Angel Montero and April Parker are the couple that dancers love to watch- because of the vitality,
passion, joy and playfulness that are expressed through their dance. They are the ones you see in milongas with big smiles on their faces while they are dancing to their favorite milongas. Their dances are constantly transforming, and their love for the dance takes them to explore and create new trends and to revere old trends of tango. April and Angel feel that the dance itself is always changing, and in its very nature, is improvisational.
Angel has been teaching since 2006, while April started teaching local classes in early 2008; they have been regular teaching partners since 2007, and they have been invited to teach in the Southeast (Augusta and Savannah, GA; Charleston, SC; Durham and Asheville, NC; Birmingham, AL), St. Louis and Kansas CIty, MO and Salamanca, Spain. Angel and April have been the fixtures of "Tango en Español", as part of the Spanish Immersion Program of Morehouse College in Atlanta for the past four years.
Their style of teaching addresses mechanics, technique and concepts, and they challenge themselves and the dancers in their classes to create their own unique style and way of expressing themselves in a dance. Both Angel and April believe that dancers need a very strong foundation of walking, turning, stopping and pivoting techniques and most importantly, awareness of comfortable body mechanics (posture, connection and embrace flexibility)- before dancers progress to the difficult advanced choreographic classes. Dancers with strong foundations make better dancers who can improvise with ease and create their own unique choreographies and movement.
Angel Montero
Angel started studying tango in early 2002, and discovered the social aspect of the dance in 2003, after taking classes with several teachers brought to Atlanta by Barbara Durr (Brigitta Winkler, Alicia Pons and Susana Miller). He became a student in Barbara's class since, and he started collaborating in the class in May 2004.
Angel has also studied with milonguero legends like Cacho Dante, Ricardo Vidort and Ruben Harymbat, and some of the best teachers touring the US, like Robin Thomas, Brigitta Winkler, Tomás Howlin, Felipe Martinez and Eric Jørissen. His curiosity for tango has taken him to study with teachers of different tango styles (Osvaldo Zotto, Facundo Posadas, Homer Ladas, Fabián Salas, Murat and Michelle, Oliver and Silvina).
In addition to teaching, Angel also has DJed many milongas in Atlanta (Milonga Pasional, Pavadita, Tangueros Emory, Carpe Diem, Milonga Bohemia , Salsambo, Holly Springs, Guapa and LUNA) and he has been invited to DJ in Memphis, TN; St. Louis, MO; Durham, NC; Augusta, GA, Savannah, GA; Ann Arbor, MI; Charleston, SC, Asheville, NC, Charlotte, NC, Knoxville, TN, Denver, CO, Kansas City, MO, Austin, TX, and Salamanca (Spain). Angel has also been the organizer of the Atlanta Tango Festival, one of the best tango festivals in the US.
Angel is available for private classes (individuals, couples or small groups). For more information, use our CONTACT page or call (404) 376-6732.
APRIL PARKER
April began her journey into the world of Argentine tango in 2003 in Buenos Aires. She immediately fell in love with the music, and then the dance when she took her first class there. After taking classes for some time when she returned to the US, April joined Barbara Durr’s class in 2005. She studied primarily with Barbara, and during this time, she began to develop her own dance.
April's ability to both lead and follow enables her to intuit both sides of the embrace and the movements within. She loves to challenge followers to become active followers with the abilites to contribute to and improvise within a dance-and helps followers gain the knowledge and confidence to dance with all leaders. April credits her dance as being an amalgam of many influences: Susana Miller, Alicia Pons, Brigitta Winkler, Marika Landry, Silvina Valz, Robin Thomas, and Eric Jørissen- and her most generous influence and continuous mentor, Barbara Durr. Not to be forgotten are all the wonderful leaders who have helped tremendously to shape her dance.
April's and Barbara Durr's followers' technique workshops in 2008 led the duo to work together weekly until Barbara moved to DC in 2010. April has also assisted Susana Miller, Brigitta Winkler, Robin Thomas and Eric Jørissen during their workshop weekends in Atlanta and has gained a wealth of dance and teaching knowledge from these master instructors.
Currently, April is putting most of her energy into her MUJER workshops which she is teaching in installments over the year of 2012. She is also working on taking MUJER on the road in 2013 by providing these workshops for followers in other cities.
April is also available for private classes (individuals, couple and small groups) and specializes in leaders' and followers' core techniques and bodywork. For more information, please contact her using our CONTACT page.
Barbara Durr
Barbara Durr is the founder and original Master Instructor at Atlanta Tango. She has relocated to Washington, DC in 2010, and after taking a little bit of time to settle into her new home, she is ready to begin teaching classes in DC. Barbara's and Eugenia Park's new tango school in DC, Tango Seekers, is certain to be a very inspiring contribution to the DC tango scene.
