About Me

Elizabeth started studying folk, swing, ballroom, African, ballet, modern and jazz dance at Carleton College. After a M.A. in dance from the University of Oregon, she got hooked on Argentine tango in 1995. A former dance student, Greg Estes, dragged her (protesting) to a Daniel Trenner workshop in Portland, and then she dragged him (unprotesting) into starting a tango community in Eugene in 1996. For her second M.A. (in cultural anthropology), she visited Buenos Aires several times, interviewed dancers and teachers, and explored gender roles in tango, as well as dancers' views towards the lead and follow roles. She moved to Portland in 2008.

Elizabeth teaches dance with an emphasis on breath, energy and posture to create connection in the dance. She brings her experience studying many forms of dance, as well as her training in yoga and human anatomy, to her teaching.

Her main tango teachers in Buenos Aires have been: Luciana Valle and Chicho Frumboli for leader technique; Omar Vega for milonga; Tete for vals, and Oscar Mandagaran for breath, posture and energy work; her dancing was also strongly influenced by the dancers of the Dinzel school. Her main teachers in the United
States have been Oscar Mandagaran and Georgina Vargas, Luciana Valle and Daniel Trenner. She enjoys and teaches both close and open embrace styles, as well as dancing both as a leader and a follower.

Elizabeth teaches tango in NE Portland, Eugene, and in Salem. She can be reached at ewartluf@gmail.com or 503-284-1411.

She also teaches salsa, Latin and ballroom styles, and coaches couples to prepare for weddings.