The Directors
Contact: Diane Lachtrupp at (718) 360-6447
info@tangofusiondance.com
Diane Lachtrupp and Johnny Martinez, teachers/dancers/choreographers, are co-directors of Tango Fusion Dance Company. Until recently, they lived in New York City and were co-owners of Stepping Out Studios in Manhattan, featuring 80 group classes a week and employing 30 people. They recently moved their family to Saratoga Springs and brought with them their passion for teaching and dancing.
Diane is a prize winning Tango, Salsa and Swing dancer. She holds a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Vermont and a Masters from NYU in Musical Theatre Choreography.
Diane has choreographed and performed for stage, video, television and film including working with Meryl Streep, Merv Griffin, and film director Whit Stillman. She was invited to perform with “From the Horse’s Mouth” (NYC) and recently, she choreographed the indie dance film Falling in Rhythm.
Johnny holds a BME in engineering from Pratt Institute and before joining forces with Diane, was a concert dance and musical theatre performer. He performed in the National and European tours of “West Side Story”, “Damn Yankees”, and “Fiddler on the Roof”. He was a member of the Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance Theatre and the associate choreographer of the Anabella Gonzalez Dance Theatre.
Together, Johnny and Diane have taught and performed throughout the United States, South America and Europe. They have been featured Salsa dancers on the television show All My Children and highlighted Tango dancers/instructors on Good Morning America. Their work has been seen at Lincoln Center Festival (NYC), Augusta Heritage Festival (Elkins, WV), Jennifer Muller's The Hatch, San Sebastian Festival (Spain) and the 5th Annual World Tango Congress (Argentina).
Since Diane and Johnny have moved to the area, they have been embraced as artists and asked to teach and perform for a variety of venues. In the last three years, they have taught at Siena College, Adirondack Community College, the National Museum of Dance, the Dance Alliance’s Dance Plus, the Dance Flurry, Arthur Murray’s Dance Studio, The Saratoga Savoy, Lorraine Michael’s Studio, Dance Academy of Stowe, Dance Alliance’s Dancing Through Time series, NYISO and the Moonlight in Vermont Tango Festival.
Recent guest artist performances include appearing with the Youth Ballet Company, Tina Baird’s Rhythm-N-Shoes, Adirondack Ballet Theatre, First Night Saratoga, Elizabeth Woodbury Kasius’ Heard concert, Tripp Dance Company, Tango at the Tang, Celebration of Many Cultures, Tango in Vermont, Middlebury College and most recently, 100 Years of Dance.and Saratoga Performing Arts Center's 2008 Tango Night.
They look forward to bringing their special brand of dance theatre to the Capital District.