Dance

International Hustle & Salsa Competition

Performance Group with LDF Group
Performance Group with LDF Group

Growing up in the heart of white America, I didn’t have much exposure to dance. My hometown didn’t have a dance club. Even if it had, I’m not sure I would have gone. I still remember in our dance unit during gym class that I kinda liked and was kinda good at it. When I say kinda good, what I really mean is I have rhythm, not necessarily grace. Fast forward to 2004. I find myself living in Munich, where going to clubs is a regular part of the culture. This is when I realized that I love to dance. It was mostly hip hop at first, but pretty much anything played at the club would suffice. One of my club skills is that I’m pretty good at mimicking what the go-go dancers can do. It either pisses them off or they make it a challenge to stump me.

In 2005, some colleagues of mine mentioned they found a salsa class and were wondering if I was interested in joining them. I actually had some interest in salsa already, but didn’t really know how to start, this was a perfect opportunity. Two weeks into the class, one guy quit. The other guy finished the series, but didn’t continue after that. I got hooked. I took a few series and began social dancing once a week.

ProAm Cha Cha with partner Yesenia Serratos
ProAm Cha Cha with partner Yesenia Serratos

I unfortunately left Germany only a few months after I had started salsa. When I moved to Columbus, I wasn’t sure what I was going to find. I looked for On1 salsa, but couldn’t really find anything at the time. I did find someone (Shezronne Zaccardi) teaching on2 salsa. Although I was hesitant to change styles, I eventually came to love dancing salsa on2. I even did a performance group on2 when I was there.

After Columbus, I moved to LA, the home of on1 salsa. I was in love with on2 salsa and didn’t want to switch back to on1 (most on2 dancers would agree). It wasn’t difficult switching back, but I definitely missed dancing on2. I did a couple performance groups with Latin Dance Forever (Juan & Jorge Purizaca).

Eventually I found Raul Santiago, which is when my dancing really took off. I’ve done a couple performances with Raul and will likely do more. I also competed in a ProAm competition at the 2010 International Hustle & Salsa Competition in Miami, Fl, dancing with Yesenia Serratos, Raul’s partner. Here are my results & performances:

DateEventDanceLevelPlaceTeamPartnerLink
1/26/2007Emack & Bolio’s Performance NightMamboBeginnerChezotic Salsa Team PerformanceSolohttp://www.chezotic.com
3/14/2009Harvelle’s Salsa NightSalsaBeginnerLatin Dance Forever Performance TeamAna Mariahttp://www.latindanceforever.com
6/21/2009Hacienda Hotel Salsa NightSalsaIntermediateSoHo Dance LA Team PerformanceDeborahhttp://www.sohodancela.com
2/21/2010Hacienda Hotel Salsa NightSalsaIntermediateSoHo Dance LA Team PerformanceDomini & Deborahhttp://www.sohodancela.com
4/30/20102010 International Hustle & Salsa CompetitionPro-Am Cha ChaAdult 1 Bronze American2ndSoHo Dance LAYesenia Serratoshttp://www.hustleandsalsa.com
4/30/20102010 International Hustle & Salsa CompetitionPro-Am Cha ChaAdult 1 Silver American1stSoHo Dance LAYesenia Serratoshttp://www.hustleandsalsa.com
4/30/20102010 International Hustle & Salsa CompetitionPro-Am Cha ChaAdult 1 Gold American1stSoHo Dance LAYesenia Serratoshttp://www.hustleandsalsa.com
4/30/20102010 International Hustle & Salsa CompetitionPro-Am East Coast SwingAdult 1 Newcomer American2ndSoHo Dance LAYesenia Serratoshttp://www.hustleandsalsa.com
4/30/20102010 International Hustle & Salsa CompetitionPro-Am East Coast SwingAdult 1 Bronze American2ndSoHo Dance LAYesenia Serratoshttp://www.hustleandsalsa.com
4/30/20102010 International Hustle & Salsa CompetitionPro-Am HustleIntermediate3rdSoHo Dance LAYesenia Serratoshttp://www.hustleandsalsa.com
4/30/20102010 International Hustle & Salsa CompetitionPro-Am HustleAdvancedSoHo Dance LAYesenia Serratoshttp://www.hustleandsalsa.com
4/30/20102010 International Hustle & Salsa CompetitionPro-Am MerengueAdult 1 Newcomer American1stSoHo Dance LAYesenia Serratoshttp://www.hustleandsalsa.com
4/30/20102010 International Hustle & Salsa CompetitionPro-Am MerengueAdult 1 Bronze American2ndSoHo Dance LAYesenia Serratoshttp://www.hustleandsalsa.com
4/30/20102010 International Hustle & Salsa CompetitionPro-Am RumbaAdult 1 Newcomer American1stSoHo Dance LAYesenia Serratoshttp://www.hustleandsalsa.com
4/30/20102010 International Hustle & Salsa CompetitionPro-Am RumbaAdult 1 Bronze American1stSoHo Dance LAYesenia Serratoshttp://www.hustleandsalsa.com
4/30/20102010 International Hustle & Salsa CompetitionPro-Am SalsaIntermediate2ndSoHo Dance LAYesenia Serratoshttp://www.hustleandsalsa.com
4/30/20102010 International Hustle & Salsa CompetitionPro-Am SalsaAdvancedSoHo Dance LAYesenia Serratoshttp://www.hustleandsalsa.com
12/15/2011Olivia’s Salsa Holiday PartyLatin HustleIntermediateThe Vertitude Latin Hustle Team PerformanceDominihttp://www.thevertitude.com
12/17/2011People’s Yoga, Health & Dance Holiday PartyLatin HustleIntermediateThe Vertitude Latin Hustle Team PerformanceChindahttp://www.thevertitude.com
12/22/2011The Vertitude Holiday PartyLatin HustleIntermediateThe Vertitude Latin Hustle Team PerformanceDominihttp://www.thevertitude.com
5/23/2012Steven’s SteakhouseBachata & MamboIntermediateQue Rico Rising Stars PerformanceVeronicahttp://www.quericodance.com
5/25/20122012 LA Salsa CongressBachata & MamboIntermediateQue Rico Rising Stars PerformanceVeronicahttp://www.quericodance.com

And finally, here are some videos of me dancing over the last couple years, including some of the performance groups & dance teams I’ve been on.

[youlist pid=”PLBC16CFE30119027F” width=”1120″ height=”840″]

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