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Swedish dancer Molly Hagman made it in Europe and now in New York

Undoubtedly, Latin music continues to enslave hearts around the world and the protagonist of this story is a reliable proof of it. It has been such a great honor for us to have known the story of Swedish professional dancer Molly Hagman, who has shared with us the most important facts about her career and how she has reached the point she is at today.

How Molly became interested in dancing in her home country

Nice and jovial Molly was describing in detail everything she has done in her career, thus answering most questions we had for her. She began by telling us that her dance studies began when she was still very young. Being only 15 years old, her best friend at the time convinced her to enroll in the Malmoe Dance Academy in the Swedish city of Malmö, to learn from instructors who introduced her to genres such as jazz, hip hop, contemporary music and ballet.

Two years later, when she was sufficiently prepared, she began experimenting with salsa and auditioning for women’s dance teams, one of them being the group Bellasitas, Molly and Maddy being the first two original members. Once the team was complete, they began to perform in congresses throughout Europe such as the Berlin Salsa Festival, the Hamburg Salsa Festival, the Copenhagen Salsa Festival, the Stockholm Salsa Weekend at the Capitol Stockholm in Sweden, the Scandinavian Salsa Congress, the Love Dance Festival, among many others.

Activity outside Europe

By the year 2014, the young woman studied a year of commercial dance at the International Dance Academy in Copenhagen, Denmark. As part of her education, she was able to travel to Los Angeles to train at the Millenium Dance Complex studio, where she remained for about three months and shared with some of its choreographers such as Gustavo Vargas, Jojo Gomez, Yanis Marshall, Tricia Miranda and many more. That time was enough for her to know that her destiny was the United States and that eventually she would like to live there. And she did.

Molly at the Malmoe Dance Academy — Molly when she was studying at the Malmoe Dance Academy during her teenage years

Some time later, more specifically in 2016, Molly moved to New York to study dance at Broadway Dance Center and the possibility to meet the best salsa instructors, many of whom were in that city. It is there where she made contact with Franklin Diaz, with whom she was dancing for a few months in a number of events, until joining the Yamulee Dance Company in the Bronx. She danced for that dance company for about six years, that is, until the year 2022.

During her time with Yamulee, she was able to participate in all kinds of events all over New York, Florida, Trinidad and Tobago and other places.

It is during this time that her passion for Latin music developed even more, since practically those whom she interacted with listened to salsa, merengue, bachata and reggaeton and the great majority of Yamulee’s members were Dominicans who gave much importance to their heritage. As mentioned before, Molly had already had contact with these genres, but this constant exposure only reinforced her decision to continue along this path.

Solo career

In 2022, Molly felt ready to start her career as an independent dancer thanks to all the training previously received. Since then, she has worked with her current dance partner ”Vittico La Magia” with whom she has performed in numerous festivals such as the New York International Salsa Festival in 2023 and 2024, the BIG Salsa Festival in the same years and the New York SBKZ Congress last year.

Molly in Harlem — Molly posing for the camera in the Graffiti Hall Of Fame, Harlem

She also told us that she was starring in the official music video for the latest song my Thalia and Los Angeles Azules – “Yo Me Lo Busque” that already has over 1.2 million views after being out for only 5 days! What was an incredible experience and dancing for such big artists. Similarly, she has participated as a dancer for several concerts by Dominican artist Yiyo Sarante in New York and New Jersey before thousands of people who enjoyed her great talent. She also danced with Grupo Niche and La India in some of their shows.

Additionally, she has been interviewed by important shows such as The Art Of Fashion TV, which was broadcast through the Manhattan Neighborhood Network and exposed to millions of viewers, giving Molly the opportunity to make herself known to a much larger and diverse audience.

Her role as a dance teacher

Molly has been teaching dance since she was in Sweden on some occasions, but where she further gained experience was in New York, which is when she has developed all her skills through the private lessons she today offers. She says that this is an area of her work that she really enjoys very much because it gives her the opportunity to teach other young people what she herself learned at the time and this satisfies her enormously. The need to create a new choreography for each class invites her to be more creative and to keep the interest of her students with new dances in each session.

Ms. Hagman has also completed with Malmoe Dance Academy’s professional dance teams on the Swedish national talent competition “TALANG”, (“This is Talent”) where she and her team won First Place. Talang is the Swedish reiteration of the Got Talent series. Talang features singers, dancers, comedians, variety acts and other performers competing against each other for audience votes and prize money. It’s a nationally recognized dance competition which was broadcasted on Swedish national television and to viewers around the world.

Molly at the fashion week — Molly modeling at the New York Fashion Week

Saxophonist and flutist Dave Victorino talks to International Salsa Magazine

Dave Victorino is a saxophonist and flutist who plays various Latin genres such as salsa, Latin jazz and swing in the city of Los Angeles, California. The American musician has been kind enough to talk exclusively with International Salsa Magazine about various topics, including his beginnings, current career and existing projects. We hope that our esteemed readers will like the details of this conversation.

Saxophonist Dave — This is saxophonist and flutist Dave Victorino

Young Dave’s beginnings in music

Dave recalls that his taste in music led one of his cousins to give him a flute so that he could start playing an instrument and see what happened. However, over time, the young man preferred the saxophone, which he found he liked much more at the time. He reckons that his interest in music began when he was just a 12 or 13-yeard-old.

His interest in the saxophone began with a friend of his mother’s who was a teacher of that instrument, so he was the first to teach him how to play it properly and, even after so many years gone by, he continues to remember everything he learned with him.

Education

Dave graduated with a degree in music education from Cal State Los Angeles and assured us that one of his greatest mentors there was saxophonist Barney Martinez, a very important figure in Latin jazz at the time. This was a time of great learning for what was to come professionally, and that knowledge continues to help him a lot.

He also studied with other important music teachers and professors who complemented his musical training almost perfectly.

What has Dave learned from his greatest collaborations?

Throughout his career, Dave has collaborated with groups such as The Henry Mora Big Band, Temptations, Al Viola, Fred Ramirez, Little Anthony and The Imperials and many others. Obviously, all these personalities have had something important to teach the musician when sharing the stage with him.

Dave refers to Henry Mora as one of his greatest mentors in this whole process, as he had much more experience than the artist, so he had a lot to learn and imitate from him.

Each professional experience is one more step on the road to excellence that Dave and any artist looks for in his work, which is achieved through practice and spending time with more experienced teachers.

Dave playing — Dave Victorino playing the saxophone live

Great inspirations

When we wanted to know Dave’s greatest inspirations, he could not help but first mention the group El Chicano, with which he played in the early 1980s. One of its founding members and singer Bobby Espinosa, who showed him some recordings of the Fania All Stars and Johnny Pacheco while playing one of the best solos Dave had ever seen. In fact, the artist considers Pacheco his favorite flutist from the very moment he first heard him.

He also commented that he really likes the way Stan Getz, a Californian saxophonist whose main genres were jazz and pop, played.

How his love for Latin music was born

Dave’s first contact with Latin music was with the group El Chicano, but then came other groups that playing genres that caught his attention.

For several years in the 1980’s and 1990’s, he played in a park three times a week and, on those same days, a DJ would play music by Johnny Pacheco himself, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico and other salsa groups. He became so fascinated with everything he heard that, little by little, he began to transform his repertoire into one that also included salsa and Latin jazz.

Initially, he only cared about playing this music without understanding the lyrics, but then he began studying and learning a little Spanish to get a better performance in his work. However, he assures that this detail has never posed a problem or a limitation to get good performances in Latin music.

Dave and Barbara — Dave Victorino playing with singer Barbara Reed

Music Classes

Another interesting thing about Dave is teaching. He currently teaches saxophone, flute, clarinet and piano to a good number of students, who have taught him the virtue of patience and determination to always learn something new.

His students are of different ages and he teaches various levels.

Dave and Anthony — Dave Victorino playing with saxophonist Anthony Gil

También lee: Eddie Muñíz continues to head Swing Sabroso

Milonga’s contribution to Latin music in general

There are many Latin genres that have managed to find a place in the USA music scene thanks to the constancy of many of its great exponents, salsa being the genre we talk about the most. However, today we want to change the subject a little bit and analyze what is milonga and how popular it has become in recent years.

Malevo y su dama — Recreation of ”Malevo y Su Dama” in Buenos Aires, 1970

Definition of milonga

The milonga can be defined as a folkloric musical genre coming from the Rio de la Plata region, which is usually performed with a guitar accompaniment in 6/8 time. Usually, it is divided in two modalities that are the milonga campera (the genre in its purest form) and the city milonga (style subsequent to the milonga campera).

Etymology of ”milonga’’

Although the musical genre is known for being originally from Argentina, Uruguay and certain parts of Brazil, ”milonga” means ”word” in the Quimbundu language (a language of Angolan origin that corresponds in several expressions with Portuguese). It is important to mention that this is the language used by some tribes from Angola, which was a colony of Portugal, and that many of the slave population of those lands was transported to Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.

According to information received from some scholars, after the defeat suffered by the Argentine founding father Juan Manuel de Rosas in Caseros at the hands of Entre Rios Governor Justo José de Urquiza, the Brazilian soldiers caught the porteños off guard while singing guajiras in mockery, at the same time that the porteños sang milongas.

In the ears of Brazilians, these songs sounded like gibberish they could not understand. In the end, as a result, the term had such an impact that locals began referring to their own creolized guajiras as milongas.

La milonga de buenos aires — Yanina Quiñones and Neri Piliu dancing “La milonga de Buenos Aires” at the 4th TangoLovers Festival 2018 in Athens, Greece

A little history of milonga

Milonga is known for its joy, speed and sensuality at the time of being performed by its dancers. Its binary rhythm is of great simplicity, so it is in stark contrast to the four beats of the guitar that gives the melody to the dance and is usually accompanied by lyrics occasionally.

It has always been closely related to paya and tango. In the case of paya, milonga used some of its elements specifically for the dance, while tango uses some details of the rhythm and the melody in milonga for its own dance. Today, the three genres are considered a very important part of the Rio de La Plata music scene and each of them has their own characteristics that distinguish one from another.

Milonga had much to do with the birth of tango, but at the same time, it evolved and maintained its independence. In fact, there is some sort of mix of the two called tango milonga that is almost extinct, although it is known that many musicians wanted to use it to give the rhythm of the tango more strength and sustainability.

As for the places where milonga could be danced, the genre used to be found in neighborhood clubs, dance halls, tearooms and boites. The music used was usually recorded, although the venue owners hired small bands occasionally to change the modality. The popularity of these groups was so great that several of their musicians managed to join highly recognized orchestras at the time.

Couples who went to milonga clubs to dance ballroom tango and outskirts tango. The first only consisted of beat and elegance, while the second had beat, elegance and figure. Among the most famous places to dance milonga that remain active to this today, we can mention El Barracas Central, Unidos en Pompeya, El Sunderland and many others.

Se dice de mi in milonga — Theddy Lizama and Pamela Ramos Aracena dancing ”Se dice de mí” in Santiago de Chile, November 2022. Source Fuente General de la Nación Argentina

Milonga at present

Today, milonga has become a genre of big importance for people eager to learn to dance things other than salsa, bachata or merengue. This genre offers them the opportunity to try something completely different thanks to which they can connect with others in ways they would not have imagined due to its peculiar rhythm and overflowing sensuality.

In addition to that, every day there are more and more events also called milongas, which consist of massive dances where couples show their best moves to the rhythm of various genres, such as milonga, tango, and vals criollo. In general, the scheduling of a milonga is divided into blocks of three, four or five dances that are separated by short pieces of light music. Apart from that, each block contains a sort of rhythm that is grouped by orchestra, singer or composer.

These events were very typical in Argentina, but have been gradually spreading throughout various parts of the world, including the United States. Nowadays, it is fairly common to find restaurants, night clubs and academies that offer this kind of entertainment to their attendees such as Alberto’s Night Club (San Francisco), The Tango Room (Los Angeles), Milonga La Paz Tango Club (San Francisco), Tango De Rey (San Diego), Tango La Nacional (New York), Fairmont Tango Club (Philadelphia), Dance Fire Studio (New York), and many more.

Nicaraguan composer and pianist Donald Vega’s hard-luck story

The character’s story we are going to talk about today is extremely fascinating, since the challenges he has had to endure did not prevent him from becoming the great musician he is now. We are talking about Donald Vega and the inspiration he is for those who believe their dreams and goals impossible to achieve.

Donald and his piano — Nicaraguan composer and pianist Donald Vega and his piano

Donald Vega and his interesting story

Donald Vega is a composer and jazz pianist born in Masaya, Nicaragua, whose family has had musicians for several generations. His grandfather, Don Alberto Gutiérrez Laguna was a composer and multi-instrumentalist and had a love for music that was passed down through his children as they grew older. This was the case of his uncle, Tránsito Gutiérrez, who was honored in 2022 at the Rubén Dario National Theater for his great artistic career.

Tránsito was one of the great inspirations for his nephew to become interested in music and play the piano at the tender age of three, guided only by his ear. His grandfather Alberto, seeing this, wanted to teach his grandson Donald to read music and prepare him as well as possible for the future. As part of this preparation, he attended the conservatory to study the greatest exponents of classical music such as Beethoven, Chopin and Mozart.

Unfortunately, his parents quickly understood that the country was not safe for their son to pursue his dreams.

Challenges of adolescence

At that time, 15- and 16-year-olds were forced to join the Nicaraguan army, so his mother left the Central American country to find a way to get him and his siblings out of there and give them a better future far from armed conflict. Something that struck him at that time was that there were many wakes in his neighborhood where the body was not even present, but some parts of the military uniform such as the helmet or boots. This led his mother to want to get her son out of the country, so she got him a visa to go to Mexico so he could cross the land border into the United States with his godmother.

Donald and Poncho — Donald Vega when playing with Poncho Sanchez some years ago

His first stop was Los Angeles, where he joined his mother and applied for political asylum. At that moment, he did not have any resources to buy instruments, but he received a scholarship at a conservatory where he got much support to train properly despite the want of money.

While in school, a music teacher heard him play the piano and invited him to participate in a national music competition in Los Angeles where he won first place and was given 5000 dollars and a piano as a gift. It can be said that this was his official start in the world of music, so he is very grateful to have participated in the competition.

Sometime later, he received a scholarship to study at the Manhattan School of Music in New York and the Juilliard School of Music, of which he is now a music teacher.

Golden Striker Trio

The opportunity to belong to the Golden Striker Trio is described by Donald as incredible, since it has been a fascinating experience with an interesting beginning.

It all started when a Ron Carter’s student at Juilliard, with whom Donald made a recording together in New Orleans to be shown to Professor Carter to determine what aspects needed to be improved. Carter was so fascinated with Donald that he asked to meet him and talk with him to learn more about his work.

When they met, the professor proposed the artist to watch him live in one of his performances. After that, he had him come to his home to tell him that he was giving him the opportunity to participate in his Golden Striker Trio as a pianist, since the previous one wanted to dedicate more time to his own group. Donald has been working with Carter and his group for more than 15 years and is very grateful for what he has achieved and learned.

Donald, Ron, and Russell — Donald Vega, maestro Ron Carter, and guitarist Russell Malone from Golder Striker Trio

Backcountry Jazz

Backcountry Jazz is a non-profit organization that seeks to support talented youngsters with limited resources to achieve their dreams in the music industry. Donald has become part of this noble initiative motivated by the teachings of his parents, who have always told him to be generous and give of his time to others. It is for this same reason that he also teaches at the Juilliard School of Music, since sharing his time and knowledge with others gives him an incredible satisfaction.

Due to the situation he himself experienced with lack of money and instruments in order to get ahead in his passion, he understands perfectly how children and young people who do not have the resources to be successful with music feel, so he seeks to give them a hand through this organization and his mentoring.

Grammy Nomination for As I Travel

Donald talks about ”As I Travel” as a description of the path he had to pass to become the musician he is today. He was also inspired by his journey across more than 44 countries he has visited with different musicians including, of course, Ron Carter.

The whole album is inspired by his experiences. An example of that is ”Baila! Dance Like No One’s Watching”, which is inspired by the happiness of those around him, especially his son, his biggest inspiration for writing the song. It is a celebration of life, family and his countrymen in Nicaragua.

Donald and Ruben — Rubén Blades and Donald Vega posing for the camera

Another example worthy of mention is ”I Know I can Fly”, which was inspired by the host of challenges he faced upon arrival to the United States and the whole process of adapting to the country, its lifestyle, its climate and its language. It was also inspired by his determination to succeed despite all the challenges he faced along the way.

New Year’s Eve party 2024/2025

	New Year’s Eve 2025 Reggaeton Party in Los Angeles Dec 31 (9 pm) / Jan 1, 2025 (2 am) Catch One 4067 West Pico Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90019
	New Year’s Eve Party 2024-25 Dec 31 (6 / 11:30 pm) Maggie’s Pub 11900 Telegraph Road Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670
	New Year’s Eve Flamenco Dinner Show Experience Dec 31 (7 – 8:30 pm) Cafe Sevilla of San Diego 353 Fifth Avenue San Diego, CA 92101
	QUEEN BEE’S NEW YEARS EVENT Dec 31 (6:30 pm) / Jan 1, 2025 (2 am) Queen Bee’s Art and Cultural Center 3925 Ohio Street San Diego, CA 92104
	Salsa Cumbia New Year’s Eve Party Dec 31 (7 pm) / Jan 1, 2025 (12:30 am) Lienzo Charro Mexican Restaurant Bar & Grill Old Town Front Street Temecula, CA 92590
	New Years Eve San Francisco 2025 Dec 31 (9 pm) – Jan 1, 2025 (1:30 am) W Hotel San Francisco 181 3rd Street San Francisco, CA 94103
	Comfort & Joy Afterglow New Year Dec 31 (10 pm) – Jan 1, 2025 (6 am) Salsa and Bachata Dance at Dance Fridays 550 Barneveld San Francisco, CA 94124
	New Year’s Eve Dec 31 (8 pm) / Jan 1, 2025 (2 am) The Cigar Bar & Grill 850 Montgomery Street San Francisco, CA 94133
	NYE dinner and Dance Celebration Dec 31 (7 pm) Sausalito Seahorse 305 Harbor Dr Sausalito, CA 94965
	New Year’s Eve With Pete Escovedo & Sons / Mystique Dec 31 (5:30pm) Signia by Hilton San Jose 170 South Market Street San Jose, CA 95113