We use Argentine Tango's language
and technology
with contemporary music, fashion,
and footwear,
with athletic bodies
and with modern gender relations.

Tango has broken me as often and as profoundly as it has uplifted me. It is alternately a dizzying drug and the only firm ground in my life. It makes me feel crazy and sane, cursed and blessed – often in prompt succession.

I Mark and I Revel. When I Revel I feel like a ballerina fairy princess. When I Mark I feel like a man. I like to dress up. I can dance in any shoes as long as they are beautiful. I get high from teaching. I love dancing in close embrace. My favorite traditional composer is d’Agostino. I am a foodie, and I especially like dessert.

I began dancing in 2006 in Los Angeles, taking private lessons with El Pulpo and other visiting teachers. My first trip to Buenos Aires was 2008. I returned in 2009, 2010, and 2011 for a total of 11 months. While there I took 2-4 classes in both roles daily at Escuela DNI Buenos Aires, 3-5 private lessons/week, Chicho Frúmboli’s 30-hour seminar in February 2010, and danced more than 300 nights in the most ambitious milongas of the virtuosic era.

I have a PhD in economics. When I began to teach tango in 2008 I drew on scientific skills of research, observation, analysis, theory, and praxis as well as a professional commitment to ethics and effective pedagogy.

Frustrated with the lack of precise instruction, I spent four years reflecting on the best dances I’d experienced on Buenos Aires, investigating and distilling technique until I could  dance every variation of every tango elment in both roles and teach my students to feel like like the best dancers I’d ever danced with.

I documented my analysis in the TangoForge KnowledgeBase, launched in 2013. It described every movement in tango using anatomically-correct terms, consistent and distilled biomechanics, actionable instruction, and systems of variations for improvisation. From 2016 I developed The TangoForge 5 Biomechanical Tools based on 5 years training at the San Francisco Russian Ballet School, 11 years of Vinyasa Yoga, and 250 hours of Pilates under the supervision of Ali Townsend at The Pilates Studio. The system was evaluated and corrected by 2 experts in biomechanics, Brendan Roach of BodyLab, and Michael Chang of the University of Sydney.

My Revels move in a way that opens possibilities for their partner. Men often come to me in a milonga to say “I always know when I have one of your students in my arms.”My Marks improve quickly and become popular dancers because of their gentle embraces and creativity. I have worked with more than 19 partners. I have trained four intermediate dancers to a professional level in both roles.

I founded Queer Tango Boston in 2008,  Queer Tango Wellington in 2009, and TangoForge in 2011. In 2014 TangoForge moved from Sydney to Berlin to partner with Roberto L’Ange.

I have discovered a pedagogy for creativity which frees tango from the embrace and from control. In this dance, we trust tango’s shared language, our bodies, and the tango roles to bring forth the fire of creativity.