Queen City Tango Festival
A weekend-long Argentine Tango festival, this event features 5 days of workshops, 8 milongas, 6 amazing instructors, 8 DJs, and one beautiful venue in Charlotte, NC.
Meet Our Instructors and DJ s
Maja and Marko
Maja has been dancing since she was three years old. She has a background in contemporary dance and ballet, as well as latin and ballroom dances. She attended music school for ten years, where she played the piano and flute. She studied Spanish and German language and literature at the University of Zagreb and worked as language teacher and translator. In Karlsruhe, she worked in different departments of the Center for Art and Media Technology (ZKM). Marko was more into sports and almost went pro in basketball. Instead, he decided to study Electrotechnics and later Physics in which he obtained a degree at the University of Zagreb. He later continued his education and in 2014 received his PhD in Nanobiotechnology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). From 2010 until 2018 we have lived in Karlsruhe, Germany. We curently live in Zagreb, Croatia. We started dancing tango in Zagreb, Croatia in 2002 in a small group of enthusiasts curious about this “new” dance. Some five years later we began giving regular lessons at the Tango Argentino Zagreb dance school. Our first and most influential teachers were Pablo Rodríguez and Noelia Hurtado. Later we continued to study with Noelia and Carlitos Espinoza. We also studied with Federico Naveira and Inés Muzzoppapa, Bruno Tombari and Mariangeles Caamaño and Chicho Frumboli and Juana Sepúlveda, among others. Since 2014 we are working with tango professionally, holding workshops and performing all over Europe (Amsterdam, Minsk, Florence, Karlsruhe, Genova, Budapest, L´Aquila, Freiburg, Treviso, Poreč, Mantova, Halle, Sevilla, Lisbon, Procida, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Reykjavik etc.). In 2018 we have started to work in North America, Asia and Australia.
Alejandra and Adrian
Adrian Veredice & Alejandra Hobert Dancers, Choreographers, Masters and Judges of Argentine Tango. From Argentina to the World, 25 years dancing together. They have a long career that includes more than 200 Festivals around the World. They rapidly became one of the most recognized couples of Argentine Tango of our time. Their impressive scenic interpretation and expressive capacity are received with enthusiasm in theaters and stages worldwide. They were protagonists of the most important and acclaimed international tango festivals of the last years (in cities such as Berlin, Rome, London, Paris, Lisbon, Athens, Istanbul, São Paulo, Dubai, Chicago, Sitges, Moscow, Kuala Lumpur , Taipei, Catania, San Juan de Puerto Rico, Brussels, Miami, Montreal, Boulder, New York , Philadelphia and others). Since 2002 they are also main teachers and dancers at C.I.T.A. (International Congress of Argentine Tango) and the World Dance Championship organized by the World Dance Council. They are masters of the South American Open in Buenos Aires. Alejandra participated on several occasions in the Mujercitas Tango Festival. Between 2003 to 2010 they were choreographers and the principal couple of the Otango show & Cincotango show which were highly successful in Belgium, France Italy, Portugal, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania , Latvia, Slovenia. They teach regularly in the United States at the Fred Asteire studios as well as at several ballroom schools. Adrian & Alejandra have also shared stage events and shows with famous orchestras such as el Sexteto Mayor, Color Tango, El Arranque, Los Reyes del Tango and Sexteto Canyengue. Since 2012 they have been teachers and members of the jury of the tango world championship in Buenos Aires and ATUSA in the categories of stage tango and track tango and artists and jury of International Tango Summit in Los Angeles. Also they are judges for Premios Tango and coaches for the reality show TangoChamps. They have lived in the United States since 2014 with their two daughters. They currently live in Weston, Florida where they organize intensive tango seminars and regular classes where they bring their passion and knowledge to the great Tango community in the USA.
Jae and Yatma
Jae Youn is an internationally recognized dancer, teacher and DJ of Argentine Tango.
Biographical Highlights:
- Placed Second in the Milonga International category at the 2021 European Tango Cup (with partner Yatma Diallo). She is the only American to have placed in the competition’s history.
- Has taught, by invitation, in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Milan (Italy), Tel Aviv (Isreal); Asheville, Atlanta, Augusta, Brattleboro, Charleston, Charlotte, Charlottesville, Chicago, Knoxville, Minneapolis, Washington DC.
- Jae has been teaching Tango in the Triangle since 2011, where she also organizes a weekly practica, and a monthly milonga.
Jae’s approach emphasizes, and seeks to blend, the physical and mental connections, and musical properties of the dance. She embraces tango as a medium through which we may express ourselves, communicate with our partners and immerse ourselves in the music and ambient energy that is the social tango experience.
Yatma Diallo, born in Senegal, has lived in Italy for over twenty years. His first dance experiences in Dakar, belong to the world of salsa and hip hop, disciplines that he continued to cultivate for many years in Europe as well.
In tango, after the first study experiences in Europe with Monica Maria Fumagalli, current partner, with Susana Miller, Ana Schapira, Jorge Firpo and many others, he spent a period in Buenos Aires to deepen his studies, reaching, in a few years, interesting professional awards.
Having earned many awards in competition, together with Monica Maria, he carries out an intense didactic activity with a permanent school in Milan, and workshops in different towns of the world. Since 2014 he has been president of the ASD "Mundo Milonguero". As a TDJ with the name of El Africano Bien milonguero, also with solid professional training as a sound engineer, he worked for international events in Italy, USA, Turkey, Slovenia, Greece, Belgium, Latvia, and Guadaloupe as a DJ and instructor.
DJ Yatma Diallo
Yatma Diallo, born in Senegal, has lived in Italy for over twenty years. His first dance experiences in Dakar, belong to the world of salsa and hip hop, disciplines that he continued to cultivate for many years in Europe as well.
In tango, after the first study experiences in Europe with Monica Maria Fumagalli, current partner, with Susana Miller, Ana Schapira, Jorge Firpo and many others, he spent a period in Buenos Aires to deepen his studies, reaching, in a few years, interesting professional awards.
Having earned many awards in competition, together with Monica Maria, he carries out an intense didactic activity with a permanent school in Milan, and workshops in different towns of the world. Since 2014 he has been president of the ASD "Mundo Milonguero". As a TDJ with the name of El Africano Bien milonguero, also with solid professional training as a sound engineer, he worked for international events in Italy, USA, Turkey, Slovenia, Greece, Belgium, Latvia, and Guadaloupe as a DJ and instructor.
DJ Steven Thull
Steven Thull is a tango dancer, DJ, and photographer. He lives in Rochester, NY, where he has been organizing milongas and teaching classes since 2017. As a tango photographer, he is known for capturing the special moments that happen on the dance floor. As a DJ, his focus is to provide the right music to create those moments. Steven approaches every milonga with an attentive eye on the ronda, a keen ear for the music, a large collection of quality recordings, and a passion to put it all together for the dancers.
DJ Avik Basu
Avik began his tango journey in Ann Arbor in 2002 and has since become a highly sought after DJ, playing at many of the major tango events in North America. Some of his more interesting adventures include DJing Monday night at Salon Canning, teaching tango to a Bollywood actress in Mumbai, and touring the U.S. with tango band Trio Folias. Avik's musical selections are grounded in the Golden Age classics, but he also enjoys pushing the boundaries of the familiar (in small doses) and offering dancers a chance to explore something new.
DJ Jae Youn
Jae has DJ’d, by invitation, at festivals, milongas, marathons and encuentro milongueros in: Calabria (Italy), Ljubljana (Slovenia), Milan (Italy), Tel Aviv (Israel), Tenerife (Spain); Albuquerque, Asheville, Atlanta, August, Charleston, Charlotte, Chicago, Columbia, Knoxville, Louisville, Minneapolis, Nashville, Newport News, Phoenix, Santa Fe, Salida, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Tucson, Washington DC.
As a DJ, Jae loves the challenge of keeping dancers on the floor to the very last tanda. Her music selection is responsive, guided by her sensitivity to the energy of a milonga. Her music library is focused on the traditional masters.
DJ Edmond Bardhi (ANN ARBOR, MI)
Edmond was exposed to a large variety of music from both visiting and local DJs in Ann Arbor. DJing regularly at different events in Ann Arbor has allowed him to develop a rich style full of rhythmical presence and lyrical complexity. Throughout the night, Edmond manages the flow of energy to enhance the dancers' connection by being versatile and attentive. He keeps the crowd energized with playful cortinas and by strategically infusing subtle contrast in his music.
DJ Milton "El Gallo" Azevedo
Milton “El Gallo” is not your regular DJ. He is a true professional, an exuberant entertainer, a thoughtful romantic, a mischievous character, a dynamic dancer, and a magic-maker who understands that every moment of an event matters. His approach to DJing mirrors his approach to tango. He looks to deeply connect with the people in the room, carefully and thoughtfully selecting songs, tandas, and even cortinas to create a mood that accentuates the experience for each dancer present. Expect a carefully curated journey of musical emotion that inspires you, keeps you dancing, and leaves you satisfied.
Milton hails from Boston-ish (MA, USA) where he is the resident DJ of the popular and long-standing monthly event, Milonga Nueva, which he co-hosts with his lovely wife, Corin. He has frequently DJ'ed throughout the United States and Canada, and at major events in Europe!
DJ Jun Yi
Intrigued by the beauty of the music and intensity of the dance, Jun discovered the world of Argentine Tango when studying at Yale University, and started her DJing journey at Yale Tango Club. Her incessant quest for great tango music led her to invitations of DJing by popular milongas in New York City, the vibrant tango community that nourished her growth and blossoming into a mature dancer and DJ. She aspires to create an engaging conversation with the dancers through her tunes where dancers could ease into their personal truth of tango with their emotions safely unfolding and expressed through the dance. Known for her impeccable delicacy of storytelling, Jun’s music is instrumental to creating some of the most blissful, energized and passionate milongas for the dancers that have heard her.
She has been sharing her music selections at renowned marathons internationally, like Abrazo Tango Marathon (Montreal), San Diego Tango New Year Festival, Atlanta Tango Marathon I & II, Buscandote Houston Tango Marathon, Las Mujeras Tango Marathon, Santa Maradona Marathon (Napoli, Italy), Pandora Tango Marathon (Greece), Caras de Tango Festival (Turino, Italy), etc., as well as Milongas in China, Italy and Argentina. Currently residing in California, her journey as a tango dancer, DJ, and community-builder continues to grow and expand through her persistent study of tango music and her consistent tango travels to Europe, Argentina and Asia.
DJ Ken Broom
As an explorer of Argentine Tango since 2004, Ken enjoys playing tandas of sensual tango, melodic vals, and playful milonga in both traditional and alternative music. Watching a dance floor filled with dancers who share a common passion for the creative art of dance excites him.
Since he began playing music for dancers, Ken has been the primary house DJ in three different tango dance venues in Columbia, SC between 2007 and 2017. He has also been featured in events like Spoleto’s Tango on the Beach (2006 to present), Columbia’s Mad Hot Tango Marathon (2010-2012), Columbia’s Argentine Tango Regional (2014-2015), Charlotte’s Candlelight Alternative Milonga (2016), Queen City Tango Marathon (2018 to present), Dancing with the Stars (9 seasons), Las Carolinas Tango Marathons, SouthEast Tango Festival, and Milonga La Pantera along with several ballroom grand openings and numerous private tango events.
As an audio engineer, Ken has mixed live music for such artists as: Alejandro Ziegler, Osvaldo Barrios, Athens Tango Project, De La Noche, Orquesta MaCuba, and Palmetto Latin 9.
He also enjoys hosting events, such as: Tango by the Lake, WinterHeat, and The Columbia Tango Marathon as well as performing tango and other genres of dance.