We are very excited to introduce to you the world known DJ’s. They will DJ for us and their music will keep us dancing non-stop during the Marathon. Please meet our beautiful DJ team for BOSthón 2023.
David Chester
from Worcester, Massachusetts
David has loved music his whole life. In his youth, he sang in choirs that toured Europe, and also was a choir director. Later in life, he discovered tango, and it became his passion. It wasn’t long before he got into DJing. David DJs at milongas and festivals across New England and beyond, playing his carefully crafted tandas. His favorite songs are the emotional songs that touch your soul, and are full of longing. However, he plays a wide variety of tango songs, from rhythmic to lyrical. He has even been known to play an alternative tanda when it fits the crowd. His goal is for people to leave tired, from dancing all night.
El Espejero
from Toronto, Canada
Igor “El Espejero” started dancing tango in 2011, and DJing in 2012. Since then he has been invited to play his music to over 300 milongas and events in London, Dublin, Bruges, Buffalo, Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Charlotte, Riga, Vilnius, Minsk, Kiev, Lviv, Odessa, Dnipro, Niš, Budapest, Prague, Antalya, Kyrenia, Shanghai, Taipei, and Buenos Aires (Salon Canning and Club Fulgor), while actively DJing at various milonga venues and organizing own events in Toronto, the city of his residence.
His musical style is influenced by the abundant energy of the best Italian tango DJs, and by the profound and sensual musical selection of the younger generation of Buenos Aires musicalizadors. Igor also has deeply immersed himself into the craft of sound engineering. His articles and webinars on the various technical aspects of tango DJing are well known around the world.
Igor says: “I believe that it is the dance floor that dictates the choices to the DJ, not other way around. Thus, I neither program my music in advance of the event, nor I attempt to ‘educate’ or ‘challenge’ the dancers. My only goal is to deliver the best danceable music and abundant energy to the floor, from the first to the last tanda, without a single exception.”
El Pibe Rodolfini
from Armenia/Los Angeles, California
As an avid dancer himself, Varo has a deep appreciation for tango music as a crucial part of the overall milonga experience for each dancer.
As a DJ, Varo strives to create a musical atmosphere that inspires dancers and connects with them on the emotional level. While DJ-ing, he is always connected to the dancers-either by observing the energy and the interactions of the dancefloor, or dancing in the middle of it. In addition to selecting good tango songs, Varo pays detailed attention to the structure of the playlist. He comprises the tandas and the relationship of tandas to each other in a way to establish a harmonious flow of the energy, and to develop emotional-energetic contrasts with a tasteful climax and rise that resonate within each dancer.
Varo regularly DJ’s at milongas in Los Angeles and Southern Calfornia. He has DJ’d along with Otros Aires and Narcotango. Varo is also invited to DJ tango at festivals all over the US.
Koichiro Suzuki
from Naha, Okinawa
Koichiro Suzuki has a Master’s Degree in Music Performance at Duquesne University and has performed Euphonium internationally since 1996. Koichiro incorporates his complex music background and deep understanding of musicality into his DJing. Koichiro DJs regularly in Pittsburgh, PA and has DJed many other cities in the United States, Argentina, Canada, Cyprus, Mexico and Japan. In 2021, Koichiro was invited to DJ at the Windy City Tango Festival in Chicago in July, the Boston Tango Marathon in September, Plan to Organize Pittsburgh Tango Fierro in October.
Mike Shirobokov
from Chicago, Illinois
Mike has been DJing since 2010, first at local Chicago milongas, and then at a handful of marathons and festivals, both in the US and abroad. He plays traditional golden age music, with early and mid-40s being his favorite period. He prefers tangos with singers, but there are some instrumental tandas that he loves, too. He studies tango music history as much as he can and makes sure the composition of his tandas reflects that knowledge. Finally, he believes that careful progression of tandas throughout the night is as important as the quality of the tandas themselves.
Pre-BOSthón Milonga
Alternative outside Dance Floor
Alla Lakov
from Boston, Massachusetts
Alla is a Boston-based tango dancer, instructor, tango events organizer and DJ offering a large variety of alternative and traditional music. Her vibrant music sets can be found at milongas and marathons across the US and Italy. Alla’s lifelong relationship with music began in Russia’s Mariinsky Theatre where her father was the first oboist. Inspired by classical music, tango community and dance, Alla organized her first BOSthón marathon in 2012. iTango, her second marathon at Cornell University, started a few years later. Her goal as DJ is to make the dancers happy and willing to dance more and more.
