Vira Baranovska-Andrigo

Argentine tango dancer, artist and teacher

Hello! My name is Vira. Since 2023, I have been living in Buenos Aires. I moved from Ukraine to Argentina because of the war, and tango is what gave shelter to my soul.

What attracts me most to tango is the endless opportunity to share: from emotions during the dance to knowledge during tango classes.

For me, tango is communication, freedom of self-expression, and authenticity. And also, as it turned out, tango is a den in which I heal.

But this is my path. And I am ready to help you find yours

My projects

Thematic Workshops

I offer workshops focused on the tango embrace, body preparation for harmonious dancing, and understanding the essence of tango movements and partner connection, among others. Details of the workshops can be found here. I am open to developing new courses and classes, and I am gladly ready to adapt to the requests of the tango community

All workshops are beneficial for both leaders and followers. I conduct workshops in Ukrainian, English, Spanish, and Polish

Cycle of Tango Biomechanics

Tango is physical. No matter where we draw our energy and inspiration from, we dance tango with our body. The body must be loved, respected, understood, and appreciated — and that is precisely what we learn in this cycle.

Total duration of the cycle: 8 hours (4 classes of 2 hours each).

Each class consists of two parts: physical body preparation for specific dance aspects, and an exploratory-executive part where we break down the topic in detail and integrate this knowledge into tango.

Cycle Sections:

Weight. Articulated movement and interconnected movement
Steps. Dynamic body alignment. Dropping and holding weight
Pivots. Weight transfer relative to the feet
Embrace. Partner contact. Proposing movement and responding to it

Required for each class:

yoga mat
yoga block
resistance band for pilates
3 small coins or flat buttons for each participant
clothing that does not limit movement (NO jeans, NO skirt), socks
tango shoes

These classes are well-suited for tango camps and tango weekends, where dancers are ready to immerse themselves in the world of their own body within the context of tango and give themselves time and focus to absorb the information and "dance it in."

The "Dancing Feet" Course

"Dancing Feet" is a unique course dedicated to promoting healthy and active feet. It is unique because it invites you to look at your feet from various perspectives. It is based on my medical knowledge, dance experience, and diverse sports background.

The course is suitable for anyone who DANCES, plays sports (of any kind), sits constantly at a computer, leads a sedentary lifestyle, wears uncomfortable shoes, has flat feet, hallux valgus (bunion), or other conditions.

The course includes 5 workouts aimed at developing foot strength, flexibility, and coordination, and there is a dedicated workout that focuses on the aesthetics of movement.

It is available in Ukrainian, English, and Spanish.

The Online School

This is the first Ukrainian online school of Argentine tango. Having settled in Argentina, I miss my homeland and everyone who stayed there incredibly. The idea of the school arose as a protest against distancing from the Ukrainian tango community—and it stuck.

We conduct regular synchronous classes on the biomechanics and technique of tango, do tango talks, and together choose topics to study for future meetings. Within this school, I have created online courses such as "7 Days of Adornments," "Musicality and Self-Expression," "Milonga," “28 Steps” (tango technique), among others. "Musicality and Self-Expression" is the first learning tango-bot in the world that allows users to explore tango musicality in an interactive format and at a convenient time. In addition, I created a book titled “Tango Culture that We Love So Much” and a New Year’s tango diary. All these materials are in Ukrainian.

My profile: tango, medicine, pedagogy, and inclusion

My professional journey began in medicine: I’ve got a university degree in medicine, becoming a pathologist. I taught pathological anatomy for 5 years, after which I expanded my skills with courses in pedagogy, project management, and interpersonal skills. This prolonged professional pedagogical experience is reflected in my way of teaching tango.

In 2024, after moving to Argentina, I completed an in-person didactic program "Inspiring Tango" by Corina de la Rosa, which strengthened the foundations of my tango teaching practice (I am currently attending the second course of this program). Since then, I have been teaching tango internationally — in Ukraine, Argentina, Poland, Italy, Germany, Serbia, Norway, etc. — and founded my own online tango school.

Focusing on a scientific approach to human movement in my teaching, I actively study biomechanics and adapt this knowledge to tango technique.

I speak Ukrainian, English, Spanish, Polish, and russian, and I teach in the first four. This allows me to connect with students from different cultures and adapt my teaching to a wide range of learners.

My teaching is also influenced by my physical background. For years, I practiced martial arts, which taught me body and space control, improved reaction time, coordination, and the ability to sense a partner. Today, I complement these skills with gyrotonic, pilates, and ballet, enabling me to understand movement from multiple angles and support students in developing their own physical intelligence.

As an autistic person and autism self-advocate, I promote inclusivity in a broad sense: accessibility of tango for all, regardless of gender, body characteristics, health, experience, and neurotype. The awareness that neurotype matters in both the dancing and learning process is reflected in my flexible and personalized teaching style. Altogether, my academic and pedagogical background, multilingualism, body awareness, and neurodivergent perspective give me a unique viewpoint as a teacher — one that combines science and art, precision and empathy, movement and consciousness.

Tango as the language of life

For me, tango is not bare technique, but a universal language for profound stories that words sometimes do not exist for. I do not separate movement from feeling: regardless of the emotion, my intuitive need is to dance it out.

When a Russian rocket destroyed my home, I danced that loss in a tango performance to a Ukrainian song. I mourned my deceased neighbors and my home. Later, representing Ukraine at the Mundial de tango, I danced about how my friend had returned from Russian captivity — I learned about this an hour before the performance. It is this emotional connection that I emphasize in teaching and dancing, showing how to transform technique into genuine self-expression.

Ethical position

My position is that tango, like any art form, has never been nor is it today outside of politics. Art is a powerful yet gentle tool for influencing people, and it should be used not for utopian slogans "for all that is good and against all that is bad," but in favor of universal ethical values.

I condemn the aggression of the russian federation against both Ukraine and other neighboring states throughout the duration of its existence. I consider it unethical to travel to work and dance in Russia, as this tolerates its crimes against humanity and the inaction of its population