Bio of Donna Tielsch, studio owner & instructor

Donna began dancing tango in the fall of 1999 and quickly fell in love with the tango. She had danced other dances previously, but nothing caught her heart and soul the way tango did. Seven months almost to the day of taking her first tango lesson, she opened Tango by the River. She has now danced tango all across the United States as well as in London, Paris, Prague, Montreal, and, of course, Buenos Aires. Many fabulous dancers and teachers have influenced her, including most notably Oscar Mandagaran and Georgina Vargas, Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionuevo, Mayte Valdes & Carlos Barrionuevo, and Eduardo Saucedo and Marisa Quiroga.

Donna was fortunate enough to perform tango at the National Academy of Tango in Buenos Aires and is the only American to be admitted to the "Cuadro de Amigos" of the National Academy of Tango. She was one of the principal dancers for the sold-out show "Tango! Vibrations of the Soul" presented by California a Todo Tango on June 11 & 12, 2010, and again on October 1 & 2, 2010 at the 24th Street Theatre in Sacramento. She also starred in the 2011 production "TANGO!" at the Three Stages Theatre in Folsom on September 17, 2011. Donna has performed with Eduardo Saucedo, Darren Lees, Facundo Posadas, Jorge Torres (dance captain of "Forever Tango"), Oscar Mandagaran, and, of course, many of her favorite leaders here in Sacramento.

In her own words: "Tango is all about connection. The primary and most important connection is with your partner. Next, it's your connection to the music, to the dance floor itself, to the other dancers. This is what I love so much about tango ... how it connects us all together. We live in a rather sterile world with boundaries everywhere -- from fences around our yards to cubicle walls that separate us from people, experience, life. Well, tango let's us get close. Close and connected."

"When the rest of the world slips away and it's just me and my partner moving in synchronicity with each other and with the music--that's tango. And that's why I started dancing this dance. Well, that and the great shoes!"