About
DJ Ilene Marder~ La Rubia Del Norte!
Ilene Marder, “La Rubia Del Norte”, is one of New York City’s most popular, in-demand Argentine Tango DJ’s. Known for her beautiful tandas and great taste in selecting the most inspiring music for dancing, Ilene is one of the relatively few non-Argentine’s to be regularly invited to play at the tango salons of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Her ability to read and energize a crowd – coming up with just the right “I have to dance!” music at the right time — keeps her floors packed with satisfied dancers all night long.
Widely praised for the quality of her tandas, Ilene creates a seamless, integral experience from start to finish, using the many diverse styles of classic tango to create an exciting and deeply satisfying journey for dancers (and listeners).
She does not rely on pre-set playlists, but chooses music on-the-fly appropriate to the moment. She is a traditional “musicalizadora” playing tandas of the most beautiful and dazzling classic tango ever recorded- separated by cortinas – and is very adept at offering some lovely danceable surprises from the modern tango world.
Besides regularly DJing NYC’s top milongas — Milonga Rosa, La Nacional, the All Night Milonga, Astoria Tango Club, and The Tango Factory, among others – she is also the Tango DJ for the venerable Stardust Dance Weekends, and has DJ’d at milongas and festivals in Boston, Miami, Toronto, Chicago, Philadelphia, Vermont, and across New York’s Hudson Valley.
– In Buenos Aires, Ilene has played several nights at Salon Canning, Porteño y Bailerin, and two nights at the first Festival Estilo de Parque Patricios.
She also has a great time hosting and DJing “La Rubia’s Tango-Latin-Swing-Worldbeat Dance Parties”, which draws new people to tango.
A native New Yorker (she DJ’d her first party in the Bronx at age 13), Ilene is founder/director of Woodstock Tango (BEST PLACE TO LEARN ARGENTINE TANGO IN THE HUDSON VALLEY- Hudson Valley Magazine), a 9 1/2 year old dance community offering , classes, workshops, practicas, milongas, and special events with distinguished visiting artists, including her own milonga “Milonga Bohemia”.
Passionate about dancing as well as DJing, she is known as an an excellent and effective teacher of salon tango- particularly for dedicated beginners- concentrating on Embrace, Connection & Musicality. She considers her principle teachers to be Dario Da Silva, Junior Cervila, Omar Vega, and Daniela Arcuri.
A musician since the age of seven, Ilene has developed a Meet the Music© program to better acquaint dancers with the key orchestras of the Golden Age of Tango. Her background includes classical flute as a child, and world jazz in the 1970’s, followed by several years of study with North Indian Classical Bansuri bamboo flute master G.S. Sachdev.
Prior to discovering Argentine Tango, Ilene directed Ilene Marder Media Relations with clients ranging from the Woodstock Music Festivals ’94/’99 to the New York Technology Group. Prior to that she was the chief NYS Capitol political correspondent for WCBS News Radio 88.
A message from Ilene…!
– In NYC and for most of my DJ stints, I play very traditional tango from the Golden Age (mid-’30s’ to mid ’50’s) with cortinas — classic tangos that have heart and energy, are unequivocally and beautifully danceable, and generally are the kind of tracks that you can’t NOT dance to…! They are classics because they have it all. And this is where my heart is….
When I play a milonga, I am not there to impress other DJ’s with my collection or prove my knowledge of esoteric B-side tracks (although I love it all and have studied la musica de tango intensively in NY and Buenos Aires for ten years.
I am interested in serenading my fellow dancers with exquisite music for dancing….songs we love, songs that make our knees weak, and make us ache to get on the floor, vals’s that take flight, and milongas that illuminate the sublime essence of rhythm and connection.
I love this music and love to share and help shape a great night….because…. it’s more than just a dance.
Hoping to play for you, see and dance with you soon!
Ilene