Monica (tango instructor) began teaching tango in 1997, in Austin, Texas. Her love for the dance, the music and the culture of tango comes across in the enthusiasm and accessibility she offers her students. Above all, Monica seeks through her teaching to get people “out in the street” dancing socially. Her strengths lie in conveying both the technique and the passion of tango. Her career in tango began at the age of 15 in her hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It has been over 20 years and Tango is always part, if not all, of her life. Her family moved to the States taking her along when she was 17. In Austin, Texas, her love for the arts did not leave but rather intensified. Parallel to working in college, Monica found herself in search of other tango lovers in town. Just as she thought she was out of luck, she managed to stumble upon three others enthusiasts with a similar quest. With them she started practicing in a living room; with time curious eyes began joining them and slowly but surely the living room became too small and they had to move to a bigger spot. This was the birth of the Austin Argentine tango community. Monica has trained with masters like Nito & Elba, Carolina & Diego, Lorena Ermocida, as well as many other renowned teachers. She started teaching Argentine Tango to the Austin community since age 18, being one of the few earliest Argentine Tango teacher in town. By the time the idea of Esquina Tango was materialized, Monica has already been teaching tango to the Austin community for 10 years. Her motivation for teaching was and continues to be to share her love for the dance, the music and the culture. Her incentive is to get people “out in the street” dancing. Monica is always enthusiastic and and accessible. Her charisma and warm personality engage students. In her lessons, emphasis is given to clean, connected movements. Monica's tango teaching style helps dancers build on their technical abilities while placing relevance on the connection of leading/following and on dancing to the music. Furthermore, Monica works towards creating dancers that have great social skills and etiquette in the “Milongas”. For over 14 years now Monica has been building social dancers along with a community of wonderful people of friends. "Teaching goes beyond the mere act of conveying information, it's the creating links and crossroads between people, sharing and making the love for dance and music contagious. I have met the most wonderful persons through teaching.” The Manager
Monica worked as the manager of the office for two of her favorites companies in town: Aztlan Dance Company and Proyecto Teatro. Not only did she choreograph and teach for them, she also handled their day-to-day administration, marketing, community relations, acted as their Production and House Manager. She also worked with the Zachary Scott Theatre among other independent endeavors and acted as their House Manager for two years and Production Coordinator/Summer Camp Instructor for another year. Since Esquina Tango was established in 2008, Monica has been managing its day-to-day operations like class scheduling and administration, while she is still teaching a three weekly tango classes and hosting Esquina's many events.
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