Sakura Tango Festival

Sebastián Acosta began studying dance in Concepcion, Tucuman with folk dance, for three years. Then he started in tango three more years.
Later, deciding to continue his studies in Buenos Aires, taking lessons with masters such as Gabriel Angio and Natalia Games, Graciela Gonzalez, Sabrina and Ruben Veliz, Mario Morales, among others.
In 2013 he participates in the World Tango Championship, where it reaches the semifinals instance.
In 2014 won the Championship of milonga ” La Baldosa”, gets the 5th place in the Metropolitan Championship, in the category Tango Adult, and that same year, the 1st place in the World Tango Championship, in the category “Tango de pista”. From there, he has continued his studies with different teachers and participating in the 2015 National Space Tango Argentino -ENTA- having the opportunity to learn from the great masters of tango as Julio Balmaceda , Milena Plebs, Daniel García (El Flaco Dany) El Chino Perico, Carlos and Rosa Perez, Gloria and Eduardo Arquimbau, among many others.
In 2014 he begins to do tours around the country and internationally, participating in festivals, doing workshops, shows and exhibitions in Japan, korea, Russia, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Turkey, Monaco, United States and Central America.
He serves as a profesor at the Studio Mario Morales, teached in La Escuela Argentina de Tango and El Circo del Aire.

Laura D’ Anna began her studies in classical dance at the age of 6 years in Santa Rosa, La Pampa. At 9 years enters by audition in the Superior Institute of Art of the Colon Theater, ending the eight-year career, earning the title of professional dancer. She continued her studies in contemporary dance, entering by audition in San Martin Theater.
After two years there, is competing for the provincial Ballet of Misiones, getting the Soloist Dancer position.
Returns to Buenos Aires, where she auditioned and enters in the Mercosur Ballet, led by Maximiliano Guerra (one of the most important classical dancers of all time) playing solo roles.
Meanwhile she began studying Tango, taking lessons with Yanina Erramouspe, Gabriel Angio and Natalia Games, Fabian Peralta, Jorge Dispari , Sabrina and Ruben Veliz, among others.
In 2014 is admitted by audition as a dancer stable at La Esquina Carlos Gardel, one of the most prestigious tango houses of Buenos Aires.
In 2015 enters in the National Space Tango Argentino -ENTA- having the opportunity to learn from the great masters of tango as Julio Balmaceda, Milena Plebs, Daniel García (El Flaco Dany), El Chino Perico, Carlos and Rosa Perez, Gloria and Eduardo Arquimbau, among many others.
In 2016 she begins to do tours around the country and internationally, participating in festivals, doing workshops, shows and exhibitions in Japan, korea, Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Turkey, United States and Central America.
She serves as a profesor at the Studio Mario Morales, teached at La Escuela Argentina de Tango and El Circo del Aire.

Paula Tejeda (29) and Lucas Carrizo (33) hail from Catamarca in Argentina, and have been dancing since their teens. As a young couple in love they decided to leave their home to pursue their tango career in Buenos Aires. This was a decision which would change their lives forever.

Paula and Lucas have reached the highest levels of achievement in tango. They were crowned as the 2010 Metropolitan Tango Championship Champions in Tango category and placed as runners up in the Vals category.They were also part of the brilliant Miguel Angel Zotto tango production -- TangoX2, traveling around Italy (Milano, Roma, Napoli, Firenze, Parma, Bari, Padova, Cremona and Brescia) and Grecce (Athens).

They have performed and conducted seminars in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Chengdu), Hong Kong, Korea (Seoul, Busan and Ulsan), Japan (Tokyo), USA (Denver, Portland, San Francisco, Albuquerque, Tucson, Ashland, Durango, Colorado Springs and Vail), Canada (Toronto and Montreal) and Europe: Denmark, Portugal and Netherlands.

Chizuko
Champion of the Stage Tango category of the 2010 World Championship.
She has appeared on television shows as "Tetsuko's Room", "Tatsuya Ishii's Show Time" and NHK BS's "Passion for Tango".
She participated in musicals like "Ballad to Loco" and "Elizabeth".
In 2009, she founded the Argentine tango academy "Efecto Tango Takadanobaba".
When she was 3 years old, she began folk dance and ballet, and she ended up focusing her career on tango. After acting as a professional ballet dancer at the Teatro Colón, she participated as a tango dancer in "Tango Passion", "Tango Seduccion", etc.
She was one of the original casts in "Forever Tango" performed on Broadway since 1995.
She was nominated for "Tony Award", "Outer Critics Circle" and "Drama Desk" for best choreographer.
She has also participated as a judge in several championships in Argentina, the United States and Asia.
She has served several times as chairman of the judging committee at the Asian tango world championships that were held in Japan.
In Japan, she appeared on the television show "Shabekuri TV." with the actress Tae Kimura.

Jorge Torres
Jorge began his dance training at the age of 3 when as fate would have it Mr. Norberto Guichenduc, the highly acclaimed ballet and tango dancer from Europe arrived to Jorge’s hometown on a mission. Mr. Norberto Guichenduc’s goal, remarkably surprising to the residents of this small rural town, was to give of his time to teach the town’s children to dance, affording them an opportunity they otherwise would not have had. Under the tutelage of Mr. Norberto Guichenduc, Jorge’s training began first within the different styles of Argentine Folkdances typical of his country of origin. Soon thereafter, Mr. Norberto Guichenduc, recognizing Jorge’s natural talent, became his personal trainer, mentor and friend for life. Thus began years of classical training in ballet, tango, and performance. Even before graduating from his studies to be a dance teacher himself, Jorge had begun his professional career at the internationally renowned Teatro Colon of Buenos Aires.
Jorge Torres has studied the art of Argentine Tango from dancers and teachers of great stature, including as Norberto Guichenduc, Rodolfo Dinzel, Pepito Avellaneda, and Antonio Todaro. He has performed in noted tango houses and theatres in Argentina along with renowned tango orchestras such as Sexteto Mayor in Santiago’s Municipal Theatre-Chile. His extensive list of shows includes “Imagenes”, “Tango y Anoranzas”, “La Pesada del Tango”, “Tangokinesis”, “Tanguisimo 91”,”Tango Tango”, “Viva Tango”, “Tango Passion”, “Buenos Aires Tango Show”, “Tango Seduccion”, and the Broadway and international hit “Forever Tango”. He has coordinated shows such as “World Tango Week” in Tokyo and Directed the Show “Tango Legend” attracting record breaking results each time. He was a member of the jury for the First World Championship of Argentinean Tango in Buenos Aires in 2003 as well as in 2009, the jury for the Campionato Asiatico in 2011 and has been the main jury for the USA Tango Championships since 2007.
By studying Reiki Jorge learned to understand and control his own energy. He has applied this as a tool to teach his students how to relax ultimately allowing them the simple pleasure of enjoying their dancing.
Since early 1995 Jorge has been part of the original cast of Broadway hit show “Forever Tango ” and was nominated in 1998 for a Tony award for best choreography. The show ran for over a year at the Marquis Theater, New York, U.S.A. In that same year “Forever Tango” was also nominated for best choreography by the Outer Critics Circle and nominated for four awards including best choreography by the Drama Desk. Jorge is currently performing with “Forever Tango”, serving as the Dance Captain to its company of dancers since May, 1997.
As Dance captain of “Forever Tango ”, Creative Director of The Shimmy Club, Inc. , Juror of the tango championships, and Artistic Director for the American Tango Institute , he is constantly touring across the USA, Asia and Europe, teaching and inspiring others in the art of Argentine Tango.
He resides in New York city where he hosts a successful monthly Milonga "El Embrujo ".
Jorge Torres will have performance with Chizuko on Sunday, 27th March.

They began their activities as a couple since 2008. For the fourth consecutive year from 2009 to 2012, they were finalists in the Salon Tango and Stage Tango categories of the world championship.
Since 2013 they returned to Tokyo and in June 2015 they founded the Tango Salon "Buenos Aires" in Minami Aoyama.
Recently, they have performed in musicals and concerts by former Takarazuka stars, and are also working as a choreographer.

[ Awards ]
• 2008: Second place of the Salon Tango and Stage Tango category of the Open Dance Tango Championship in Japan.
• 2009: Champions of the Salon Tango category of the World Championship of Argentine Tango in Asia.
• 2009: 3rd place of the Stage Tango category of the World Championship.
• 2010: 3rd place of the stage and Salon Tango category of the World Championship.
• 2012: Champions of Metropolitano MILONGUEROS DEL MUNDO.

A dance teacher at the Mecca of Tango “La Viruta”, Juan Guida came to Japan in 1998 bringing with him his fresh style. After teaching at the Argentine Tango Dance Association, he started Argentango Ltd. in order to promote the Tango in Japan at every level: As a Dancer, Teacher, Choreographer, Event and Milonga Organizer, and inviting guest dancers from abroad. Having been selected as a member of the jury for the Asian Round of the World Tango Competition every year since its inception, as well as the Japan World Tango Festival 2005, he is recognized as one of the most influential personalities of the Tango in Japan.
Quickly becoming the most charismatic and influential tango teacher and dancer, he has since performed in many shows and musicals around the country and abroad, sometimes managing guest artists as well. He has starred in TV commercials and left his imprint in almost every Japanese media; his name is synonym of tango in Japan. He is also the founder of TANGO XXI and alma-mater of Zero Hour, the most successful and populated milonga in Tokyo, widely celebrated as the most authentic. Today, he keeps setting the highest standard in both stage and salón tango.

Dancers of Tango and Argentine Folklore.

Miguel Santillan:
Member of the IUNA Tango Company from 2008 to 2012.
Participation in the Tango World Cup in the years 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Finalist in the Precosquín Festival (2009).
Tango World Cup 2014 Semifinalist, Stage Tango Category.
Rome Tour 2014 Leonardo Neck Company.
Tango World Cup 2015 Semifinalist, stage tango category.
China Tour with the Tango Desire Company 2016 - 2018.

Mailen Oucharick:
Finalist of the Precosquin contest 2017 - 2019.
Assistance of Direction and Choreography of "Seedbed of Rebellions".
Member of the Tango company “Tangografía”.

Joaquín Besga and Laura Smart were among the best 25 couples of the Stage Tango category at the Mundial de Tango 2018.
They were finalists of Tango de Pista category at the Campeonato de baile de la Ciudad 2018-2019.
In 2019 they realiezed tour in Vancouver, Victoria Island, Canada at that time they were Tango Champions, 2019 Stage Tango category at Southern California Tango Championship in Los Angeles, California, USA.
They recently worked for the Taura Tango show chosen within the framework of the Cancun International Music Festival, Mexico.
From 2018 to 2020, they were instructors at Tango Evolution in Buenos Aires. From 2018 to 2019, they belonged to the Tango Nuevo Cabaret dance company directed by Serguei Tumas, and performed at Teatro Coliseo.
They currently reside in Tokyo, Japan for the time of two years 2021-2022 as Argentine Tango Artists and teachers.

They have been dancing together for 20 year.
They have learned from the most important teachers and milongueros in Buenos Aires, place where they were born.
They joined to ACETA in 2006 (Argentine Tango Styles Academy) and has studied with many different milongueros, teachers and choreographers for one year.
They have visited, to teach and dance, several cities in Argentina, Europe and Asia.
They have danced in different Dinner-Shows in Buenos Aires and several Tango Companies. They have dance in numerous theatres around the world.
They are Tango lovers. Theyenjoy Tango Salon and Stage too, feeling Tango not only as a dance but as a lifestyle.

They are the presidents of El Abrazo de Tango Hiroshima studio, have a history of became a champion of Tango Dance World Championship in Asia in 2015. Also, they are the finalist of Seoul International Championship in 2015. While working at the show and many events in the country, they have played in numerous shows in foreign countries as well, such as milonga in Buenos Aires theater and Taipei Tango Festival, Jakarta, Indonesia, Zarate City, Argentina, Sao Paulo, in Rio de Janeiro, etc.

Ou Kubota
Ou Kubota started ballet dancing at the age of eighteen and joined Ballet group, “The Tokyo Ballet” of Tchaikovsky Memorial in 1995.
After leaving the group in 2004, he was fascinated by Argentine Tango, and tied up with Yoshiko Mamada in 2007. They became the winners of Stage Tango category for the Asian round of the World Competition in 2010(the 3rd place in 2009).
He opened his own dance studio “Inspiracion” in Fukuoka in 2011. He performed ballet and tango as a free-lance stage dancer. He also works successfully in all parts of Japan as an instructor.

Chaco (Hisako Iwamoto)
- The winner of the Stage Tango category of Asia Tango Dance World Championship in 2011.
- The organizer of Perfume de Tango.
While staying in Argentine, she had performance exhibitions at Milonga, Sin Rumbo, Salon Canning, La Baldosa, Ideal, Villa Malcolm, and culture events in Buenos Aires. She has joined various shows and events as well as a dinner show at the Imperial Hotel in Japan. She works for Tango lessons in Japan, such as at the NHK culture center in Kobe and Osaka.

Shinji lived in Argentina, the home of tango, for more than five years to learn from various Maestros. Also, Natsune started learning Argentinian Tango in her teens. They started working together in 2014. They are both musicians as well as dancers. Shinji is a Tango guitarist and Natsune is a Jazz singer. Their CDs are on sale, and their particular style of music has earned a good reputation. They have performed and run workshops inside and outside Japan. They are getting noticed and have recently been awarded prizes in the competitions listed below.

In 2015, they were runners up in the “Salon Championship of Tango Marathon” in Tokyo.
In 2016, they came 4th in the Stage section of the “Tango World Championship” in Korea.
In 2016, they came 3rd in the Milonga section, and 4th in the Vals section of the “Metropolitan Championship” in Korea.

Ernesto: Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he began to dance tango in 1997. Among his most important teachers are Gabriel Angio and Natalia Games, Mingo and Esther Pugliese, Raúl Bravo, Néstor Ray, José Vázquez Lampazo, El Gallego Manolo, Vanina Bilous, Fernando Galera , Vilma Vega, Natalia Hills, Gabriel Misse, Petaca, Jorge Dispari and María del Carmen, Damian Esell and Nancy Louzan among others. Since 1999 he has been dedicated to the teaching of tango. In 2001 he settled in Japan where he has his own academy "El Porteño", and he is the organizer of one of the oldest milongas of that country (La Típica de Kitano) where he is also a DJ. In 2002 he starred in the tango documentary "Nosotros" along with other great dancers like Petaca and Hernán Álvarez Prieto. Since the fundation of the Tango Ensemble Coqueta has been performing as a principal dancer for 10 years, in his numerous concerts and shows.. He is also invited to teach in China and other Asian countries for 15 years. Lately he is tempted to teach and give demonstrations in various cities of Europe. He is also the organizer of major tango events and festivals in Japan.

Hanami Borgonovo: Manager of the Argentine tango school "El Porteño". After achieving numerous accomplishments as a professional belly dancer for more than 10 years, she married Ernesto. And she decided to learn tango to express understanding to her husband, the tango dancer. During her stay in Argentina, she took tango courses and danced in milongas.
Since 2020 she started her career as a tango dancer.
She graduated from the Spanish Language Department of the National Distance Education University (UNED) of Spain and the Kansai Gakuin University.

Glen: A licensed school teacher with certification in dance instruction, Glen began his professional dance career in Beijing in 2010 as one of the original instructors at studio Tango Chino and also collaborated to organize the first two festivals of Beijing. In 2012 Glen returned to Buenos Aires full-time (after having studied there at university and also visited to train in tango each summer and winter for several years), where he studied and worked as both a tango instructor and stage performer, and then went on tour across North America and Asia, teaching and performing.
With over 20 years of tango experience, Glen has won or placed in several international competitions on three different continents, and is a former tri-champion (Tango, Vals & Milonga) of China. He recently placed in the top-10 at the Asian Championships in both categories (Tango Salon and Tango Escenario), and this past January performed on Asahi TV’s New Year’s Day special program, “Celebrity Ratings Check!”
Now based in Tokyo, when not on tour Glen enjoys combining his dual passions of performing and teaching on the dance floor, bringing 21st Century education concepts and methods to tango.

Cherry YU: Hailing from Hong Kong, upon moving to Tokyo Cherry became fascinated with tango and embarked on a passionate journey into the world of this amazing dance six years ago.
Making her "exhibición" debut in 2021, she was ecstatic when her performance with Glen garnered over 127,000 views and was highly acclaimed overseas. She experienced these same emotions once again when they placed in the top 10 in both categories (Tango Pista and Tango Escenario) at the 2021 Asian Tango Championships.
In January of this year, Cherry also appeared on Asahi Broadcasting Corporation's New Year's Day special program "Celebrity Ratings Check!” She is excited to continue this wonderful artistic journey called tango in 2022.

Jona studied with Argentine tango teacher Francisco Folquera, a noted instructor for producing many first-class dancers.
His dance is characterized by the manliness that tango has and the elegance.
In Japan, she participated in famous singer Akemi Ishii's "Lambada" tour as a backup dancer.
Jona has the title of high level instructor and is planning to direct production-filled tango shows and entertainment.
- 1984 Champion of the National Folklore Championship in Peru
- 2016 Champion of the Tango Salon category of the Tango Dance Indonesian Championship
- 2016 Champion of the Tango de Pista category of Tango Dance Championship Filipino Tournament
- 2021 Champion of the Tango de Pista Señor category of the Tango Dance Asian Championship

Haruna has made a commitment to the performing arts and has been interested in expressing music with her body or interpreting music through physical expression since she was child. And she still has the same passion when she dances tango.
She studied tango with Christian & Nao and many other well-known dancers in Japan and abroad.
Haruna actually resides in Tokyo and continues her study of Stage and Salon Tango.
Through 10 years of experience in classical ballet she learned the importance of physical skills in dance and uses them for tango. Her dance with the knowledge of piano, violin and singing highlights the dynamic interpretation of music.
- 2019 3rd placer of the Tango de Pista category of the Tango Dance Western Japan Championship
- 2019 Finalist of the Tango Dance Asian Championship
- 2019 Champion of the category Single and winner of the Tango de Pista category of the the Tango Dance Shanghai Championship
- 2021 Champion the Salon Tango category of the Chiqué Tango Championship

Tango lovers in Tokyo.
They met at a milonga in Tokyo, and got married in 2007.
They learned tango from various masters from Japan and abroad, and continue to pursue their own tango. They participate in national and international tango dance championships. In 2022, they were champions of the Tango category at the Chique Tango Championship.