Neotango Landscapes

Zeche Zollern, Dortmund

Dancing Democracy

gefördert vom:

Fr 07. Aug.- So 9. Aug. 2026

Many of you are aware of my intuition and feelings regarding Neotango Landscapes. We are the landscape in which we find ourselves; we are part of the landscape. But the best thing of all is to develop, create and bring this to life with Bärbel – in whom I have boundless trust – and with you, the great Neo family. So let’s discover new landscapes together.

Zeche Zollern. Dortmund.

b.rispler_neotangolandscapes24_©Jean-Pierre Van Loocke_BR.jpeg

We’ll be dancing all weekend.

Main indoor dance floor: wooden dance floor in the machine hall and

on various outdoor dance floors (Milchkarton) at the Zeche Zollern site.

Spinning for you will be Elodie / Angers, Fabio de Giovanni / Nice, Saskia Frankena / Arnhem, Elio Astor / Rome, Bärbel Rispler / Düsseldorf, and Tango DJ 21 / Düsseldorf.

The two VJs, Zara Gayk from Wuppertal and Andreas Lange from Hanover, will transform the Maschinenhalle into a magical space.
We don’t exclude anyone, but please do ensure that, where possible, you register in pairs – as a follower and a leader; those in dual roles should fulfil their 50/50 roles.
The Marathon Pass, priced at 110 euros per person, grants entry to all Neolongas events on all days, including water and fruit every evening – naturally, as always with me, all organic. Places are limited.

salto ergo sum

Elodie/ Angers

« Travelling and dancing are my biggest passion in life. For me, both are strongly linked to music. Moving through strange and beautiful landscapes or approaching trance on a dancefloor gives me the same kind of powerfull joy, connecting me back with the child I was. All my strongest memories are marked by music, just like in a movie.
I didn’t have the chance to learn how to play music; maybe that’s why I started dancing : because some music (like flamenco or tango) « were talking » to me so deeply that dancing was the only way for me, to answer to the emotion and energy that they were awaking in me. I had no choice.
Later, I started to travel because I needed to open the space around me. I grew up too close to the ocean to stay in my city (La Rochelle), no matter how much I loved it (« when you love, you have to leave… »).
Being invited to play for « neotango landscapes », in a place like Zeche Zollern, with it’s strong history, for me, it’s just like a dream… and a very inspiring defi for the djane I became»

Fabio de Giovanni / Nizza

It was in his hometown of Naples that Fabio discovered Tango in 2009. As a yoga teacher, he has been working for years on this union between body and mind through the power of music to create moments where time stops and you are transported into another dimension.

From 2010 he began a personal search for the discovery of modern rhythms and melodies (jazz, ethnic, classical, pop, rock, rap, indie, modern orchestras etc...) that can be interpreted using the codes of tango through all kind of music.

In 2013 he Came to settle in Nice, he imported his Neo tango musicality and gave a new breath to the life of Tango with his milongas where trad tango meets alternative tango and barriers are erased by emotions.

He participated as a DJ in many international festivals and marathons in Europe (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Finland) choosing to tell, through his musical selections, a story made of sensitivity and emotions, allowing dancers to freely interpret their feelings.

Saskia Frankena / Arnheim

Saskia is purely a Neotango DJ. In her sets she uses all kinds of music, if danceable. From the Middle Ages, classical to tango, from traditional Argentinian folk music to rock, jazz, blues...music from the West to the East, North to South. Original, covers or remixes.

She likes to use lyrical music, music that tells a story, with some drama, some gloominess and several layers in the music to play with.
Serving the dancers is what her sets are about, by facilitating music that can carry and ignite that tango connection.

Coming from Contact Improvisation she started dancing tango, wanting to learn Contact Tango, but got bitten by the traditional tango virus. It is a legacy she really honors. But her love for contemporary music and the playfulness of Neotango keeps pulling at her. Therefore her mantra is: “ Same soul, different sounds”
In 2018, together with Ezequiel Sanucci, she founded “La Neo” in Amsterdam.

During the lockdowns in 2020-2021, she played on an almost weekly basis for Neotango TV. From there on it went fast. Besides playing at multiple Marathons and neolongas in the Netherlands, Essen, Toulouse, Nantes and Lyon (Fr.) Meissen, Ludwigshafen, Berlin (De). Saskia now also runs and plays a monthly Neolonga “Flor de Neo” in Arnhem.

Bärbel Rispler / Düsseldorf

Bärbel lives and works in Düsseldorf as a graphic designer and discovered Argentine tango in 2015. Initially as a dancer. Since 2018, she has been involved in the Tango Valentina association in Düsseldorf – the beginning of her journey into the art of DJing. As a dancer and DJ she moves to both traditional music and new interpretations by small orchestras. She feels completely free in dance and in compiling “new –modern” music. She feels the need to create an energetic flow that spreads throughout the evening and immerses the dancers, making them feel energetic, playful, varied, surprised, and deepened. The Zeche Zollern is a very special place, we will feel it – let's go deep.

Elio Astor/ Rom

Formerly a club dj, I started studying tango in 2003, I have been at the console as a tango dj since 2008, for more than 5000 hours.
In 2009 I started organizing regular neolongas.
In 2010 I introduced live mixing in neolongas.
In 2020 I released my first music album with Steamed Tango Project
I am regularly invited as DJ in the major Neotango events, teaching DJ workshops, and focusing on music production, live jams, playing my synth or other instruments enjoying the space in neotango where music selection can become art and live performance.

DJ Tango21 / Düsseldorf

I have been part of the tango world since the last millennium. Traditional tango was the first music and dance to truly capture me, offering that unique “three-minute happiness” only a great tanda can create. As DJ Tango21, my aim is to give couples the chance to experience this connection on the dance floor.

The name DJ Tango21 reflects my passion for modern tango music of the 21st century. The Golden Age remains an extraordinary summit of dance music, but tango is not a museum. It is a living culture that continues to evolve through music, poetry and dance. In Buenos Aires, I look for this spirit in alternative milongas, musicians’ events and festivals like Festival Electrotango Buenos Aires.

My Neotango sets move between modern tango, electrotango, worldmusic, technotango, tango nuevo and selected pieces influenced by rock or jazz. The essential element is always a clear and danceable rhythm, which has a flavour of the yeite de tango..

I have played at milongas, neo-tango events and festivals in Germany, and in Argentina, including the Tangofestival Rhein-Ruhr, the Nuevo Tango Rave in Bremen and the Festival Electrotango Buenos Aires. Wherever I DJ, my goal remains the same: to create energy, connection and unforgettable moments on the dance floor.

Zara Gayk / Wuppertal

Zara Gayk lives and works as a video and digital artist in Wuppertal. She is involved in many aspects of the cultural scene, for example at TANZRAUSCHEN in the field of dance film and at INSEL, a cultural venue in the heart of Wuppertal city center.
As a video artist, she is responsible for INSEL NEOtango Milonga and INSEL Tango Club. With her large-format visuals, she creates an artistic experience that atmospherically accompanies the dancers and deepens the musical experience in dance.
For many years, she has been engaged in the implementation of musical and dance experiences in her digital painting and in moving space as video painting. In this way, constantly evolving ideas give rise to new image and film formats, which she can present to a large audience in the milongas.

Andreas Lange / Hannover

Andreas Lange is a photo, video and conceptual artist. He joined tango in 2005 and has been interested in dance and music ever since, both in the traditional field and in alternative concepts. In 2015 he expanded his artistic work into the areas of visual live performance. Since then, his live performances can be found at many neotango events in Europe. He picks up the mood of the music and the dancers and translates them live into visual elements. These are created by mixing and changing different graphic elements in real time, and in turn influence the dancers. He calls his live performance Visual Dancing. The content he uses comes partly from his exhibitions, was created by him especially for visual dancing, comes from artist friends or from publicly accessible sources.

2019 he established ultra-widescreen visuals up to image formats of 72:9 in the neotango scene – not every beamer now projects the same image content, but a wide image is projected over several beamers. In 2020 and 2021 he created the artistic concept of NeotangoTV and played virtual dance floors with his visuals in more than 300 hours. He also created virtual stages for streamed live concerts by Carlos Libedinsky and Steamed Tango Project.