Diane Lachtrupp Martinez
Creator, Writer, Choreographer, Producer
Diane Lachtrupp Martinez is an award-winning Tango, Salsa, and Swing dancer, celebrated choreographer, and acclaimed performer. A resident of Saratoga Springs, NY, she spent 20 years in New York City dancing, teaching, and choreographing for stage, film, television, and video—including training Meryl Streep in Argentine Tango.
As a guest artist across South America, Europe, and the United States, Diane has performed and taught internationally with her partner and husband, Johnny Martinez.
Her original NYC production, “Tango Fusion”, earned a rave New York Times review from critic Jennifer Dunning, who praised her “unknowing and witty way of fusing disparate dance styles.” Tango Fusion offered a unique and refreshing approach to Tango, exploring many facets of the passionate dance, which led to invitations to notable events, including Town Hall in NYC and The Fifth Annual Tango Congresso in Buenos Aires. Diane was also invited to participate in the unique traveling show “From the Horse’s Mouth” in both NYC at St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery and at Proctors Theater in Schenectady, NY.
Since moving to Saratoga, Diane has continued to create, produce, and choreograph original works while performing/choreographing theatrical productions at leading regional venues such as Proctors, The Egg, Cohoes Music Hall, Troy Music Hall, Fort Salem Theater, Charles Wood Theater, Opera Saratoga, and Home Made Theater.
In 2014, Diane won the international competition “So You Think You Can Choreograph”. She also portrayed modern dance icon Isadora Duncan in Nacre Dance Company’s dance play “Revolutionary”(2015–2016, 2021).
Diane is the creator and co-choreographer of tango shows, including “Una Noche de Tango”, “Encuentros Intimos”, and “Nocturna”. Most recently, she created, directed, and co-hosted the television show “Tango Fusion’s Ballroom Dance Show” for Proctors Collaborative Studios.
Pablo Aslan
Composer, Musical Director
Argentine-born musician and producer Pablo Aslan is recognized internationally as one of the leading figures in contemporary tango. He performs as leader of his own ensembles and with a variety of artists.
His most recent recording is Divina on his own Avantango Records label, released in May 2023 and recorded in Buenos Aires. His discography includes Piazzolla in Brooklyn (2011), and Tango Grill (2009). The latter earned him nominations for a Latin Grammy and a Grammy awards. The album Contrabajo (2018) features him as a bass soloist accompanied by a string quartet in an eclectic and personal mix of Latin American music.
Aslan has worked with many world-class artists, including Yo-Yo Ma, Shakira, Lalo Schifrin, Denyce Graves, Arturo O’Farrill, Paquito D’Rivera, Osvaldo Golijov, Frank London, Pablo Ziegler, David Krakauer, the New World Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Aslan received the 2007 Latin Grammy for his work as producer and mixing engineer in Raul Jaurena’s album Te Amo Tango. In 2016, he founded Avantango Records, a label dedicated to tango music that has received two Latin Grammy awards.
He is an active researcher and educator, and has produced educational programs for Lincoln Center Institute, Carnegie Hall, and Arts Connection and lectured about tango in universities throughout the US.
Recent performances include guest artist with Texas Tech Tango Orchestra, performances in Argentina with his trio and “Piazzollazo” at the Ori- gen Festival in NYC. Pablo will be performing in “The Gardens of Anuncia” at Lincoln Center this fall.
Junior Cervila
Choreographer
Junior Cervila was considered by New York newspapers “the Gene Kelly of Latin Dance”. Originally born in Brazil and based in Buenos Aires he has an extensive professional history that includes performances from Broadway to Buenos Aires.
In NYC, he has performed on Broadway at the Gershwin theater with “Tango Argentino”, and also performed at Lincoln Center and Town Hall in New York. In 2017, Junior choreographed and performed in “Evita” at Asolo Rep. and in 2018 he played the Gigolo in “Grand Hotel” at City Center.
From 2014 to 2016, he was the choreographer of “Piazzolla Tango” and “Tango Porteño,” in Buenos Aires. Other Buenos Aires appearances include performances at Luna Park, Gran Rex, Teatro Opera, Teatro Colon and the Nueve de Julio in a historic concert of “Tango Argentino” to 15000 people.
He has toured throughout Europe with the show “Tanguera” and with Julio Iglesias. Since 2001, Junior has run and toured with his own company “Latin Dance Company” in which he fused Salsa, Tango, Samba and Flamenco.
His film credits include work with the BBC and the film “Tango” by Carlos Saura, nominated for the Academy Award as Best Foreign Film.
In addition to his work as a performer and choreographer, he has been a judge for the USA Tango Championships and the Tango World Championships.
Johnny Martinez
Director, Performer, Script Editor, Choreographer, Fight Choreographer
Johnny Martinez, a Brooklyn native now based in Saratoga Springs since 2005, is a versatile performer, choreographer, and director whose career spans ballet, modern dance, musical theater, and ballroom. He began in ballet and modern before moving into musical theater, touring nationally and throughout Europe in productions of West Side Story and Damn Yankees, and appearing in regional favorites such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Fiddler on the Roof, and Hamlet.
In the Capital Region, Johnny has worked extensively with Homemade Theater, Opera Saratoga, Capital Rep, Proctors, The Egg, Cohoes Music Hall, Troy Music Hall, Adirondack Children’s Theater, Park Playhouse, Nacre Dance Company, and many others as performer, director, and choreographer. His teaching credits include SPAC’s School of the Arts at the National Museum of Dance, where he teaches creative movement, jazz, tap, and ballet, and Skidmore College, where he has taught ballroom.
With his wife and dance partner, Diane Lachtrupp Martinez, Johnny co-directs Tango Fusion Dance Company, bringing ballroom and Latin dance to adults as well as children in local schools. Together, they have taught and performed internationally in Argentina (5th Annual Tango Congress), Spain, Italy, and across the U.S., and co-created/co-hosted Tango Fusion’s Ballroom Dance Show with Proctors Collaborative Studios.
Recent highlights include starring as Ucello in the premiere of South: A Nautical Musical at the Bridge Street Theater and winning the Capital Region Dancing With the Stars fundraiser, where he and his partner raised over $14,000 for pediatric cancer research.
Johnny’s diverse stage credits include Bernardo in West Side Story, Billy Flynn in Chicago, Kevin Rosario in In the Heights, Gomez Addams in The Addams Family Musical, Dan in A Chorus Line, George in The Drowsy Chaperone, and Herr Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker. His directing and choreography credits range from She Loves Me and Into the Woods to original works such as Encuentros Intimos, Timeless, and Fuego.
Television appearances include serving as a featured salsa dancer and choreographer for ABC’s All My Children, national PSA campaigns for the Department of Health, and background work on Amazon Prime’s Modern Love.
