Since beginning their partnership four years ago, Andres Amarilla & Meredith Klein have taught Argentine Tango in over 30 cities on 4 continents, reaching a total of over 4,000 students.  Andres & Meredith are recognized for their ability to simultaneously push the limits of “nuevo” tango improvisation while remaining grounded by a deep knowledge of traditional tango.  Their performances and teaching provide audiences with windows into different aspects and epochs of tango:  from the stately bearing and intricate footwork appropriate for a Di Sarli recording from the 1950s to the emotive, excessive beauty of a Piazzolla recording from the 1980s; from the wild and rigorous explorations of nuevo tango, replete with extreme pivots and changes of embrace to the quiet, sweet perfection of a D’Agostino-Vargas recording in which the singer yearns nostalgically for the “barrio” or neighborhood of his youth.  Andres & Meredith’s ability to perceive and communicate the essence of all of these facets of Argentine Tango is what makes them so sought-after as performers and teachers.

A native of Buenos Aires, Andres Amarilla began dancing tango 22 years ago at age 11.  While still a child, he studied with and performed in the dance companies of three of the greatest “tangueros” of all time:  Gustavo Naveira, Juan Carlos Copes, and Rodolfo Dinzel.  After 10 years of intensive immersion in the music, culture and movement of traditional Argentine Tango, Andres became part of a small group of young people seeking to push the limits of the traditional art form.  Together, they anaylzed and codified the movements, sequences and rules of traditional tango and began to play with the “grammar” of the tango language, thereby developing uncounted new sequences of movements, and giving birth to a new means of teaching, dancing and thinking about tango which is called “nuevo tango.” 

A pianist and vocalist with a B.A in Music Theory, Meredith Klein discovered tango in 1999 in Massachusetts.  After learning all she could in the US for 6 years, she moved to Buenos Aires in 2005 to further her study of the dance.  Andres & Meredith began working together in Buenos Aires in 2005 and launched their international career with a 20-city tour in 2006.  After spending two years largely on the road, they moved to Philadelphia in February 2008, where they founded the Philadelphia Argentine Tango School (http://philadelphiatangoschool.com), providing a complete education for beginners through professional dancers.