In the embrace of the Tango: Julio Bocca brings his sizzle to the touring Boccatango.

Few choreographers have pursued the tango's possibilities as boldly as Argentina's Ana Maria Stekelman. She is described as "a box of surprises" by Pedro Calveyra, who has danced with Stekelman's company, Tangokinesis, since its launch in 1992. International festivals, Carlos Saura's movie, Tango, and Julio Bocca's Ballet Argentino have all showcased her fusions with contemporary dance. U.S. audiences will get a double helping in February and March when both Ballet Argentino and Tangokinesis tour separate all-Stekelman programs.

Stekelman was influenced by Martha Graham, with whom she studied for two years. She was also influenced by Oscar Araiz, creator of the Ballet Contemporaneo del Teatro San Martfn, Buenos Aires' first officially sponsored modern company, of which Stekelman was a founding member and later, the artistic director. Her first attempt at the tango was Jazmines in 1984, when she was partnered by her tango teacher, Miguel Zotto, in a debut that propelled his stage career and crystallized her commitment. Her timing was crucial. "I developed Jazmines parallel to the stage show Tango Argentino, but with a more contemporary vision," she says.

Popularity, Stekelman insists, has also made the tango more accessible. "Before it was something secret that you couldn't learn in a class," she explains. "Today people are studying it, dancing it, perfecting it. It caught on again because social dance had become something danced alone and mucho unisex. The tango returns to the couple. People need this embrace."

Tangokinesis' and Ballet Argentino's 2005 Buenos Aires seasons showed Stekelman's eclectic use of that embrace, inspired, she says, "by my twisted soul." Boccatango, which is the title of Ballet Argentino's touring program, is bound to traditional tango music and the abstract movement designs that made Stekelman's reputation.

"Ana Maria understands my company perfectly," Bocca recently told a Spanish reporter. Stekelman has the highest praise for Bocca. Their two companies share rehearsal space. But things weren't always this cozy. "We didn't get along," Stekelman said of their initial encounter in 1988. "I wasn't prepared for the stress of working with such a star, and he wasn't ready to work with a contemporary choreographer."

In the mid-1990s, she was persuaded to try again. Since then, she has created more works for Bocca than she can remember. Her favorite, El Hombre de la Corbata Roja, hailed as their most successful venture, is based on a classic Argentine short story. Conveying the plot's Faustian bargain terrified the normally gusty Stekelman, who almost walked away from the challenge. But, she says, "Julio, being younger, helps me try things I wouldn't."

This year, Stekelman will choreograph the rock opera, Dracula in Love, in Rome and the ballet film, Aniceto, in Argentina. "I do the art for the art," she says, "and I'm doing what I like."

THE U.S. TOUR OF BALLET ARGENTINO OPENS FEB. 2 AT THE BROWARD CENTER, FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, AND ENDS MARCH 13 AT CAMPBELL HALL, SANTA BARBARA, CA. WWW.JULIOBOCCA.COM/2005/HOME.HTM 

TANGOKINESIS PERFORMS MARCH 4-5 AT THE SCOTTSDALE CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, SCOTTSDALE, AZ WWW.TANGOKINESIS.COM