General Information:
Event Program for ATUSA 2020
- 4 nights 3 days of 100% pure authentic Tango Argentino.
- 4 nights Official USA Tango Championship! You can be a festival participant, a spectator, a supporter or a competitor in the 10th Edition of our Official USA Tango Championship, which offers 7 categories: Official “Tango de Pista”, Official Stage Tango, Milonga, Vals, Salon Tango Seniors, Stage Tango for Groups/Showcase and “So you think you can tango?”.
Details: tangousachampionship.com/info-rules/ - Grand Milonga Opening on Thursday evening with The Festival Maestros Presentation and a special performance by 2019 USA Official Tango Champions-, only $20 per person!
- 10 Argentine Tango Maestros, – 5 top of the top master couples from Buenos Aires- with vast experience, great international reputation and excellence in both teaching and performing will be directing the workshops. Learn about them Artists
- 28 Great Tango Workshops all focused on your learning, improving and enjoying your tango!
- Special Folklore and Canyengue Program (3 workshops) by Los Ocampo!
- Special DJ workshop by Mark Sakowski
- 4 great Milongas! Special Folklore performance + Champions Gala on Fri evening, and spectacular Master Shows on Sat & Sun!
- Live music on 3 of the evenings with singer Adrián Durso: Tangonero on Fri, and Mariano Barreiro Tango Trio on Sat and Sun!
- Best recorded music by our highly experienced tango DJs: Mark Sakowski, Marcelo Rosensaft, and Frank Ji.
- 14000 sq. feet of open dance floor at the Marriott Grand Ballroom, which makes an outstanding venue for our milongas, competitions and workshops + extra practice dance wood floor for our competitors at San Ramon Ballroom!
- Convenient deluxe accommodation at special discounted rates at the magnificent San Francisco Airport Marriott Hotel with a marvelous waterfront view and great facilities: BOOK by March 25!
- Huge parking at special rates for our event.
- Complimentary Hotel airport shuttle available all day long.
To register click here
Workshop Levels
Schedules and/or descriptions of classes may be subject to change. They will be announced should they occur. Classes will start and finish on time, so please do not be late.The teachers reserve the right to request that a student leave any class if they feel he or she is unable to keep up or is disruptive. For those unable to keep up, the management will make every attempt to substitute a class at an appropriate level, but no refunds will be offered. To be fair to all attendees, the teachers will not alter the level of their classes for students unable to keep up. The festival classes were designed to teach specific topics/material that will benefit students from pre-intermediate to advanced level. For you own benefit, it is very important that you know what your level in the dance is when you register.
We have included a simple description of the levels and classified the classes in four groups:
- All Levels
- Pre-intermediate
- Intermediate
- Intermediate / Advanced
- Advanced
1. ALL Levels: suitable for everybody and great to go over technique issues, go over fundamentals and to acquire good habits. Great to review, reinforce and improve motions we have learnt before or that we want to learn now. Therefore, these are NOT beginner level classes.
2. Pre-intermediate: this is a great class for every student who has had regular instruction for a minimum period of 12 months. This class is ideal to work on or refresh fundamentals and technique through exercises and nice, enjoyable social dance moves. Navigation resources and musicality will be emphasized. Basic understanding of technique, simple concepts and steps is necessary.
3. Intermediate: a reasonable level of technical understanding of tango, handling close and open embrace and a good repertoire of steps is needed (molinetes, barridas, voleos, sacadas). At this level, dancers need to have good navigation and connection. Partner rotation is recommended.
4. Intermediate/Advanced: These classes are intended for more experienced intermediate and advanced dancers. You should meet all the requirements of the intermediate level described above, apart from being able to lead or follow more challenging tango figures and to navigate on a crowded floor. Partner rotation is recommended in these classes though it will be up to the teachers.
5. Advanced: excellent understanding of the technical aspects of tango, navigation, improvisational resources and connection are major factors. You should be able to execute complex tango figures. We strongly advise that you register as a couple to get maximum benefit of the content of the class and from your time with the maestros. Some advanced classes offered will be limited to couples to maximize class content. In others, partner rotation will be up to the teachers, but is not mandatory.
Please see our Class schedule page to help you chose the right class.
Gender balance
The organization understands how frustrating it is to attend classes where there is not an equal number of leaders and followers. To that end, we would appreciate your cooperation in registering with a partner or at least early enough so that we can plan to help achieve balance for the lessons. That is why we are the only festival which offers an online pre-registration to classes. In that way we can see how mnay leaders and followers register in each class and do our best to balance them either using the “second choice” class selection or adding volunteer class assistants. Although we will make our best to gender balance the classes, we cannot guarantee a partner per dancer, nor can we be responsible for your partner’s level in classes that rotate partners. Therefore, to maximize your class time, it is always best to bring your own partner. Please note that once online registration is closed, you will only be able to sign up for classes at door with a partner, or in classes that aren’t already balanced.
Video policy
NO VIDEO or STILL CAMERAS will be allowed during the classes. You may videotape the 5 minute summary at the end of each class as long as the instructor allows it.
NO VIDEO or STILL CAMERAS will be allowed during the Competition and Masters Shows.
Refund policy
Festival Registration and Refund Policy for 2020
- You must select the full amount of classes available in your chosen pass after registration is complete.
- You are entitled to attend only the classes you have selected in your pass.
- If a class you wish to attend is unavailable at the time of registration, please select an alternate class as a second choice.
- A registration cannot be shared and is not transferable.
- Full refund if cancelled before February 16, 2020;
- 50% refund if cancelled before March 15, 2020;
- NO REFUNDS after March 15, 2020 – no exceptions, please
Competition and Milongas timetables
Competition & Milongas timetables 2019
Thursday April 18:
7.00 pm Official Competition First Qualifying Round
9.00 pm – 2.30 a.m Opening Milonga with presentation and demo by our Festival Maestros
$20 cash at door only; no advanced payment available.
Friday April 19:
7.00 pm Official Competition Second Qualifying Round
9.00 pm. – 2.30 a.m. Milonga with performance by Official USA Tango Champions 2018
$35 per person at door (CASH only), or $30 with check in advanced.
Saturday April 20:
7.00 pm Semifinal Rounds
9.00 pm. – 2.30 a.m. GALA Milonga with Great Masters Show & live music by Mariano Barreiro´s Quartet and singer Adrian Durso.
$45 per person at door (CASH only); or $40 with check in advanced.
Sunday April 21:
7.00 pm Grand Final rounds with Coronation of the new Official Champions
9.00 pm. – 2.30 a.m. Farewell Milonga with Masters Show & live music.
$40 per person at door (CASH only); or $35 with check in advanced.
(*) Single milonga tickets can be purchased in advance (discounted price with check only) till April 2. You can also get them at the door with cash at full price. To pay with check, see instructions below.
(*) Tickets include both the milonga and attendance to view the competition. If you want to attend three or all of the Milongas (which include attendance to view the competitions), we strongly suggest that you purchase a “Spectator/Dance Pass” online in advance at the discounted price.
Single milonga tickets: payment with check
For single milonga tickets send a check by mail till April 2nd, 2019 to:
Argentine Tango USA
530 Showers Dr, Suite 7-178 Mountain View, CA 94040
Please do enclose your complete name, e-mail address, cell phone number and the city and state where you live together with your check. If you are buying tickets for other people, you also need to include all their personal data together with the check so that they can pick up their tickets at the festival reception desk.
EDUARDO SAUCEDO is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, a Master Teacher and Dancer of Argentine Tango (all styles), Choreographer, DJ, MC, and Producer of Tango Shows, Internationally recognized for his love and passion for the dance.
Claudio took his first steps at an early age. His roots come from his grandfather, Hector Contreras, who was his mentor in the early stages of his Tango training. He then followed teachings by Juan Aurelio, Juan Carlos Copes, Virulazo, Antonio Todaro, Pepito Avellaneda, Gloria and Eduardo, Dinzel, N. Guichanduc,- world-famous recognized “Maestros “ who contributed extensively to his training.
Classical dancer since she was 3 years old, graduated from the Royal Academy of Dance in London (2000), with great experience in many styles of dance (classic ballet, jazz, ballroom dance, samba, flamenco), Helena Fernandez becomes an international tango dancer and choreographer after 10 years of study and dedication to this dance. She was on tour to teach workshops and to perform in several shows in Europe, Asia and America. She also graduated in Physiotherapy specialized in neurological patients, which gave her extra tools to include tango-related concepts in her women´s technique classes.
Leandro Oliver is Argentine. He has been dancing Argentine Tango since he was 8 years old. His main masters and trainers in the Argentine Tango field have been Ricardo Oliver, Jorge Dispari, Miguel A. Zotto, Carlos Copello, Osvaldo Zotto, Juan Carlos Copes, Gabriel Angio, Natalia Games, between others.
Laila Rezk was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her dance and artistic background includes Classic Ballet (Estudio Gurquel Lederer & Teresita Campana), Jazz Dance (Estudio Gurquel Lederer & Manuel Vallejos). Miguel Angel Zotto, Milena Plebs, Guillermina Quiroga, Alejandra Mantinian, Graciela Gonzalez, Gabriel Angio and Natalia Games are have been her principal Tango Masters.
Tomas Galvan, came from disciplines related to body language, began his life in dance at 13 years, has worked in prestigious tango houses as “Taconeando” and “Piazzolla Tango”.
Gimena Herrera, came from disciplines related to the sport, began her career in dance tango in adolescence, she has working in prestigious tango houses of Buenos Aires as “Taconeando” and “Piazzolla Tango”.
Ivan Leonardo Romero is the winner in “Tango Escenario” of the Tango Buenos Aires Dance World Cup (Campeonato Mundial deTango de Buenos Aires, Argentina) of 2004, held in Buenos Aires since 2003. Since then, he travels the world teaching both professional and amateur dancers.