Dance Academy

Dance Dojo: Become a better Salsa & Bachata dancer

North America - Canada – Ontario

Dance Dojo, Develop the confidence, rhythm, and skills to have more fun with your dance partners

Till 2014, Dance Dojo help you improve your salsa, one step at a time, to fully express yourself and have more fun on the dance floor.

Dance Dojo is a online Salsa & Bachata dance school for people who want to become better social dancers.

Learn salsa on 1 or on 2 with Patrick and Scarlet or Bachata with Harold and Regan.

They’re creating a place where anyone can learn to dance online from some of the world’s best teachers, and Salsa is just the beginning.

They believe everyone can dance. It’s the experience of learning to dance that determines whether someone enjoys it, and keeps going. They make sure you do both.

Products

Salsa with Patrick & Scarlet (On1 & On2, linear style),

Bachata with Harold & Regan

Social dancers choose to learn with them because they can…

Get the clearest instruction

Experience incredibly detailed breakdowns presented in an easy-to-understand way. After this, you’ll never want to go back to YouTube.

Learn with convenience

Access your lessons anytime, anywhere, watching them as many times as you like — even in slow motion. Have fun making mistakes in a safe environment.

Fast track progress

With a progressive curriculum that focuses on technique and building strong fundamentals, you’ll become a better dancer faster.

Access the best teachers

Learn from the best teachers, not the flashiest dancers. Their super power is helping students become the greatest social dancers they can be.

Practice without a partner

You’ll have tons of lessons that don’t require a partner. There’s always something to learn. No excuses!

Get ongoing feedback

Struggling with something? Post in our private Facebook Group and get feedback from other instructors and dancers in the community.

More info

thedancedojo.com

[email protected]

LATIN SAOKO THE LATIN CORNER OF THE WORLD

Buenos Aires / Argentina

The salsa and timba radio station in South America continues to make progress in its project of making anyone in all corners of the world dance.

Saoko Latino is the fastest growing Internet radio station in America, from its transmission headquarters in Buenos Aires in Argentina and to its master control in Tenerife Spain, its two creators continue betting on this great musical initiative that for more than 3 years they continue growing.

This Latin-Caribbean genre station produces interactive programs with top-of-the-line speakers, music professionals who venture into designing proposals with ideal content for Latin music lovers. Among its main objectives is to create a space dedicated to the public that loves these Caribbean genres, strengthen Caribbean music and culture worldwide, extend the horizons of Latin radio in the world, among so many lines of development that seek to impact being the number 1 in the ranking of stations on the internet.

Their work reaches your hands through their web portal www.saokolatino.com or through their App available under the name Saoko Latino, from these channels they can delight you with their great musical content, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. of the week, without interruptions so you don’t stop listening to it.

From this month of April they venture into a new program called Timba timbero by the hand of its great moderator Ronny Peinado, the famous @DjTimbao. The aforementioned program seeks in 2 hours to address issues of great importance in the timba world, the spectacular Cuban musical genres, from where they delight their listeners with premieres of the most recognized artists of the Cuban arena, the newest representatives of this musical line, development of opinion, informative and many more topics, all developed with the sole intention of making you enjoy what we like the most, Cuban music.

Daily from 3:00 p.m. Colombia time, 9:00 p.m. Spain and 5:00 p.m. Argentina you can tune in to this great program, be part of the participation through its live chat through its website or its App, in the same way you can locate them through Itunes for the followers of the Apple line, everyone can have access to the musical initiative of the moment on the web.

Now don’t hesitate to tune in and get carried away by its great musical content, it’s time to enjoy the best music.

By Jose Perez, ISM Correspondent, Caracas, Venezuela

BECAUSE EVEN FROM HOME YOU CAN COMPETE WITH VENEZUELA IS LATINA

Caracas / Venezuela

Venezuela is Latin prepared a preview of its 2020 edition to be enjoyed online, relying on social networks, anyone who wishes can be part of the competition or the spectator public.

Since 2007, Venezuela is Latina was born as a competitive event that sought to innovate and open a new path to dance competitions in Venezuela, hence since its birth, the event managed to capture the eyes of many by presenting new ideas, from the divisions of the competitors in categories to the emergence of a show in conjunction with the best dancers and academies in the country.

From its first delivery in August 2007 and until the last in a row in 2017, this event usually achieves hundreds of people at great moments, a custom that is maintained for this new edition. It reaches its 12th day, after a stop of two years in its annual run, for this 2020 they have prepared a comeback show, supported by the slogan, a tradition returns and we want to see you dance, this great event seeks to renew the systems a little of competitions that are constantly taking place in beautiful Venezuela, from changes in some categories to innovations in others, we must be prepared for everything that this great event could show us.

For now, they have advanced a mouth opener with an On Line competition through the famous Instagram social network, highlighted by the hashtag #CompiteEnCasa, this idea seeks to open a competition channel for all beginner dancers who can post a video from their homes demonstrating their freestyle skills to win additional prize money from other surprise dance surprises, all supported by great sponsors.

To be part of this competition, those interested must search for all the information contained in their account on Instagram @vzlaeslatina, in addition to reviewing the price of the prize daily at @enviostenerife, the official sponsor, and join this initiative to stay home but take advantage of the time to compete. .

Be sure to follow in the footsteps of this great initiative and be part of the qualifying jury.

By Jose Perez, ISM Correspondent, Caracas, Venezuela

Eva Gordillo, psychologist by profession and director Salseros Academy

The so-called Cuban style is the original way of dancing “casino” or “rueda de casino”. The first steps of this dance were developed in the sports casino in Havana and other dance halls in the Cuban capital at the end of the 1950s, hence its name in Cuba: “–“, as it was originally called “El baile del casino”.

Photo of Salseros Academy Dance Academy

Photo of the Salseros Academy Dance Academy

In Barquisimeto, the musical capital of Venezuela, the dancers of Afro-Caribbean rhythms have a place to develop, improve and learn skills with the help of professionals, who achieve the integration of its participants, creating an atmosphere of great joy for all ages.

In this sense, our special guest in Salsa Escrita “La Columna Salsera de Barquisimeto”, through International Salsa Magazine, www.salsamundi.com, is Eva Gordillo, psychologist by profession and director of the dance academy “Salseros Academy”.

Eva has been a passionate dancer since the age of 13 and today, with only 22 years old, she has toured most of the dance schools in the twilight city and some outside the state of Lara, projecting and developing herself as an instructor of proven hierarchy and reliability.

Welcome Eva to the only salsa magazine in the world, International Salsa Magazine and Salsa Escrita. Thank you, Professor Carlos, for giving me the opportunity to be present in your prestigious salsa column, which is already recognized in my country, the Caribbean, the United States and Europe, thus supporting the entire existing salsa movement in Venezuela.

Salseros Academy dance academy - Photo

Members of the Salseros Academy dance academy

Eva, how and when did the idea of having your own dance academy come up? Friend Carlos, on November 26, 2018, I started and materialized my great dream, my own academy and together with my colleagues and friends, Eleazar Hernandez and Manuel Gamez, we started this adventure, from which today, we are harvesting many fruits and we feel extremely happy with this project and grateful, mainly with God, because everything is thanks to Him.

Excellent, very good friend, by the way, what kind of dances do you develop and teach in “Salseros Academy”? In our academy we give group and personalized classes, for all ages, conditions and levels. Our strength is Latin rhythms, especially Salsa, as our name indicates.

We focus on their different dance ramifications, such as New York style mambo, Salsa en Linea or Los Angeles style, Cuban Timba en Linea and En Rueda or “Salsa Casino”. Amiga Eva, in addition to salsa, do you teach other dance rhythms? Indeed Carlos, in addition we teach some Cuban music derivatives such as the chachachá, pachanga and boogaloo.

We are also projecting ourselves strongly with the bachata and its variants, as well as other Latin genres, such as merengue, among others.

During a visit to the headquarters of “Salseros Academy” in the city of Barquisimeto, by the Latin American correspondent team of International Salsa Magazine, we were able to see the excellent, comfortable and spacious facilities, located on Carrera 16 between Calle 61 and Avenida Rotaria, where Eva is accompanied by four experienced instructors specialized in different dance styles. The attendance and registration of participants is massive, given the proven quality and recognized throughout the city of Barquisimeto.

img. Dance Academy Salseros Academy

Dance Academy Salseros Academy

Friend Eva Gordillo, do you also have other projects at a musical and danceable level? That’s right teacher, at present we are heading to be producers of salsa events, thus promoting the Latin dance movement in our state Lara.

By the way, last year we had the pleasure of carrying out an event called “La Gran Gala de la Salsa” (The Great Salsa Gala), on the occasion of the celebration of the 1st anniversary of our academy, in which the dancers were able to enjoy the “Kadencia Latina” and “Jossy y su Banda” orchestras. Digital platforms and contacts for those interested in dancing at Salseros Academy? Friend Carlos, they are: Instagram: @salserosacademy, @evacarolgz, Whatsapp: 0424-5697908, Facebook: Grupo Salseros.

On behalf of the academy, my team and students, we would like to thank you for your support and projection of our work through your column “Salsa Escrita” in International Salsa Magazine. We wish you success and blessings to continue driving the Venezuelan salsa movement.

Dance Academy Salseros Academy - Cover ISM

ISM Salseros Academy Dance Academy Fund

By Carlos Colmenares, ISM Journalist Correspondents, Barquisimeto, Venezuela

Historical events that gave birth to kizomba

History of kizomba

There are many musical genres and rhythms that we love and make us want to dance just by listening to them, but in most cases, we do not know their origin or how they became what they are today. Such is the case of kizomba, whose origins are both particular and fascinating, so we want to explore a bit about this interesting story for the knowledge of all those readers who still do not know it.

This dance modality that has become well known in Latin America and the United States in recent years has its origins in Angola in the 1960s as a fusion of ”semba” and other African rhythms, but it was not as simple as it sounds. In fact, many things happened before kizomba became what we know, some of which have to do with historical events that led to the creation of this musical genre indirectly.

People dancing kizomba in a dance studio in Angola

Historical context

Angola was colonized by Portugal in the 16th century, fact from which the European country began to impose its culture, language, religion and political system in the occupied territory. In the same way, the colonizers took advantage of the Angolans in every possible way, but the best known was the labor exploitation to which they were subjected to obtain resources and the suppression of their national identity.

The situation became so unbearable that there has been an emergence of numerous anti-colonialist movements throughout the country such as the National Front for the Liberation of Angola, the People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola. This resulted in the Angolan population demanding the rights they had as inhabitants from their own country and which had been forcefully taken away from them. The following years were marked by intense armed conflict, a lot of political instability and international intervention.

Finally in 1975, Angola gained independence from Portugal to become a country free from the yoke which settled down on it for decades. However, the legacy of colonization in every area of national life was so profound that it could not be swept way from one moment to another, including traditional music and dances. Both Angolan music and dance ended up mixing with European and Portuguese rhythms in general, resulting in a colorful range of sounds that have been conquering the whole world.

Angolan women dancing tradicional rhythms

Origin of kizomba and its name

Returning to semba that was mentioned at the beginning, it was its union with other African rhythms such as zouk that gave origin to kizomba as such. The word ”kizomba” comes from ”kimbundú” or ”quimbundú” which means ”party”. Kimbundú is a language spoken in some Angolan provinces and the Portuguese language incorporated some of its terms such as ”xinga” which means ”curse”.

On this subject there is much controversy, since lots of hypotheses are floated to explain the origin of kizomba and one of them states that this genre does not exist as such, but it is a version of the already existing zouk, but sung in Portuguese. There are also some studies indicating that kizomba comes from ”bèlè”, which is a dance inherited from African ancestors who came to the Island of Martinique as slaves to work in the sugarcane plantations.

By mixing bèlè and the European polka, Martinican musicians created something called ”beguine”, which was spreading in Parisian popular dances. When these rhythms were mixed with more commercial music in the 1970s, zouk originated and this term makes direct reference to the spontaneous parties in Martinique. ”Zouk” means ”party” in Creole, which is a language spoken by West Indians that emerged from the mix of French with other African languages. Coincidentally, it has the same meaning as ”kizomba” in Kimbundu.

Some contestants at the Luanda Semba Festival 2019

After zouk spread to French Guiana and Brazil, it returned to Africa, especially to Angola and Cape Verde, where it merged with semba and finally gave birth to kizomba.

What how is kizomba is today

Kizomba tended to be slow-paced and static and not required many turns, but that changed with the passage of time. Today, it includes legs tangled and recreates much more visual moves than before.

Something that characterizes the genre is the circle dance with forward and back steps, which has been very appealing to dancers from all over the world despite their origin. Besides, it is very easy, sensual, different and exotic.