About Yuliana Basmajyan
Born and raised in Armenia, Yuliana Basmajyan immigrated to the US in her early adolescent years. For many years she tested her skills in different dance forms, including modern, jazz, flamenco, and extensive training in Salsa. But after several years of Latin dancing she discovered her true calling, tango… a dance that truly inspired and challenged her. Over the span of several years, Yuliana studied and trained in Argentina. She studied under world-class dancers such as Natalia Hills, Romina Levin, Andrea Misse, Corina Herrera, and Geraldine Rojas to name a few.
Yuliana Basmajyan and her former partner are the only couple to win two Tango Salon US Championships (2010 & 2011) and to make the finals at the Mundial World Championship in Buenos Aires 4 years in a row! They are also the only US couple to ever place at the Salon World Championship by taking home the bronze medal in 2011.
Yuliana and her former partner Brian Nguyen, have taught and performed in several festivals and milongas in the US and around the world, including events such as El Congreso in Toronto, Tijuana Tango Festival, San Diego Tango Festival, Fire & Ice Festival in Ann Arbor, Tucson Tango Festival in Tucson, Valentango in Portland, Tango Mundo Festival in Palm Springs, Mercury Cafe in Denver and La Nacional, Ukraine, and Nocturne Milongas in NYC as well as famous theaters in LA such as Nokia theatre, Wilshire Ebell theatre, Florentine Gardens and many high-end banquet halls in USA, Canada, and Mexico. Including cities such as Sacramento, San Francisco, Palo Alto, Stanford, Santa Barbara and other cities in USA they have taught at several schools and tango clubs in LA such as Oxygen Tango School, Tango Room, Caltech Tango Club, Stanford Tango Club, Latin Dance Pro Salsa School to name a few.
Yuli has had the opportunity to perform with famous tango dancers such as world renowned Carlos Copello, world tango salon champion Maximiliano Cristiani, and other well known dancers: Oliver Kolker, James Friedgen, Mauro Peralta,Danilo Maddalena, Dominic Bridge, Sergio Almiron, Gabriel El Huracan, and Ricardo Biggeri, Varo Boyajyan, and Meng Wang.
Yuliana’s passion for tango has expressed itself in various ventures that she presently devotes her talents to which include instruction, hosting and organizing, and being the exclusive distributor of one of tangos most dependable tango shoes.
One of Yuliana’s grandest vision was the creation of the Southern California Tango Championship and Festival, one of the largest tango events in the US. To date it has successfully brought competitors and social dancers together for a grand event that features world renowned instructors and orchestras. Plans are underway for the next event in 2019.
For nine years, Yuliana has hosted one of the most prestigious milongas in Los Angeles, Milonga Querida.
Presently, Yuliana is heavily involved in teaching competitive tango couples and social tango dancers.
MISSION
I pride myself in touching the multiple facets of this unique and beautiful dance by excelling as a tango dancer/teacher/performer, organizer and ambassador that spreads the love of tango. Through years of experience, study and research I have gained invaluable knowledge of what tango dancers require to grow in their personal dance journey. From this understanding I have built the foundation of my teaching methodology, art of performing, creating unique tango events and bringing quality products to the community.
