Miguel Angel Zotto

Miguel Angel Zotto is a tango dancer whose date of birth is given as 7 August 1958 ^[10]. His career, as documented in the available sources, ran from intensive study with Rodolfo Dinzel beginning in 1979 to teaching, stage work in Buenos Aires and abroad, and the creation of his own productions ^[1].

In 1985 Zotto formed a partnership with Milena Plebs, and in 1988 the two founded the company Tango x2 ^[1]. He appeared as a soloist in the Broadway production of Tango Argentino in 1986, dancing to 'La Cumparsita' ^[1]. In 1991 he choreographed and sang a leading role in Piazzolla and Ferrer's María de Buenos Aires at Houston Opera ^[1].

Zotto also worked to document older milongueros. In 1985 he recorded video interviews with Petróleo, which later formed the basis of his show Puro Tango, premiered in 2011 ^[1][6]. His honours include being named Académico de Honor by the Academia Nacional del Tango in 2003 and a Konex diploma in 2011 ^[1][6]. In 2025 a video tribute to him was projected at the Mundial de Tango pista final ^[9].

Early life

Zotto's date of birth is recorded as 7 August 1958 ^[10]. In an interview, he described an episode at the age of 17, dated to 1975, when he was stopped by police near a stolen car that held political pamphlets and was detained ^[2]. Accounts of the length of that detention differ, giving it as roughly 20 to 28 days ^[2].

Training and early teaching

In 1979 Zotto began intensive study with Rodolfo Dinzel, a period of training that lasted about six years ^[1]. In 1984 Dinzel proposed him as a tango teacher at the Universidad de Belgrano ^[1].

Partnership with Milena Plebs and Tango x2

In 1985 Zotto formed a dance partnership with Milena Plebs ^[1]. That year he also danced in Ana María Stekelman's Jazmines at Michelángelo ^[1].

In 1986 he joined the Broadway production of Tango Argentino as a soloist, performing to 'La Cumparsita' ^[1]. In 1988 he and Plebs founded the company Tango x2 ^[1].

By Plebs's own account, the two separated in 1995 after ten years together, but they continued working together for three more years ^[4].

Stage work and Piazzolla

In 1989, while touring his own show, Zotto met Astor Piazzolla in Paris, introduced by their mutual friend Jose Pons ^[2]. In 1991 he choreographed Piazzolla and Ferrer's María de Buenos Aires at Houston Opera and sang a leading role in the production ^[1].

Piazzolla remained a subject of his later stage work. In 2024 Zotto toured a Piazzolla tribute show, 'Tango. Historias de Astor', which included a run at Rome's Teatro Olimpico in October and November; the same report confirmed that he was still performing ^[8].

Documentation of older dancers

In 1985 Zotto recorded video interviews with Petróleo ^[1]. Petróleo (Carlos Estevez), the milonguero Zotto studied and recorded in the 1980s, died in 1995; the Fundación Konex biography gives his dates as 1912–1995 ^[5].

In 1990 Zotto tried to bring together the leading teachers of the period, among them Antonio Todaro, Pepito Avellaneda, Petróleo, Lampazo and Miguel Balmaceda, at a milonga ^[2].

The Petróleo interviews later became the foundation of Puro Tango, which Zotto premiered at Teatro Metropolitan in 2011 ^[6].

Dance partners

A video listing associates Zotto as a dance partner with the following dancers ^[3]:

- Milena Plebs ^[3] - Daiana Guspero ^[3] - Romina Levin ^[3] - Magdalena Valdez ^[3] - Vida Lisaite ^[3] - Pequeña Nieta ^[3] - Lara Carminati ^[3] - Carina Calderon ^[3] - Carlos Gavito ^[3] - Juan Carlos Copes ^[3] - Ricardo Cabrera ^[3]

Zotto began dancing with Daiana Guspero in 2007; she later also became his life partner ^[1].

Recognition and later activity

In 2003 the Academia Nacional del Tango named Zotto an Académico de Honor ^[1]. In 2011, the year Puro Tango premiered at Teatro Metropolitan, he received a Konex diploma ^[6].

On 29 December 2012 he was interviewed by Pepa Palazón for the series 'Tengo una pregunta para vos' at the Tangomagia festival in Amsterdam ^[2]. In 2013 he sat on the jury of the Mundial de Tango salon final ^[7].

On 1 September 2025 a video tribute to Zotto was projected at the Mundial de Tango pista final ^[9].