Tango Consultant
Nélida Rodríguez was born in Argentina. She started studying classical and Spanish ballet at the age of six. When she was 15 years old, she became a teacher. A year later, she began her professional career on the stages of Buenos Aires, in TV programs and cinemas. In 1970, she met Nelson Ávila, a talented dancer, and they discovered together the magic of tango. They became "Nélida and Nelson", a dance couple and have remained partners ever since. They created their own artistic group, formed by dancers, musicians and singers. This group plays in the most well-known places of Buenos Aires. In 1980, they started showing tango’s beauty in countries such as Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico.
In 1983, Claudio Segovia and Héctor Orezzolli asked them to work on "Tango Argentino", a new production opening at Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. "Tango Argentino" immediately became a hit in the story of tango music. From its very beginning and for ten consecutive years, it was admired by audiences in many countries: France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Mexico, Belgium, Austria,Venezuela, Canada, Japan and 59 cities of the United States. "Tango Argentino" became the first latin show ever presented on Broadway, in 1986 and 1999-2000. On both occasions it was nominated for the Tony Awards, for best costumes, best musical show and best choreography. In 1987, Nélida and Nelson danced in "Tango Bar", a Puerto Rican film coproduction, performed by Raul Julia, Valeria Lynch and Rubén Juárez. In 1988, they performed for R.A.I. TV and in a special with Astor Piazzolla and Jerry Mulligan. After that they moved to Paris in order to play at Theatre Champs Elysée. In 1989, they created their own show, "Tango 89", and toured Japan. In 1991, they choreographed "Una noche en Buenos Aires", with Sexteto Mayor, Osvaldo Berlingieri and Raúl Lavie. In 1992, they were invited to choreograph a production especially for Expo Sevilla, after which they began to tour extensively in Europe.
In 1994, Nélida and Nelson presented a new show entitled "Buenos Aires…Tango". The well known tango composer, Atilio Stampone, was part of this production which toured Canada, New York, Madrid, Badajoz, Marbella, Granada´s Tango Festival, Barcelona, Lisboa and El Cairo. From 1996-1999, Nélida became Artistic Director of "El Viejo Almacén", a well known venue in Buenos Aires. Nelida also excels as a Tango Teacher: Rita Moreno, Sharon Stone, Linda Cristal, Ivan Vasiliev, Anthony Quinn and Robert Duvall are some of her most well known students.