Our DJs
Photo by A. Mohamed
Dan Boccia - Anchorage, AK
The music is what first drew Dan to tango in 2000, and he still loves the music deeply. His DJ journey began with college dances using vinyl in the late 80s, continuing on to DJ for several kinds of social dances through the 90s, and he has been DJing tango events throughout North America since 2001. He enjoys studying the crowd and selecting songs in the moment, with artful transitions between tandas, taking the dancers on a dynamic journey with the music. Dan has presented DJ seminars and mentored dozens of DJs, many of whom are DJing internationally now.
Photo by Fulya
Sabah Chammas - San Diego, CA
Sabah got addicted to Tango in the late nineties. It started with dancing and now it includes being a DJ. "Tango music occupies my thoughts and energizes my spirit and I am in constant search for good music. Although I try to vary the music I play, please feel free to consider me old fashioned as I love Golden Age music. The emotional impact of the music is what I look for in addition to the musicality."
Photo by Hiro Iwashimizu
Carol Horowitz - Montreal, QC
Carol can be often found Dj'ing at the milongas she runs in Montreal, and when schedule permits, she loves to travel to marathons and festivals around North America. She's Dj'd at the Abrazo Marathon, East Coast Marathon, San Francisco Marathon, Tango Magic, Los Mujeres Marathon, and the Philadelphia Tango Festival to name a few. A DJ with a keen sense of energy and flow, she is able to facilitate an electric atmosphere that keeps everyone on their feet tanda after tanda. A classically trained dancer who worked for several years in contemporary dance, Carol was introduced to tango through friends, falling immediately in love with the creative and improvisational aspects of the dance. A passionate teacher, Carol is co-founder/manager of Studio Tango Montreal, a centerpiece of Montreal's vibrant tango scene that boasts 10 permanent teachers on staff. Aside from teaching and managing the Studio's regular activities, Carol has produced countless workshops with visiting guest teachers as well as many larger events, including the Montreal Summer Tango Fling, Bailongo Montreal Tango Festival held annually in May and La Fete, an annual New Year's holiday time string of milongas.
Photo by Alexandra Zaytseva
Yulia Kriskovets - Washington, DC
Yulia has been a tango DJ for over 15 years, both locally in Washington D.C. and in various tango events in the U.S. She loves to contrast the music texture and emotional charge in a way that drives the crowd to dance a lot. She aims to get to the trance-like state where dancers feel safe and inspired. Most recently, Yulia is inspired by the idea of the wave from the 5 Rhythms dance practice and incorporates it in her tango DJing.
Photo by Yulia Kriskovets
Ramu Pyreddy - Washington, DC
Ramu fell in love with tango music in 1999 and started dancing in 2000. To share that love and budding passion, in 2000, he started the Michigan Argentine Tango Club at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 23 years later, he still remains deeply in love (if anything it has only grown stronger). Along the way, he has become one of the most knowledgeable and sought after tango DJ's in the US. He has DJd at countless events - milongas, festivals and marathons - all over the US, in Argentina, Australia, Canada, and India. For the last 12+ years, he has been the host and resident DJ at Milonga Zandunga, one of DC's popular weekly milongas, known for it's outstanding music. As a DJ, Ramu plays mostly music from the Golden Age and has a strong preference for the Big Four Orchestras.
Photo by Kadir Y
Ilias Selalmazidis - Athens, Greece
As far as I remember myself, I danced from my earliest years (traditional and folklore dances), and as my mother used to say "this kid (me) has firstly danced and then he walked." But Tango met me unexpectedly 16 years ago. What I love while dancing the Tango is that I can be myself, ready to exchange thoughts, feelings or even aura. It may sometimes feel like being exposed but only in a totally safe way. The best part of dancing the Tango is the interaction between the couple on the dance floor and the way we communicate during the tanda. This interaction is what I am looking for while DJ-ing behind the decks, but in this case the interaction comes between me and all the dancers. What I am trying and challenging myself is to capture moments, signs, expressions of the dancers, or even if it's possible, feel the energy on the dance floor so I can harmonize it with the next tanda. Last but not least, I have plenty of tango songs to share that deserve to be heard, and wait to be danced, and I wonder how they could be interpreted through the art of dance. My preferences both as a DJ and as Dancer is on the Golden Age. Favorite orchestras: Biagi, Donato, Troilo, Pugliese, D'Arienzo...!
Photo by Bassel Hamieh
Tommy Smith - Boise, Idaho
Tommy has a passion for traditional tango music and DJing, and he believes understanding the mind of the social dancer is the key to great DJing. To educate and motivate beginning DJs, progressing DJs, and those interested in tango music, he offers semi-regular DJ workshops. Festivals he has DJ'd at include Montana's Tango Uprising, Salt Lake City Tango Festival, Mountain Milonga, CONNECT, Tango on the Rocks, and Washington DC’s Tango Holiday.
Photo by Michelle Guanca
Robin Thomas - New York, NY
When Robin came back from his first trip to Buenos Aires 22 years ago, he realized that if he wanted to continue to dance tango every night, he would have to find a way to attend milongas for free. At the time, the concept of a tango DJ barely existed. Organizer's would put on a CD, and often it would repeat to span the length of the milonga. Robin wanted to play music as he had heard it in Buenos Aires: in tandas of tango, vals, and milonga with cortinas in between. He began to DJ doing exactly that, despite being told not to play cortinas as people would dance to them. Initially some people did dance to the cortinas, but Robin persisted until this format became the standard. Over the next 10 years, he was invited to DJ in D.C., L.A., Denver, Portland, Miami, and some of the biggest festivals in North America, as well as, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Berlin, Seoul, Shanghai and Buenos Aires. Currently Robin co organizes Gallo Ciego and a Tuesday practica in NYC.