Sercan Yiğit & Zeynep Aktar (Istanbul)
Performance on Saturday and Workshops of 75 minutes on Saturday and Sunday between 12:00 - 14:45.Tango (int/adv), Tango (adv), Vals (int/adv), Milonga (int/adv) PM for Private classes
Both in their dance and their lifestyle, as a couple Sercan and Zeynep have a distinctive point of view embracing communication and innovation, always reminding the lively, respiring "human touch" of the tango dance. read more
DJ Jur Heijnen (Amsterdam)
Opening DJ, Friday 10th of June 17:00 - 21:00It is our pleasure to present to you the opening DJ of Focus Tango Festival, the one and only, DJ Jur Heijnen.
Jur is mostly known for the Tuesday night salons in Amsterdam. In 1999 he started in studio De Plantage, following the television broadcast of Barend en Witteman. Later came Moeder’s Mooiste at the Marie Heinekenplein, Arti et Amicitiae with Helma Pantus, the Pick-Up Club with Wouter Apituley, the Artis Zomeravonden, the KHL, Hotel Arena, his own studio at the Elandsstraat and Hoh, now Los Locos.read more
DJ Lucas Malec ‘El Tabernero’ (Buenos Aires / Amsterdam)
Friday 10th of June 21:00 - 00:30From the neighbourhood of Caballito in the heart of Buenos Aires, currently based in Amsterdam, Lucas is a musician and dancer. He is a founding member of Pannonica Tango Quartet. As a DJ, his music is characterised by its energy and known for keeping the dancers emotionally engaged, to the point of intoxication, that is why he is known as 'El Tabernero'.read more
Special Guest Dutch tango pioneer Wouter Brave (Amsterdam)
Talk How it all started and why, Saturday 11th of June 15:00 - 16:00Wouter Brave (1953) is a multi-disciplinary artist with a long and versatile career. He was a pioneer in Argentinian tango. As one of the first European tango searchers he visited Buenos Aires in 1985 with his dance partner Martine Berghuijs to study tango. He studied with legendary teachers like Antonio Todaro and Pepito Avellaneda. In 1986 he founded, together with Martine, Mirta Campos and Lalo Diaz, the first tango school in the Netherlands, Tangoschool Amsterdam.read more
DJ Arjan 'el Irresistible' (Amsterdam)
Saturday 11th of June 16:00 - 20:00Arjan Sikking also known as DJ Arjan ‘el Irresistible’ has a traditional approach on his music selection and is known for the way he builds a set of salon dancing. He fully exploits the differences in energy from the many music styles that tango has, especially from the rich history of the 30s, 40s and 50s (and sometimes 60s). His tangos, milongas and tango waltzes are always splendidly danceable.read more
Special Guest Dutch tango pioneer Martine Berghuijs (Amsterdam)
Presentator Grand Milonga on SaturdayMartine is originally trained as a dancer. She started to explore the tango by invite of Wouter Brave as one of the first European tango searchers to visit Buenos Aires in 1985. She studied with legendary teachers like Antonio Todaro and Pepito Avellaneda. One year later she founded, together with Wouter Brave, Mirta Campos and Lalo Diaz, the first tangoschool in the Netherlands. With this Tangoschool Amsterdam they became the Dutch pioneers of tango.read more
DJ La Gata Negra (Ankara / Leiden)
Saturday 11th of June 20:00 - 00:30Hilal is an aerospace engineer who is in love with technology and innovation. Argentine tango has been an important and complementary aspect of her life since her PhD. Her interest in tango had already started after a tango flamenco show she saw at her university theatre in METU Ankara. Years later she took her first tango lesson at her research institute during her PhD in Porto.read more
Special Guest pioneer and singer Juan Carlos Tajes (Montevideo / Amsterdam)
Presentator Opening Milonga on Friday + Live on Sunday 12th of June 15:00 - 15:15As a singer of tango music of the first hour in 1983 Juan Carlos Tajes is considered to be one of the pioneers of tango in the Netherlands. With his track record of almost 40 years of groundbreaking tango performances, he has been an enormous force in the spreading of tango music throughout the Netherlands and beyond. He has done a lot of work, with a lot of people, all over Europe and also in Montreal, Toronto, Buenos Aires, Montevideo and Japan. He is a big fan of Carlos Cardel. Almost 40 years in tango and still going strong.read more
Special Guest pianist Christa Mierás (Amsterdam)
Live on Sunday 12th of June 15:00 - 15:15Selected by the legendary Horacio Salgán himself as his European ambassador, Christa will be accompanying pioneer singer Juan Carlos Tajes on the concert piano with a selection of their previous work. She played with the famous orchestra OTRA, debuted in 2001 in de Kleine Komedie in Amsterdam with Libertango and worked for example Susana Blasko, Mieke Manschot and Adrían Rodriquez van der Spoel. She also performs as a soloist and plays besides tango, folklore, tango contemporain and jazz.read more
DJ Lorena Garcia (Buenos Aires / the Hague)
Sunday 12th of June 15:15 - 20:00Lorena Garcia, multidisciplinary artist, comes from a family of musicians. First dancing tango socially in august 2006 with family and friends, it wasn't until 2008 that she started taking classes. Her first time as a tango DJ was in 2010, as well as her first experience as a tango teacher. She studied with Federico Naveira, Olga Besio, Gustavo Naveira, Yanina Erramouspe, Eduardo Parejita, Nito y Elba and Javier Rodriguez among the most relevant maestros.read more
DJ 'El Fresco' (Haarlem)
Closing DJ, Sunday 12th of June 20:00 - 00:30Richard Frisart ‘El Fresco’ started dancing tango in the Hague in 2010. He's been a Tango DJ since 2015, DJing regularly at milongas and festivals all around the Netherlands, and abroad. He is the resident DJ at You-Tango in Haarlem. EL Fresco DJed at the Holland Tango Festival in Rotterdam/the Hague 5 years in a row. Before 2020, Richard DJed a number of times at various milongas in Buenos Aires as well. read more