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BIOGRAPHY

WHO ARE MARTÍN AND JENNIFER?

In their dance and teaching, Martín and Jennifer give emphasis to the connection in the couple, musicality, and the ability to improvise freely. These three themes make up the core basis of their creation of tango. Furthermore, they seek to achieve a balance with the amount of information provided in the lessons with respect to how much the students can understand and incorporate - always caring not to lead the students to the point of frustration. While at times Martín and Jennifer teach "steps," they are only used as an excuse to open the door to musical interpretation, improvisation, and the improvement of one's technique.

WHO IS MARTÍN?

Martín Bel started learning tango at the age of 18 at "Estudio Dinzel" with Rodolfo and Gloria Dinzel. He has been greatly influenced by his studies with Julio Balmaceda and Corina de la Rosa, Carlos and Rosa Perez, Eduardo Pareja "Parejita," and Olga Besio, as well as Gustavo Naveira and Giselle Anne. Additionally, Martín has a working knowledge of modern and contemporary dance through his studies with Cristian Barnils, Ines Armas, and Soledad Alfaro.

Martín started teaching in 2007 when he assisted Julio Balmaceda and Corina de la Rosa at the prominent CITA festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Since then, he has taught regularly in Buenos Aires at Estudio Postango and Club Fulgor de Villa Crespo (Practika 8/Milonga 10).

Martín has performed at many of the major milongas in Buenos Aires including Salon Canning, Club Villa Malcolm, Club Fulgor de Villa Crespo, Club 25 de Mayo, Viejo Correo, and Parakultural, as well as in a number of cities in Europe. Additionally, Martín was a finalist at the Tango Salon World Championship in Buenos Aires in 2008 with Vanina Perez.

Since the start of 2009, Martín has given workshops and performed in Europe (including Berlin, Germany; Hamburg, Germany; Cologne, Germany; Wuppertal, Germany; Paris, France; Amsterdam, Holland; Vienna, Austria; Zurich, Switzerland; Stockholm, Sweden; Edinburgh, Scotland; Madrid, Spain; and Budapest, Hungary) and Buenos Aires with Vanina Perez, Martine Dennewalk, Maria Ybarra, Paola Motillo, Jesica Arfenoni, and Jennifer Olson.

In Buenos Aires he organizes a weekly milonga called El Yeite Tango Club. He also organizes two tango festivals a year, one in March called El Yeite Tango Festival, and the second in August, called Agosto Festivalito - both in conjunction with El Yeite Tango Club.

WHO IS JENNIFER?
Starting her tango career in Portland (OR), tango has now taken Jennifer all over the world: to Europe , to Argentina and Uruguay, and extensively throughout the United States and Canada.

Without a home and constantly on tour for the last seven years, Jennifer is happy to continue spreading her love of tango where ever she goes. During her travels, she taught at festivals and gave workshops in places such as Buenos Aires, Argentina (where she has lived for over a year); Montevideo, Uruguay; Palma De Mallorca, Spain; Madrid, Spain; Paris, France; Stockholm, Sweden; Zurich, Switzerland; Budapest, Hungary; Vienna, Austria; Hamburg, Germany; Berlin, Germany; London, England; Edinburgh, Scotland; Toronto, Canada; Montreal, Canada; Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; Denver, CO; New York City, NY; Washington D.C.; Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Princeton, NJ (at Princeton University); New Haven, CT (at Yale University); and St. Louis, MO just to name a few.

Skilled in both leading and following, Jennifer frequently teaches alone, but has also taught regularly with known tango masters Alex Krebs, Robin Thomas, Evan Griffiths, Damian Lobato, and Martin Bel, with whom she currently partners.

Jennifer's dance is characterized by her desire to strive for versatility. Since tango is a social dance, she believes it is integral to master not only close and open embrace, but also everything in-between. Furthermore, after having a connected and comfortable embrace, nothing is more important to Jennifer than the music. This is transmitted in her teaching, as she approaches every class with a strong command over the music.

Jennifer is available for private and group lessons, djing, and performances. She also sells Comme Il Faut and NeoTango tango shoes.