communication. In addition to teaching Bulent enjoys dj'ing and hosting regular and popular Milongas in Montreal. The music is a cutting-edge mix of alternative and traditional tango, the atmosphere is heartfelt and the dancing is first rate. Bulent Karabagli Watch Video
Marina Mauri
Jean-Philippe Dupéré	Jean-Philippe Dupéré is one of Montreal’s new generation dancers and teachers. He underwent 12 years of Classic Ballet training from the age of six, but fell in love with the tango during an international competition in Argentina. This led to a long period of training in both Montreal and Buenos Aires with master tangueros Bulent Karabagli, Mariano "Chicho" Frumboli, Pablo Villarraza, Sebastian Arce, and other big names that would be too long to list. This puts him in good company, as in the past nine years many of their students - including Serkan Gokcesu, Burak Ozkozem and Adam Hoopengardner - have earned international reputations of their own. As a teacher at Tango Fabrika, Jean-Philippe continues to share his immense passion and talent for the tango with future generations of dancers.
Elaine Salvail ( Body Fit Dance / Contemporary Dance & Classic Ballet )	Elaine Salvail: At the age of seven, Elaine Salvail began a Classic Ballet training in the Cecchetti method that would continue for 25 years. Her teenage years were marked by a gymnastics program that led to her participating in various competitions and training as a coach and judge for the Fédération de gymnastique du Québec (FGQ). She followed this up with professional classes in jazz (Lynn Simonson) and contemporary dance (Martha Graham, José Limon and Merce Cunningham), integrating these disciplines into her classical background. Alternating between private schools, Elaine completed her D.E.C in dance and earned her Bachelor’s degree in choreography and interpretation in 1996. A native of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Elaine moved to Montreal to do her DEC in dance. She then moved to Toronto to study at York University while working as a freelance dancer. She returned to Montreal for good in 1989 and completed her Bachelor’s degree in choreography and interpretation before joining the Cas Public dance troupe. As a performer, Elaine has toured several cities in Quebec, Ontario and Europe. From 1987 to 1997, she performed on stage and on the big and small screen. From 2001 to the present, Elaine has been involved in women’s artistic gymnastics as a teacher, choreographer and artistic evaluator for the FGQ. In 2004, she launched her choreography services company, Créations Dimahi Inc. Through this, she develops dance-training programs for sports, cultural and fashion industry events, choreographs gymnasts, dancers and circus artists, and runs workshops. Her newest passion is the Argentine Tango, a dance she discovered in January 2008. She continues to take group, private and intensive classes and workshops. In fact, her professional and personal life now revolves around this new interest. She now tailors dance and technique workshops for the tango community

TANGO FABRIKA GUEST ARTISTS

Cecilia Garcia y Serkan Gokcesu Cecilia Garcia y Serkan Gokcesu Many within the inner circles of Argentine Tango have been wondering how it will turn out to be, this new constellation made up of a hot Turkish-Argentinean melting pot. They met on the floors of Buenos Aires milongas and felt an instant and unique connection, first in the dance and later in the attraction that grew between them as being lovers. Now they have finally taken the decision to transform a love affair into a professional constellation, working together with tango. It may sound as the most obvious step to take, but taking into consideration that they both on each part have had successful careers working in other constellations, it takes some courage to take the leap into the unknown. Serkan is renowned for the work he made together with Özhan Araz, his Turkish childhood friend and later dance partner. Two young men that for close to eight years were working and touring together as professional tango teachers and performers at some of the biggest tango festivals in the world, as well as working with dance choreography for television and cinema at home in Turkey. Appreciated for an innovative teaching method, based on the fact that as being two men they shared the dancing roles equally, and as a result had acquired a very profound understanding of the dance. An understanding that usually comes with a respectful amount of years dancing, but something that they obtained in the scope of only a few years. Both coming from the athlete world, being semi-professional sportsmen, helped them in focusing, both physically and mentally, to always reach higher levels, constantly developing. Cecilia has an impressive dancing background covering everything from traditional argentine folk dance, contemporary dance, contact, aerial, jazz, to tango. She also has a teaching degree for the piano. Maybe this combination can explain her outstanding musical and physical expression, close to being unchallenged by anyone in the competition. Or maybe it can be explained simply by raw talent and gift. However, her dancing style cannot be easily explained, it has to be experienced live. If you have seen her at a performance, you know. If not, you are lucky – you can still look forward to seeing her for the first time. She is already well travelled, starting touring at the age of sixteen when she performed in a group working in Italy and France. Later she has been touring worldwide with various prominent characters of the Argentine tango scene. Not only has she been working as a performer, she has also a genuine experience as a tango teacher, Buenos Aires being her home base. To mix these two talented dancers can only have one outcome: something extraordinary. While many tango couples argue that they represent something unique, this constellation does not have to argue this case. Just looking at their separate backgrounds you know that the end result of the chemical reaction will not be the ordinary, it will be explosive. Their ambition is high. They want to take tango to a new level, both personally as well as within the tango community. And they know that it will take time. Using their diverse experiences of the dance they want to erase the stereotypes of leader and follower. The want something more intuitive, to see the tango as being a solid trio playing together: the music being the conductor and leading voice, and the couple being the interpreters and accompanying instruments. But the couple does not only interpret the music, but also each other, listening to what the other has to suggest and in turn suggest something back. No defined leader nor follower, instead a constant flow of reaction, action and contra reaction. The base is still tango, but the interpretation and the expression are new every time. Serkan Gokcesu y Cecilia Garcia Watch Video

Tango Fabrika . Bulent Karabagli . Mihoko Shiohata Telephone: 514 561 2323 Montreal, Canada email:info@tangofabrika.com