Trenner has studied Argentine Tango since 1986. Inspired by a desire to unite Argentine and North American social dance communities, Trenner serves as President of International Tango Productions, which publishes the Tango Catalogue. He also serves as the director of Bridge to the Tango Video, through which he has produced 47 volumes of instructional video.
Trenner has been a professional dancer since 1979 and holds a Masters in Dance from Lesley College in Cambridge, Mass. He continued to study body work and developmental movement at the School for Body Mind Centering in Amherst, as well as work in New England with notable teachers including Bill T. Jones, Brenda Bufalino, Titos Sompa, Nancy Stark Smith, Amy Elsworth, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Leon Collins and Rogilio Rivel.
As a teacher and performer, Trenner has toured more than 75 cities across four continents. Moreover, he is one of the first Argentine Tango instructors in North America, and has been instrumental in training some of North America's best Tango dancers. For the past two years, Trenner has held tango classes at the College over Interterm. Through this class, he has brought together community members and students to establish a supportive classroom environment in which tango students from the Five College area, most of whom began as competent walkers at best, could learn to properly dance the Tango.
At the end of the Interterm class, several students realized that learning the Tango was a great way to foster communities of people who shared an interest in this art. With the help of Kevin Collins, an experienced dance organizer and teacher from Red Barn Music, students Michael Yang '07 and Tri Nguyen '08 decided to co-found the Amherst College Argentine Tango Club (ACATC).
Since the start of this semester, students have gathered every Wednesday for two hours to learn essential basic Tango maneuvers, and have quickly progressed to an intermediate level. Many beginners were able to dance proficiently by the end of one session.
After its establishment, the club secured Trenner as an instructor starting at the beginning of March, and has since changed its meeting day to Sunday. Though not heavily advertised, Argentine Tango and Trenner's masterfully witty teaching style have spread by word of mouth. Since its inception, the group has attracted students from throughout the Five College area, including students in Trenner's wildly popular Mt. Holyoke class.
According to Yang, Trenner knows how to explain the concepts of Tango while maintaining a playful and light-hearted atmosphere. "'If you know how to drive a shopping cart,'" he quoted Trenner as saying, "'you will know how to lead a follower. The leader is responsible for everything, or at least should look like he or she is. You see, the follower does all the work; she has the hard part; but guess who takes all the credit. (Boastfully rubs his knuckles on his chest in an exaggerated gesture of self-confidence) Of course, the leader."
"The Tango appeals to people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds," said Nguyen. "It's a great way to meet and interact with different people."
The ACATC invites everyone to come experience the art of the Tango with Daniel Trenner every Sunday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Seelye Ballroom. Practices for experienced dancers are available from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. Neither experience nor a partner is required. More information can be found on the ACATC Web site, www.amhersttangoclub.org.