Mylène Pelletier, founding director

Mylène Pelletier, native of New Brunswick and holder of five Canadian Championship titles in Rhythmic Sportive Gymnastics (group level), started her tango career in Montreal in 1996. While completing her Bachelor’s degree in Theatre from Concordia University and attending classes at the Ecole de Mime Omnibus of Montreal, Mylène traveled to Argentina to perfect her technique with masters such as Roberto Herrera, Graciela Gonzalez, Chicho Frumboli, Lorena Ermocida and Estaban Moreno among others. Over the course of the last twelve years, Mylène has dedicated herself to teaching, choreography and performing as well as the development of the technical aspects of the dance itself in the Montreal community. She has participated as interpreter and/or choreographer in several productions and television shows such as Conquerant de l’inutile where she shared the stage with Gilles Pelletier, Carmen Tango directed by Réal Bossé, An Opera-Tango directed by Mark Richter, L’Auberge du Chien Noir, Le Plaisir croît avec l’Usage, Tango Macadam, Tango Obsession and Mental Block. Mylène has toured throughout the province of Quebec with the Romulo Larrea Ensemble and performed on the stage of the Grand Théâtre de Québec with the Larrea group accompanied by the Symphonic Orchestra of Québec. She has recently choreographed with Simon Alarie for the video “Fancy footwork” of the musical group Chromeo, and most recently has taught at the Cirque du Soleil.

Bernard Caron

Teaching the Argentinian tango is a privilege and an important responsibility for Bernard. Much more than communicating knowledge, it represents the transmission of passion and the opportunity to accompany the students in their interior and external transformation. He has experimented that passion without interruption since 1999 focussing on what he considers being the three pillars of the Argentinian tango: the intimate connection, the search for elegance and the best musical interpretation.  While being in contact with some of the famous milongueros of Buenos Aires, he has developed his own particular style, elegant, precise and inspiring. Bernard has been teaching since 2002, mainly alongside Caroline Demers. Together, in 2003, they founded the school Tango Rico in Chambly. Bernard also created the famous Portail du tango argentin (www.milonga.ca) and the Tango Express, a bi-mensual electronic bulletin that covers the tango news in Québec.

Caroline Demers

Caroline started dancing ballet at the age of 8 years old with Miss Claire Brind’Amour ex-teacher of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. Their she had developed grace and proud  within this discipline until the age of 16 years old. She also touch other form of spirit and body work as, aikido, tai-chi, yoga, Qi Gong , and, meditation. All these approches are parts of her teaching. She found her passion for tango in January 1999 at Tango Libre where she finally consumated her love for dance. Always in search of improvement , she participated in many classes with argentenean’s teachers. In September 2001, she began teaching at L’Academie de Tango Argentin with Santiago Gimènez where she develop her warm and kind approach  with her students. She is a patient and generous pedagogue. After a few people asking her to start classes in Chambly, Caroline alongsideBernard Caron, decidedto open a school of tango named Tango Rico.

Suzanne Lavoie

Born in Quebec, Suzanne studied Biology at the Université du Québec à Rimouski. She started dancing cubain salsa in Edmonton, Alberta with Salsaddiction before learning tango in Montreal with Agata Jakubczuk et Gerardo Sanchez, she then dedicated herself to tango. She explored and learned with Argentinean tango masters from Buenos Aires;  Hugo Daniel, Aurora Lubiz, Jorge Firpo, Karina Guillén Luciano Brigante, Esteban Moreno, and Claudia Codega, and completed her training with Mylène Pelletier in Montreal. She joined the teacher’s team of the dance school Air de Tango where she performs as a professional dancer under the direction of Mylène Pelletier.  She has been dancing at the Atlantic Dance Festival in Moncton, at Montreal Just for Laugh, and during the Festival International de Tango de Montreal.  Suzanne is teaching tango since 2008, her pedagogical approach is personalized to each student, to make the dance accessible to everyone. She teaches from a solid foundation of understanding the core movements and technique, in order to expand further into fluidity and sensitivity.

Francois Tremblay

François has been interested in Argentine tango since 2004, which he discovered with his first masters: Agata Jakubczyk and Gerardo Sanchez. He will then have the chance to meet Marisol Morales and Alejandro Larenas who were a big influence in his future endeavor. Since 2006, François teaches tango and has performed on stage in various events. During the Festival International de Tango Argentin de Montréal in 2007, he danced with the Beba Pugliese Orchestra at the Théâtre de Verdure.

Diane Rivest

A classical dancer for over thirty years, Diane received her training in Montreal with Esther Lambert. Amongst her interests for dance she integrated herself intensively in ballroom dancing for some time. In May 2005, a dream of hers came true, that of discovering the beauty of Argentinean Tango. She has received her training from Mylène Pelletier and has participated in various workshops offered by visiting teachers such as: Pablo Veron, Cecilia Gonzalez, Julio Mendez, Pulpo and Louisa.

Christian Gagnon

Originally from the south shore of Montreal, Christian had his first contact with the world of dance during his studies at the collège St-Laurent while participating in a theatre production and a the competition  “Cégep en spectacle”.  In 2005, he discovered Argentinean Tango and quickly became very passionate about this dance.  Receiving from the beginning his teachings from Mylène Pelletier, Christian has also participated to workshops by Jorge Torres, Antonio « Junior » Cervila and the couple Natalia Games and Gabriel Angio.  Furthermore he now participates to Air de Tango’s Friday night milongas as an occasional DJ.

Alejandro Villalobos

Alejandro Villalobos is born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz Mexico. With a formation in contemporary dance, classical dance and mexicain folklore, he graduates from the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes de Mexico with the title of ”Concert Dance Best Interprete”.  Alejandro completes his formation in Canada with Transformation, in Montreal and at the Domaine Forget, Charlevoix. He begins dancing tango in Buenos Aires, Argentina at the Mora Godoy School and continues his learning with Mylène Pelletier at Air de Tango, Montreal. He has been dancing contemporain dance and latine dances with ARMS of Nicolas Dixon, Electrotango, Tropicalissima ”Ma terre cubaine”, Danse ton ADN at ”La nuit Blanche”, Groupe de danse Johanne Gour  in ”D’un lieu où tous sont admis”. Alejandro also choreographed pieces at Foro Experimental, at the Auditorio Josefina Lavalle, and at the Centro de Convenciones, en Mexico.

Simon Alarie

Born in Montreal, Simon Alarie has been involved in the dance world since 1989. Curious and versatile, he has explored many different professional avenues from Montanaro Danse to Celine Dion, the Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers to Graffiti Tango, the Grand Ballets Canadiens to Cirque du Soleil, Carbone 14 and O Vertigo. From 2001 to 2004, he danced for the company Marie Chouinard where he had the chance to perform an hour solo intitled DES FEUX DANS LA NUIT. In 2004, after being with the musical CHICAGO in Paris, he played a supporting role in Carole Laure’s movie, CQ2. He also collaborated with O Vertigo to perform the lead role in their stage production PASSARE as well as the main role in their film POINT DE FUITE. In the meantime, Simon has continued to develop as a tango dancer and teacher with the company Air de Tango. In 2005, Simon decided to leave dance and transition towards a new professional career. He returned to school to complete his bachelor in Osteopathy (B.Sc. Hons), at the Collège d’Études Ostéopathiques de Montréal (CEO) in 2009. Beside offering his new services as an Osteopath, Simon, still filled with the magic of Argentinean tango, renewed his collaboration with Mylène Pelletier to continue to share this beautiful art form with you.

Mélanie Bergeron

Professional piano and accordion player and composer, Melanie has been performing on the international scene with many organisations such as : Cirque Éloize, Cirque du Soleil, Gadji-Gadjo, Radiotango etc.

It is during her year spent with Montreal’s Quartango that she discovered Argentinean Tango. She studied with Marika Landry and Bulent Karabagli (Montreal), Soledad Larretapia and Ricardo Bigerri (Buenos Aires) , Luna Palacios (Buenos Aires), Nick Jones (U.S.A),  Serkan Gokcesu and Cecilia Garcia (Istanbul, Buenos Aires)  And she is now with Mylène Pelletier (Air de Tango) with whom she is improving her teaching and dance technique.

She has been in many shows: Festivalissimo, International Tango Festival of Montreal, Narcotango orchestra from Buenos Aires, and Radiotango orchestra in where her and her partner, Gabriel Gaumond,  are the official performers.

Melanie and Gabriel are now teaching at the renown school: Air de Tango (Montreal), and also are invited in Québec city regularly.

Gabriel Gaumond

Gabriel started dancing tango in 2008 with Michel Daigneault et Maryse Lefebvre,  Bulent Karadagli and Marika Landry.

He then followed an advanced training with Ricardo Biggeri and Soledad Larretapia (Buenos Aires), Luna Palacios (Buenos Aires), Nick Jones (U.S.A.) and Cecilia  Garcia and Sekan Gokcesu (Buenos Aires, Istanbul).  This training brought him to use a teaching method based on the energy in the connection and the creativity of movements towards the musicality of Tango and Nuevo Tango.

With his partner Mélanie Bergeron, he has performed in many special events such as; Festivalissimo, International Tango Festival of Montreal, and the show of Narcotango orchestra of Buenos Aires in Montreal 2010.

Gabriel is also the official dancer of Radiotango orchestra from Montreal.

Gabriel has a lot of experience as a teacher.  He has been invited with his partner Melanie to teach in San Juan (Puerto Rico) in 2010.

In 2011, Gabriel and Melanie joined the Air the Tango’s team where they are improving their dance and teaching technique with Mylène Pelletier.

Allyson Manta

Allyson Manta( Brierley) is the original founder of La Tangueria, giving over her loft apartment to create the tango bar and studio on the Blvd. St.Laurent in 1990. She is a founding member of the Montreal tango community. She is delighted to be back in Montreal, a city she loves passionately, to bring the wealth of her travels and experience to the teaching staff at Aire de Tango.
Allyson has spent the last 20 years traveling Asia, the United States, Mexico and Europe with Cirque du Soleil fulfilling such functions as dance trainer, coach, choreographer and artistic direction. Upon landing in Las Vegas for work on Mystere, she built another tango community from the arid sands of the desert, with her partner, Gabriel Manta. This partnership flourished with choreographies for artists on cruise ships and shows and of course another tango bar and studio!
Her studies are ongoing and she always relishes the opportunity to study with Jorge Torres and Gustavo Naviera and Giselle, Julio Balmaceda and Corina de la Rosa, to name a few. Her style is simple, elegant and effortless.
She brings her strong ideo-kinesthetic and bio-mechanical knowledge to the teaching of this complex and expressive dance. She is an experienced certified Hatha yoga teacher, and modern dancer of the Hawkins tradition.
In 2007 she wrote and directed Leading Ladies of Tango, a production that played in San Francisco and featured the Tango Mujer dance company and the Tango con Fusion dance company.
She loves to introduce the neophyte to this gorgeous dance as well as work with the advanced dancer on fine tuning technique for social or stage dancing.
She welcomes all those who hear the strains of the bandoneon in their hearts to join her on the dance floor.