Naomi Hotta

Naomi was born in the United States and at the age of 11 she moved with her family to Tokyo, Japan. Always active, she started her Rhythmic Sports Gymnastics training which developed her extensive dance techniques and flexibility. Five years later, she joined her university's flamenco dance troop, where she realized her draw for the Latin music and dance. Encountering salsa, her dance ability skyrocketed.

In 2001, recognizing her extraordinary talent for salsa, Naomi was invited to join the world renowned "Salsa Brava Dance Company" in Los Angeles. She then taught and performed nationally and internationally with the company in places such as Puerto Rico, Korea, Switzerland, and Japan. She has also won several salsa competitions in Los Angeles.

Naomi was exposed to Argentine Tango while teaching salsa, swing, and ballroom dance classes at West Los Angeles, and Harbor colleges in Los Angeles. Her attraction to Argentine Tango was instantaneous. In 2004 in order to further her tango abilities, she traveled to Buenos Aires, the Mecca of tango, spending 5 months of intensive training and nightly milonga dancing. There she attained the techniques and the essence of tango. Her great maestros were such as Jorge Dispari, Fernando Galera, and as important were the many old milongueros she danced with in the milongas. She competed in the 2nd World Tango Competition surpassing more then 280 couples successfully making the finals.

Naomi's love, passion, and devotion for the dance is unchanging. She now teaches and performs on a regular basis. Her fluidity and grace is second to none. She strives to continuously explore and evolve as a dancer and one day she plans to become known as an old milonguera.