Diane Lachtrupp, co-director

Diane is a prize winning Tango, Salsa and Swing Dancer. She holds a BA in Theatre from the University of Vermont and a Masters from NYU in Musical Theater in Musical Theater Choreography. Diane has choreographed and performed for stage, video, television and film, including working with Meryl Streep, Merv Griffin, and film director Whit Stillman.

Johnny Martinez, co-director

Johnny holds a BME in engineering from Pratt Institute and before joining forces with Diane, was a concert dance and musical theater performer. He performed in the National and European tours of West Side Story, Damn Yankees, and Fiddler on the Roof.

Liesl Bailey

While growing up in the North Country of New York State, Liesl enjoyed lessons in Jazz, Ballet, and piano.  She has acted with Albany Classic Theatre Guild in productions of M*A*S*H, Authors and 'Twas the Land of the Night Before. After a decade of dancing Salsa, Swing, Country, Tango, and Ballroom just for the fun of it, Liesl is now delighted to see how her love of Social Dance can translate into Tango Fusion Dance Co. productions.

Julie Gale

Julie trained with Fred Danieli at the Newark Ballet Academy, joining his company, The Garden State Ballet, at the age of 13. She performed with the American Ballet Theater and The River Ballet of Lambertville. Julie studied ballroom dancing with Angelo Calia and Jerry Paris and has appeared at the Marc Ballroom in Manhattan, Fandango's Night Club, Ceasar's Palace Resort and numerous other ballroom exhibitions. Julie is currently on staff at the Dance Experience and The Guilderland Ballet.

Richard Jones

Richard Jones started dancing in college after realizing that ballet departments were full of beautiful women. Focusing on Vagonova and then Balanchine ballet training, he has since performed all over the country and locally with the Capital Ballet Co. He met his gorgeous wife Deborah while dancing in Spokane, WA 16 years ago. On a scale of 1 to 10, he is a solid 5.

Deborah Otto-Jones 

Deborah comes from a ballet family and received her early training from her mother at the Eastchester Ballet school. She studied for ten years at the School of American Ballet, where as a child she performed with the New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater. She spent many summers locally at the NY State Summer School of the Arts, where she fell in love with the City of Saratoga Springs. As an adult she has danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet, The Ballet Company of Spokane (where she met her husband Richard) and locally with The Capital Ballet Company. She is thrilled to be performing with Tango Fusion Dance Company.

Terry Julius 

Terry has been involved in the fitness industry for over twenty years as a group fitness instructor and personal trainer. Terry's love of line dancing has earned him the nickname, "The Funkmaster".
He currently teaches ballroom dance at Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Saratoga Springs.

Juan Soler

If you have ever encountered Tigger or Aladdin at Disney World, you may have met Juan Soler already! Juan has also danced in the Macy's Day Parade and at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center with Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Juan co-created a dance company called "Soul Desire" which ministered to inner city kids through Hip Hop dance. He currently performs throughout New York and New England with his beautiful dance partner, Patricia Zeccola.

Arlette Meader - Bio and photo coming soon!



David Levesque - Bio and photo coming soon!