Eşref Tekinalp and Ilgın Tetikcan
The couple has been working together since 2007. They founded a tango school together, organized workshops in many cities in and outside Turkey and performed in several tango festivals and workshops together.In 2008, during their journey to Buenos Aires, they felt the touch of the Argentinian culture and of the tango roots and traditions.
In 2009 they decided to follow their own path and approaced their study on tango in a more personal way. They decided to get back together in 2011 and now they are once again working as a couple. Eşref and Ilgin have now two seperate tango organisations of their own and together they are dedicated to helping tango lovers from all over the world improve their dance and personal aptitudes in this beautiful dance.
The couple steps up with a lot of emotion, having a dynamic and innovative view of the dance. They have a wonderful musicality and a natural and elegant technique.
Besides their wonderful dance, they have an unique way of teaching, attending every single person, teaching new things at every step on the way from easy to hard and allowing all the knowledge to be easily excuted in the milongas. They approach teaching through creativity and productivity and they help each and every student develop body-awareness and elegant technique.
Videos
Performing with Sexteto Milonguero, 2011
Videos
Performing with Sexteto Milonguero, 2011
Ilgin Tetikcan
Ilgin Tetikcan was born in 1985 in a family of artists. She started Classical Ballet at the age of five and performed as a balerina in the most important cultural centers of Turkey. During that period her talent to dance was noticed therefore she took part in the most important plays. She had to quit ballet when she was injured at the age of 12. Ilgin Tetikcan, whose passion for dance has never been diminished, worked and experienced many different dances since her early youth. She studied Modern Dance, Jazz Dance, Latin Dance and also martial arts as Aikido, Tae-Bo, Kendo and Wing-Tzun. She was passionate about dancing and sports and became an assistant trainer during condition classes for fitness, stretching and step. She developed her musical talents continuously and she also studied, as an amateur, different instruments such as guitar and piano, cello, horse-riding, marksmenship.
In 2003, after meeting with the Argentine tango, she felt a deep conection with this dance. So deep that she decided to put a pause to her University studies and concentrated very hard on deepening her Argentine tango knowledge. She studied intensively with well-known Turkish maestros. She started teaching and preparing young dancers to become tangueros in 2005. After finishing University, guided by her passion for tango, she dedicated herself completely to this dance. In 2007 she became partner with Eşref Tekinalp and they started to work together. They travelled to Buenos Aires in 2008 to meet the Argentine culture and home of of the beloved tango. When she came back she continued her work and passion of tango and, together with Eşref, founded a tango school with another couple. In 2009 she departed from that school to follow her own path and work regarding tango.
After 2009 she became the partner of Özhan Araz and built up a different dance technique and another view of the dance, performing and teaching together in several international tango festivals in Lebanon, Sweden and other countries. During this period Ilgin started her own project, TANGOLIC dance school, and started teaching tango dancers and instructors in her own studio. She is constantly invited to teach and perform in numerous workshops and tango festivals all around Turkey. To be able to beter explain her style of dance, her way of listening to the music and the follower technique, she focused her study on women technique.
In 2011 Eşref and Ilgin decided to continue their tango studies together once again. With each of them teaching in their own separate school, they manage to share with their students different approaches and techniques of the Argentine Tango Salon.
Eşref Tekinalp
Born in 1976, Esref Tekinalp studied at the hardest and most prestigious university of Turkey, Istanbul Technical University. In 2003 Esref had the chance to start tango with a milonguero who had a wide knowledge. After that he studied with Argentine instructors and built a solid ground for this dance.
Realizing his talent at dance he started instructing in 2006. In 2007 he met Ilgin and they decided to become partners and work together. In 2008, on their jorney to Buenos Aires, he had a chance to meet, talk about and study Argentine tango with world-wide famous couples. Returning from Buenos Aires, Esref founded istanbulTANGO with another couple (Murat Elmadağli & Zeynep Yalçınkaya). In 2009 they started organizing the famous "TanGOTO Istanbul" Festival being now an experienced tango organizer.
Esref seperated from Ilgın in 2009 and kept studying with Zeynep Yalçınkaya. At that time he gave lessons and made performances in very important tango centers like Moscow, Paris, Siracusa, Amsterdam. In 2010 he won the Argentine tango Championship of Turkey, organized by the Turkish Dance and Sport Federation.
In 2011 he decided to work with Ilgin Tetikcan again, realizing the great potential of their couple. Thus Esref worked studies for the subject of "Emotionality and Naturality of tango" With the knowledge and experience he gained from istanbulTANGO he is now training dancers and instructors.
Doruk Coşkun and Elif Burcu Çelik
Doruk and Elif are a young couple who manages to charm everyone immediately with their dance. Their style can be defined as a synthesis of emotions, musicality and dynamism. Doruk has a strong musical background, having played as a singer with Turkish bands, making him a wonderful interpret with a delightful musicality.
Elif's artistical background is related to theater, making her a very elegant and emotional dancer.
This artistic backroung gives the couple a great combination of musicality and classiness. They focus on helping the dancers explore their own body dynamics and expressiveness.
They have improved their tango manners and knowledge by working with worldclass maestros including Sebastian Arce & Mariana Montes, Mariano “Chicho” Frumboli & Juana Sepulveda, Esteban Moreno & Claudia Codega, Diego “El Pajaro” Riemer & Maria “Belen” Giachello, Ezequiel Farfaro & Lucia Mazer.
They have improved their tango manners and knowledge by working with worldclass maestros including Sebastian Arce & Mariana Montes, Mariano “Chicho” Frumboli & Juana Sepulveda, Esteban Moreno & Claudia Codega, Diego “El Pajaro” Riemer & Maria “Belen” Giachello, Ezequiel Farfaro & Lucia Mazer.
Since 2010 they became a part of istanbulTANGO and they have been performing in numerous places in Turkey, showing a young breath in interpreting the traditional tango.
Video
Performance in Nişantaşı City's Milonga, 2011
Performance in Taksim Sanat Milonga, 2011
Video
Performance in Nişantaşı City's Milonga, 2011
Performance in Taksim Sanat Milonga, 2011
Gökdağ Yalçın and Fatma Yıldırım
The partners started Argentine tango with Ilgın Tetikcan and they have been working together for two years. Fatma and Gökdağ have found one-to-one working opportunity with Özhan Araz for a long period of time. They have also participated in several intensive workshops of Mariano ''Chicho'' Frumboli & Juana Sepulveda, Sebastian Arce & Mariana Montes, Ruben & Sabrina Veliz.Besides tango they have shown interest in several other dances. They have been trained in classical ballet by Ayşe Sun, one of the important trainees of Turkey and they have also studied modern dance. Thus, in tango they manage to harmonize the combination of music and aesthetics with the rapid techniques and sensations. Besides dance, Fatma has also shown interest in sports, having played volleyball for long years and being a licensed volleyball player for three years. Gökdağ had trainings in boxing and played as an amateur for a year.
Fatma and Gokdag, who are one of the young partners exhibiting active performances in Istanbul, have had numerous performances in various cities of Turkey and they are part of the TANGOLIC Dance School in Istanbul.
Video
Improvisation in Medical School Dance Club, Istanbul 2011
Performance in Taksim Sanat Milonga, Istanbul 2011
Guest performers
DJs
Augustin PAUN
Cenker UZUN
Eşref TEKINALP
Laura IARU
Mara UZUN
Live music by Alexandru NUCA and Ioana ERNEA
