Fardad Michael Serry

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Fardad is the creator of A Structural Approach to Tango rooted in the System of Turns, a program that premiered in Santa Barbara, CA, USA in 2005, in Reno NV, USA in 2007, and in Los Angeles, CA, USA in 2009. Fardad's students who learn this material well are among the best educated tango dancers in the world when it comes to the structure of the dance. They not only understand the dance at a deeper level, but can learn new material easier and faster, from any teacher.

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In 2005, Fardad together with Julie Stillman won The Gold Award at World Council for Argentine Tango Events Competition in San Diego, both in tango and in milonga, where their highest score was in musicality. Competition was adjudicated by Argentinean tango teachers Miriam Larici, Hugo Patyn, Fernanda Ghi, and Guillermo Merlo.

In 2010, Fardad and Lucia Ma won the first-place prize at the Tango Mundo Festival in Palm Springs, CA, USA. Competition judges included Argentinean tango teachers Edmundo Thomas and Elizabeth Tambasco. Since then, Fardad has learned from Lucia a way to hear the music sometimes differently from his own, and to appreciate and be inspired by the beautiful interpretations that she expresses in the dance, from that way of hearing the music.

Since 2003, Fardad has studied tango in 200+ hours of one-on-one coaching sessions and private lessons with world-class tango dancers, including some with the gift and the passion for teaching tango. The result is that Fardad is able to teach his students with an awareness that is unique in breadth and depth.

Fardad was accustomed to improvisation in artistic expressions long before he danced the tango. He has played the piano for 8 years, before switching to the Jazz trumpet and the flugelhorn for another 20. He emphasizes musical sensibility and the structure of the dance in his teaching, educating his students about different genres of tango the dance and tango the music, and making them aware of how the dance and the music have evolved together. Fardad is the creator of the class series Tango Dancing with Freedom in which creativity, originality, good navigation, musicality, and adornments are approached in a fresh perspective which draws heavily from the structure rooted in the system of turns.

Fardad's first and most influential mentors were Alberto Paz and Valorie Hart. With serendipity, very early in his tango career Fardad met Alberto and Valorie, who shared with him a goldmine of knowledge and experience. Alberto Paz was the teacher who taught Fardad not only how to dance tango, but also how to correctly identify a good tango teacher. Fardad is currently studying tango exclusively with Gustavo Naveira and Giselle-Anne, the world's preeminent tango couple.

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In private lessons, Fardad has studied tango as a dancer and as a teacher, including with:

• Alberto Paz & Valorie Hart 20+ hours New Orleans and Santa Barbara 2003-2006.

• Julio Balmaceda and Corina De La Rosa 20+ hours Buenos Aires, Argentina; Denver, Austin, San Francisco, Phoenix, and Seattle, USA. 2004-2008.

• Gustavo Naveira and Giselle Anne 2 hours San Francisco. 2008.

• Miriam Larici and Hugo Patyn 20 hours Los Angeles. 2004-2006.

• Yolanda Rossi 15+ hours Los Angeles. 2004-2005.

• Graciela Gonzales 2 hours Buenos Aires and Santa Barbara. 2008.

 

Fardad has completed the following workshop and Seminar programs with the world's preeminent tango couple, Gustavo Naveira and Giselle Anne:

• Open Seminar 20 hours Boulder, CO, 2007.

• Nora’s Tango Week 12 hours, San Francisco, CA, 2007.

• Program “C” Seminar 20 hours Boulder CO, 2008.

• Nora’s Tango Week 12 hours, San Francisco, CA, 2008.

• "Rhythm, Phrasing and Musicality" Seminar “B” Seminar 20 hours Buenos Aires, 2009.

• "Tango Milonguero" Seminar 20 hours Boulder, CO. 2009.

• "Colgadas and Volcadas" Seminar 20 hours Boulder, CO. 2010.

• "Boleos and Sacadas" Seminar 20 hours Emeryville, CO. 2011.

• "All Turns Details and Secrets" Seminar 20 hours New York, NY. 2012.

• "Embrace: Distance and Posture" Seminar 12 hours Santa Barbara, CA 2013.

• "Changes of Turn Direction" Seminar 12 hours Santa Barbara, CA 2014.

• "Ganchos" Seminar 12 hours Boulder, CO, 2014.

• "Deep Basics" Seminar 12 hours, Santa Barbara, CA 2015.

• Workshops (6 total) in Los Angeles, CA 2016.

• "The Great Four" Seminar 12 hours, Santa Barbara, CA 2017.

• Workshops and Vals short seminar, 12 hours, Santa Barbara, CA 2019.

And the following workshop programs with Julio Balmaceda and Corina De La Rosa:

• 4 hours Tango Fireworks Los Angeles, CA 2003.

• 10 hours Fandango De Tango, Austin, TX 2004.

• 10 hours Memorial Day weekend, Denver Co, 2005.

• 10 hours Fandango De Tango, Austin, TX 2005.

• 8 hours in Seattle, WA 2006.

• 10 hours Fandango De Tango, Austin, TX, 2006.

• 9 hours in San Francisco, CA 2006.

• 8 hours in Denver, CO 2006.

• 10 hours Fandango De Tango, Austine, TX, 2007.

• 12 hours Santa Barbara, CA, 2007.

• 9 hours Phoenix, AZ, 2007.

• 4 hours Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2008.

• 9 hours Intensive Seminar, Seattle, WA, 2010.

 

Fardad has studied in private lessons with some 50 different teachers, many from Argentina: Alberto Paz and Valorie Hart, Gustavo Naveira and Giselle-Anne, Julio Balmaceda and Corina De La Rosa, Graciela Gonzalez, Eduardo and Gloria Arquimbau, Diego Di Falco and Carolina Zokalski, Pablo Pugliese, Nito and Elba Garcia, Nora Dinzelbacher, Guillermina Quiroga, Natalia Hills, Francisco Forquera, and Carlos Gavito.