Fabienne Bongard

Fabienne Bongard’s [Class Schedule] [Event Calendar]

Fabienne Bongard is known for her special affinity for the milonga and Argentine waltz, cheerful cousins to the darker tango. Born near Montreux, Switzerland, she came to New York in 1979 to train at the Martha Graham School and study tap, jazz and ballet. She then turned toward ballroom dancing, and later, she became fascinated with the Argentine tango, and began to study with local experts. In her travels to Buenos Aires she has studied with Pepito, Petaca, and Manolo, all kings of milonga dancing. She has also trained with Gustavo Naveira and Fabian Salas. She has taught for the New School for Social Research for ten years.

Fabienne has been affiliated with Dance Manhattan since 1995 where she is developing a unique program in the study of Milonga and Argentine Waltz. Since 1994 she has held a weekly Men’s tango Class, in the style of the men’s classes of Buenos Aires from the 1940’s. Fabienne has led workshops in and out of New York, and has done theatrical ballroom exhibitions and improvised and choreographed tango performances, including New York City’s First Nite ‘97. Most notably, she has collaborated with four other women to create TangoMujer, a performance group which danced for sold-out audiences at Symphony Space and Town Hall in New York and in Berlin, in summer 1998. TangoMujer received a Production Grant from New England Foundation for the Arts, which will send Fabienne on tour in the fall of 2000.

Fabienne has moved to California and continues her connection with our studio during her visits to New York.