Andrew started dancing tango after moving from London to Seattle in 1997 and began to DJ soon after. "I was fascinated by the rhythms, complexity and romance of the music of the Golden Age." Since then, Andrew has continually refined his craft and delighted dancers at milongas, festivals and encuentros across the Pacific Northwest and as far as Hawaii, Alaska, Canada, the UK, and Europe.
"DJing is the only time I get to dance with everyone on the floor and it brings me a great deal of joy to share my musical ideas with the dancers."
As a DJ Kipp's focus is on providing the best possible mix of traditional tango tunes designed to inspire the dancers with her selection of music that was played in Buenos Aires during the 1930's, 40' and 50's.
Kipp DJs traditional milongas and practicas regularly in New Mexico and Santa Fe. She has DJed at various encuentros around the US and Europe and has been a guest DJ at many local milongas around the western USA.
Michelle has been a tango DJ for 15 years. She has danced Argentine tango for 18 years and has done some form of dance since the age of 9. She combines her deep love for golden-age tango music, innate musicality, and trustworthy ear to create tandas that flow, build energy, and keep pulling dancers back onto the floor. Michelle DJs regularly in Albuquerque and Santa Fe and has been a beloved DJ at festivals, marathons, encuentros, and various milongas in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Texas, California, Idaho, Washington, North Carolina, South Carolina, and England.
Paul has been dancing Argentine tango for more than 25 years and DJing for at least 20 of those years. In addition to being a regular DJ in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, Paul has DJed nationally and internationally at numerous major festivals, marathons, and encuentros across the US and beyond, including in Asheville, Baltimore, Charleston, Denver, Los Angeles, Portland, Port Townsend, Salida, CO, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, San Miguel de Allende, Seattle, Phoenix, Tucson. As a DJ, Paul works hard to keep everyone energized and dancing long into the night by playing the highest-quality, most familiar, time-tested, and dancer-approved music from Tango's Golden Age.
When not spinning tunes, Paul indulges in his other passion; you can view his work at akmajianart.com.
Sohrab has been dancing Argentine Tango for over 13 years, in the past seven years he has DJed milongas in Charleston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Durham, Ashville, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Denver, Salida CO, Los Angeles, Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Marin, Mountain View, and at present DJs in San Francisco area milongas.
Sohrab has DJed events across the US: Utopia Encuentro in Charleston and Durham, Pioneer Encuentro in Salt Lake City, Two Moon Encuentro in Santa Fe, Salida Encuentro in Colorado, Nowrouz Milonguero Tango Festival in Ashville, Wine Country Encuentro in Santa Rosa, Queen City Tango Marathon in Charlotte, Close Encounters Tango Festival Denver, Los Angeles Encuentro Milonguero, and Albuquerque Encuentro Milonguero.
Sohrab prefers music from the Golden Age and his goal is to keep the dancers energized throughout the milonga.
Traditional music is so vast and lovely. Graham Stanford's appreciation for music took root during his first tango trip to Buenos Aires in 2016, especially over coffees with Osvaldo Natucci and hearing the great DJs at El Beso. There he was immersed in the lyrical richness and education of the unique voices, lyrics, and orchestras in tango. In 2023, out of necessity, Graham had to create a lot of playlists for Puerta al Tango events at Las Puertas while building the school and community there. Investments in proper audio files, equipment, and software came soon after.
Graham believes that just like there are no "rules" in tango, there are no "rules" for what music can be played and when. Rather, there is only etiquette (códigos) for the creation of trust between dancer and music. The harmony of la ronda and the flow for the dancers is the trust he hopes to build from first tema to last. October 30, 2024 marked his first official DJing gig with building the cycles live to suit the mood of la ronda. He enjoys studying, learning, and exploring musicality just as much as flowing in la ronda as a dancer.
Andy has DJ'd at encuentros, festivals, and marathons across the US and Europe since 2012. He was the organizer of the Newport News Encuentro (E+) since 2014. His music is primarily Golden Age 1930-1950, striving for balance and harmony, with rhythmical and lyrical tandas, plus occasional drama. When an external monitor is available, Andy displays information about the current and next tanda in a consistent format that is informative and useful.
During the pandemic, Andy provided weekly virtual milongas on Zoom, Tandas Around the World, in place of the evening milongas in Europe and the US. In 2021, Andy launched Milonga as a Service (MaaS), a 24/7 tango service in the cloud that is always on and always free at tinyurl.com/milongaas.
