Capturing the beauty that is Ney and Jennifer

Ney and Jennifer, Chinatown

We are professional Argentine Tango Dancers. We have spent the last four years traveling and teaching tango in such places as Italy, Poland, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Romania.

About a year ago, we opened "TangoVida," an Argentine Tango studio and shoe store on the corner of Pacific Avenue and Taylor Street in Nob Hill.

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Before I had tango crushes on both Ney Melo and Jennifer Bratt, I had a serious girl crush on just Jennifer, and more specifically, on her feet.

For those scant few tango dancers who still read this blog occasionally (I know there's still a few of you), you know exactly what I'm talking about. Graceful, expressive, and sexy as hell are just a few ways to describe the way Jennifer dances, and like a lot of other people, I pored over her tango tutorials at Bewitching Black Lotus.

And the thought of dancing in the exclusive and uber-tango-fashionable Comme Il Faut shoes gave me even more incentive to try to learn to dance like her.

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When I actually met Ney and Jennifer, I was so touched to see how down-to-earth and kind they are. And then became so ecstatic that they were such generous and wonderful teachers because to be honest, I was star-struck and so terribly shy at meeting people whom I had admired from afar for so long. I wish Ney and Jennifer had been my first tango teachers... after taking their classes, I realized I had a lot of dancing baggage to unlearn. I became a much more comfortable, confident and relaxed dancer because of their encouragement.

On Russian Hill

The opportunity to photograph Ney and Jennifer for the i live here: SF project was just the most incredible experience for me, and a chance to pay tribute and honor this special couple who has brought the soul of tango into the hearts of so many people around the world.

This was the photo shoot that I've teased you with recently here and here. It's also full of so many gorgeous images that I was fairly stumped at trying to select my favorite ones to share with you, although the entire set is available on flickr, and when you see them, you'll understand why it was so difficult to choose.

You can read Jennifer's SF story here, and Ney's story is here, with links to the flickr set as well. I hope that you find them as beautiful as I do, and if you're in San Francisco, that you'll stop by Studio TangoVida for a class or a fitting of incredibly gorgeous shoes. I promise you'll fall in love with them just like I did.