More About Susana Miller
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Susana Miller is the most prominent teacher in the world today of the milonguero or apilado style that is danced in the crowded clubs of central Buenos Aires. It is a strictly social style that emphasizes musicality and the connection between partners. The apilado style uses compact choreography that creatively employs the limited space of the social dance floor. It is a rich and complex form of subtle body signals which profoundly respects tango's rhythms.
Susana has researched and studied the dancing of the older milongueros, each of whom has created a unique way to tango. She has been able to decipher their distinct vocabularies and choreographic combinations, and found a way to transmit these to students. Her exploration of apilado dancing is a huge contribution to passing on this popular form of social tango. Susana encourages students to employ more rhythm in their dance, to discover their own dance vocabularies, and to learn how to shape and shrink these in space. For women, she encourages active dancing, in which the woman interprets the messages that the man's body and spirit are sending.
Susana has probably put more people on the dance floors of Buenos Aires than any other single teacher. An article in Clarin, the major Buenos Aires daily paper, cited her as one of the four most important influences on contemporary tango, along with Miguel Angel Zotto, Gustavo Naveira and Gerardo Portalea. (Clarification & citation added by Karen 6/29/2008.)
Susana is a native of Buenos Aires and has been dancing and teaching tango since the late 1980s revival of social tango. She founded and operates her own tango academy in Buenos Aires, at one of B.A.'s most popular tango clubs, El Beso. She has made annual teaching tours to the United States and Europe since 1994.
She will facilitate students' improvement of posture, axis, grounding, breathing, balance, and sensitivity to both the man's role and woman's role. She aims to encourage dancers to develop their own unique improvisational styles through knowledge of the music, space and body. Her classes will emphasize step quality and rhythm. Rather than predetermined patterns, she will impart a basic choreographic vocabulary that allows dancers to creatively shape their own language.
More About Diego Yepes
Diego Yepes (Susana's son) is a respected teacher, dancer, and DJ. He is General Manager of El Beso, one of the most famous milongas in Buenos Aires, & a director of El Tanguata, the premier magazine of all-things-tango in Buenos Aires. Diego will assist Susana at select venues during her 2006 U.S. Tour. Milonga classes are his specialty.
Diego has been an Argentine Tango Instuctor at: La Academia de Susana Miller, one of the most important tango academies & a pioneer in tango milonguero; Club Almagro (1993-1994), a legendary milonga & true milestone in tango modern history; La Ideal (1994-1996) — Diego was the first tango teacher in La Ideal; Academia Nacional del Tango (1997), the official tango institute of Argentina; El Beso (1998 to date), world famous tango place (milonga and classes) — known, and beloved, by every milonguero; II - III - IV - V Festivals Internacional de Tango Argentino en Buenos Aires (2003 / 2004 / 2005 / 2006), an official tango festival organized by the Government of Buenos Aires.
He has also performed on stage with orchestras, including Color Tango and Los Cosos de al Lao in places like Café Tortoni, El Beso and C.C. Torquato Tasso, and has been a Tango DJ at Club Almagro, La Ideal & El Beso. He is a member of the board of Asociación de Organizadores de Milongas.