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Andres Amarilla, Director, Philadelphia Tango School

After teaching thousands of students in 30 cities on 4 continents in the past 3 years, Andres recently relocated to Philadelphia to launch the Philadelphia Argentine Tango School. A native of Buenos Aires, Andres began dancing tango over 20 years ago at age 11. While still a child, he studied with and performed in the dance companies of three of the greatest tangueros of all time--Gustavo Naveira, Juan Carlos Copes, and Rodolfo Dinzel. At the age of 17, he partnered for a year with the legendary Geraldine Rojas, performing together in Buenos Aires milongas over 20 times. Later on, Andres participated in the closed rehearsals organized by Fabian Salas in which the new style of "nuevo tango" was essentially developed.

Andres began teaching tango in Buenos Aires in 1997, and spent 2 years developing the tango community in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in 2000-2001. In 2006, he began partnering with Meredith Klein (now his wife) and commenced touring to teach tango worldwide. For more information on their tour schedule, click here.

Although known throughout the world as a dancer of “nuevo tango,” Andres recognizes that he could not have become the dancer he is had he not studied traditional tango for 10 years before beginning the explorations that led him to "nuevo." All classes at the Philadelphia Tango School prioritize the establishment of a firm foundation through study of the structure and technique of traditional tango. In the advanced class, we start to look at techniques and concepts from "nuevo tango," always returning to traditional tango in order to contextualize these new concepts.

Andres & Meredith moved from Buenos Aires to Philadelphia in February 2008. In addition to teaching in Philadelphia, they continue to travel to give weekend workshops throughout the US, Europe and in Buenos Aires.

For videos of Andres & Meredith, click here.

For a complete CV for Andres, click here.