DC Queer Tango Weekend!!!
June 12th &13th, 2026
@ Montgomery College
Silver Spring, Maryland
You are cordially invited to join the DC Queer Tango Collective for two, fun-filled days of queer tango learning, sharing, and dancing, culminating in our annual:
Be Here Queer! Pride Celebration Milonga
on Saturday evening, June 13th, 2026.
The DC Queer Tango Weekend is sponsored by Montgomery College (MC)’s Department of Visual and Performing Arts and the Cultural Arts Center, with funding provided by the MC Arts Institute.
One main goal of the Weekend is to provide participants with excellent queer tango instruction. There will be four workshops led by an impressive group of highly-experienced visiting teachers. See class descriptions and teacher bios below. The workshops are free, but registration is required. Registration links will be added below.
On Friday night, we will gather for a community conversation (with dinner provided) followed by a social gathering and a tango sing along. The discussion will include queer tango organizers from across the US and abroad. You must RSVP for the dinner (via the link below).
And we will enjoy three hours of tango practice time Saturday afternoon as well as special treats and surprises during the Saturday evening milonga. Two outsanding DJs (Karen from Philly and Sandeep from the Bay Area) will spin the tunes for us.
A detailed schedule and information on the location is also found below. We hope to see many of you there. If you have any questions or special requests, please send them via the contact form on this webpage or via email to:
dcqueertangocollective@outlook.com
And as always, we want you to:
Come as you are!
Dance as you wish!
Weekend Activities and Schedule
The two “all level” workshops are appropriate for tango dancers at any level (including beginners), while the other two workshops are intended for more experienced dancers. You do not need to bring a partner.
If you have no experience in tango dancing at all, consider attending the “tango taster” class Saturday evening at 7:30pm, for which no registration is required.
All events take place at the Cultural Arts Center of Montgomery College’s Takoma Park Campus, located at 7995 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland. The building is about 15 minutes’ walk from the Silver Spring Metro Station, on the Red Line. There is parking on the lot next to the building or in the garage across King Street.
Teacher and DJ Bios
Elly Fernandez (she/they)
Elly will teach a workshop Friday night. Raised in the strength and love of the Philadelphia Tango community and studying both roles from the get-go, Elly brings her background as a public educator to teach tango in US communities that are both robust and emerging. As a project-based communications educator, she roots the expression and listening of movement dialogue in real world contexts: creating dialogue together, as a community, on the social dancefloor. Her students gain a better understanding of who they are, what mystery they are mastering, with a curiosity to explore within their connections, and know more of the whole dance - not just half of it - as a result. Expect an impish look when she supports you turning a dance constraint into a feature, helping to make this dance your own unique expression. You can merge your tango journeys with hers in New England in the spring, in Chicago & Michigan in the summer, on the West Coast in the Fall (Abrazo Queer Tango in Berkeley & Queer Tango San Diego), and in VA & NC (Queer Dance Roanoke & Queer Tango Durham) in December.
Phi Lee Lam (she/her)
Phi Lee will teach two workshops Saturday afternoon. She is a queer tango dancer and organizer based in New York City. She became interested in dancing both roles when she first encountered Tango Queer in Buenos Aires. Since 2015, she has been studying with Carla Marano and many other dancers of her generation and lineage. In recent years she has been invited to teach and perform at Queer and mainstream Tango Festivals across the United States and in France. Her teaching is rooted in self-awareness, improvisation, deep listening, and application of technique that is natural, embodied and efficient.
She has also organized events where she provided safe spaces for women and LGBTQIA+ dancers; facilitated discussions and seminars; collaborated with global artists, collectives, and organizers in increasing access to non-gendered/open-role/all-inclusive tango classes; and raised visibility of queer tango dancers by organizing public performances.
Sandeep Tata (he/him)
Sandeed will DJ the practica Saturday afternoon. Sandeep fell in love with Tango one cold winter in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He loves Golden Age Tango music. He's amazed that this nearly 100-year old music can get complete strangers to be present and vulnerable with each other. He enjoys playing music for people in various stages of falling in love with Tango.
Other invited guests:
Arno Cuca (AUT)
Karen Curtis (CA).
Karen Johnson (she/they)
Karen will teach a workshop Friday night and will DJ the Saturday night milonga.