DIANA JENSEN
Tango at Sea Cruise Director

I have been a ballroom dancer since my teen years and American Tango was always my favorite. In 1995, Bob Moretti brought Argentine Tango instructor, Nora Dinzelbacher, to Chico, CA for a series of workshops which lasted several months. Bob and I lived in Chico at the time and we took every opportunity to practice to improve our skills. After private lessons with Nora and the late Nestor Ray, then with El Indio, Oscar Mandagaran and Nito & Elba Garcia in San Francisco, Sacramento and New York, my Tango skills grew quickly. Other instructors who have had an impact on my love of Tango are the late Orlando Paiva, Sr. and Carlos Gavito, and more recently Fernanda Ghi and Guillermo Merlo, Carlos & Maria Rivarola, Luis Castro & Claudia Mendoza, Oscar Mandagaran, Natalia Hills, Jorge Torres, Daniel Rodriguez and Valeria Carmel.

In January 1996, a terrific tango dancer and a professional skier, Mark Wolford, lit the spark within me with the idea to cruise the world with Tango instructors and dancers. Mark and I shared this idea for over 18 months. In 1997 our dream came true as we prepared to embark on our first Tango at Sea cruise to the Western Caribbean in March 1998. Initially, Nora Dinzelbacher and Nito & Elba Garcia were our headliners along with other Argentine and USA instructors.

Tango dancers from across the world are invited to join our cruises. We have had guests from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Japan, Shanghai, India, South Africa, Russia, Israel, Spain, France, Italy, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, United Kingdom, Estonia, Romania, Canada, Columbia, Peru, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines.

We have since cruised to Eastern Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Hawaii, twice to Alaska, twice out of Venice, Italy to ports in the Adriatic Sea, then back to the Western Caribbean. In October of 2009 we took dancers to three continents sailing out of Savona, Italy with stops in Italy, Sicily, Egypt, Cyprus, Turkey and on to Santorini and Katakolon/Olympia, Greece. In 2010, we cruised again to the Mexican Riviera and Alaska's stunning Inside Passage. 2011 took us on a Caribbean Argentine Tango and Swing cruise organized along with Norway's Kom og Dans. In September 2011, we returned to the Mediterranean sailing from Savona, Italy on the Ancient World cruise tour.  Look at details for October 2012 itinerary sailing again from Savona, Italy to Barcelona, Spain; Casablanca, Morocco; Madiera, Funchal; Malaga, Spain; with the last stop in Civitavecchia/Rome, Italy returning back to the Port of Savona.

Visit our web site often as plans to future adventures in cruising, and on land, tangoing, and fun times will be announced.  Also, please take a moment to look at the group photos from past cruises in our galleries.  Many questions are answered on our FAQ page.

EMILIO FLORES
DJ, San Francisco

Emilio Flores is an Argentine DJ who grew up listening to the great tango orchestras of the 40s and 50s. He has been dancing tango, on and off, for 30 years. As a professional DJ he played tunes for all 13 years of  the Danceasy, and currently plays tunes at La Mariposa (Verdi Club), the Lake Merritt Dance Center in Oakland, CA, the Studio Gracia in San Francisco, and Nora's milongas in the San Francisco Bay Area and Palo Alto. Emilio also has worked for many years in Nora's Tango Week and Weekend, and in other special events, like Las Vegas Tango and the Passionate Tango Weekend in 2005 in Washington DC. He has also been invited as a guest DJ in Los Angeles, Seattle, New, Orleans and recently to Fort Bragg, California.

In February 2000, the Argentinean counsel of Los Angeles organized a Tango contest between Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. First prize was a round trip to Argentina for two. Emilio and Adriana won the first prize. Second place went to the late Bob Moretti and his dance partner Gloria Sadler.

Tango at Sea is pleased to announce that Emilio will be our DJ for our October 16-27, 2012 cruise sailing from Savona, Italy.