Artistic Director
Sharna Fabiano grew up in Vermont and thanks her mother for placing her in ballet class at the age of five. After a circuitous journey through many other dance forms, she discovered the Tango in 1997 and in the years that followed, made six journeys to Buenos Aires. Both there and in other travels, she studied authentic Argentine social dance from some of the greatest names in the modern Tango Renaissance, including Daniel Trenner, Rebecca Shulman, Brigitta Winkler, Juan Bruno, Pedro "Tete" Rusconi, Omar Vega, Graciela Gonzalez, Gustavo Naveira, Mariano "Chicho" Frumboli, Pablo Pugliese, and Pablo Veron. Today, she is one of the most accomplished tango artists in the United States, recognized around the world for her elegant and powerful quality of movement and for her mastery of both leading and following roles.
From 1998-2002, Sharna worked in Boston as a member of the innovative company Bridge to the Tango, founded by tango historian and revivalist Daniel Trenner. She directed a tango program of local and visiting artists, appeared on instructional videos, and visited Havana, Cuba to teach and perform as part of a US-licensed cultural exchange. She also helped start many of the tango communities that exist today in and around New England.
In 2003, Sharna relocated to Washington, DC and joined the internationally acclaimed TangoMujer, the first all-woman tango company in the world. She created several original works of choreography, including a solo commissioned by the Auros Group for New Music. She performed with TangoMujer between 2003-2006 at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and at theaters in NYC, DC, San Francisco, Berlin, Dusseldorf, and Hamburg, Germany.
In Washington, DC, she has danced at the Argentine Embassy, Lisner Auditorium, and Kennedy Center and contributed work to the Dance DC Festival, DC Improv Festival, and Hispanic Festival. In 2006, she established her own dance company and since then has created three evening-length works at Dance Place, supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities. In 2008, Sharna was named to Dance magazine's coveted "25 To Watch" list and featured as an emerging artist in the Washingtonian and Dance/USA Journal. Her recent work, "Uno," a collaboration with composer Glover Gill, was selected for the Festival Cambalache in Buenos Aires. Her 2010 premiere of "Abrazo" was selected as a top arts pick in both the Washingtonian and Washington Post Magazine.
Sharna has traveled as a guest artist and instructor to dozens of cities in North America and Europe, and her written articles on the depth and mystique of social tango have been widely read and translated into several languages. Her teaching is characterized by a clear, articulate knowledge of body movement, and by a great depth of understanding of tango improvisation. Sharna is currently studying Anusara yoga with Naomi Gottlieb-Miller and likes to cook and knit when she manages to escape from her computer.
Listen to a podcast interview with Sharna at Kadmus Arts.
Read an interview with Sharna on the Dance Place Blog.