Biographies

Sharna & Isaac

"Thank you once again for visiting Riga, Latvia. Although we don't have very many advanced dancers, you managed to raise our level of dancing a lot."

Isaac and Sharna are a dynamic and thoroughly modern partnership, pursuing the artistry of the tango with subtlety, playfulness, and precision. Their style of tango is influenced by contemporary trends in body awareness and an analysis of natural movement. Their exploration of the many techniques of tango, from the very classical to the very experimental, is guided by universal tango themes of personal connection and creative expression. Among the most versatile of tango couples, Sharna and Isaac move elegantly between the intimate moments of traditional tango styles and the complex and athletic vocabulary of the emerging generation.

Equally passionate about teaching, their classes strike a balance between clear and insightful explanations of tango mechanics, and the sensual skills of connecting with a partner. Most of all they want students to have fun with the learning process, and to discover the magic of tango improvisation at any level. They are based in Washington, DC and travel frequently as guest instructors throughout North America and Europe.

Sharna Fabiano
Sharna Fabiano has over twenty years of dance experience, the last decade of which has been devoted to the cultural study of Argentine tango. She has been educated in several traditional social dance styles by some of the greatest names in the modern Tango Renaissance, and is regarded as an innovator who has remained connected to the tango's roots while exploring its ever-changing modern aesthetics and vocabulary. Sharna is recognized around the globe for her elegant, powerful dancing and for her expertise in both leading and following roles. Sharna is also credited with pioneering the use of non-Argentine "neotango" music for social tango dancing, and created the website www.neotango.com in 2003 to share musical ideas.

Between 1999-2004, Sharna made five journeys to Buenos Aires to study and absorb the deep culture of tango. She also appears on instructional videos partnering two of today's most well-known Argentine dancers, Mariano "Chicho" Frumboli and Jose Garofalo. Based in Washington, DC, she travels frequently as a guest instructor around North America and Europe, and visited Cuba twice as part of a US-licensed cultural exchangein 2002. Among her most influential teachers she counts Rebecca Shulman, Daniel Trenner, Brigitta Winkler, Pablo Veron, Chicho Frumboli, Gustavo Naveira, and Pedro 'Tete' Rusconi. Her own teaching is characterized by a clear, articulate knowledge of body movement, and by a great depth of understanding of tango improvisation.

In 2003, Sharna joined the internationally acclaimed TangoMujer Dance Company, a group of all-women tango dancers based in NYC, and in 2006 she established Sharna Fabiano Tango Company in Washington, DC. She has performed her work at the prestigious Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, and in NYC, San Francisco, Berlin, Dusseldorf, and Hamburg, Germany, as well as in DC. Her written articles on the depth and mystique of social tango have been widely read and translated into several languages. For more information about Sharna's current projects, visit www.sharnafabiano.com

Isaac Oboka
Isaac Oboka is a gifted young dancer from Denver, Colorado. With the smooth, effortless quality attributed to the most sophisticated social dancers, his tango is full of surprises, originality, and humor! From 2002-2005, Isaac's passionate quest for the heart of the tango took him to hundreds of dance floors across the US, and to Buenos Aires for an intensive study of three months. In 2006, he began his professional career traveling as a guest instructor to over a dozen cities in North America. In 2007 he formed his partnership with Sharna with a 4-month tour in Europe, and is now teaching regularly in Washington, DC. Isaac is particularly skilled in addressing the details of body positioning to achieve ease and comfort in the tango embrace.

Isaac is greatly inspired by the innovative dancing of Argentine artists Chicho Frumboli/Eugenia Parrilla and Gustavo Naveira/Giselle Anne. His tango path has been influenced by many people including Nick Jones, Alex Krebs, Jaimes Friedgen and Homer Ladas.