About Mitra
Mitra has been exploring Argentine Tango continuously since encountering it in Buenos Aires in 1998. Her first Tango home was the Triangulo community in New York City directed by Carina Moeller which has influenced her work as a community organizer. She has also been influenced by Daniel Trenner's articulation of the relationship between roles in tango; Brigitta Winkler's approach to creating intentional learning experiences; Rodolfo Dinzel's approach to creating learning communities; and Gustavo Naveira's work on the structure of tango — but her most important learning has come from partnerships forged on the social dance floor, and interactions with learners.
In 2008 she co-founded Oxygen Tango in Los Angeles with Stefan Fabry and directed the school for nine years. Mitra co-created the Tango Challenge with Stefan Fabry in 2011, has facilitated twenty cohorts, and directed its expansion to new communities and facilitators. During this period Mitra also developed the Tango Lexicon tango notation system with David Lampson, served as an advisor to the Caltech Tango Club, organized the Oxygen Milonga benefit which planted over 12,000 trees, published the Tango Manual video-based peer-learning beginner curriculum, and taught and DJ'd at festivals and marathons all over the U.S. Mitra is an accomplished leader, follower, DJ, and organizer, and has nurtured a generation of Los Angeles-based dancers, organizers, and DJs.
Performances
Practice videos
The tango school I co-founded
Papers & Articles
Judgment and Acceptance while dancing Argentine Tango: A data-driven approach to explore the inner experience of tango dancers by Mitra Martin and Avik Basu, Feb 2025
The Tango World COVID Study, A summary of insights and implications, Aug, 2020
Why Argentine Tango? Oct, 2020
The Problem with Tango Group Classes, Jan 2020
A Fragile Hatchery: State Of U.S. Campus Tango Clubs, Aug 2017
Dear women of Tango. Let your joyful, unbridled, innocent, sensual self find the dances it wants, Dec 2015
The gentle, excellent, chivalrous, skillful, sexy men who Tango, Nov 2015
Tango eras
1998-2003 - Fateful trip to Buenos Aires, learning and dancing obsessively, NYC and the numie game!
2003-2008 - Los Angeles arrival, learning to lead and DJ, contact improv, dance theater and performance art, early experiments teaching. THE GLOBAL TANGO MAR VISTA CENTER FOR TANGO ARTS AND EXTREMES
2008-2017 - The Oxygen era, the Tango Challenge, researching notation systems, Tango slumber parties…
2017-2020 - Experiments in peer-to-peer learning, glimmers of Awaken Tango, COVID study
2020-2025 - Back on East Coast! Tango house adventure, teaching sabbatical, dancing just for joy!!
2025 - Reawakening with tango teacher training, tango fairytale game, new publications
Some fun memories…
San Francisco Tango Exchange - presenter | Tango de los Muertos (Boston) - facilitator | The Tango Teacher Co-Op (Minneapolis) | San Francisco Tango Marathon - moderator | The Heartland Tango Festival - teacher, performer | The Baltimore Tango Solstice - teacher | Stone Soup Tangotopia - facilitator, teacher | CONNECT (Ashland) - lecturer, teaching facilitator | LA Tango Marathon - DJ, panelist | Portland Tango Festival - instructor, performer | The Houston Tango Festival - facilitator, performer | The Denver Tango Festival - instructor | The Albuquerque Tango Festival - instructor | The San Diego Tango Festival (2012-2017) - beginner bootcamp, performer | Kansas City Spring Fling - instructor | Caltech Tango Club - instructor, advisor | Google - tango instructor | The Princeton Club of Southern California - instructor | The Ford Theater - arts engagement facilitator