Adam
Cornett
Teacher · Performer · Lifelong Student of the Dance
Adam Cornett has been dancing tango since 2000 and teaching since 2001. Over more than 25 years he has developed a teaching approach that is methodical, deeply researched, and rooted in the movements of the old Milongueros and the Villa Urquiza style of Buenos Aires. He is the 2016 US Tango Champion and has taught at MIT, Brown, Yale, and Harvard.
Villa Urquiza &
The Old Milongueros
When Adam began dancing, the dominant style in the US was a blend of Milonguero and Nuevo tango. That changed in 2012 when he first encountered the Salon style — watching performances by Sebastián Arce and Mariana Montes, Jesica Arfenoni and Maximiliano Cristiani, and others. The elegance, precision, posture, and technique of that style was unlike anything he had seen before.
He began traveling to Buenos Aires every year — sometimes twice — focusing his training specifically on what he didn't already know: the movements of the old Milongueros and the Villa Urquiza tradition. He has never stopped. He still takes private lessons weekly over Zoom with his teachers in Buenos Aires.
As a teacher, Adam's focus is the same as his focus as a dancer: technique, elegance, vocabulary, connection, and musicality — and the viejo Milonguero patterns that most teachers in the US no longer teach.
With World Champion Jesica Arfenoni · Chicago
2016 US
Tango Champions
In 2014 Adam learned that the US had an official tango competition sanctioned by the Buenos Aires Tango organization. In 2015 he entered with partner Tilly Kimm and they placed 5th. In 2016 they entered again — and won.
Adam and Tilly Kimm are the official 2016 US Tango Champions. The competition style is Salon tango, where judges evaluate technique, elegance, vocabulary, connection, and musicality. These are the same qualities Adam focuses on in every class he teaches.
Adam Cornett & Tilly Kimm · 2016 US Tango Champions
Dancing & Teaching with
the World's Best
In August 2018 Adam moved to Chicago to partner with World Champion Jesica Arfenoni — the dancer who had originally inspired his shift to Salon style. Dancing and training with Jesica and her partner Maxi was, in Adam's words, an opportunity of a lifetime.
In early 2018 Adam was recommended as a US partner for World Champion María Inés Bogado by World Champions Jonathan Saavedra and Clarisa Aragon. He and Ines completed a small tour of the US together — performing and teaching at festivals across the country.
Adam and Tilly Kimm competed and performed together from 2015 through 2017, winning the US Tango Championships in 2016 and performing at festivals across the US, Taiwan, and beyond. Their competitive style was built entirely on the Salon tango tradition.
Universities,
Festivals & Portland
Adam has served as the primary tango instructor at MIT, Brown, and Yale, and has guest instructed at Harvard. He has given workshops and performed at festivals across the United States, Taiwan, China, and South America.
Today Adam is based in Portland, Oregon, where he teaches weekly group classes at Tango Berretin and offers private lessons in studio and at home. He is joined in teaching and performance by partner Marina Godinez.
Adam has also built a free 160-lesson online curriculum — a complete, sequential tango education from a dancer's very first step to over a year of learning — available at no cost on YouTube and organized at tangowithadam.com/learn.
Hands-on instruction · Tampa Tango Festival
Places Adam Has Taught
- Montana Tango Festival
- Albuquerque Tango Festival
- Workshops in Beijing
- Workshops in Shanghai
- Workshops in Taiwan
- Beijing Dance Academy with Laura Ya
- Burning Tango Festival with Marina Godinez
- Workshops in Boston
- Workshops in Buffalo NY
- Burning Tango Festival in Tallahassee Florida
- Workshops in Portland Oregon
- Albuquerque Tango Festival with Jesica Arfenoni
- Free-July Taiwan China Tour
- Teaching in Kaohsiung Taiwan, Nanjing China, Shenzhen China
- Burning Tango Festival with Naomi Harris
- Taught at the Tucson Tango Festival with Maria Ines Bogado
- Tour with Maria Ines Bogado
- Workshops in Rhode Island with Maria Ines Bogado
- Workshops in Boston
- Workshops in Buffalo NY
- Workshops in Tallahassee Florida
- Workshops in Chicago
- Workshops in Rochester
- Workshops in Des Moines with Jesica
- Performed at the US Tango Championships with Tilly Kimm
- Performed at the Southern California Tango Championships with Tilly Kimm
- Tampa Tango Festival with Tilly Kimm
- San Diego Tango Festival with Tilly Kimm
- Yale Tango Festival with Tilly Kimm
- Burning Tango Festival with Tilly Kimm
- Tucson Tango Festival with Tilly Kimm
- Workshops in Ottawa with Tilly Kimm
- Albuquerque Tango Festival
- Tampa Tango Festival with Tilly Kimm
- Performed at Salon Canning in Buenos Aires with Tilly Kimm
- Taught at Moonlight in Vermont Festival with Tilly Kimm
- Maribel de Tango Sierra Festival
- Taught at the final HelloMtrial Tango Festival with Tilly Kimm
- Taught at the Tucson Tango Festival with Tilly Kimm
- US Tango Championships with Tilly Kimm
- Workshops in Austin with Tilly Kimm
- Workshops in Kaohsiung with Tilly Kimm
- Performed at the Taipei Tango Festival
- Tour to Taiwan and China 2015
- Tour to Taiwan and China 2014
- Taught at the Burning Tango Festival
- Taught at the Tucson Tango Festival with Courtney McCracken
- Performed in the Taipei Tango Festival
- Workshops in Portland Maine
- Workshops in Anchorage Alaska
News About Adam
Dance with Adam
Ready to
Start Dancing?
Whether you're brand new to tango or looking to refine what you already know — group classes, private lessons, and the free online curriculum are all available to you.