About Linda Valentino & A PuroTango

    
A Puro Tango, founded by Linda Valentino, is dedicated to preserving and promoting authentic Argentine Tango, Milonga and Vals Cruzado as they are danced in the clubs of Buenos Aires.

Honored as one of the “pioneers of tango” in Los Angeles, Linda started dancing tango in 1990. Quickly becoming obsessed with the dance, she took the first of 10 trips to Buenos Aires in 1992, when very few Americans were visiting the tango Mecca. Linda studied with many of the best tango teachers in the world, learning from them not only how to dance, but how to teach the dance.

She began hosting visiting teachers in 1992, providing the first opportunity for many of those instructors to teach and perform in the United States. Among the many instructors Linda hosted: Miguel Zotto & Milena Plebs, Pablo Veron, Carlos Copello & Alicia Monti, Julio Balmaceda & Corina De La Rosa, Osvaldo Zotto & Lorena Ermocida, Gloria & Eduardo Arquimbau, Omar Vega and Andrea Missé. For three years she also hosted the first tango festival in Southern California, attracting over 500 attendees yearly from all over the world.

From her trips to Buenos Aires, she realized there was a considerable difference between the stage (“fantasia”) style of tango that was danced in shows and the way that people actually danced in the milongas (dance halls). This dichotomy led her to focus her attention to the style of the social dancers or “milongueros,” who dance tango de salon.

In 1999, Linda invited Nestor Ray, a much-respected milonguero and teacher, to give workshops in Los Angeles. Nestor moved to Los Angeles in 2000, and Linda worked as his assistant for nearly two years. It was an invaluable learning experience and changed her entire outlook on the dance. For the past several years she has concentrated on bringing visiting teachers who focus exclusively on teaching the social form of the dance. She has recently hosted Gustavo Benzecry Sabá & María Olivera, Oscar Casas & Ana Miguel, Alberto Dassieu & Paulina Spinosa, and Enriqueta Kleinman.

Linda has been teaching for 16 years. She has regular classes in Hollywood, Downtown Los Angeles and Alhambra. Equally proficient in leading and following, she emphasizes good technique for social dancing, including posture, position, effective leading and following, improvisation, floorcraft, and understanding and dancing to the music. Linda also hosts three of Los Angeles’ most successful milongas, and is a popular tango deejay with an extensive knowledge of classic tango music.