Instructors

Kati Hernández is a native of Cuba. She began her dance training at age 9 and continued through age 20. She trained in rigorous programs as an art instructor and graduated from the Escuela National de los Artes or La ENA (the national art school located in Havana). Her dance training includes modern dance, all aspects of Cuban folkloric dance and ballet, as well as composition and staging. Kati was privileged to begin her performing career while still attending the Instituto Superior de los Artes (the graduate school associated with La ENA): She was invited to perform with various dance companies in Havana at venues such as the Teatro Mella and the Teatro National. During that period she shared the stage with jazz master Chucho Valdés, performed modern dance painted as the orisha Elegguá with visual artist Manuel Mendive, danced with well known choreographer Santiago Alfonso from Tropicana, performed Afro-Cuban dance with the legendary singer Mercedita Valdés and danced with popular Cuban orchestras.

These unique experiences contributed to her versatile style and opened doors in the Cuban entertainment industry and the dance world. Soon after graduating, Kati was chosen as representative of Cuba in the Feria Internacional de Huelva Andalucia and toured in Spain for six months with well known Cuban group Manolito Sibonet y su trabuco. She also traveled with various Cuban sponsored musical groups to Portugal, the Bahamas, and Costa Rica, to perform and teach. Living in Costa Rica for five years she performed and choreographed with the Puro Sabor production directed by Joel Drig, worked on television shows such as Buen Día and A todo dar, and taught Cuban folkloric dance and modern dance at Ache dance studio.

Kati lives in the Santa Monica, California, where she has performed and given work shops with master percussionist Francisco Aguabella and well-known folklorist and teacher Lazaro Galarraga. She choreographs, and teaches Afro-Cuban folklore, Afro Cuban Jazz, modern dance and other Cuban dance styles. She gives workshops, classes, and private lessons.

New Orleans, LA native duane Wrenn was born to dance. Learning Salsa as a young adult at the age of 25, duane quickly excelled and now dances as if he as has always known that Cuban blood flows within his veins. President of the successful Energetic Soul Dance Studios in Clawson, MI, duane is a highly recognized Fitness Consultant with a B.S. degree in Exercise Science from the University of New Orleans.

After working as a Personal Trainer to the stars duane has focused on teaching the world about the history, beauty and art of the Cuban dance forms. He now resides in Royal Oak, Michigan where he has put his vast knowledge and experience to use developing several unique classes from dance to aerobics and strength training.

Continuing his extensive research and training within the Cuban dance forms, duane has created a unique and effective dance program to teach the foundations of modern Salsa. The style of dancing duane teaches has its roots in Cuban Dance froms.

duane created a Salsa aerobic class with an accompanying video aptly named Energetic Salsa™. He is also the creator of Soul°sa™, which combines linear and circular styles of Salsa dancing.

This is what duane refers to as "Mi receta y mi sazon" or "My recipe and my seasoning." duane strives to spread his passion for Afro-Cuban Salsa (Casino) style dancing and its roots. His background ranges from Folkloric to Popular dances such as: Dances of the Orisha, Afro Cuban Rumba, Danzón, Son, Mambo, Cha cha cha', Casino, Rueda de Casino, Capoiera and Break Dancing.

Mike and Simona:

From Portland to Philadelphia, to Honolulu to Houston - Mike and Simona are spreading their love of Casino Salsa. Rumbanana's fearless leaders ... it's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. With decades of teaching, performing, and partying experience - these two lead the team in a whirl of mayhem around the world.

They started Rumbanana Salsa Group in January 2000 as a way to promote Cuban Salsa dancing in the Pacific Northwest. Both have been dancing, performing, choreographing and teaching Salsa for more than 12 years. Their focus for the past 8 years has been Casino Style Salsa. By carefully studying Cuban dancers, as well as key dancers from Miami, Mike and Simona have brought true Casino Salsa to hundreds of people around the world.

Rumbanana Salsa Group makes its home in Corvallis, Oregon. It's our headquarters for all the wild mayhem we get into. We promote Cuban music and dance by shaking our a#$es off all over the world. Seriously, we love Cuban Salsa (Casino), Rueda de Casino and are totally addicted to Timba. UNA BULLA!

Background: Rumbanana officially launched in Corvallis in the winter of 2005 after living and partying in Eugene, Oregon for several years.

Members: We're about 20 to 30 in number (depending if it's field season ... we miss ya Randy; or travel-the-world season... we miss ya Jeff). And we have a ton of honorary members around the world who have earned Rumbanana status with their wild antics, partying and getting banned from amusement parks.

About Nick:

For over 14 years, Nick was a martial arts and movement instructor. Partner dancing and Salsa were a natural progression. For the past 10 years, Nick has been teaching Salsa and in particular, Cuban style Salsa, bringing to it his existing concepts of connection, balance, and fluidity.

Nick combines decades of Cuban tradition with modern movement concepts of space, timing, and flow.

Presently, he teaches club-style Salsa, Rueda de Casino, cha cha cha, son, and several martial arts. Most recently, Nick returned from intensive study with Yanek Revilla in Santiago de Cuba.

Nick has trained and taught all over the U.S., including extended periods in Miami, New York, and Texas. He has also taught in Hawaii and Caracas and throughout California. He has taught at numerous salsa congresses, festivals and cruises and is the co-star of "The Quick And Dirty Guide To Salsa, vol. 4". Nick teaches Casino and Rueda de Casino classes in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond at festivals and events across the Americas.

Nick is the co-director of Salsa Vale Todo and the co-producer of the SF Salsa Rueda Festival.

About Serena:

Serena is co-director of Salsa Vale Todo and Rueda Vale Todo.
She has been trained in many styles of dance including ballet, tap, Afro-Haitian, and Afro-Brazilian. Serena has studied from master instructors in New York, Brazil, Los Angeles, Miami, Cuba, and San Francisco. Most recently she has returned from intensive study with Yanek Revilla in Santiago de Cuba.

Currently she performs in local samba dance companies and with Salsa Vale Todo. Serena teaches regular Casino and Rueda de Casino classes in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond at festivals and events across the Americas.

She is continuing her studies of the roots of Cuban Salsa including Son, Danzon, Cha Cha Cha, Rumba, and Afro-Cuban Folkloric dances. Serena is the co-producer of the SF Bay Area Salsa Rueda Festival.

About Christopher Rogicki

Christopher Rogicki was born in NJ and started dancing at age 10.
During college, he was first exposed to Cuban-style Salsa/Rueda de Casino, Timba and Son, studying with prominent Casino schools and teachers in the US and abroad, from Miami, Havana and Santiago de Cuba to Washington D.C., California, Spain, and Switzerland.

During his senior year, Chris directed MEZCLA, the Latino Performing Arts group at Brown University, which taught and performed at various venues, expos, and televised events throughout New England.

Upon returning back to the Tri-State area for grad school at Columbia University, Chris pursued a degree in Linguistics with a specialization in teaching and how adults learn. Combining an extensive pedagogical background with his love for Cuban music and dance, Chris has designed and implemented an extensively progressive Rueda de Casino curriculum at Salsa International, NYC's premier Latin school of dance which specializes in all styles of Salsa. There, he is the director of the Cuban program, teaching four different levels of Casino/Rueda and occasional workshops on shines/body movement, partner work technique, and Salsa Triples.

Proficient in leading and following both Cuban and Miami-styles, he is responsible for teaching and spreading a unique fusion of universal, core-Casino moves which enable his students to develop a well-rounded knowledge and appreciation of the music and dance. Known for his unique style of choreography and really pushing the limits, Chris is also the founder and director of ¡Fuákata!, currently the only Rueda performance group in the Tri-State area.

About Evelyn Ramirez

Born to Cuban and Puerto Rican parents in NYC, Evelyn has been dancing Salsa for many years. She has most recently studied Cuban Salsa with Chris at Salsa International for two years, and is considered to be one of his most advanced leaders. She has also danced in Salsa International's performance group, Fuákata, and currently collaborates with Chris on performances. Evelyn continues to teach Rueda, Cuban-style partner work, and Bachata footwork throughout the US, most notably in New York City, Florida, Indiana, Minnesota, Puerto Rico, and California. While Evelyn enjoys teaching and performing, her main passion lies in dancing Salsa socially.

Spreading the PASSION of Salsa as a Pioneer of "L.A. Style Salsa" for 15 years to 43 different countries and limitless cities in the US. Bringing the Best in Latin Dancing: Electrifying Choreography, Hot but Easy to follow Instruction, Dazzling Performances, Event Production, Salsa Career Consulting, 8 different Video/DVDs available.

Joby Vazquez was born in New York City and proudly first generation Dominican. Her family then moved her to California where she began her dance career at the age of 19 with Modern, Jazz, Ballet and Hip-Hop. During this time, she spent three years in an Orange County Theater Dance Company "On Common Ground". She began her Salsa dancing in 1993.

In 1994 she, Luis Vazquez and Janette Valenzuela founded the first Salsa dance company in California, Salsa Brava. Back then; everyone thought Salsa was something you ate with chips. But with Joby's determination to dance Salsa anywhere, she contributed to expose a style of Salsa no one had seen before all over the world. It started in Puerto Rico's 1st Annual Congress in 97' and than quickly grew from her visits to 36 different countries. She has trained some of the best Salsa dancers in Los Angeles.

Joby Vazquez has had wonderful opportunity to perform in videos, movies, television, film, and stage shows with artist such as Sinbad, Tito Puente, Thalia, Jennifer Lopez, Chayanne, Vanessa Williams, Tito Nieves, Quincy Jones, Donnie & Marie, Rosanne Bar, and The Four Tops. Joby has also choreographed for TV shows such as MAD TV (WB), City of Angles (CBS) and Sinbad's VIBE TV (UPN).

Ricardo's specialty is teaching beginning and intermediate students solid basics and thereby deepening their dancing experience. He does this by enhancing what they already know by developing the ability to dance comfortably on various counts by listening to the music, understanding the rhythm, and keeping time to partnership dance with confidence, sensuality and "old school" elegance.

Ricardo Hayes, born in Philadelphia and raised in California, and Beatriz Golden-Hayes, originally from New York, met while attending a dance class in Northern California in 1989. They enjoyed dancing together so much, they decided they wanted to keep dancing together forever. Their eclectic mix of Latin American dancing incorporates styles borrowed from New York, Puerto Rico and Cuba and blends elements of Son, Rumba, Bolero and Cha-Cha-Cha in their repertoire. They also teach Danzón, the national dance of Cuba, Danzón-Cha and Danzón as danced in Mexico.

They performed with the Ava Apple Dance Company of San Francisco and were among the dancers featured in a video for the singer, Linda Ronstadt. Ricardo Hayes has been teaching Danzón, Son, Salsa, Cha Cha Cha and Merengue over a 20 year span and Beatriz has co-taught and assisted him over that period. They have taught at various venues in The San Francisco Bay area as well as in Atlanta such as the YWCA in Virginia Highlands, the Decatur School of Ballet, Several Dancers Core, The Sanctuary Night Club, Michon's dinner and dance restaurant, Morehouse College, Georgia State University, and various high schools to name a few. They also have given private and group lessons as well as demonstrated their smooth style of dance at numerous private parties and dances in the Atlanta area.

Their list of performance credits are long and varied and include such venues as: TV Channel 20, TV Channel 25, Hayward Local Channel 3, Annual San Francisco Carnival, Latin Festival of Atlanta, Atlanta Arts Festival, 1996 Para-Olympics Games Closing Ceremony and the Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education. Ricardo traveled to Cuba in 1998 where he studied with dance and drumming maestros Vocal Baobab. He also studied Danzón and Danzón-Cha under the tutelage of the Habanero Cuban maestro and musician, Roberto Borrell, in The San Francisco Bay Area as well as other teachers in La Habana, Cuba. Ricardo and Beatriz are avid fans of the history of Cuban music and dance, and their enthusiasm for the authenticity of Latin dancing is infectious.

Founder of Timberos de Martinica, Patrice ( MrTimba ) has been dancing, do DJ session ( DJ MrTimba) and performing for 4 years, and teaching classes infused with Casino con Rumba dance for the past 1 years.

He won first place in the couple's competition in Miami Rueda congress of 2008. Patrice has traveled to attend all the major Cuban Congres ( inclunding Cubamemuncho - Munich, Baila en Cuba - Cuba, SalsaRuedaCongress of Miami, Salsa Casino Mayan Congres of CMV at Cancun MEX, AQUI CUBA FESTIVAL - France...).

Born in MARTINIQUE ( French West-Indies ) Patrice promote Cuban music and dance at Timba Party and teaches Casino con rumba workshop at beginner and intermediate levels with www.clubvivalasalsa.com association and others in the caribean contry like SALSAMANIA Festival in GUADELOUPE , SALSACARIBE in BARBADOS.

Have Fun with Patrice CasinoRumbaSon Style! con un SALSA CARIBE !!!:D

Victoria-Hadar is unique to the Latin Dance scene. Her style is defined by its Musicality, Sensuality and Playfulness. Specialized in Cuban dances for more the 15 years, instructor, performer, choreographer Victoria-Hadar began studying dance at the age of 5 with studies in ballet, jazz, Classical Ballroom and Flamenco and has danced ever since.

Learned Traditional and Popular Cuban dances in Cuba with top dance teachers including with the Cuban national dance company Ban Rra Rra and in Europe, Victoria-Hadar taught in many Salsa events and congresses Internationally in Europe, the Mediterranean and Canada and across the USA, from NY to CA and Alaska. She also appeared in the International Australian production "Salsa with the Stars".

Victoria-Hadar co-produced in 2008 "Havana in Alaska" – the first ever Cuban Salsa cruise to Alaska. Graduate from Wingate Institute for Physical Education and a Master degree from CUNY, Victoria-Hadar applies both known and her original approaches to educate students in a way individuals learn according to Their needs and goals and have fun along the way!

Since 2002 Victoria-Hadar is teaching at the "NY Center for Cuban Dance" at "You Should Be Dancing" Dance studios in Manhattan, NY. With her enthusiasm and passion, an enormous amount of knowledge, and the ability to pinpoint exactly what the student needs to improve, students love her entertaining and considerate teaching style, whether in an Afro-Cuban body motion, Salsa Suelta, Partner dancing (Casino) or group Salsa (Rueda) class.

Victoria-Hadar founded and has performed for the last Eight years with her students dance group "Bailatina" in National, Local and Televised events including in Lincoln Center, Havana Film Festival, WB11, the Lower East side Festival, Copacabana; SOB’s, in an NBA game, Hoboken Arts and Music festival, Cuban Independence day celebration in NJ and in the biggest Cuban annual event of the north Atlantic region – "the Mamoncillo".

Her motto - Dance for your Body and Soul !!! Happy Dancing !!!

Natives of Jefferson City, MO and Lawton, OK respectively, Steve and Renate share a home in the Greater Atlanta area. Both enjoy full-time employment with a major insurance company – Renate having over 30 years with the company and Steve with 4 years tenure. Prior to his arrival in Atlanta, Steve spent 13 years active duty in the United States Army, serving as a Human Resource Officer in various command and staff positions. Renate is a graduate of Southern Wesleyan University with a B.A. in Business Administration. Graduating with honors with B.B.A (Accounting) and M.B.A degrees from Texas Christian University (TCU) in Ft. Worth, TX, Steve was also a Distinguished Military Graduate at TCU and received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army from TCU's Army ROTC program.

What Renate and Steve truly enjoy is what they do outside their full-time jobs. Both of them have been active as Group Fitness (GF) Instructors for over 10 years. Renate and Steve have distinguished backgrounds not only as GF instructors but also in athletics. Renate has won several awards in running and triathlons while Steve excelled at the national and international level in swimming, running, and triathlons since age 12. Both met while located in Columbia, SC, serving as GF instructors at the Ft. Jackson fitness facility. Upon hearing Salsa for the first time, both were instantly drawn to the dance, music and Latin culture. For the next 10 years, Renate and Steve acquired the dance skills informally at numerous Latin dance venues, congresses and social events. As luck would have it, their paths led them concurrently to Atlanta and introduction to Julian Mejia, SALSAtlanta and the world of Casino and Afro-Cuban dancing. Julian's passion, enthusiasm and personality and the spirit of dance company was immediately contagious -- Renate and Steve just could not go a week without attending the Sunday lessons and dancing with fellow SALSAtlanta's students at many of the local salsa venues. Thanks to Julian's tutelage and guidance, Renate and Steve are now instructors and performers with SALSAtlanta. If this isn't enough to keep them busy, both still continue their passion as GF instructors. Renate is the GF Assistant Department Head and Master Instructor with Life Time Fitness. Steve enjoys serving as a GF instructor at Life Time Fitness and LA Fitness.

I graduated from Georgia State University in 2003 with a BA in Business Mgt.

Soon after, I met someone name Julián Mejía at Tongue and Groove in Buckhead at his regular Wendsday Class, I started my course the following Sunday and the rest is history. I was addicted to Casino since day one.

I have been apart of SALSAtlanta since October 2003 and have not regretted one day of it.

I have traveled the world seeking professional instruction from some of the top Cuban dancer in the world...

The knowledge I have learned I pass on to anyone who is interested in learning and becoming a better overall dancer, someone who dances to the music, who loves the music.

I won first place in the 2007 Vancouver singles contest and second in the 2007 Miami Salsa Singles Competition. I hope to continue learning in the different Cuban rhythms so I can enhance my abilities thus pass it on to others....

Director of SALSAtlanta in Buford, Georgia, born and raised by cuban-chinese parents. Since he was a teenager in Miami he has been a fan of Latin music and dance. When he became involved with Salsa Lovers Dance Studios in Miami in 1996, he went from observer, to instructor, and finally performer and choreographer with his first steps in Rueda-Casino style salsa.

Michael, also known in the latin music community as "chino-casino", began to perform and compete in some of Miami?s most popular night clubs like Club Mystique, Bermuda Bar, Bongo's, and Palladium. He also performed on such popular latin television programs like "Caliente" and "Sabado Gigante" for Univision.

He danced on television and live on stage for world known artists like Oscar De Leon, Celia Cruz, El Gran Combo, Frankie Negron, Tito Rojas, Willy Chirino, Grupo Niche, Victor Manuelle, and Los Adolecentes.

He has choreographed and performed on stage at several festivals for Budweiser and Presidente including the annual world know festival Calle Ocho.

He was also involved in organizing the "Worlds Largest Rueda" in downtown Miami where more than an estimated 800 people gathered to dance a rueda on Biscayne Blvd.

He has also performed in many Salsa Congress and taught workshops to thousands in Miami.

More information about this artist

Julián Mejía, born in Manizales Colombia. Started to dance salsa at the age of 17. His interest in Cuban music started at age 9 and since then, Cuban, Classical and classic Rock have been his passion.

Julián moved to Miami in 1995 and soon after started learning Casino with Ramani Nicola (Salsa-Casino Dance Studios) and Henry Herrera (Verdaderos Reyes de la Salsa Dance Studios).

During his time in Miami, Julian traveled to Cuba as he was interested in learning more about the culture and the music of the island.

In 1999, Julián moved to Atlanta and under the name of SALSAtlanta, started the only Casino school and Casino performance group in Georgia. More than 6,000 students have passed through his classes in Atlanta and Athens, Georgia.

Julián also conducts salsa classes in different clubs in the greater Atlanta area. Julián has contributed to spreading the Casino style in Atlanta and beyond by conducting workshops in different cities around North and South America.

In 2007 was recognized during the 6th Annual International Salsa Congress in Miami by the school Salsa Lovers with the "Alex Award" for his contribution to the world of Latin Dance.