Mariela Franganillo

Mariela Franganillo’s [Class Schedule] [Event Calendar]

Mariela Franganillo is warm, personable, exciting and among the most highly regarded tango dancers and teachers of her generation. She learned to dance tango in the milongas in Buenos Aires before studying with Gustavo Naveira and dancing with his Tango Troupe in 1990.

Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Mariela is a dancer, choreographer and producer. Early highlights of her career include performances of Los Tangueros at the Teatro Cervantes (1992) in Buenos Aires, and appearances at the tangueria Casa Blanca (1993), the Smithsonian Insititute in Washington, DC (1994) and Stanford University (1994-5). She was a featured dancer in the show Forever Tango in 1996 and choreographed and performed various numbers in the experimental production Tango Fusion a year later. More recently, Mariela appeared in the Broadway cast of Forever Tango, A Tribute to Astor Piazzolla at the Weill Recital Hall in New York City, the National Dance Week festival in Washington DC, a number of concerts with Fernando Otero's quintet X-Tango (for which she was partnered by Pablo Pugliese), and elsewhere in and around New York.

Mariela used her extensive choreography and performance expertise to co-produce Swango - the Fusion, an innovative evening of Argentine tango and swing dance that first gave performances in New York City in 2002. She is currently co-producing and dancing in an expanded production of Swango.

A gifted and enthusiastic teacher who has given workshops across the United States, Canada and Japan, Mariela began creating an extensive instructional program at Dance Manhattan in 1997. She brought a fresh enthusiasm for tango that is melded with polished skills, years of experience, and a legacy that stretches back to the golden-era of tango.

Mariela also coordinated Dance Manhattan's Tango program for Argentine Tango guest instructors and conducted a program of partner dancing for teenagers with the salsa dancer Mariana Parma and lindy-hop specialist Janice Wilson.

At Dance Manhattan, Mariela began the longest-running Saturday Practica in NYC, La Practica. You can still find her, or her guest, running this practica Every Saturday now at Stepping Out Studios.

For current info on Mariela's activities: https://www.facebook.com/mariela.franganillo