Currently, Mikhail "El Gato" Nadtochiy and Elvira Lambo are one of the most sought-after dance couples in the world. They regularly perform and teach at festivals and events in Spain, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Serbia, Germany, Turkey, Romania and Moldova, as well as in India, New Zealand, Qatar and the UAE.
Mikhail has been professionally performing for more than thirty years.
He started dancing at the age of ten in Moscow, Russia. Since then, dancing has been the main focus of his life. By the age of eighteen, his success as a performer on the world ballroom scene secured him the title of national champion of Russia among youth. In 1998, he moved to the United States in order to pursue his dancing career.
Over the past 20 years, Mikhail has focused entirely on performing and teaching the art of Argentine tango. In the USA, he founded the Academy of Argentine Tango and started an educational project known as The Tango Method.
His extensive list of teachers includes Carlos Gavito, Osvaldo Zotto, Julio Balmaceda and many others who inspired him on the path to discovering his own unique style.
Being a creative person, Mikhail is convinced that the process of self-discovery is much more important than becoming a great dancer. Lessons are just tools for acquiring the necessary techniques that will allow a person to find out who they really are and express their personality using the language of dance.
Elvira's whole life is intertwined with dance and music.
She is a dancer, teacher and choreographer by profession with more than 30 years of dancing and 20 years of teaching experience behind her. She studied such dance directions as classical ballet, folk dance, modern dance, jazz-modern and classical Indian dance. Elvira’s interest in Tango sparked in 2009 thanks to contact improvisation.
Vital in the pursuit of her own personal tango were:
Alejandra Mantignant, Julio Balmaceda, Vanessa Vishalba, Facundo Pinheiro and many other maestros.
Endlessly drawing inspiration from music, tango heritage videos, live performances, conversations with other dancers, teaching and of course practicing, performing and dancing on milongas, Elvira is constantly looking for her way of self-expression and at the same time a way to dissolve into something bigger that has no boundaries.