Juan Carlos Copes

Juan Carlos Copes (31 May 1931 – 16 January 2021) was an Argentine tango dancer, choreographer, and performer. He started dancing with Maria Nieves when he was 17 and she 14, and the pair later married. Copes and Nieves played a leading role in the renaissance in Tango dancing from the 1970s and, particularly, in Argentine Tango following the 1983 restoration of democracy in that country. Copes was the first to create choreographed tango stage shows and also worked on seven films. Later in his career he partnered with his daughter, Johana, from his second marriage.

Early life and career Copes was born in Mataderos, Buenos Aires, on 31 May 1931, and grew up in Villa Pueyrredón. He began dancing at milongas in Buenos Aires at a young age. Nieves described Copes as a poor dancer initially, but said he improved quickly. An early professional performance was with the Francisco Canaro orchestra in 1955.

During the 1960s, Copes was instrumental in creating the modern tango show concept in Buenos Aires. Copes and Nieves starred in a 1962 production at the Alvin Theatre on Broadway as well as appearing on numerous episodes of The Ed Sullivan Show from 1962 to 1964. Their "Tango Argentino" show, starring Elvira Santamaría and her partner Virulazo, premiered in Paris in 1983, appearing on Broadway in 1985, and being recreated on Broadway in 1999. He also danced at the Juilliard School, Stanford University, the University of Chicago and the Sorbonne University. The reintroduction of democracy to Argentina led to a renaissance in Argentine Tango in which Copes and Nieves were leading figures. Copes taught the style, which was later known as the "estilo Copes-Nieves," to many dancers and his pupils included Robert Duvall, Julio Bocca, Eleonora Cassano, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Liza Minnelli. He also taught some of the dance instructors of the Fred Astaire Dance Studios. He also choreographed Tangos Para El Mundo, Copes Tango Show, Entre Borges y Piazzolla and Sentimiento de Tango.

Copes worked on seven films.

Later life Copes retired from dancing in 2015 for health and financial reasons. In the same year German Kral's documentary film O Nosso Último Tango ("Our Last Tango") showed Copes' often difficult relationship with Nieves. He had first contracted the disease in December 2020.