Experience the First Ever Open Role Tango Festival in the USA!
In 2020, during the week before the Pandemic closed everything down, Fernanda and Daniel led a first experience of “Open Roles in Tango”, at her Dance Academy in Boston. The work was enthusiastically received by a group comprised of many of the most advanced social Tango dancers in Massachusetts. We are now back with version 2.0.

Fernanda & Daniel are members of the first generation of revival Tango Dancers, beginning in the 1980s in Buenos Aires.

Fernanda is a product of Argentine Contemporary Dance, leading to her International fame as a Tango Performer and teacher around the world for more than 25 years. She is a Tango Woman raised in the Patriarchal world of Tango in Buenos Aires. Fernanda’s tango is built on three pillars: clarity of roles, a constant and active embrace, and a shared axis between partners. Guided always by the music, her approach blends technical precision with organic connection, allowing dancers to find their own voice while honoring tango’s universal language and cultural roots.

Daniel arrived in BsAs in 1987 as a guest artist at the State School of Contemporary Dance teaching Improvisation, Jazz, and Composition. He found Tango when there were less than a couple dozen tango people in BsAs under the age of 60. He is a Tango male raised in the Feminist Dance World of the USA.

The learning of both roles is a mythological part of Tango’s story. In the Male Practicas of the Golden Age (1930s and 40s) men were obliged to learn to follow before being allowed to lead. Women were practicing with family and trusted friends. One had to know how to dance before one could show up at the Milonga. The rules were strict.

Men and women in the culture didn’t talk easily about intimacy with each other, and dancing is intimate.

What Fernanda and Daniel discovered in their collaboration is that the learning of both roles in the modern Tango environment lends itself to men, women, and ones of any other gender expression, learning in a deeper and more expansive way as they engage in the learning of both tango roles, lead and follow, together, in an open dialogue. Something about the unique combination of Fernanda in dialogue with Daniel fosters this open and honest conversation.

That’s why we call it “Open Roles”. Open to learning. Open to listening. Open to dialogue. Open to switch. Taking the learning of social dancing into the territory of exploring gender identity and expression through learning both iconic roles at the same time. We think this applies to other dances too, but here we will focus on Tango.

This gathering is for interested dancers, experienced Tango dancers, and teachers of all forms of social partner dances.

Join us as we break new ground in the learning of dance.

Fernanda and Daniel

Whether you are a beginner or experienced dancer, no matter your background, style, or gender, this event invites you to explore both roles in tango, opening up new ways to connect through movement and music. Through workshops, lectures, guided practices, and social dancing, we will explore the essence of Argentine Tango—not as a rigid tradition, but as a living language that unites people.

Expect:

• Inspiring classes to understand how each role works.

• Practice sessions and discussions

• Amazing DJ Oleh Kovalchuke

• Workshops + Lectures by Daniel Traner & Fernanda Ghi

• Milongas (Tango Dance Socials)

• Special Guests & Performances

• Salsa + Bachata Fun Breaks

• And many surprises!

Festival Schedule

Thursday, October 16

• 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM | Open Practice (for early arrivals)

• 7:30 PM | Welcome Milonga

• Dress Code: Casual

Friday, October 17

• 11:00 AM | Lecture: Tango Tradition & Tango Today - Daniel Trenner & Fernanda Ghi

• 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM

  • Proposers’ Technique – Level I (for new leaders) - Daniel Trenner

  • Proposer & Responder Technique: Sacadas – Level II (for experienced dancers working in both roles) - Fernanda Ghi

• 4:00 PM | FUN BREAK! Step into Bachata - Hazel Lopez

• 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM | Open Role Practice Guided - Daniel & Fernanda

• 8:00 PM | Milonga - Catered Dinner (Additional Food Time Package. Pls register)

• Dress Code: Wear Something White

Saturday, October 18

• 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM

  - Proposer & Responder Technique – Level I (for new followers & leaders) - Daniel & Fernanda

• 1:45 PM – 3:15 PM

  • Proposer & Responder Technique: Giros – Level II (for experienced dancers working in both roles) - Fernanda

• 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM | Open Practice & Interaction Space Guided - Daniel & Fernanda

  • A time to dance, share experiences, and connect

• 7:30 PM | Fun Break! Step into Salsa - Hazel Lopez

• 8:00 PM | Gala Milonga - Catered Dinner (Additional Food Time Package. Pls register)

• Dress Code: Elegant

Sunday, October 19

• 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM | Tango & the Music (all levels) - Fernanda

• 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM | - Daniel & Fernanda

  • Tango Sequence I

  • Tango Sequence II

• Matinée Milonga + (Additional Food Time Package. Pls register)

• Celebrate the end of the festival with dance, and joy!

• Departure time.

Registration!!!!

https://openroletangofestival2025.eventbee.com

***Students Discount Available With Valid ID***

HOTEL RESERVATIONS:

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1. Hilton:

   https://www.hilton.com/en/book/reservation/deeplink/?ctyhocn=OKCNTHX&groupCode=CHH903&arrivaldate=2025-10-16&departuredate=2025-10-19&cid=OM,WW,HILTONLINK,EN,DirectLink&fromId=HILTONLINKDIRECT