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Alma Cubana Dance Academy

North America / USA / Portland

Alma Cubana Dance Academy

Alma Cubana Dance Academy
Alma Cubana Dance Academy

“They are a small dance group in Portland, ME. that offers Salsa and Bachata lessons and have student level teams for both those styles as well as ladies styling. Currently the lessons are on Sundays, you can find everything current on their website www.almacubanadance.com

Alma Cubana Dance was founded in the spring of 2015 by Vanessa Webber (Gutierrez). Alma Cubana means “Cuban Soul”, and being half Cuban, she wanted her group to reflect that heritage. It has been a long standing dream to offer classes, build a performance group and to help grow the Salsa and Latin dance community in Southern/Midcoast Maine. Their focus is to bring quality instruction while maintaining the social atmosphere of Salsa dance.

‘I danced Ballet and Modern growing up and helped develop a salsa company in Boston while in College which I believe is celebrating 10 years or more this year, although I am not with them anymore. I took 8 dancers to Miami last year and they competed in the first Miami Latin Dance Championships where all of them placed in at least one category.”

“They are a small dance group in Portland, ME. that offers Salsa and Bachata lessons and have student level teams for both those styles as well as ladies styling. Currently the My company is very young, only just 2 years, and it is mainly attended by those who love to dance but it is not a full time commitment. We perform locally a lot, and try to take the groups to 2-3 congresses or festivals, usually within driving distance. We have done Boston Salsa Festival twice, Connecticut Salsa Fest last year and Bachateando Miami last year, we plan to go to Connecticut and Boston again this year.” Vanessa Webber (Gutierrez), Alma Cubana Dance founder/director

They will be changing the schedule in April for Spring and Summer. Spring and Summer Schedule will have team practices on Sundays and Wednesday, classes for Salsa and Bachata before our regular latin night, which just celebrated 1 year.”

2017 Winter Schedule

Sundays

  • 3:00–4:00 pm Bachata and Body Movement
  • 4:00–5:30 pm Beginner Salsa Bootcamp
  • 4:00–5:30 pm Intermediate Salsa Bootcamp
  • 5:30–7:00 pm Open Level Salsa Team Rehearsal*

Tuesdays

  • 8:00–9:30 pm Bachata Team Rehearsal

2017 Spring/Summer Schedule

Sundays: Classes held at Aquarius Ballroom

  • 2:00–3:30 pm Ladies Choreography Class
  • 3:30–5:00 pm Bachata Performance Team*
  • 5:00–6:30 pm Salsa Performance Team*

Wednesdays: Classes held at Pearl Nightclub

7:30–8:15 pm Salsa for Social Dance 8:15–9:00 pm Bachata for Social Dance 8:00–9:00 pm Drop-in Class Salsa/Bachata (Note: There is a potential overlap/error in the Wednesday schedule near the end, listing 8:15-9:00 pm and 8:00-9:00 pm for different classes).

Esencia Latina Wednesdays at Pearl Nightclub

Esencia Latina means “Latin Essence” and that is what they want this night to embody. Start off the night with lessons to get your feet moving from 8-9pm. At 9, the lights go down and have a great mix of Salsa, Bachata, Merengue, Cha Cha and more to keep you on the dance floor. Latin dance is a social dance, its meant to be something you do with your friends and/or family. Loosen up, shake your hips and party like Latinas! Pearl Nightclub is located next to the Tap House 442 Fore St, Portland, ME

Alma Cubana Dance Academy - Flyers
Alma Cubana Dance Academy – Flyers

Colombian dancer and instructor Camila Cepeda takes salsa caleña to Canada

Every day there are more Latinos who, with their talent, are gradually taking over various cities in Canada and the hearts of many of its inhabitants. Colombian instructor and dancer Camila Cepeda shows us that she and several of her compatriots have managed to break into the aforementioned North American country and shares with us a little bit of her interesting story.

Dancer and instructor Camila Cepeda
Colombian dancer and salsa caleña instructor Camila Cepeda

Camila’s interest in dance

Camila has danced through life, and since she was a little kid, dance has been very important to her. One genre in particular that caught her attention was salsa caleña, especially since she saw it for the first time with dance groups on the TV show “Colombia’s Got Talent”. From there, more specifically in 2011, she looked for a dance academy where she could learn to dance and imitate what she saw on the screen.

Almost immediately, she realized that it was a very demanding style that required stunts and movements that were not common in more classic versions of salsa. After training in dancing, she did not want to be just an expert in salsa caleña, but many more people learned how to dance it as well, which led her to create a folk dancing group with which she would take her first steps towards teaching.

In addition to salsa caleña, Camila also danced salsa choka, champeta, bachata, merengue, and Colombian folklore. 

Camila dancing at an event
Camila Cepeda dancing in one of her salsa caleña events

Moving to Canada

Initially, Camila’s plans did not include leaving Colombia, but when she knew Canada, she found it an extremely interesting country where she could start something new with dance due to the lack of salsa caleña there. So, she entered the country with a student visa and studied international business at Seneca College in Toronto, with the intention of forming her own company in her new host country.

While gaining business experience through jobs for other companies, she continued to offer classes in parallel. Finally in 2020, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and when she was still a university student, she decided to register and open her dance academy, “Salsa & Sabor.”

During that time, she also validated her teaching in English so that she could give classes to both locals and people from other cultures who spoke the same language.

Camila, Aleja, and Sonia
Camila with dancers Aleja and Sonia

Salsa & Sabor today

Although the academy was started with only online classes due to the sanitary restrictions of that time, Camila was able to gather together a more or less numerous community that allowed her to stay afloat in such a difficult moment. Therefore, when government controls were relaxed, the young woman had no problem to organize dance classes and activities in parks keeping proper social distancing.

A short time later, she could finally open her dance studio, welcome students in person, and recruit other instructors such as Diana, Victoria, Mateo, and Paula. One thing to mention about these five young Colombians is that they were all Camila’s students in the past and, after all the training she offered, they also became experts in the field. Given the pitifully small number of salsa caleña instructors in Canada, when they were ready, she asked them to join her team, and they gladly accepted the opportunity.

This, in turn, helped them to open up more schedules and workshops for many more people, allowing the academy to grow even more.

Camila with her students
Camila with some of her little students

Division of teaching genres and events

As we said at the beginning of this article, Camila also teaches other genres such as salsa choke, la champeta, bachata, and merengue, but her flagship and main rhythm remains salsa caleña. An important difference between salsa caleña and the rest is that it has a well-defined continuity and academic structure, so it takes much longer to learn. The other genres are relatively simpler, so they do not require as many hours or such an elaborate program.

Differences between salsa caleña and traditional salsa

According to Camila, a very important component of salsa caleña is its speed compared to traditional salsa. The way salsa is danced in Puerto Rico, Cuba, or New York is much better known around the world due to its age, while salsa caleña is a little newer and only began internationalizing a few years ago. In addition, traditional salsa is slower and uses the hips and shoulders a lot, while salsa caleña relies heavily on the rapid movements of the feet.

In fact, an important fact to know is that salsa caleña was created from a mistake. It turns out that a group of young people in Cali were doing private parties with LPs by various artists of the time, but they accidentally raised their speed and made the songs sound faster than they should. This led them to create completely new steps and choreographies based on these fast songs, giving rise to what we now know as salsa caleña. 

These parties were called “aguelulos,” a Colombian term to refer to alcohol-free parties or gatherings for young people. 

Read also: Tito Puente Jr.: perpetuating a legacy with its own rhythm

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:

 

Solar Latino Academy

Latin America / Venezuela / Caracas

Solar Latino Academy

It is an academy located in Caracas, Venezuela, founded by passionate dancers and instructors who dedicate their time and effort to teaching future well-rounded dancers. They use didactic methods to provide dance knowledge, expanding their students’ horizons and future at a national and international level.

They feature a great environment where students not only acquire dance knowledge but also enjoy their activity. They perform on stage to demonstrate the high quality of the show and to showcase innovative fusions of dance, aiming to position themselves as one of the best academies in the market.

In short, their vision as an academy is to “develop the best artistic working environment where our students learn and enjoy to the fullest.” “Basing this on the exigence and quality of our classes and shows, becoming a very competitive group, achieving national leadership and international recognition.”

Solar Latino Academy
Solar Latino Academy

The academy started with a group of students who learned to dance Salsa Casino for recreation, and as time passed, it became something more serious.

Starting in 2004, they began teaching family and close friends, and within a few months, they already had at least 50 students.

In 2006, the Solar Latino Academy was officially founded, starting with salsa casino. They later added diverse dance genres as they expanded their knowledge of integral dance and teaching methodologies, thus forming a large number of dance classes taught at the La Trinidad headquarters. The only founder currently at the academy is Oscar, who was responsible for instructing and training dancers and expanding the Academy. After achieving excellent results in national competitions and festivals, the Academy’s Dance Corps (Cuerpo de Baile) was formed.

They mention that they are currently a group passionate about dance and integral development, relying on dance as one of the most used tools for artistic and corporal expression. They also state that their work is maintained in constant artistic growth and teaching development, always applying “our innovative touch in everything we do.” They have even had the opportunity to participate in national and international festivals and, in addition to that, develop innovative events.

Solar Latino Academy- Flyer
Solar Latino Academy- Flyer

For more information, please visit: