Rebecca Shulman
Argentine Tango Workshops & Private Lessons
Nov 14-24, 2026 in Portland, OR

Saturday Nov 14 - Tango Berretin, 6305 SE Foster Rd, Portland, OR 97206
7:30pm Pre-milonga Class Beginner Class
8:30pm-12:00am Saturday Milonga 

Sunday Nov 15 - Dance with Joy Studios, 8051 SE 16th Ave, Portland, OR 97202

11:00am W1: The winning sacada ~ the easiest, safest, most popular sacada, which you should dance more often!    It's very satisfying, and can add a nice 'pow' and extra spin with little danger to anyone's toes. We'll explore a variety of places to find this same easy sacada: from common giros, from the cross, from ochos including cortados, and we'll enjoy it in valses as well as tangos.

12:30pm W2: 8 ways to switch the ocho & 4 techniques for pivoting ~ Structure and improvisation stemming from the variety of elements that will flip an ocho from front to back, or vice versa. How many ways can you think of? Experienced dancers will enjoy this trove of options, including the pivot-techniques, which range from secret to fancy.

2:00pm-4:00pm Sunday Practica *Special Bonus Gift: Rebecca will be available in the first hour to help students who take the workshops practice what she taught! 

Tuesday Nov 17 - Shabu Studios, 6055 NE Glisan St, Portland, OR 97213  

6:00pm W3: Transform the same step sequence for 1930’s vs. 1940’s tangos, and for close vs open embrace

7:30pm-10:30pm Tango Tuesday Milonga DJ Rebecca Shulman

Friday Nov 20 - Dance with Joy Studios, 8051 SE 16th Ave, Portland, OR 97202 

6:30pm W4: Advanced Level Workshop  (partner recommended) ~ Zippy ochito series w/ a break for a languorous deep sacada, plus a sideways volcada you've never thought of, that Rebecca learned from a son of Oregon 

Saturday Nov 21 - Dance with Joy Studios, 8051 SE 16th Ave, Portland, OR 97202

2:00pm W5: Banked & bent salidas & turns ~ Joy, melody and yearning ~ dance a sustained curve through space, whether you're a follower adding two specific curves to a straight path, or a leader creating a curving path. Beautiful ways of curving to the cross will be augmented by the tilt, swoon, and curve that followers will sculpt.

3:30pm W6: Milongas and rhythmic tangos ~ the pleasures of punctuation, and the clarity of clean right angles, combine to charm us when we add rhythms to simple steps. This material works well to express jagged or quick rhythms in tangos – and even waltzes! – as well as for dancing milongas with ease.

Sunday Nov 22 - Dance with Joy Studios, 8051 SE 16th Ave, Portland, OR 97202

11:00am W7: Back crosses & their escape routes, and other cool moves from the dark side ~ You call it the closed side of the embrace, it requires a specific weird technique, and it’s rife with intriguing possibilities: swivels, alterations, walking sacadas, and followers’ compact back crosses, which invite a musical variety of pressures & decorations in the uncrossing.

12:30pm W8: Musical adornments for both roles ~ the music itself contains adornments, or “fills,” that can invite dancers to a little scintillation of witty footwork. A dancer’s half-circle drawing might be led, unled, or leading; their half-circle can be the couple’s way to express a long, sustained note, or the sweep of romance. 

2:00pm-4:00pm Sunday Practica *Special Bonus Gift: Rebecca will be available in the first hour to help students who take the workshops practice what she taught! 

  • Rebecca lives in New York, has danced tango full-time for 35 years, and traveled frequently to Buenos Aires throughout the 1990s, learning from and dancing with senior dancers who, in their youth, had danced in tango's Golden Age (the 1940s) – treasured memories she draws upon in sharing tango now.

    She has also worked with an array of today's finest teachers and dancers, including the creative young men of her home country, improvising inspiring performances with Evan, Alex, Homer, Nick, Jaimes, and most recently, Josh.

    Rebecca started studying tango with Daniel Trenner in 1991, while she was in college, learning both roles from the beginning. She began visiting Buenos Aires in 1992. Her teachers from those years include Juan Bruno, Mingo and Esther Pugliese, Gustavo Naveira and Olga Besio, Tete Rusconi and Maria Villalobos, Antonio Todaro, Pupy Castello and Graciela Gonzalez. 


    Rebecca has taught many workshops across the States, alone and with various splendid partners, and as far away as Istanbul (with Metin Yazir), and India (with Jaimes Friedgen). She danced and taught with Omar Vega on his first visit to the States, in 1996.

    Back home in New York, along with teaching 5 levels of tango classes every week for 20 years at Dance Manhattan studio, Rebecca brought many of her colleagues there to create its rich tango program. The team eventually included ten tango teachers, and she wrote the curricula to keep the program cohesive.

    Rebecca was part of TangoMujer Dance Company, the all-women dance company that performed in Germany and the U.S. from 1996-2006. During and after that decade, she collaborated with Brigitta Winkler in workshops and festivals.

    Overlapping with those years, a long partnership with Evan Griffiths (of Oregon!) inspired lots more terrific dances and interesting approaches to teaching. When Dance Manhattan closed in 2014, Rebecca began hosting her own practicas and classes. A dozen of New York’s other tango teachers are Rebecca’s former students. 

    Rebecca's been called "unique in her parallel skillsets of being a truly comfortable and skilled social dancer as well as a captivating performer – both as a leader and follower!" (Dan Boccia, Anchorage, 2026). Ballet, yoga, and contact improvisation round out her background, and she continues to learn tango from her various colleagues. All this experience makes her "exceptionally versatile as a teacher, enabling her to craft unusually engaging classes and provide detailed, attainable feedback to dancers" (Dan again). She’s an insightful, encouraging mentor, and a rich resource for countless artistic innovations.

    Here's the link to an improvised performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTOaczrJDSA

  • $30 per workshop (if paid in advance by Nov 14) or $35 at the door
    $110 for any 4 workshops if paid in advance by Nov 14
    $200 for all 8 workshops if paid in advance by Nov 14

  • Private lessons with Rebecca $140 

    To schedule a lesson: support@dancewithjoystudios.com 503-704-5617 

    To reach Rebecca with questions: kelebekka@gmail.com 917-828-1250