TangoTageHalle | Festivalito & Tango-Marathon in Halle (Saale)

Gianpiero was only 12 when his father (engineer, martial art teacher and tango lover) involved him in a free project for youngster to approach tango.

He fell in love with tango during his first trip to Buenos Aires when he was only 15 and since then he’s been studying with all the major Maestros.

Becomes a teacher the following year and starts performing in Italy and abroad at 18, realizing that he wanted to dedicate his life to tango.

Since then, he had the chance to travel around and perform with lots of great dancers, such as Mila Vigdorova, Corina Herrera, Cesira Miceli and Nadia Hronidu. Last but not the least, with Maria Filali, with whom he created a flourishing dialogue and a refined lasting project, which has been internationally acclaimed.

Tango and his pedagogy are strictly connected to his studies of music, engineering and bio-mechanic as “a simple and efficient technique, based on natural laws and aware listening, as the key to free the real and intimate spirit of tango”. During more than a decade, he has been developing a thorough didactic and intriguing training method. Moreover, in order to deepen his research, he also enrolled to a Bachelor degree in Motor and Sports Activities and Psychomotor Education Science, and soon he’s going to graduate with a dissertation on Functional Training Method for Tango.

Lorena has been studying dance and ballet since she was five years old, at 17 she met Tango thanks to Gianpiero Galdi. She got immediately passionate about the didactic and the care that are dedicated to the delicate psyche of the amateurs of this complex art. Under Gianpiero’s guide, she undertook her professional path. Meanwhile, she also is attending a Bachelor Degree in Motor and Sports Activities and Psychomotor Education Science at University of Salerno, in order to deepen her knowledge about motor control and learning, body awareness and pedagogy. In 2015 she begins studying, teaching, showing and traveling in partnership with Giovanni Cocomero, with whom she’s collaborating in many projects led by Gianpiero as: Gtango School, the cradle of Tango in Salerno; High School Tangotherapy Project, in high dropout rate schools, teaching teenagers values of social relationships through Tango; Tango at University of Salerno, for getting youngsters acquainted into Tango; Tangere company, the group within they train, research, work, teach and perform. In fact, Tangere Company created its latest show “Cammino Ascolto Tango”.

Together they moved to Turin. Over there they teach regulary, give intensive seminars and travel all over the world to teach and perform.

Murat’s tango journey started in 1998. He was born in Turkey with Italian and Croatian roots. Studied art in the academy of fine arts following his parent’s academic carriers. Before he graduated, he met Tango at a local milonga in Istanbul. He was fascinated by the improvisational aspect of the dance. Started taking lessons the next morning and he never stopped.

After graduating from the academy of fine arts and specializing in fresco and mural making, he chose to continue his studies in The United States. First in New York then in Washington, DC. The times of studying in The George Washington University for the masters of fine arts and starting to teach tango were dated very closely. Murat organized milongas and ran classes in Washington, DC for 6 years. Then moved back to NYC and started working for Dance Manhattan Studios. After accomplishing his tango carrier in both cities and partnering with numbers of NY based dancers, he finally met Michelle. They became friends, then lovers, then dance partners. They married and left NY to start traveling in the country. They worked in most major festivals, universities and tango communities of the time in the States. They have become usual teachers of festivals such as Valentango, Portland and Tucson Tango Festivals. In 2008, they took their travels to international grounds, mostly to Europe. Visited Australia and New Zealand. Annually visited Michelle’s birth place, Hawaii. This is where he started presenting musicality lectures as well as producing acrylic art works representing the visualizations of tango music.

Years passed and life went on. They separated after 10 years of shoulder to shoulder living. Murat moved to Europe and continued his teaching alone. He traveled to Australia and New Zealand to teach, lecture and perform his inspirational skits.

He started partnering Sigrid Van Tilbeurgh in 2015 they worked in Europe and toured in AU and NZ together.

Today Murat works half of his schedule with his new partner Silvina Tse and the other half alone. Murat and Michelle occasionally get together to teach.

Besides teaching and performing, he continues giving lectures at tango marathons and festivals. He is actively involved with a motion capture project with Swedish design institute on the subject of making visualizations of dancing. Murat has number of bases as he calls home. He never stopped traveling as he finds tremendous amount of pleasure in teaching and spreading inspirations for tango dancers around the world.

As well as traveling and teaching mostly in Europe, organizing various tango holidays, one can catch him in Hawaii, connecting back to the nature in the beginnings of every year.

Murat lives in Switzerland with his wife Linda and their daughter, Melodie.