This Week in Salsa

Today's featured salsa snack is the song El Cantante performed by Hector Lavoe.

This episode features the following music:

Today we have Richie Kirwan and Marlene Navarro joining us. Richie is based in Liverpool, England and you may know him from his blog, The Dancing Irishman. Marlene is a salsera from Tampa and a Koreaboo - more on that in today's show.

Resources mentioned on the show:

Today's episode is a strange one. After the Zoom International Salsa Congress, some friends stuck on and we talked about the congress. 

Guests:

Resources mentioned in today's show:

The Zoom International Salsa Congress is happening Saturday, April 25th! Buy your tickets now! We are hosting a Talent Show for all attendees so if you want to show off your talent (dancing, singing, juggling, baton twirling, etc) submit here!

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Joel Dominguez is on a crusade to dance with feeling. He is a native of Mexico where he was raised in a family of musicians. This upbringing fostered an early love and appreciation of Latin music.

From this early upbringing, Joel relocated to New York City by way of Dallas, where he now teaches classes with an emphasis on dancing to the musical instruments, especially the conga and the clave. In our conversation, we talk about this relationship between the dance and the music and how to dance with feeling.

Besides teaching classes in NYC, Joel also runs La Vieja Guardia social which if you are in New York is a must visit! He also runs MySalsaOnline, Joel Salsa and Dance With Feeling which are great resources for aspiring salseros. I personally have signed up for his

Our guests on today's roundtable are Salil Bavdekar and Will Boose. 

Salil is a PhD graduate from University of Florida where he also taught salsa classes and was vice president of The Gator Salsa Club.  He has DJed socials and run Latin nights in Gainesville and is also the founder of the Facebook group Salsa Memes for Spicy Teens.

Will is an MA student in Latin American Studies at UF (graduating in May), starting a PhD program in anthropology at Emory in August. He is a Bachata instructor at The Gator Salsa Club.

Resources mentioned on the show:

Stay in touch with us on Facebook and do us a HUGE favor and give us a 5-star on your podcast app. Get in touch with Rob directly on Facebook and Twitter if you want to connect, have interest in being on a future roundtable or would like to recommend a future guest!

Eddie Torres also known as "The Mambo King" is a living legend in the Latin dance community. He has trained world-famous salseros like Adolfo Indacochea, Wilton Beltre and Eddie Torres, Jr. Along with June Laberta, Eddie developed what we call New York style salsa where dancers break "on 2". He danced alongside and collaborated with Tito Puente. Like we said, a living legend.

Here is part 2 of our interview with Eddie at the Chicago Salsa Congress. If you haven't checked out part 1, do it!  

Traveling out-of-state and overseas to teach is a dream that many young instructors have. But where to begin? And what steps should one take in order to fulfill that dream?

On this Podcast, we asked Jose Santamaria how he accomplished his dream of traveling and teaching overseas. It's not easy, he says, but it isn't impossible either. For him, it all comes down to learning the basics and the history of the dance, practicing and training very hard each week, networking and making contacts wherever one goes, using social media effectively and above all... loving and enjoying the dance.

Jose Santamaria is the owner of the J.A.S. Latin Dance Academy in Santa Rosa, CA. He has been teaching Latin dance for more than ten years, and has taught in many festivals and congresses across the United States and Canada.

His style and expertise have taken him to new and exciting places like Egypt, Japan, and several countries in Europe. According to Jose, anyone can become an international dance instructor. And while the experience might be different for each person, he shared the story about what worked for him and what he thinks takes to become one.

Click on the audio player below to hear about Jose's story, his passion and knowledge for the dance, and his tips and opinions on how to stay on track to become an international instructor.

If you live or plan to visit Santa Rosa, CA and wish to take lessons with Jose, contact the J.A.S. Latin Dance Academy at (707) 293-4292 or [email protected]. www.jasdance.com