Miguel Cardoso & Julieta Barrionuevo
Miguel Cardoso is first generation born in the United States from Mexican parents. Miguel was first introduced to tango as a young child when his grandmother used to sing and play tangos while she cooked. This familiarity with the music would later play an important role in his dancing.
In early 2002, while listening to tangos with a friend (and tango dancer), she suggested to him that since he loved the music so much that he should try to learn to dance tango. From that suggestion he began taking classes and immediately he fell in love with the sensuality and closeness of the dance. Soon after, two things became a focus to his dancing, smoothness and musicality.
Miguel concentrates on dancing with close attention to interpreting and listening to the music while placing focus on his partner and her comfort. This is revolves from a strong emphasis on the embrace. Miguel Cardoso has been influenced and instructed by many great dancers such as Hugo Patyn and Miriam Larici, Julio Balmaceda and Corina de la Rosa, Gustavo Naveira and Giselle Anne as well as Orlando Paiva Jr.
Miguel has been teaching with Claudia Cortes since 2005 and together they have worked over the years in creating a social dance that has connection through the embrace, is free of any rough movements and of course, expresses the music. Every year they work together on improving their tango philosophy by traveling outside the Los Angeles area to the many Tango Festivals throughout the world. This dance philosophy on movement and musicalty is what they bring to their students in all their classes. Currently they teach in the Los Angeles, Orange County and Palm Springs area.
Julieta Barrionuevo, gymnast, dancer and musician, was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
As a child, and for 7 years, she was part of the Rhythmic Gymnastic Team Velez Sarsfield, competing in National Championships, where she had Ballet classes, Introduction to Movement and Corporal Expression, as part of her training. Then it was when she had her first contact with Tango, performing a competition with her hoop to the music of Anibal Troilo, El Choclo.
At the age of 9, she started Piano lessons, graduating 10 years later as a Piano and Music Theory Professor, in the Santa Cecilia’s Conservatory of Music.
Julieta gives credit to her father for instilling her passionate love for Tango. She took her first Tango classes with Nito and Elba, in the Legendary Club Gricel, in 1998. Since then, she has been exploring the dance of Tango, from the technique to the music interpretation of it. Searching always for the improvement of her dance she studied with the most recognized professors, such as Mariano Chicho Frumboli y Juana Sepulveda, Gustavo Naveira y Giselle Anne, Olga Besio, Soledad Larretapia y Ricardo Biggeri, Carla Marano, Ezequiel Farfaro, Gaston Torelli y Moira Castellano, Mariela Sametband, Noelia Hurtado y Pablo Rodriguez, Sebastian Arce y Mariana Montes, Julio Balmaceda y Corina De La Rosa, among others.
She lived in Los Angeles, and for many years, she was part of the School of the Wenta Ballet. She also studied Jazz, Modern and took the intensives workshops with Diavolo Dance Theater. She also was a cheerleader for Chivas USA Major League Soccer Team, where she did live dance performances, press appearances and television events.
She currently resides in Buenos Aires. She teaches private classes and participates as an assistant of Soledad Larretapia and Ricardo Biggeri’s classes as well as in Carla Marano’s classes.
She also teaches and performs with Volkan Sonmez and Miguel Cardoso.
Her passion and commitment with Tango take her to the continuous research and investigation of the roots and the evolution of the dance.