Meet the Cast of "Carmen the Tango"

Diana Cruz (Carmen) has dedicated her life to understanding, creating, performing and teaching body movement. Originally from Asunción, Paraguay, she began her dancecareer as a ballet dancer later discovering Argentine Tango. She currently teaches and performs...

Donato Juárez stands out as one of the most talented tango dancers from the new generation in Argentina since the late 1990s. Hailing from Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires, he is part of a vibrant community of young dancers who continuously delve into the intricacies of...

Lorita Travaglia, (Fate) Creative Director, is a former professional Ballet dancer who after a 22- year performing career that took her all over the world, is currently Ballet Master at The Colorado Ballet. She has a lifetime of experience in the performing arts and...

Facundo Agüero Maisano (Captain Zuniga) is a DJ, dancer, performer, choreographer, and tango teacher. He studied tango at the National University of Arts in Buenos Aires, where he trained in tango dance techniques, styles, and pedagogy, as well as stage, performance...

Sarah Genung (Michaela) has been dancing tango since 2005 but has been dancing in some capacity since she could walk. Whether it was growing up with ballet, belly dancing in restaurants or capoeira in the streets, dance has always been an essential part of her life,...

Vanessa Stephan (Lead Gypsy) fell in love with partner dancing in 2004 and passionately pursued Ballroom, Lindy Hop, and Blues, Tango, WCS, and Fusion, always balancing skills to both lead and follow. After teaching Ballroom in a university setting, Vanessa relocated...

Paula Kirkland has dedicated her life to the study of dance, movement and the art of teaching. She holds a BFA in Dance from Wright State University and is a former professional ballroom dancer. Paula has been performing with Parasol Arts since 2017 and is thrilled to...

Ervey Castillo (Mercedes’ Friend) has been dancing tango since 2007 and in the last 6 years with Michele Delgado, More Than Tango he has assisted Michele in teaching tango classes and private lessons. He has danced in Parasol Arts’ productions of “Carmen the Tango” in...

Jonathan Bruneau, originally from Québec, began dancing Tango in 2008 after receiving his master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering as an artistic escape from the confines of the laboratory.  As part of his training, he attended numerous Argentine Tango...

Mez Charney: Mez's love of tango was instilled by her grandmother Alba, who was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and spent her 1930s childhood dancing with her tanguero father in their living room. As part of her unending quest to learn about the art of tango, Mez has...

Julianne Kim Julianne fell for tango and never once looked back. With a background in a colourful variety of professional movement and musical modalities, she blends fundamentals techniques with a playful, open-hearted approach focused on adaptability and versatility....

Umut Mete Saka started dancing tango at Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey. His student activity soon became his passion which led him to take incalculable classes from local and international tango maestros. Together with his passion to teach, Mete started...

Sarah Bella Originally from New York City, Sarah Bella began her Argentine tango journey ten years ago, drawn to its intensity and musical depth. Raised by musician parents and immersed in music and Broadway from an early age, including studying piano with her mother...

Jamie-Lynn Figure began her performance arts journey in competitive figure skating. After six national championships, she traded blades for heels in 2007 to study tango with Oscar Casas in Indianapolis. She currently teaches tango and other movement arts in Colorado...

Payman Dadashpour has been dancing tango socially for 20 years. What draws him to tango is not only the music, but also the connection and silent communication between two people. This is his third time working with Parasol Arts.

Sandy Zdunich has been performing since the age of eight. After 13 years of training in ballet, jazz, and lyrical dance, she discovered salsa in 2003 while working in Havana, Cuba—an experience that shaped her artistic path. In 2006, she formed an amateur partnership,...

Jeremy Nicholas’s first introduction to tango was through the music and not through the dance. He joined Nick Jones’ quartet Tangozo as the new double bassist in 2018.  After four years of performing with the band he began to study the dance. ‘Carmen the Tango’ is...

Anna Paschke has dabbled in many forms of dance but has yet to find one she loves more than tango.  After a hiatus from social dancing to raise two amazing little girls, she has been all-in on tango for the last 2 years. She is especially proud to have co-founded the...

Victoria Dizghinjili and Nathan Rogers have been dancing tango together for over ten years. Victoria started dancing tango in 2011 and was vice champion of Russia in the tango vals category in 2015. Nathan started dancing tango in 2016. This is their second major...

Jill Skinner (Tarot Card reader and Singer)is a local opera singer, tango dancer, and attorney.  She earned a B.A. in Music (Piano) with High Honors from the University of Colorado Boulder, an M.A. in Music History from the University of Washington, and a J.D. cum...