J. Abling

For the last 11 years since he first started tango, J. Abling has been refining his dance and his teaching method. He has learned from some of the most renowned teachers including Jaimes Friedgen, Luciana Valle, Sebastian Arce, Mariana Montes, Chicho Frumboli, Juana Sepulveda and Tete Rusconi, melding elements from various tango styles into his own. He approaches the dance with critical thinking in an organic and fluid fashion that engages, challenges and enlightens participants of all levels. His classes blend practical technique, musical morsels and flavorful figures with a touch of quirky humor.

J. has taught, DJ’d and danced in cities across the U.S, from Maui to New York, Seattle to Albuquerque. He has performed with some of the best teachers in the scene, including Luiza Paes, Brigitta Winkler and Mitra Martin. Currently, he resides and teaches regular classes in San Diego.

Mitra and Stefan

Mitra Martin ~ In the course of her nearly 14 years’ devotion to Tango, Mitra has taught and inspired hundreds of Tango dancers in LA and beyond. Dance and teaching run deep in her blood: her grandparents danced Tango in France in the 40s, and founded one of the first private schools for women in Iran.Since childhood, Mitra was engrossed in poetry, languages, music, and theater. In 1997 she graduated with honors from Princeton with a degree in Comparative Literature and a minor in Theater and Dance. The following year, during a visit to Buenos Aires, she discovered the beautiful discipline that was a natural frame for all her interests and has been captivated with Tango’s enigmas ever since. She has explored Alexander Technique and Contact Improvisation to deepen and refine her Tango, and has an active Yoga practice. Mitra’s experiences teaching and learning in Montessori settings, combined with her four years of group facilitation training, make her an extraordinarily effective, lucid, and playful teacher.

Stefan Fabry~ For more than two decades Stefan has dedicated his life to self-discovery. Dance has always played a central role in this exploration, since Stefan sees a healthy, capable and responsive body as an essential medium for living fully, feeling deeply, and finding peace. He inspires students to embrace Argentine Tango as a joyful and challenging practice that deepens our awareness of ourselves, one another, and our relationships.Stefan’s dance training at Tanz Projecte Koln, his seventeen years of Contact Improvisation, and his decade-long apprenticeship with legendary modern dance choreographer Rudy Perez, has inspired him to engage Tango as a fine art, taking it beyond its limits as a social dance. Building on his roots as an improviser, he takes an experimental and disciplined approach to Tango’s movement tenets.