Sakura Tango Festival 2025

Sabrina and Rubén are undoubtedly one of the most outstanding couples of their generation, with more than 30 years of experience on stage, they have managed to impose their creative and dynamic style on the tango scene.

Since 2006, they have been invited to participate in the most prestigious international Tango festivals and congresses in the world, to spread their knowledge about this dance and show their art on stage.

In 2022 they premiered their latest show, “Tango Infinito” on Corrientes Street as a celebration of their 25th anniversary with Tango.

In 2020 they premiered their show “Desconcierto Tango” also in Buenos Aires, from which in 2021 they created “Desconcierto tango, a dance film”, the first tango dance thriller, with the help of director Louis Medina.

In 2014 Sabrina and Ruben Veliz launched their book “SECRETOS DEL ABRAZO” (SECRETS OF THE EMBRACE) based on an exhaustive study of social tango, in which they share the technical, aesthetic and functional secrets of tango dancing. “SECRETOS DEL ABRAZO” (SECRETS OF THE EMBRACE) has already been presented in Spanish (three editions), English (four editions), Russian and Italian, and German and Turkish versions are in development.

In 2017 they celebrated their 20 years with Tango, performing the show “Descarnados” at Paseo La Plaza in Buenos Aires.

As choreographers they have performed various works among which the following stand out: Scenes in the film “Our last Tango” released in 2015 about the life of Maria Nieves and Juan Carlos Copes, “Recuperados” in 2015 at the CCK, “A nuestro hijo” in 2014, “Cubico” in 2013, “Al sur del sur” for River North Chicago Dance Company in 2011, “Dramatic Tango” in 2010, on tour in Japan, “Last Round” for the Sinfonietta of Amsterdam in 2008, “Tangos Corazonicos” during 2009 in Buenos Aires. They also created and directed “Tango on stage” on tour in the USA in 2009 and “Radio Latina” on tour in China during 2008.

They have been judges at the World Tango Championship in Buenos Aires in the semi-finals and finals, as well as at the venues in Japan, Spain, Chile and the European Championship.

As dancers in 2005, they were the only foreign artists invited to participate in the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the reign of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. They have been part of various companies such as Tango X2, Tango Emoción, Nueva Compania Tangueros (where they were highlighted by the New York Times for their interpretation of the leading role in the work Milonga Boulevard during its premiere in the United States in 1998).

They were also part of different casts of shows in Buenos Aires such as La esquina Carlos Gardel, Piazzolla Tango, El Querandí and Rojo Tango among others.

Lucila Cionci and Rodrigo "Joe" Corbata have a comprehensive background in tango dance, with over 25 years of experience as teachers and choreographers.

In 2007, they founded "Fórmula Tango," a joint project that combines their individual years of experience in shows and festivals.

They are internationally recognized thanks to their participation in major tango shows and numerous important tango festivals around the world, including in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Ukraine, Cyprus, Turkey, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Canada, the United States, and Argentina.

In these places, "Joe" and Lucila have presented an original teaching philosophy, receiving excellent feedback from audiences and students of all levels.

They have performed in the most important dinner shows in Buenos Aires, such as: "Piazzolla Tango," "El Viejo Almacén," "Madero Tango," "La Ventana," "Señor Tango," and "Taconeando." They have also appeared in internationally renowned shows like "Tango Vivo" and "Nuit Blanche" with Unión Tanguera Company, "Corazón a Corazón" with Zaraza Tango Company, and "Otango" with the Otango Ultimate Show. Lucila & "Joe" also directed the show "Glosario Tanguero" at one of the most important tango festivals in Tarbes, France.

Among their individual achievements, Lucila performed in the 2008 Opera "Carmen" at the National Opera of London's Covent Garden Coliseum, directed by Oscar-winner Sally Potter.

Joe has been the director, choreographer, and performer for many years with his own company, "Tango Bizzarro," producing numerous tours and performances across Asia, South America, and South Africa with a large group of artists.

For years, they have served as judges at the World Tango Championship, organized by the Buenos Aires city government.

In their teaching, they focus on connection, musicality, and the organic movement of the body, ensuring comfort within the couple and helping dancers discover their personal style.

Their classes are designed for immediate application on the dance floor. Their love for tango, experience, and constant search for evolution in dance are the essence of their philosophy. Their dance style surprises with its great plasticity and expressiveness, showcasing innovative choreographic elements and a unique and personal approach to improvisation.

In their dancing, they blend organic movement, harmony, musical expression through the body, and connection to create a unique and personal dance while always respecting the essence of tango.

Rodrigo Palacios is an Argentinian Tango teacher and dancer, Kundalini Yoga practitioner and a curious seeker for cultural diversity.
He grew up in Buenos Aires surrounded by an incredible tango family, where tango was breathed through dance, music and singing. When he was 14 years old he started to frequent the legendary Salón Canning, where he saw the authentic dancing of the most renowned milongueros, and also of those who, at that time where leading the new wave of a broader tango.
He began a career exhibiting in the most outstanding Milongas in the city of Buenos Aires. In 2007 he was part of Forever Tango´s cast in the filming of the documentary of the successful company that took place at the Teatro Coliseo Podestá in La Plata.
At the same time, he began teaching classes for an extended period at the Salón Canning, place that hosted a stunning work by the photographer Guillermo Monteleone where Agustina Berenstein and Rodrigo Palacios are the muses. This work of art is an extract from one of the most innovative tango videos of recent times, called "T".
His first job abroad was in Tiempo Iberoamericanos as a teacher dancer and choreographer in the city of Fukuoka, Japan, and since then he has not stopped touring, participating in Tango festivals, special workshops and classes in schools in Europe, Australia and Asia.
Rodrigo has been dancing and spreading the Tango during the last 25 years.

Indira Hiayes : Born and raised in Argentina, Indira started dancing at the age of 4 and over the years she has adapted knowledge of different dances and styles that reinforced her artistry. She currently live in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, participating in important international shows. Her professional Tango career began at the age of 18, dancing in the most prestigious dinner show in Buenos Aires: Señor Tango. A few months later she started traveling to teach in schools around the world and participating in most recognized international tango festivals.
She studied ballet, contemporary, argentinian tango, folklore argentino, hip hop, jazz, lyrical and hills.
As a Dancer Indira has the capacity to catch different styles of dance and choreography, capacity that made her succeed dancing in musicals, night clubs, theater.
Her Tango involve all this dances experiences making her body movement magic and ful of sharm for the eyes of the audience.

They began their activities as a couple in 2007. From 2009 to 2012, they participated in the World Tango Championships in Buenos Aires and achieved the remarkable feat of being finalists in both the Salon and Stage categories for four consecutive years.
From 2010, they spent around two years as regular dancers at the famous tango venue "Rojo Tango" in Hotel Faena, Buenos Aires.
Their refined dance style has garnered high praise, and they are well-known with a large following. They are active not only in Japan but also in countries such as South Korea, Indonesia, Europe, Russia, and Latin America.
Since 2015, they have been based in Tokyo again and opened the Tango Salon "Buenos Aires" in Omotesando. Recently, they have also been performing in musicals and concerts starring former top stars of the Takarazuka Revue and are working as choreographers as well.

[ 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.
■ 2023: 6th place of the Salon Tango category of the World Tango Championship.
■ 2024: Winner of the 2024 Metropolitano MILONGUEROS DEL MUNDO (Argentina).
5th place in the Pista category of the World Championship (Argentina).

Nayhara Zeugtrager and Raphael Giry are experienced Argentine Tango dancers and teachers with over 20 years in the field. Currently based in Milan, Italy, they work with Miguel Angel Zotto at Tango X 2 and perform in “El Porteño Prohibido.” They spent over eight years in Buenos Aires, dancing in prestigious dinner shows and major theaters, including the Astral and Lola Membrives. Their international experience includes performances across Argentina, the USA, and Europe, representing Argentine tango in numerous milongas. They have also collaborated with renowned tango companies and owned “La Galería del Tango” in Athens for seven years, actively contributing to the Greek tango community.

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.

A couple united by their love for tango in 2018.
Based in CALI COLOMBIA. They came together to build a committed work team, which offers quality on stage as performers, instructors and choreographers, achieving recognition in the different stages of Colombia, Argentina, Greece, England and Scotland.
They were champions of Salon Tango in Colombia in 2022 and are currently invited to the Ithaca Tango Festival in New York, Boston Tango Festival and Philippines Tango Festival. These are some of their achievements since they became a couple.

Julián : Dancer, teacher and choreographer with more than 19 years of experience. He has participated in important international competitions such as the World Tango Championship in BA, obtaining fifth place in the Stage Tango category in 2017 and champion of Stage Tango in Quito, Ecuador 2016. Julián has been champion 15 consecutive times in Stage Tango, Tango de Pista and Milonga in Colombia from 2008 to 2022.

Natalia : Dancer, teacher and choreographer with more than 8 years of experience. She has worked hand in hand with important tango companies in Colombia.
She has participated in important competitions such as the World Tango Championship in BA and has been champion on several occasions in the ballroom tango category in Colombia.

Daniel Liu : Artistic director of Tanguísimo Tango Space in Taiwan. With background in folk dances since 1989, starts dancing tango in 1997, becoming the pioneer of Argentine tango in Taiwan. In 2003 co-founds the Taipei Tango Festival, and in 2008 Tanguísimo Tango Space in Taipei, the first tango studio in Taiwan. As dancer has performed with renowned musicians like Ryota Komatsu, Aida Momoko, Roberto Zayas, Mark Wu, Chen-Chung Lee, Rui-Ran Wu, and Alvin Cheng among others, and with organizations like the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, the Taipei Civic Symphonic Band, the Ars Nova Chamber & Sinfonietta Orchestra, etc. As choreographer has worked with artists like A-Mei, Jody Chiang, Chi-ling Lin, Tanya Chua, Sandrine Pinna, and Jian-wei Huang among others. Having lived in Latin America as a child, speaks Spanish like a native speaker, which allows him to dive deep into the wonderful culture of tango history and lyrics, and become an amateur tango singer. His latest passion is the bandoneon!

Samantha Kuo : Began to dance Argentine tango in 2013. Currently, she is an instructor at Tanguísimo Tango Space in Taipei. Her performance experiences include concerts with Ryota Komatsu in Taipei and Taichung, 2016 Fukuoka Sakura Tango Festival in Japan, Taipei Tango Festival, Taipei International Book Exhibition, and the opening events of the Universiade in Taipei Flower Expo Park. In the recent two years, Samantha has partnered with Daniel Liu to collaborate with excellent musicians and orchestras such as Yung-lung Wu, ARS NOVA CSO and Chen-Chung Lee and Liberal Arts Ensemble etc., performing in "Enchanted. Eternal Tango", "Milonga Immersion", "The Sorrow Forgotten by Angels”, and other shows.

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.

They are founders and current directors of the "El Abrazo de Tango" studio in Hiroshima.
Directors of RN Production Video.
Winners of Tango Dance World Championship in Asia in 2015.
They performed as special guests at the "Gran Rex" theater in Paris.
They performed for a short time at Café Tortoni, a long-established tangueria in Buenos Aires.
In addition to working on shows and many events in Japan, they have performed in numerous shows in foreign countries, such as milongas and theaters in Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Spain, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, Busan, Jakarta and Bali, etc.

[ Championship Judge History ]
■ 2019: World Tango Asia Championships, West Japan Tournament
■ 2018: Pelando variation in shanghai
■ 2023: K-Tango Championship in Korea
■ 2023: Darienzo Cup in Tokyo

They started tango in 2005 and established "Cafe de Tango", the oldest tango studio in Busan.
Currently, they are performing and giving lessons in Busan. And they also organize the Busan Tango Festival (BTF) every year.
They established Busan's first tango dance company "juntos". They are working to spread the beauty of tango to as many people as possible by teaching choreography and giving lessons.

[ Awards and major careers ]
■ 2012 World Tango Championship Salon 2nd place
■ 2013 Asian Tango Championship 10th place in Salon
■ 2014 Seoul Metropolitan Tango Championship Formation Ranked 3rd place
■ 2023 "El cxuce Korea" performance