May we introduce you to the couples, confirmed so far and in no particular order, who will bravely step onto the dancefloor come 06 June for Day 1 of the Championship 2014.

Kaisa Saarinen & Hernan Ohaco
Finland – Salon
We live in Helsinki, Finland. We learned Tango from different maestros. We have danced together every single day for the last 4 years and this is our first real competition in Tango. We have dreams of achieving a great experience and hopefully the championship itself.

Isabella Fusi & Valentin Reshetnikov
Russia – Salon & Stage
Isabella Fusi and Valentin Reshetnikov started to dance together one year ago. Their tango style was built by a lot of top maestros such as Yanina Quinones and Neri Piliu, Miguel Angel Zotto, Roberto Herrera, Juan Carlos Copes, Javier Rodriguez, Sebastian Arce and Mariana Montes, Leandro Oliver and Laila Rezk. They combine two different dance experiences; Valentin was very successful ballroom dancer in his past, and Isabella was improving her skills dancing in milongas for many years, all over Europe. Individually they also achieved high places in tango competitions, and this year will be their first championship together.

Andy Ong & Jennifer Tracey
England, United Kingdom – Salon
Andy began learning tango 2 years ago with Kim and David Benitez of Tango Movement and Nikki at Pavadita. Since then he has taken classes with most of the London schools including Raquel Greenberg, Leandro Palou, Alexandra Wood, Ivan Arandia, Bianca Vrcan and many others. Jennifer, born in Scotland, has been dancing tango for about 4 years and similarly, started at Tango Movement. Jennifer considers tango the ‘singularly most life-enhancing thing’ she has ever done. Both Andy and Jennifer take the championship as a great opportunity to develop their own tango, challenge themselves, have fun and enjoy the experience! (Photograph by Rebecca Teevan – Raquel Greenberg Tango Academy)

Sophia Rodriguez & Jesus Rodriguez
Switzerland – Salon
Swiss-born goldsmith, Sophia and Argentinian-born metal-worker Jesus, studied tango together in Buenos Aires with Alejandra Armeti and Daniel Juarez, Carolina Bonaventura and Francisco Forquera. Passionate about tango argentino from the start, Sophia and Jesus now teach tango in Zurich. They have entered the competition looking for a new challenge, to gain further dancing experience and continue their future together dancing tango more.

Alan Mitchell & Ella Sharp
England, United Kingdom – Salon
Alan Mitchell and Ella Sharp have been dancing Argentine Tango for over ten years. Having originally trained with Diomar “Giraldo” Escobar and Myriam Mina Ojeda–Patino in London, they have also studied with some of the great milongueros of Buenos Aires, including Jorge Dispari y Maria del Carmen Romero and Carlos Perez y Rosa Forte. Most recently, they have been working under the close tutelage of Juan Martin Carrara y Stefania Colina, who are renowned for their elegance, precision of movement and musicality. Alan and Ella have danced socially throughout Europe, Uruguay and Buenos Aires. They remain dedicated students of tango, passionate about dancing and the dissemination of the culture of Argentine Tango. (Photograph by Daniel Stier)

Hendrik Huthoff & Sabrina Bose
England, United Kingdom – Salon
Hendrik and Sabrina have known each other for five years since they walked into the same beginners tango class with Kim and David Benitez. Over the years, they have also taken classes at the tango academies of Raquel Greenberg and Leandro Palou. As Londoners, Hendrik and Sabrina’s motivation to enter the competition is simply to play a part in the very first London-hosted mundial preliminaries.

Kat Gorna & Benny Maslov
England, United Kingdom – Stage

Francisca Moreira & Manuel Moreira
Portugal – Salon

Shahram Khavari & Anita Anteniske
Latvia – Salon

Jagoda Slawinska & Andre Maurice Gambra Vargas
Spain – Salon

Christos Bakopoulos & Maria Ziloti
Greece – Stage

Jakub Grzybek & Patricia Cisowska
Poland – Stage

Alex Barberi & Manuela Marce
England (respectively) – Salon

The remaining 2 competing couples requested not to be listed herein.