— Alex Krebs —
Tango dancer, instructor, musician.
Alex has been dancing Argentine Tango since 1997 and teaching worldwide since 1998, including performances in Buenos Aires. He has partnered with tango legends Melina Brufman, Luciana Valle, and Florencia Taccetti. He has run his all-Argentine tango studio, Tango Berretin, in Portland, Oregon since 2001 and has also studied the bandoneón since then. Alex directs his own tango orchestra, Conjunto Berretín, and has performed with Alberto Podestá, Ariel Ardit, Duo Fuertes-Varnerin, Claudio Mendez, Maria Volonté, grammy-winning artists Pedro Giraudo and Pablo Estigarribia, the Oregon Symphony, and Tango Pacifico among many others.
Alex is a complete fanatic about the dance and shares his passion with his students. He teaches for the social dance floor emphasizing the improvisatory nature of tango through strong communication between lead and follow while also connecting with the music. Alex gives his students the vocabulary necessary for each person to find their own unique way of dancing -- dancing the tango of their own body.
New York Times article: In Portland, Oregon, a Warm Embrace of Tango - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
New York Times article on Alex’s tango apps: Apps That Make You Feel Like Dancing - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Places Alex has travelled to teach tango:
Boston, Providence (RI), Montreal, Seattle, Austin, San Francisco, New York City, Dallas, Washington D.C., Phoenix, Bellingham, Boulder (CO), Vancouver (B.C.), Nijmegen (www.elcorte.com), Toronto, Ann Arbor, MI, Pittsburgh, Albuquerque, Eugene (OR), Berlin, Nijmegen (www.elcorte.com), La Fraysinette (France)(www.tangovalley.com), Anchorage, Klamath Falls (OR), Mt. Shasta City (CA), Minneapolis (co-teaching with Florencia Taccetti of Buenos Aires), Munich and Augsburg (Germany), Bologna and Modigliana (Italy), Lund (Sweden), Amsterdam, London, Leeds (UK), Totnes (UK), Cambridge (UK), Bristol (UK), Bylaugh (UK), Edinburgh (UK), Yale (New Haven, CT), San Luis Obispo (CA), Urbana (IL), Sun Valley (ID), Maui, Chicago, Newport, Victoria (B.C), Atlanta, Oxford (UK), Raleigh (NC), Bend (OR), Bellingham (WA), Tango Element Festival (Baltimore), Atlanta, Bned (OR) and St. Louis
-Influenced by many people and styles, but influenced early on by Mariano "Chicho" Frumboli(musicality), Fabian Salas (structure of the dance), and Damian Esell and Nancy Louzan (posture, walk, elegance).
Studied and danced in Buenos Aires for over 11 months between nine visits. Co-taught and performed with Luciana Valle (BsAs) in Denver, Austin, San Francisco, Boulder, North Carolina, Aspen, London (UK), Bylaugh (UK), Bristol (UK) and has performed with Luciana in Buenos Aires (Torquato Tasso and Centro Cultural Mora), San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle (at the Benaroya Theater with the New York Tango Trio).
Alex has co-taught with Florencia Taccetti (BsAs) in Minneapolis, San Francisco, Albuquerque and
Pittsburgh and has performed with her in Minneapolis, Portland, Albuquerque, Pittsburgh and San Francisco and performed in London (with Biljana Lipic), Amsterdam (with Yvonne Meissner), Antwerpen (with Esther Heitzer), Florence (w/Yvonne Meissner), Munich and Augsburg (Germany, with Heidrun Fluk).
-Has DJ'ed milongas in Portland, Anchorage, Dallas, Ann Arbor, Augsburg (Germany),
Cambridge (UK), Seatle, Victoria (B.C.), Salt Lake City, Boulder, Denver, St. Louis, Minneapolis,
and the all-night milongas in San Francisco, Washington DC and New York City
Stage Performances
At Oregon Ballet Theater's "Viva La Danza" Gala. April, 2012
Performed in the tango show "Tango Nights," at the Aladdin Theater
"Danza Tropica" as part of PCC's ArtBeat
Wrote and directed the tango show "Tango al Tiempo" at the Miracle Theater April 16th-18th, 2003
Directed/performed in Teatro Milagro's "Viva Baile" program (May 2007)
Produced/Directed tango shows at Miracle Theater's 2010 and 2012 Luna Nueva festival.
Directed/choreographed the show "Flamentango" flamenco/tango fusion show at the Miracle Theater in 2013
Performed bandoneon alongside the Oregon Symphony at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
Discography:
Has been studying the bandoneon since May 2001, directed the tango band "Conjunto Berretin", as well as a sextet, quartet, and orquesta típica, with 7 albums recorded from 2003-2023
Alex has released nine albums under the Berretin Records label:
"Tango for Lovers and Fools" (Conjunto Berretin)
"Tangamente" (Conjunto Berretin)
"Electro-Tangos Vol. 1" (Orquesta Electronica Berretin)
"Berretineando" (The New York Tango Jam Session)
"Stumptandas"(The Alex Krebs Tango Sextet)
“Looking Ahead on the Shoulders of the Past” (The Alex Krebs Tango Quartet)
"Alt Mission" (What The Tango?! Available on vinyl and digital download. Music video here)
“What We Do” and “Shoes” as single tracks on vinyl (The Alex Krebs Tango Sextet)
“Tangos Del Berretin” (Conjunto Berretin)
All albums can be found here: Music | Tango Berretin (bandcamp.com)
Other:
Bachelor of Arts degree from Reed College (1999, Portland, OR)
Directs the 14-piece Balkan Brass band the "Krebsic Orkestar" (playing alto sax, directing and arranging): www.gypsybrass.com
Performed bandoneon with the Oregon Symphony in April 2014
Instructional Tango Apps for the iPhone/iPad, Android, iDance.net and instructional DVDs
Alex's Travel Schedule:
2023: Teaching in Los Angeles (LATA), DJing at the Gavito Tango Festival
2020: San Francisco (Jan. 25th DJing the 20th anniversary of the all-night milonga in Berkeley)
2019: Bend, St. Louis, San Luis Obispo
2018: Los Angeles, New York City, Bend
2017: New York City, Tucson Tango Festival, San Diego Tango Festival
2016:
February: Portland Tango Fest
April 1st-4th: Helena Uprising Tango Festival
May 20th-23rd: Teaching in Maine
June: Reed College Tango for Musicians Week
Sept. 16th-18th: Teaching in NYC
October: Teaching at the October Tango Festival in Portland
Where Alex has been over the years:
2015:
April 10th-12th: Yale Tango Festival
June 19th-21st: Workshops in Minneapolis
July 10th-12th: Seattle Tango Magic Festival
September 18th-20th: Workshops in New York
October: Teaching at the Portland Tango Festival
October: Workshops in Detroit and Atlanta
December/Jan. 2016 -- teaching/performing at the San Diego Festival
2014:
Atlanta, Minneapolis, Helena, New York City, Whidbey Island, San Diego
2013:
April 18th-21st -- Teaching in Atlanta (www.atlantatango.com)
July 12th-14th -- Teaching, performing and playing with his sextet at the Seattle Tango Magic Festival
July 25th-29th -- Teaching at the Tango Element Festival in Baltimore, MD. Also playing with his quintet backing up the singer Ariel Ardit (BsAs)
Sept. 19th-23rd -- Teaching in New York City
Dec. 27th-31st -- Teaching at the San Diego Tango Festival
2012:
July 12th-15th -- Teaching/performing at the Seattle Tango fest
August 9th-12th -- Teaching/performing with Silvina Valz at the Tango Element Festival in Baltimore, MD. Also, played with his quartet backing up legendary singer, Alberto Podesta.
Sept. 13th-17th -- Teaching/Performing/Recording in NYC
Nov. -- Teaching at the Albuquerque Tango Festival
Dec. -- Teaching at the San Diego New Year's Tango Fest
2011:
June -- Teaching at the Gabriola Island Tango festival
2010
Jan. 22nd-24th, 2010
Teaching in Salt Lake City, UT
Feb. 26th-28th
Teaching CDA, Idaho
April 9th-11th 2010
Teaching at the Yale Tango Fest
May 14th-16th 2010
Teaching in New York (and cd release!)
May 21st-23rd 2010
Teaching in Montana
last weekend in July 2010
Teaching/playing with sextet at the Seattle Tango Magic Festival
Labor Day weekend 2010
Teaching at the Denver Tango Festival
October 22nd-24th 2010
Teaching at the TangoSutra festival in Washington, D.C.
Nov. 6th-8th 2010
Teaching at the Albuquerque Tango Festival2009
Jan. 23rd-25th, 2009
Teaching in Salt Lake City, UT
February 4th-9th
Teaching at Maui TangoFest
May 1st
Teaching at Stone Soup in Eugene
May 8th-10th
The Thing
May 28th-29th
Teaching in Newport, OR
June 20th-21st
Teaching at SFTX (www.sftx.info)
July 24th-28th
Teaching in Seattle
August 28th-30rd
Teaching at the Chicago Tango Festival
Nov. 27th-29th
Teaching at the Ashland Tango Festival2008
January 25th-28th, 2008
Teaching in Sun Valley, ID
February 3rd-10th, 2008
Teaching at the Maui Tango Festival
March 28th-30th, 2008
Teaching at Yale
May 8th-12th, 2008
Teaching at the Minneapolis Tango Festival
June 12th-15th, 2008
Teaching at the Toronto Tango Festival
July 26th-29th, 2008
Teaching at the Seattle Tango Festival
October 3rd-5th, 2008
Teaching in Chicago (www.dancetangochicago.com)
Thanksgiving weekend, 2008
Teaching at the Fandango de Tango in Austin, TX with Luciana Valle
Dec. 5th-7th, 2008
Teaching at the St. Louis Tango Festival w/ Luciana Valle2007
Jan. 25th-28th, 2007
Teaching at North Carolina's "Festival de Tangophilia"
April 28th-29th, 2007
Teaching in Bend, OR (www.bendtango.com)
May 10th-14th, 2007
Directing/dancing in the Viva Baile! show at the Teatro Milagro (
May 24th-27th, 2007
Directing/dancing in the Viva Baile! Tango/Flamenco Fusion show at the Teatro Milagro (
July 27th-29th, 2007
Teaching at the Seattle Tango Festival
November 23rd-25th, 2007
Teaching at Austin's "Fandango de Tango" Festival2006
Dec. 25th, 2005 - Jan. 6th, 2006
In Vienna, Austria
January 27th-29th
Teaching in Sun Valley, ID
February 24th-26th
Teaching/playing/performing in Bellingham, WA
Sometime (???)
Invited to teach in Beijing, Cape Town, Moscow...
March 10th-12th
Teaching in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
March 16th-19th
Teaching at the Washington DC Tango Marathon (www.le-tango.com)
April 7th-9th
Teaching in Atlanta
June 9th-11th
Teaching at the 2nd International Toronto Tango Festival (www.rhythmandmotion.org)
June 23rd-25th
Teaching/exchanging ideas at the Tango Exchange in San Francisco (www.organictango.info)
June/July
Teaching in Oxford, and International week at El Corte (www.elcorte.com)
July 9th -15th
Teaching in La Fraysinette (www.tangovalley.com)
August 11th-14th -
Teaching at the Seattle Tango Magic Festival (www.claysdancestudio.com.com)
Sept. 8th-10th
Teaching/playing with COnjunto Berretin/performing at the Minneapolis Tango Festival
November 22nd-27th
Teaching at the Fandango de Tango Festival in Austin (www.learn2dance.com)2005
January 5th-10th -
Teaching at the Dome in London on the 5th and then at the Bylaugh retreat in the UK (www.bylaugh.com)
January 10th-11th -
Teaching in Bristol
January 12th
Teaching at the Dome in London
January 21st-24th -
Teaching in Ann Arbor
February 4th
Teaching and performing with Fear No MUsic at the Norse Hall in Portland
February 25th-27th
Teaching in Providence, RI
March 17th-20th-
Teaching/DJing at the Washington D.C. tango marathon (www.le-tango.com)
March 25th-27th-
Teaching in Montreal with Luciana
April 9th-12th
Teaching in Phoenix
April 21st-27th
Teaching in Albuquerque, New Mexico with Florencia Taccetti
May - 2nd weekend -
Teaching in North Carolina.
May 19th-20th
Teaching/Demoing with Luciana Valle in San Francisco
May 21st
Teaching musicality classes in Petaluma (part of the Fusion weekend)
May 26th-30th -
Teaching at Denver's Memorial Day Weekend Festival
June 10th-15th
Teaching at the Toronto Tango Festival (www.TorontoTangoFestival.com)
July 15-17th
Teaching in New York City (www.dancemanhattan.com)
July 20th-Aug. 10th
Studying Balkan music at the Amala School in Serbia (www.galbeno.co.yu/) and attending the Brass Festival in Guca, Serbia (www.guca.co.yu/)
August 12th-14th
Teaching and playing with Conjunto Berretin for the Seattle Tango Magic festival (www.claysdancestudio.com)
August 21st-Sept. 1st
In Buenos Aires...
September - 2nd weekend -
Teaching in St. Louis
September - 15th-17th -
Teaching in San Francisco with Luciana
September - 4th weekend -
Teaching in Ann Arbor
October 7th -
Teaching/performing at a fundraiser in Portland
November - 2nd weekend -
Teaching and playing with Conjunto Berretin in Vicoria, B.C.
November 23rd-28th
Teaching with Luciana Valle at the Fandango de Tango festivalin Austin, TX (www.learn2dance.com)
December 26th-Jan. 4th -
In Austria and Italy...2004
January 9th-12th -
Teaching in Edinburgh
January 13th-20th -
Teaching in Cambridge/Bylaugh
February 28th -
Teaching/DJing at the all-night milonga in Berkeley
March 18th-22nd -
Teaching/DJing at the Washington D.C. Tango Marathon
March 26th -
Teaching/DJing/performing with Conjunto Berretin at Eugene's Tango Center
March 27th -
Teaching/DJing at the all-night milonga in Berkeley
April 2nd
DJing Gypsy Night at Tango Berretin
April 9th-12th -
Teaching/DJing in Toronto
April 12th-13th-
Teaching in Montreal (http://www.rsagala.com/alex.html)
April 16th-
Conjunto Berretin plays at Reed College
April 24th -
Teaching/DJing at the all-night milonga in Berkeley
April 30th - May 2nd -
The Thing: Part IV -- Live music, dancing, crepes de Krebs all weekend long...
May 21st-23rd -
co teaching with Luciana Valle and DJing the all-night milonga in Berkeley. (408)391-0149 info4tango@yahoo.com
May 27th-31st -
Teaching at Denver's Memorial Day Tango weekend (www.tango.org)
June 18th-23rd -
Teaching in Berlin
June 27th - July 3rd -
Teaching La Fraysinette in the osuth of France
-
Teaching at El Corte's International Week (www.elcorte.com)
July 20th - August 5th
In Buenos Aires
August 13th-15th -
Teaching/DJing/performing with Conjunto Berretin in Seattle (www.claysdancestudio.com)
August 20th -
Teaching and performing with Conjunto Berretin in Eugene (www.tangocenter.org)
August 27th - 29th
Teaching and performing in New York (www.dancemanhattan.com)
September 24th-27th -
Teaching in Ann Arbor
October 8th-11th-
Teaching in Minneapolis with Florencia Taccetti
November 12th-15th -
Teaching in Boston (www.bluetango.org)
November 19th -
Teaching and performing at the Governor Hotel in Portland
November 24th-29th -
Teaching at Austin's "Fandango de Tango"2003
January -
Teaching in London, Edinburgh, Cambridge, and Totnes.
February 22nd-23rd -
Teaching/DJing in SF
March 8th-11th -
Teaching in Seattle
March 26th-28th-
Teaching at Washington D.C.'s Tango Marathon Weekend
March 31st -
I start teaching a tango class at PCC, MWF 11-11:50am
April 10th-14th -
Teaching in Austin, Texas
April 17th-19th -
Performing at the Miracle Theater in Portland
April 26th-29th -
Teaching in Denver with Florencia Taccetti
May 5th -
DJing in Las Vegas
May 7th-12th -
Teaching in Toronto
May 11th -
Alex turns 26!
May 24th-25th -
Teaching in SF with Luciana Valle
May 30th-June-2nd -
Free weekend
June 6th-8th -
"The Thing, part III" Big weekend at my studio. Just dancing, dancing, and more dancing to great live and recorded music. Komala and Stefan will teach workshops June 5th-6th, and Komala and Eric Jorissen will teach together on June 9th-10th. There's limited space, so e-mail me if you want to join us.
June 11th-16th -
In Anchorage for Dan Boccia's "Alaskan Thing" - lots of dancing with ice bears and the northern lights!
June 22nd-July 3rd -
In BsAs
July 10th-26th -
Milonga-to-Milonga bike trip down the Orgeon and California coast (from the Viscount ballroom to SF's all-night milonga in Berkeley.
July 25th-August 2nd -
In Colorado co-teaching/performing with Luciana Valle
August 7th-14th -
Teaching/DJing in NYC
August 22nd-24th -
Teaching/DJing in SF
September 12th-15th -
Teaching in Vancouver, B.C.
October 9th-12th -
Co-teaching in Minneapolis with Florencia Taccetti
October 24th-26th -
Co-teaching in PA with Florencia Taccetti.
November 6th-11th -
Teaching in Boston.
November 14th -
Teaching and dj-ing in Eugene.
November 22nd-23rd -
Teaching and dj-ing in San Francisco.
November 26th-30th -
Teaching with Luciana Valle at Fandango de Tango in Austin.
December -
Teaching in Italy with Yvonne Meissner, and alone in Antwerpen.2002
January 4th-8th, 2002 -
Teaching in Edinburgh
January 9th -
Teaching in London
January 11th-14th -
Teaching in Totnes
January 16th -
Teaching in London
January 17th-22nd -
Teaching in Cambridge
January 23rd -
Teaching in London
January 25th-28th -
Teaching in Leeds
January 30th -
Teaching in London
February 15th-17th -
Grand opening of my new studio - El Viejo Berretin. Sunday 5:30-9:30pm potluck and milonga ($7 if you bring food, $14 if not). 6305 SE Foster Rd. (@Holgate) in Portland.
February 22nd-25th -
Teaching and DJing in San Francisco
March 8th-12th -
Teaching in Washington D.C.
March 21st-28th -
Performances in Portland at the Miracle Theater
April 12th-15th -
Teaching and Djing in Dallas, Texas
April 26th-29th -
DJing and teaching in San Francisco
May 10th-13th -
Teaching and performing in San Francisco with Luciana Valle
May 24th-27th -
Teaching and DJing in San Francisco
May 31st-June 3rd -
Summer Tango Festival at my studio. Good food, good people, and good dancing for the entire weekend!
June 7th-11th -
Teaching in Toronto, Canada
June 22nd-23rd -
Teaching/DJing in SF
June 28th-30th -
Teaching/performing in Aspen, CO with Luciana Valle
July 5th-7th -
Teaching/performing with Luciana Valle in Denver
July 13th -
Performing in Seattle with Luciana Valle
July 26th-28th -
Teaching and DJing in San Francisco
July 29th-Aug. 1st -
Gone surfing...
August -
Teaching on the west coast with Florencia Taccetti
late August -
Teaching at/attending Denver's dance weekend
September 6th-8th -
Big dance weekend chez moi -- good dancing, eating, and hanging-out all weekend long! E-mail me for details. Space is limited!
September 13th-19th -
Teaching in Minneapolis
September 27th-30th -
Teaching/DJing in SF
October 11th-12th -
Teaching and DJing in New York City
October 17th-20th -
Portland's October Tango Fest
October 25th-28th -
Co-teaching with Luciana Valle in North Carolina
November 8th-11th -
Teaching in Anchorage
November 22nd-23rd -
Teaching and DJing in SF
Nov. 26th-Dec. 4th -
Co-teaching and performing with Luciana Valle in Austin
December -
Teaching in Munich.
December 25th -
Nijmegen's Christmas Ball
December 26th-31st -
In Amsterdam for the "Tango Magia" festival
Dec. 31st-Jan. 2nd -
Nijmegen's Marathon Milonga2001
January 13th-14th -
Teaching in Munich and Augsburg, Germany
January 18th-27th -
Teaching in Bologna, Italy
January 29th-31st -
Teaching in Munich
February 2nd-4th -
At Nijmegen's "chained salon"
February 5th-7th -
Dancing in Amsterdam
February 7th -
Teaching at London's "Zero Hour" milonga
February 8th-14th -
Teaching workshops in Cambridge, England
February 14th -
Teaching at London's "Zero Hour" milonga
February 16th -
Back teaching in Portland
February 22nd -
Starting 6 week series course in Portland
February 24th-28th -
Teaching and Djing at La Rayuela and the Golden Gate milonga in San Francisco
March 1st-23d -
Teaching in Portland
March 24th-26th -
Teaching in San Francisco
April 6th-12th -
Teaching in Phoenix, AZ
April 19th-27th -
Teaching in Portland
April 27th -
Teaching in Klamath Falls
April 28th-May 2nd -
Teaching in San Francisco
May 2nd-11th -
In Portland
May 11th-13th -
In Seattle for Eric J.
May 13th-25th -
Teaching in Portland
May 25th -
Teaching in Klamath Falls
May 26th-28th -
Teaching in San Francisco
June 1st-6th -
Teaching in Munich
June 7th-13th -
Teaching in Modigliana and Bologna (Italy)
June 14th-18th -
Teaching in Lund, Sweden
June 23rd-24th -
Teaching in Augsburg
July 2nd-9th -
Nijmegen's International Week
July 10th -
Teaching in Leeds (UK)
July 11th -
Teaching in London
July 12th-17th -
Teaching in Cambridge
July 18th -
Teaching in London
July 28th-August 1st -
Teaching in San Francisco
August 2nd -
Teaching in Klamath Falls
August 3rd -
Teaching in Mt. Shasta City
August 9th-15th -
Teaching in Minneapolis with Florencia Taccetti
August 16th -
Teaching in Portland
August 25th-29th -
Teaching in San Francisco
September 6-9th -
Performing with Luciana Valle in San Francisco
September 22nd -
Workshops in San Francisco
October 26-31st -
Teaching in Phoenix
November -
Teaching in Portland
November -
Teaching and Djing in San Francisco
December 1st-7th -
Teaching in Munich
December 8th-10th -
Teaching in Augsburg
December 14th-17th -
Teaching in Lund, Sweden
December 20th-23rd -
Teaching in Bologna
December 27-30th -
TangoMagia festival in Amsterdam
Dec. 21st-Jan. 2nd -
Nijmegen's New Year's Marathon Milonga2000
May 12-16th -
Teaching with Florencia Tacceti in Minneapolis, Minnesota
May 26th-29th -
DJ'ing at the all-night milonga in San Francisco
June 5th-July 17th -
Teaching in Germany and Sweden, and attending Nijmegen's "International Week" the first week of July
July 21st-24th -
Teaching and Dj'ing at the all-night milonga in San Francisco
August 11th-28th -
Teaching in Anchorage, Alaska
September and October -
Teaching in Portland
October 12th-15th, -
Teaching in Anchorage
October 27th-Nov. 3rd -
Teaching in Phoenix, Arizona
Late Dec.- mid-Jan. -
At Amsterdam's "TangoMagia" festival and Nijmegen's New Year's marathon milonga.
