Who am I ?

Despite having a Dutch family name, a Norwegian first name and living in Switzerland, I am nevertheless French!

My tango is self-made. It is the result of many influences: my own standards, both physical and aesthetic, along with body awareness, come from my many years as a classical and contemporary dancer; from my experience with many dance partners, each one having their own way of dancing and teaching; from sharing with my students which is always very enriching; and finally, from my ideas and my dreams that push me to always go even further.

For those who want to know more about my journey in tango, the partners I worked with, I invite you to read my biography below.

Hoping to meet you in tango, an abrazo

© Dovile Ma Photography
From ballet dance and contemporary to Argentinian tango

Since my earliest childhood, I have been passionate about dance. I started by learning ballet, later my desire to expand and explore new ways of expression brought me to contemporary dance.

In 1998, I discovered Argentine tango in South-Western France, where I have my roots. By 2001, I was taking part in shows, and in the following year, I began giving classes.

While studying Spanish at university, I continued my education in Argentine tango.

Although I was living in Toulouse, I spent a lot of time and money getting to the French capital to seek out the dancers who would inspire me, and help me evolve as a dancer.

The dancers Hernán Obispo, Christophe Lambert, and Moira Castellano shaped me deeply and were a huge influence on my development both as a dancer and as a teacher.

The beginnings of my career

In 2004, I went to Buenos Aires for one year in order to pursue my formal training in tango. I practiced a lot and I even gave classes in the Confitería Ideal with Fabrizio Forti.

After my return, I began to tour internationally as a dancer and teacher of Argentine tango. I worked with Jarle Sandodden in Norway and with Kamel Rebaï in Moscow.

In 2006, I moved to Paris, to work with Mazen Kiwan. Together, we found ourselves in great demand as teachers and dancers. We took part in some of the world’s largest festivals, alongside some of the biggest stars in tango. During two and a half years, we invited to the Tango Camps, as well as the festivals of Moscow, Warsaw, Washington, Copenhagen among others.

As many diverse experiences as there are partners

In the summer of 2008, I married and settled down in Berlin with my husband. I worked with Marcelo “El Chino” Gutiérrez and with Yanick Wyler.

On a very occasional basis, I also worked with Diego Riemer « El Pájaro ».

At the end of 2009, I became the mother of my first child (a boy). Six months later, I started a collaboration with Daniel Carlsson, with whom I worked for 2 years.

Then I worked with Dominic Bridge for a further 2 years, while traveling often alone to give technical courses for women.

The women’s technique workshops

From 2007, I was increasingly asked to give “women’s technique” courses. Gradually, it became my specialty. My pedagogy and my vision of body movement were generally very much appreciated.

The idea of these individual lessons which are as relevant to leaders as to followers, is that each of the students can gain a better control of their body. In doing so, they can distance themselves from the technical challenges of tango and fully enjoy the dance.

To achieve this, I use my perspective as a ballet and contemporary dancer which allows me to dissect the movement in order to understand all the subtleties and explain it to both people who have, or do not have, a dance background.

In my teaching, I insist a lot on the basics of tango such as posture, walking, connection to the partner… thus, the technically more complex elements are easily understood.

This is still my favorite area of teaching today.

My collaboration with Murat

Since the summer of 2013, I moved to Lausanne in Switzerland, where I had my second child (a girl).

From 2015 to 2020, I worked in collaboration with Murat Erdemsel, together we traveled extensively.

Our specialty has been the teaching of musicality.

Brief, but spectacular

In 2021, I collaborated with Braulio Martos for a single very memorable show in Geneva.

Renewal in my teaching

In 2021, I started the Danser L’ESPACE professional training which introduced me to Body-Mind Centering® using the support of contemporary dance and yoga.

This 2‑year training makes me study the body in its anatomical and physiological aspect to support the gesture in the dance movement.

Very inspired by this approach to somatic movement, I am renewing my teaching pedagogy to seek even more understanding and subtlety in my current corrections.

To learn more about my new way of teaching, I recommend that you take a look at my teaching pedagogy. I explain to you how the BMC® has completely revolutionized the way I understand movement and teach it.

An unexpected partnership

At the same time, I start a surprising collaboration with Maria Filali, without giving up solo work.

Friends for almost 15 years, our many experiences of past collaborations (sometimes even with the same partners) have naturally shown us that what matters is content, philosophy, vision, sensitivity, mutual respect and curiosity… and certainly not the gender.

What connects us deeply and makes our approach so special on the tango scene is a somatic approach to movement and the body in space. In doing so, we push our research and our transmissions into the connection link between the structure of tango with emotion and musicality.

Behind the DJ table

I also like to DJ in milongas. I started DJing in 2005, when few DJs were present in the tango scene.

Since 2012, I stopped being a regular DJing because I prefer to dance and teach. But I still enjoy staying behind the music equipment sometime and contribute to the milonga in another way than dancing…