CV. Coupleonti Andrea Monti and Hugo “Gato” Valdez were both trained as tango dancers and teachers in their native city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, sixteen years ago (Andrea) and twenty-five years ago (Hugo). They met in 1998 and since then, they have been working continuously in Argentina and around the world. Gato and Andrea have achieved top mastery of Argentine tango as an art form and created their unique dance style, characterized by a refined mixture of power, sensuality and passion combined with their exquisite music interpretation, perfected technique and elegant “caminar a tierra.”

CV GATO • CV ANDREA

Gato and Andrea’s supreme artistic achievement of innovation in style and their ability to capture the very spirit of tango tradition places them among the top professional couples who represent the traditional salon style of Buenos Aires, with a great internationalreputation, pedagogical training and vast teaching experience.

Gato and Andrea have been active delegate members of the Association of Teachers, Dancers and Choreographers of Argentine Tango in Buenos Aires for 10 years. They have been selected as official Judges of the “Mundial de Tango de Buenos Aires” in August 2010 and 2011 (Tango Buenos Aires Dance World Cup) that is organized yearly by the Ministry of Culture of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires.

Andrea and Gato enjoy fame and popularity throughout the world in the tango
communities. They have participated in several international events and tango festivals such as Pulpo´s Tango Week in Buenos Aires, Argentina (2005, 2006 and 2007), Río de Janeiro Tango Festival in Brazil (2005), PortlandTangoFest in the USA 2004 and “Segundo Encuentro Internacional de Tango” in Spain, 2004, among others. They choreographed and performed dinner shows as guest of honor in Bali, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in 2004 and 2006. While in Singapore, they starred in a TV commercial that was broadcasted throughout Asia.
Between 2002 and 2006 they were the featured tango couple in different international shows: “Voces del Mundo” at the National Auditorium, “Gran Hotel Costa Rica” in San José de Costa Rica, “Las Estrellas del Tango” in Costa Brava, Spain, “Tango a Media Luz” in Sonoma, California, USA and “Tango Takes Two” Company, at the Cremorne Theatre in Brisbane and The Playhouse Theatre in Perth, Australia. Additionally, they have appeared in an infinite number of performances in famous show clubs, tango bars, and milongas of Buenos Aires, working mostly with “Los Reyes del Tango” one of the most acclaimed orchestras from Argentina.

Through many years of experience and work, Gato and Andrea have developed their own effective and congenial teaching methods based on the technique of posture, balance, axes, weight changes, and rhythm, with a special focus on the tango walk. They emphasize the interpretation of the music and encourage the students to express their feelings through their dance. Gato and Andrea’s instruction is progressive, challenging and comprehensive;
it gives particular importance to musicality and technique versus step memorization.

During their professional career, they have enjoyed great accolades from numerous
international students, and they have rightly deserved great international reputation
as “consummate maestros of tango” due to their extensive training in methodology of teaching tango and their vast teaching experience of both professional and amateur dancers throughout the world.

In 2003, they were on a Teaching Tour as Visiting Masters for the first time in the
USA, which they consider their second home. Since then, they have become regular visiting teachers working with constant devotion and contributing with their knowledge and experience to the growing and development of both the existing and new tango communities in the USA, especially in the Bay Area and main cities in California.

Gato and Andrea have created and run ARGENTINE TANGO USA, an organization which was born from a desire to continue to expand the love for authentic Argentine Tango and to pay tribute to the social and cultural aspects of tango around the USA. The idea of this challenging project started to form in 2008, and it became stronger when UNESCO together with the Agency of Culture and Education of the United Nations declared Argentine Tango a part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on October 1, 2009. Its goal is to reach out and engage dancers from all tango communities to share and enjoy the experience of tango during this great and unique event which is Argentine tango USA Festival and USA Official Championship, where participants at all levels will benefit from the positive learning and magical social dance environment.