About Tango Renaissance, USA

Tango Renaissance USA, was founded in 2004 as a non-profit organization directed by three women, united by their friendship and passion for tango. With the goal of bringing growth and diversity to the Sacramento, California tango community, Tango Renaissance quickly began organizing events to promote Argentine tango, culture, folklore and music. 

By hosting the first Argentine tango festival in California ’s capital in 2005, Tango Renaissance USA established the Neo Tango Sacramento Festival, which provided the opportunity to tango aficionados nearby and worldwide the prospect of studying with renowned tango masters Sebastian Arce & Mariana Montes, for the first time in the United States, and Esteban Moreno & Claudia Codega.

Tango Renaissance USA continued to present major festivals, where the maestro line up grew to include Mariano “Chicho” Frumboli, Mariana Dragone, Pablo Inza, and Anne-Sophie Ville.  Tango weekends, seminars, free workshops, and benefit milongas were also developed for our global community continuously up through 2006.  These events have resulted in tremendous success as evidenced by the positive response of our participants and the growth and connectedness of our community at large. 

After a brief hiatus, Tango Renaissance USA is back and in action! Founding directors Michelle Wright and Kendra Kambestad continue their dedication to the organization and have welcomed Mayumi Fujio on board. Together they have expanded their focus on events throughout the northern California region, and they share gusto for creating high quality, moving, down to earth tango events.

Above all, Tango Renaissance USA strives to provide a chance for friends and colleagues to gather and share this dynamic, improvisational dance. Antipanico San Francisco 2010 Tango Festival promises a relaxed and progressive, content-driven learning atmosphere held in San Francisco’s eclectic Mission District. This all-level fete will include workshops, performances, live orchestra, late-night milongas, practicas, and of course—don’t panic—chill vibes.

Past Events by Tango Renaissance USA:

Milonga de Beneficio (Tsunami Relief), Sacramento 2004
Neo Tango Festival, Sacramento 2005
Antipanico Tango Weekend, Sacramento 2005
Neo Tango Festival, Sacramento 2006
Operation Tango III & V, April & Sept 2006
Neo Tango School Seminar, Berkeley, CA 2006
Antipanico Tango Weekend, Sacramento 2006

Upcoming Events by Tango Renaissance USA:

Antipanico San Francisco 2010 Tango Festival

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Michelle Wright (founder)

Michelle’s passion for tango started in 1999 and since then she has traveled throughout the US, Argentina and Europe to study and experience tango. She has studied extensively with maestros Sebastian Arce and Mariana Montes, Chicho Frumboli, Fabian Salas, Carolina del Rivero, and Oscar Mandagaran. Michelle has taught within the Sacramento, CA area; she has worked and performed with local and visiting instructors such as Oscar Mandagaran, Homer Ladas, Ney Melo, Sean Dockery, and Guillermo Garcia. She performed solo and group numbers in Debbie Goodwin’s stage productions Tango! A Story of Sacramento’s Tango Community and Tango! Rhythms of the Heart. She interviewed and performed with Sebastian Arce for CBS13’s Better Body segment: Tango Your Way To A Trimmer Figure. While living in Paris 2004-2006, Michelle attended various European festivals, as a participant and backstage with the artists, and gained a deep understanding of the organizational aspects of festival production; she also volunteered at the International Tango Congress of Paris CITP 2006.

Michelle is the founder of Tango Renaissance USA which brought Sebastian Arce and Mariana Montes to the US for the first time in 2005. Throughout 2005 and 2006, TR USA was the first on the west coast to create contemporary festivals featuring the world’s most popular tango artists such as Sebastian and Mariana, Chicho Frumboli, and Claudia and Esteban. Since 2006, Michelle has continued to organize and promote workshops and events with visiting instructors Homer and Cristina Ladas, Ney Melo and Jennifer Bratt, Amy Lincoln and Santiago Croce, and Michelle and Murat Erdemsel.

Michelle holds a BA in Art Studio from UC Davis and she is a fully trained STOTT Pilates instructor. Currently she is working to become a Pilates Instructor Trainer, and continues to explore dance and body movement taking classes in stretch, yoga, acroyoga, contact improvisation, release, African and belly dancing.

Mayumi Fujio

Mayumi Fujio  started dancing Argentine Tango in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1997. While in Scotland Mayumi taught with partner Jessie Kennedy and was one of the founding members of the Edinburgh Tango Society. She has lived and traveled throughout Europe and the US to dance and to study with teachers such as Eric Jorisen, Biki and Muzo, Yvonne Meissner, Gustavo Naveira, Chicho Frumboli, Julio Balmaceda and Corina de la Rosa, Fabian Salas, Cecilia Gonzales, and Jean-Sebastien Rampazzi. Her performance credits include annual showcases, interviews and appearances on Scottish TV and radio, and regular milonga performances with local and visiting instructors in the San Francisco bay area. Since moving to the Bay Area in 2001, Mayumi teaches regularly and has worked with a number of outstanding partners including Homer Ladas, Felipe Martinez, Jorge Nel, George Garcia, and Humberto Décima.

Using her previous experiences in Modern, Jazz, French Jive, Ballroom and Salsa, along with her knowledge of body movement techniques such as Alexander Technique, Pilates, Yoga, and Gyrotonic, Mayumi has formed an elegant yet dynamic dance style and her "Followers' Technique Workshop" in San Francisco is particularly popular.

Apart from teaching, Mayumi is also a well known organizer in San Francisco inviting various tango instructors to the Bay Area. She has organized classes and workshops for Juan Cantone and Sol Orozco, Humberto Décima, Mariano Bielak and Paula Gurini, Mario Consiglieri and Anabella Diaz-Hojman and Andres Amarilla and Meredith Klien. 

www.mayumix.com

Kendra Kambestad

Kendra is an Argentine tango dancer since 2002, influenced by a history of modern dance, stunt, and the performing arts. In 2006, she moved from California to New York City in order to investigate Dance/Movement Therapy and the integration of healthy movement behavior and psyche. Kendra weaves her experience of tango and creative expression while working as a Dance/Movement Therapist with the forensic psychiatric population. She has co-led seasonal Tango X Sessions in New York City, co-organized monthly milongas with La AlterNATIVA in Sacramento, and served as a moderator at the San Francisco Tango Exchange.

Kendra graduated with distinction from Pratt Institute, where she received a Master of Science in Dance/Movement Therapy. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts (Acting/Dance/Design) from the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Kendra is a founding director of Tango Renaissance USA and serves as Director of Public Relations/CMO. She is concurrently preparing Antipanico San Francisco 2010 Tango Festival while rehearsing and performing with D2 modern dance company in New York City. She looks forward to seeing you at these upcoming events.

Photo by: Jazz Ramcharitar