
Press coverage

Why is Gustavo Naveira considered a godfather of argentine tango?
Argentine tango has had a long history since its conception in the late 1880s in the ports of Buenos Aires. As such, it is a dance that has mostly been taught through tradition.
Argentine Tango is a dance that has mostly been taught through tradition.
In a way, how tango was taught brings to mind how old stories were kept alive: through oral tradition. Much like these old stories, Tango had not had a formal written form of instruction for close to a century. Until some semblance of the structure appeared around the 1940s and 1950s, teaching and learning about tango rarely took up a systematized configuration that both students and teachers could use to process and impart its elements in a methodical way.
Gustavo Naveira was one of the first to ask whether such an intuitive, improvisational dance could be grasped using a more logical approach.
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Gustavo Naveira And Giselle Anne: The New Tango
In the world-wide community of Argentine tango, there are a few maestros that are sought after everywhere. These are people who have studied, danced, and written about tango so extensively that to study with them means that you'll receive the distilled essence of the form itself.
One of these maestros is Gustavo Naveira.
With his wife Giselle Anne, Gustavo displays a complete knowledge of tango movement and the reasons why tango works so marvelously as a dance form. To study with them is to receive an encyclopedic -- and very exciting -- knowledge of where tango comes from, of its traditions and grand forms, its lore, its music and extraordinary musicality. You don't just do steps, as is so often the case in dance classes, even those taught by other considerable Argentine maestros. Gustavo displays the variations. He asks, "Why do it this way instead of that way?" He changes direction in ways that at first appear impossible, but, done the way they do it, seem altogether natural.
Gustavo has been teaching worldwide for many years. Asked in a 2004 interview in the Argentine publication Pagina 12 why so many people outside of Argentina wanted to study tango, he said "It's a dance that offers you a number of answers to the problems of modern life ... and it's a guide to communication that goes far beyond language and culture."

Naveira - Virtual chat with Gustavo and Giselle
There are two kinds of tango fans that express their passion in a very different way: those who listen and those who dance. Among the first ones the collectors, the broadcasters and the researchers stand out; that is my case. Among the others, the milongueros, the dancers and the instructors; the case of the guys I interview now. Talking with Gustavo and his dancing partner Giselle turns out into a learning experience for anyone and, especially for the one who writes this. It was like entering an alien world that I hardly know because of my scarce forays into milongas and festivals. This virtual conversation encompassed several e-mails we have interchanged for over a week.
I was born on August 12, 1960 in the Patagonian region, in Comodoro Rivadavia (province of Chubut). My parents had moved there to run a shop but all my family was from Buenos Aires. When I was one year old we came back to the capital city.
When I was a child I was nurtured with tango, at home we used to listen to tango and my parents met when they were dancing tango. As you can see, tango was in my life before my birth. But my first steps with dancing occurred unexpectedly when I studied economy in the University of Buenos Aires where there was a course which I attended. There I came to know of my affinity with dancing. Later I studied folk music dancing and enrolled in short courses of classical, modern and Spanish dances. But always it was rather out of curiosity than for a professional interest.
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Demonstrations and Shows

Gustavo Naveira y Giselle Anne
THE COUPLE
They met in 1995 and found a great harmony when their incredible abilities found each other. Together, Gustavo and Giselle have successfully performed in the most important tango festivals around the world (Asia, America & Europe). They have also performed and given classes in the most famous milongas and theaters in Buenos Aires and abroad.
Gustavo & Giselle continue to teach and perform worldwide, but are now based in Boulder, CO, where they founded and run the Boulder Tango Studio. They invite dancers from all over to join them in Boulder for their yearly festival, which takes place in October each year.
Since 2003, they have been teaching in the “tango seminar” format, an intensive method which they created, consisting in 16 to 20 hours of instruction along 3 or for days on a particular tango subject, to enable students to genuinely progress in their dance.
Gustavo & Giselle continue to teach and perform worldwide, but are now based in Boulder, CO, where they founded in 2013 and run since then the Boulder Tango Studio. At the BTS they have developed a method for tango learning divided in 7 Programs (sets of classes) that include a total of 112 classes. The method establishes a perfectly controlled progression of the learning process from scratch to a pretty good advanced level. Many students already have experienced and successfully completed the progression with impressive results. For the work they carry out to date, the Boulder Tango Studio has won the Tango Prize of international scope, awarded in Buenos Aires, to the "Best Tango Academy 2018".
Gustavo is probably the teacher that has influenced tango-dance teaching the most, in all its styles and worldwide. He managed to clarify concepts about the structure of the dance. This has allowed many to understand tango dance better and teaching levels have risen considerably thanks to these concepts.
As early as 1999, the main Argentine newspaper Clarin stated, “you could say that three stylistic tendencies contend for supremacy [in tango]: Urquiza's style, Almagro's style and Naveira's style.”
Gustavo & Giselle met in 1995 and formed a tango couple, bringing together their already-vast experience with the dance. Together, they have successfully performed in the most important tango festivals around the world (throughout Asia, the Americas and Europe). They have also performed in the most typical milongas and theaters in Buenos Aires and abroad. Since 2003, they have been teaching in the “tango seminar” format, a method which they created to enable students to genuinely progress in their dance.
Giselle Anne has demonstrated her abilities as a dancer and choreographer by performing in shows such as Tango Argentino, Tango Pasión, Mariano Mores, and Los Solistas de D'Arienzo. She has performed in America, Europe and Japan. During the five years of her residence in Spain (1992-1997), she worked intensely with tango, creating her own ballet, founding a school and inaugurating the “Casa del Tango” (Tango House) in Sevilla. (http://casadeltango.es)
Now with 35 years of experience, the presence and solidity of her dance are balanced perfectly with the beauty of her movements, and this ensures that her dancing is always at the highest level.
It is likely that Gustavo Naveira deserves more credit for the resurgence and renewed popularity of tango (from the 1980s through today) than any other dancer/teacher/performer/choreographer. Since discovering the dance in the early 1980s, Gustavo has worked tirelessly to bring tango to new audiences, to evolve the dance to a higher level of technique and of structural complexity, and to develop a pedagogy that makes dancing tango at a better level possible for more people. He has also strived continuously to insure that further development of the dance be grounded in a solid historical foundation. For this reason, his dancing always has a classic look, even while he is executing the most modern and surprising steps.
Gustavo & Giselle are teaching at Boulder Tango Studio regularly. They give classes every day except when they are traveling. Consult Calendar for more info.
9 hs of advances classes in one weekend. Designed to receive people from out of town
PROGRESSIVE PROGRAMS
A new teaching method that Gustavo & Giselle have created and developed through more than 30 years of teaching experience.
Consist of a perfect progression of learning from Level A to G . Each level is made up of 16 classes .
DROP IN CLASSES
Try a class with us any time and have the experience. Available at the Beginner and Intermediate/Advanced levels
TECHNIQUE
These classes are intended for the individual . Learn how to integrate the movement of tango into the body. Learn the form beauty and details of each movement.
PRIVATE LESSONS
We encourage the advanced dancer to take these. For Beginners, group classes are the most useful
TEACHER TRAINING
G&G are preparing teachers all over the world to teach their progressive method. If you are a tango teacher and are interested in learning this method,
Gustavo & Giselle are teaching at La Papelera only when they are traveling to Argentina. The place has classes running the whole year with different teachers Consult Calendar for more info.
OPEN SEMINARS
classes with G&G during their stay in Bs As
PRIVATES LESSONS
Consult us if you want to schedule a private lesson at La Papelera
