Who We Are

We are Jani and Kristina Autio; partners in love, life, dance, and crime. Although we have what is considered very few years of Argentine Tango experience, we in fact have over 35 years of dancing experience between the two of us. Our previous dance experience allowed us to learn quickly and our deep love for this dance excelled our desire to learn.

With this many years of dance education under our belt, we have come to understand and take in all the important aspects of teaching body movement. In addition, Kristina has received a Bachelor of Education and has worked over 10 years in the field of education. Together, we offer an extensive background in dance and teaching.

I, Jani (pronounced yah-nee), began dancing International Ballroom (i.e. the 10 standard/latin dances in Dancesport) at the age of 12 and continued until the age of 22. Upon meeting Kristina, we began learning Boogie Woogie, a swing dance popular in Europe, and shortly after started competing together in International Ballroom in both Standard and Latin dances. Aside from Tango, I have another passion. I am a photographer making the transition to working as a professional.

I, Kristina, began dancing Classical Ballet at the age of 5 years old and Jazz at the age of 8. I continued studying these dances until I was 14 years old when high school became more interesting to me than dance. Once I realized how much I missed dancing, a high school teacher allowed me to participate in her dance class and during university I took dance aerobics classes and became an aerobic instructor myself. Upon meeting Jani, our dance partnership began to merge. We initially learned Boogie Woogie and shortly after started competing together in International Ballroom in both Standard and Latin dances.

We began learning Argentine Tango in Toronto in 2006. Our Tango education included weekly private and group lessons for approximately two years. On many occasions, we taught classes for our teachers in their absence. This education and experience prepared us well for our journey to study in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

When we first arrived in Buenos Aires we took classes with Roxana Suarez & Sebastian Achaval, Natacha Proberaj, Fabian Peralta & Virginia Pandolfi, Jesus Velazquez, Nina Balbuena, Carlos & Rosita Perez, Graciela Gonzalez, and Gabriel Misse. With time and the belief that one cannot learn Tango well unless one focuses on only a few teachers, we discovered our greatest influences were Alfredo & Sylvia Alonso, Jorge Dispari & Maria del Carmen Romero, and especially Javier Rodriguez and Andrea Misse. However, we owe our Tango to our Maestro Andres Laza Moreno who truly taught us what Tango is and how it feels. With him, we took weekly group lessons (accompanied by his sister Mirna Laza Moreno) and weekly private lessons during the majority of our eight months in Buenos Aires.

Andres Laza Moreno has over 10 years of Tango history and is only 28 years old. However, don’t let his age fool you. His maestros include the late Carlos Gavito (whom he assisted for), Jorge Dispari (whom he assisted for), and the world renowned Javier Rodriguez. He was also part of a special program begun by the Argentinean Secretary of Culture to preserve the culture of Argentine Tango. This program consisted of being one of few dancers selected by a committee to learn Tango for a year from some of the most outstanding Milongueros alive at the time (Milonguero/a is a Spanish term often used to describe the Tango dancers who danced back in the Golden Age of Tango, namely the ’40s, and whose life revolves around dancing socially).

Andres is an incredible dancer and teacher. Should you be in Buenos Aires, we recommend classes with him above and beyond anyone else. He can be reached at andres.lazamoreno (at) gmail.com