Search Results for: Argentina

Kadenza Dance School

Latin America / Argentina/ Buenos Aires

Kadenza Dance School is a dance academy located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They don’t just teach people the steps of a musical rhythm; they demonstrate through their teaching that dancing nourishes the spirit of those who practice it. Not only that, but dance also allows for a connection with emotions, giving students more freedom for their spirit or soul.

KADENZA is a school geared toward students of all ages and with different goals, whether they wish to pursue a professional path or use dance as a form of recreation or therapy. All their students and teachers benefit from a comfortable reception area, spacious studios equipped with mirrors, barres, wooden floors, high-quality sound systems, and Wi-Fi throughout the studio. In short, it’s an ideal place to learn with passion, as the atmosphere is full of joy, respect, and good vibes, where one can enjoy what they love to do most… which is dancing.

Kadenza Dance School - Danza Jazz — Kadenza Dance School – Danza Jazz

They also state that they are seriously committed to the quality of instruction, where qualified professors and instructors give their best in every class. This ensures their students incorporate the essentials of each technique and develop the maximum potential of their learning in the rhythms chosen by the student.

The Directors: Yamila Larraura and Juan Pablo Villar

The School’s Directors are Yamila Larraura and Juan Pablo Villar, who mention that, “Anyone can open an Academy, but few are the ones that make a difference.”

If we want to know more about the history of these two directors, we can start with Yamila Larraura, who was born in Argentina. Since she was a child, she began listening to Afro-Latin music thanks to her father, “Jorge Washington Larraura,” who was of Uruguayan origin. When she was 14, she went on vacation to Villa Gesell with her parents and a friend of theirs. It was on this trip that her interest in Salsa was awakened, as she went to a place near the beach that played Salsa music and offered classes in the afternoon with all the people from the beach.

One of the songs heard back then was “El Muerto se fue de Rumba” by the group “Las Sabrosas Zarigüellas,” which was very catchy for everyone who heard it. After her vacation, she decided to enroll in Salsa classes, where her teachers were Pablo Demaro and Kimena Puente.

As for Juan Pablo Villar, during his youth, he worked as a waiter in a bar and took theater classes, which also included lessons in national folklore and Latin rhythms (Salsa). This was his first contact with dance, and from that moment, he developed an interest in it. One day, a person came to the bar and mentioned that they taught classes in a studio, asking if they could leave flyers at the bar for people who wanted to dance. Knowing this, Juan Pablo Villar decided to go to the Salsa classes taught by Professor Pablo Demaro.

Kadenza Dance School - Social — Kadenza Dance School – Social

They explain that the Salsa classes back then were in a Cuban style, which featured fairly simple movements and figures. It was in these very classes that the future directors of KADENZA, Juan Pablo Villar and Yamila Larraura, first met.

The Journey to Kadenza

To gain a better experience, and to teach and give classes, they had to learn new techniques. They decided to seek out the best teachers in Argentina, who at that time were from the “Escuela de Mambo en Dos,” led by teachers Liz Paredes and Carlos Aragón, until they moved to Italy in 2007.

Afterward, they formed a dance group with their colleagues called “Combo Bayres,” during which time they toured the country and performed on various stages. In 2007, Liz Paredes and Carlos Aragón returned from Italy and formed the “Compañía Mambo en Dos,” where Yamila Larraura and Juan Pablo Villar joined the project. They gained great experience in the artistic world, traveling to different Argentine cities like Mar del Plata, Rosario, among others.

They also had the opportunity to travel abroad, attending the Salsa Congress in Uruguay, and later going to the United States, to New York City, to present at the Salsa Congress where they met great dance legends like Eddie Torres. Another great experience they had was the honor of being the official dancers for the famous Venezuelan Salsa singer “Oscar D’León” and the Dominican Salsero José Alberto, also known as “El Canario.” By 2010, they left the Mambo en Dos company to start their own school.

The academy’s beginning went without a name for a year, simply referred to as Pablo and Yamila’s school, but they were always looking for a name that would identify the essence they wished to convey. They eventually came up with “Cadenza,” which in Italian means “style of free rhythms.” To make the name more original, they changed it to “KADENZA,” feeling proud of their choice.

Kadenza Dance School - Mambo, Salsa, Bachata, Tango, Urbano, Arabe — Kadenza Dance School – Mambo, Salsa, Bachata, Tango, Urbano, Arabe

Contact Information

For more information, contact them at:

Website: http://www.kadenza.com.ar
Facebook:escueladebaile
Phones: 5354-0957 / 15-3331-7875
Email: [email protected]
Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/106664874547676369685
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-he58RYqrJwoxoH8OID3ZA

Latin America / October 2025

OCTOBER EVENTS 2025
VENEZUELA
PUERTO RICO

DIRECTORY OF NIGHTCLUBS
ARGENTINA	ARUBA	BELIZE
BOLIVIA	BRAZIL	CHILE
COLOMBIA	COSTA RICA	CUBA
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	ECUADOR	GUATEMALA
MEXICO	PANAMA	PERU
PUERTO RICO	VENEZUELA

Latin America / September 2025

DIRECTORY OF NIGHTCLUBS
ARGENTINA	ARUBA	BELIZE
BOLIVIA	BRAZIL	CHILE
COLOMBIA	COSTA RICA	CUBA
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC	ECUADOR	GUATEMALA
MEXICO	PANAMA	PERU
PUERTO RICO	VENEZUELA

Argentine tango bassist and Latin Grammy winner Pedro Giraudo returned to his roots

Latin Grammy winner Pedro Giraudo spoke exclusively to us for International Salsa Magazine, so we are very pleased to bring you the best of our conversation with the Argentinian bassist and composer. Next, these are the highlights of his beginnings and his exciting career in his native country and in the United States, where he currently resides.

Argentine bassist Pedro Giraudo posing for the camera

Pedro’s beginnings in music

Pedro comes from a family of musicians. In fact, his father was a bandleader and his mother sang in a choir, so he was surrounded by music practically since he was born. He has memories of him watching his parents rehearse and play instruments when he was very young, so he was always very familiar with this kind of thing.

During his adolescence, he performed recitals with various ensembles, some of which played classical music, jazz, and tango. His professional advancement was very gradual, but he was doing some activities that prepared him for what was to come years later.

His love for this world grew so big that, once he turned 19, he moved to the United States precisely to study music and learn everything he could about what can be expressed through it. His musical interests initially focused on jazz, but that changed over time.

Already at the end of his last year in college in New York, he was working regularly with various groups of different genres.

Interest in tango

Although, as we have said, Pedro comes from Argentina, he had not been particularly interested in tango at first, but his numerous trips around the world made him feel a little uprooted and detached from his beginnings. For this reason, nostalgia made him reconnect with the traditional music of his homeland. In addition, the fact that he was Argentinean encouraged many groups to call him, even though his knowledge of tango was not yet very deep at that time.

After giving himself the opportunity to play tango more formally, he also set to work to study it much more to learn about its most famous composers, its various styles, its ways to write music in the genre, among other things. In addition to that, he started to transcribe a lot of music to know what it sounded like in different styles and to gain practice.

This path eventually led the artist to become part of many tango bands and even to lead some ensembles.

Pedro and friends — Pedro Giraudo, pianist Ahmed Alom, symphonic director Sergio Alessandro Bušlje, violinist Sami Merdinian, and accordionist Javier Sanchez

Groups Pedro was in

Pedro’s main goal in arriving in the United States was to become a double bassist, and after finally achieving it, he graduated from college and started to explore his role as a composer and leader of his own ensemble. From there, the band varied for characteristics and changed members and in size over the next 15 years. The last thing was a 17-piece big band.

Then, in the year 2014, due to the death of a great friend, Argentine pianist Octavio Brunetti, the Lincoln Center for The Performing Arts asked him to lead an event to celebrate his life and music. Therefore, in 2015, the musician started his tango project, which he would name Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet, taking this request as a starting point.

Today, he focuses all his efforts on tango ensembles, although he does recognize that he is increasingly angling for the classical side. For example, for his latest album, Pedro used a symphony orchestra, and since the last few months, he has been conceiving his next project with a chamber orchestra.

Great collaborations in his career

Throughout his career, Pedro has been able to work with great music glories such as Paquito D’ D’Rivera, Rubén Blades, Pablo Ziegler, William Cepeda, and many others. One of the nicest things about this work for the Argentine is that he is always surrounded by very talented people from whom he can learn a lot.

One of them was bandoneonist Hector Del Curto, who was one of the first people Pedro started playing tango with in New York. Del Curto, in turn, had the great honor of playing with the greats of the golden age of Argentine music, such as Osvaldo Pugliese.

It was through Hector that Pedro was able to meet and play with Pablo Ziegler, who was the principal pianist of Astor Piazzolla’s Second Quintet and greatly influenced the way tango is played on the piano. In fact, playing along with him on the double bass was an experience of which he learned so much, which he appreciated.

Pedro and his Grammy — Pedro Giraudo holding his Latin Grammy in Las Vegas

In the case of William Cepeda, the artist made some arrangements for him and he received many valuable lessons from him, such as the importance of keeping musicians engaged with sheet music to prevent them from getting too lax. It was also with Zepeda that he made his first arrangements for a symphony orchestra.

On the other hand, Paquito taught him how to be a practical musician and to make perfect, well done arrangements for any occasion.

Latin Grammy winner

Pedro is fortunate to be a Latin Grammy winner thanks to his album “Vigor Tanguero” in the category Best Tango Album in 2018. When we asked him about his experience, the double bassist said that there are some details he does not fully understand, such as the elements taken into consideration when voting for an artist in a category. However, that did not overshadow the joy of winning such an important award.

He says his victory was a surprise. At the time, he remembers being on tour with Pablo Ziegler, and after a four-hour rehearsal, his phone had about 40 missed calls congratulating him, while he did not even know that the nominations were being announced that day. To his amazement, he was included.

The final event was in Las Vegas, where Pedro finally heard his name and felt a total joy and pride for all he had achieved. In this respect, he said, “I’m not a person who collects awards, but this is a recognition I’m very proud of, to be honest.”

Bachata Festival 2017 in San Francisco, California

North America / USA / California

The Ultimate Bachata, Salsa, Kizomba and Zouk Experience… A Dance Convention for Beginners, Intermediate & for all levels of dancing! The 9th Annual SF International Bachata Festival

Date: JULY 21st – 24th, 2017
Bachata | Kizomba | Zouk | Salsa (4-Party Rooms)
3 days and 3 nights of dancing
Friday, Saturday & Sunday from 10am until 6am!

Photos from the 2017 Bachata Festival in San Francisco

Transform your dance skills in one weekend with these world renowned dance instructors plus a dance experience of a lifetime!

Live Band
Dance Workshops from 10am to 5pm
Performances Every Night Ÿ Social Dancing until 6am
Jack and Jill Contest prize Giveaways

SFIBF, (San Francisco International Bachata Festival) is the largest and hottest Bachata festival in the world, located in one of the greatest city in the world – San Francisco. Created by Rodney Rodchata Aquino, along with its sister event Reno Bachata Festival, they are the first Bachata festivals in the USA. It celebrates the music and dance of Bachata, preserving its roots and accepting its evolution, as well as Salsa, Zouk and Kizomba.

Festival Line-Up

More than 20 instructors, DJs and Live Band for this year’s festival!

Adam Taub (Colorado)/ Bachata:

Adam Taub is one of the few ones who have seriously studied authentic bachata (the way Dominicans dance). SFIBF is extremely proud to present him with his special music, history and dance workshops at the San Francisco International Bachata Festival – July 21-23, 2017.

Adam Taub is a documentary film director from Colorado whose films include La Quinceañera, Don Angelo, and El Duque de la Bachata. His film La Quinceañera won the 2007 award for Best Documentary at the Angelus Student Film Festival in Hollywood, California and Best Documentary at the San Diego Latino Film Festival.

Alberto & Nola (Australia) / Bachata:

Nola Komis is the Founder, Director and Principal Instructor of A Touch of Salsa Latin Dance Studios in Sydney, Australia. A Touch of Salsa runs classes in Salsa, Bachata, Zouk and Kizomba. They also offer competition courses, workshops, performance courses and more and will this year will be celebrating 11 years.

Nola Komis and Alberto Torres-Perez have been teaching together for the past five years and they are both passionate and love sharing their passion for dance. Nola and Alberto have both travelled to Athens, Geneva, New Zealand, Hawaii and all over Australia where they have taught workshops at Festivals/Congresses to packed participants and have received many great reviews for their classes.

Nola and Alberto are looking forward to being part of the San Francisco Bachata Festival in July 2017.

Emelie Andagan (Sacramento) / Salsa:

The Yemaya Salsa Dance Company was founded by Emelie Andagan & Heather Wong-Xoquic in October, 2000. Emelie learned to dance salsa after only a few years due to her extensive dance background of over 20 years and many years of experience as a ballet and jazz student, and later a teacher at the Ballet Theatre of Dover Dance Conservatory.

The troupe started as a small group of only four couples that rehearsed twice a week in various garages and practically anywhere with a smooth surface. She owns and manages Yemaya Dance Studio in Sacramento, and is the main director of Yemaya dance Company.

Luis Aguilar (San Francisco) / Salsa:

Luis Aguilar debuted in 2000 with the Salsa Mania Dance Company in San Francisco. Since then, he performed with such giants in the Latin music industry as El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, the Tito Puente Orquestra, Celia Cruz, Ray Barretto, Jose “El Canario” Alberto, Oscar de Leon, Eddie Palmieri, the Spanish Harlem Orquestra and Sonora Carruseles. In addition to his impressive performance credits, Luis has taken 1st place in many Latin dance competitions and Congresses such as The San Francisco International Salsa Congress and the Bay Area Salsa Dance Competition.

Since joining forces in 2007, Luis and Anya have become the ON 2 WORLD SALSA CHAMPIONS for the second year in a row, along with having become two time undefeated San Francisco Congress Salsa champions in ’09 and ’10, undefeated two time New York Congress champions in ’09, ’10, Puerto Rico Hustle and Salsa champions ’09, and are currently the North American Salsa Champions and two time winners of the NY/NJ salsa open. With their combined backgrounds, Luis and Anya make a dynamic duo that brings a fresh new element to the salsa dance floor.

Benga Da Beatz (Ohio) / Kizomba:

Benga is a Nigeria born international dancing sensation, with backgrounds in several African dances, ballroom dances, American dances, and latin dances. From Waltz to Tango, Makoussa to Kizomba, hip hop to west coast swing, and Irish dance to Bollywood. Benga has intensive dancing experiences all across the globe.

An Afro Beats and Afro-cuban solo performer, and a latin dance instructor well known to many now as the Da Beatz. With 26 years of African Dancing and 6 years of professional latin dancing, Benga is teaching and promoting at every Latin events possible with his own vibrant style of Fun Swagness.

Cymeone Mopao (France) / Kizomba:

Cymeone Mopao is a well-known kizomba instructor based in Paris. He is one of the first instructors to have taught kizomba in France beginning in 2009. Born into a family of musicians, he was accustomed to lots of music and quickly adapted to the dance lifestyle. As he immersed himself into dance, he became proficient in African style dances such as ndombolo and coupé décalé.

When he was 18, he joined a group of dancers called “les coeurs brisés “. From there he became interested in other Afro style dances like Zouk, Kompa and Kizomba. He gave his first Kizomba class in 2009 and became one of the most wanted instructors in international festivals. In 2010, he was the first French instructor to teach Kizomba in the United States (New York).

Bruno & Olga (Los Angeles) / Zouk:

Bruno and Olga started dancing together in November 2015 and have since taught and performed at numerous events around the country from local workshops to large international congresses.}

In 2016 they took second place in the semi-pro division of the Zouk US Open with their now well-known choreography piece “Worth It” and shortly after got featured in the “Fences” movie, that’s currently in production stage. Olga has a rich dance background in classical ballet, modern, contemporary and commercial jazz, as well as hip hop and heels choreographies. She is also an All-Star west coast swing dancer. Bruno is trained in hip hop, salsa, kizomba, tarraxinha, semba, and of course brazilian zouk.

He has been on the social dance scene of his hometown Braga, Portugal since he was 14 years old. Since his move to the US he’s been mainly focusing on zouk and kizomba, training and teaching around the country with his partner, performing in ISDC dance company for a while, and currently codirecting the Zouk team at Ivo Vieira’s Dance company and learning from the best dance professionals in the world.

Sandro (Brazil) / Zouk:

Sandro Soncini is a dancer, choreographer and dance instructor from Florianopolis, Brazil. He has studied and trained in dance for over 10 years. Sandro is experienced in many partner dance styles, and has intensively studied the concepts of body movement driven by his training in tango.

In 2010 Sandro moved to Argentina to continue to develop his dance skills and education at DNI tango school. Sandro has participated in various congresses and competitions, including BAILA FLORIPA DUO, where in 2012 together with his partner he placed 3rd.

Sandro has taught in zouk throughout Canada, United States and Brazil. Currently Sandro is living in Vancouver, Canada with a focus on promoting zouk in the Pacific North West.

Bachata Festival 2017, Tickets / Passes:

Tickets: Full Passes $200.00 Unlimited. (EXP July 15th)
Tickets at Doors: $250 Buy Your Passes in mybachatafestival.com

Location: The SF Marriott Hotel 1800 Old Bayshore Hwy, Burlingame, CA 94010 Discounted Nightly rate of $141 a night (you must use the site – www.sfibf.com) Free Shuttle 24 hours a day.