Arona Primalani is a Guild-certified Feldenkrais practioner and a highly versatile and admired Argentine tango dancer and teacher for over 10 years. Arona started leading even before she started to learn the role of the follower.  She is well versed in the structure, vocabulary and dynamics of the Tango which helps her reach and relate to both leaders and followers. In the Bay area, she is recognized both for her originality and authenticity as a leader, and her elegance and power as a follower.

A versatile and rich background contributes to her knowledge, experiece and growth as a dancer and teacher. She has been influenced by a number of movement modalities, primarily Contact Improvisation, Body Mind Centering®, and the Feldenkrais Method®.  Arona completed a 4-year professional training program in the Feldenkrais Method and is a practicing therapist.

As a Tango dancer, she has studied privately and workshops (as a leader) with notable teachers: Gustavo Naveira, Chico Frumbolli, Lucianna Valle, Mauricio Castro, Fabian Salas, Julio Balmaceda & Corina de la Rosa, Jean Sebastian (France), Cecilia Gonzalez and El Pulpo & Louisa.  Amongst the older generation, she has studied privately with Andrea Misse, Pocho Pizarro and Carlos Perez.

Arona is the creator of Tango-Kinetics, a novel approach to teaching and learning tango inspired by the Feldenkrais Method and Contact Improvisation.  Her approach focuses on embodying the underlying movement patterns of the tango vocabulary; the implicit dialogue between the couple; and the movement finess essential in expressing the nuanced tango music.

Unlike traditional approaches to teaching where the student's deficiencies are pointed out and corrections are made through models/demos, Arona guides her clients/students to sense finer levels of differences in order for the student to begin to recognize sensations of ease and pleasure conducive for a more optimal movement.  This is taken to the couple relationship, where the student can recognize finer differences of weight sharing, a comfortable embrace, degrees of rotation and timing coordination.  The emphasis here is in making the student a master of his/her own education, rather than imposing the teacher's model on the student. 

Whether teaching Feldenkrais or Tango, she helps her students to discover the ease and elegance in all types of movements: from common activities such as walking to the more specialized and complex sequences found in disciplines such as yoga, dance, and sports.  

Arona offers workshops and privates in Feldenkrais and Tango.  She is on the board of a new company in formation that is focused on providing Tango as therapy to Parkinsons patients.  She is also on the staff of Tango Mercurio (http://www.tangomercurio.org/) a non-profit specializing in expanding Tango is a vehicle of communication that transcends social, ethnic and class boundaries for all age ranges, backgrounds and conditions.  Arona has a passion for bring the best of two words, Tango and Feldenkrais to everyone who wants to infuse some juices into their lives.

Outside of Feldenkrais and Tango, Arona is an avid rock-climber, occasional night-time scuba-diver and glider pilot in training.  Ever so often, she also turns into a software geek.  

For more information about Arona and her work or for privates, please contact her at arona@embodyingself.com.