RANDY KISH SALSA // SAN DIEGO, CA — Randy Kish is an avid dancer from San Diego, CA, who truly loves salsa dancing and has contributed to the promotion of the genre in many important ways. One of which has been using SalsaHook.com to promote various salsa dancing nights in San Diego, CA and write articles about the scene in the city.

 

It is very important for us to give recognition to this because not many people ever choose to contribute back to a scene that has given them so much joy and happiness. Most people just like to enjoy and take in as much as they can and not worry about anything else, but some people actually feel the need to give back just as much as they've received in order to demonstrate their appreciation and be an active part of the scene.

 

Randy Kish willingly…

JOE ARROYO SALSA, R.I.P. — Today is a very sad day for our Latin music community. At age 55, Colombian salsa singer Joe Arroyo has died Tuesday morning at a hospital in Barranquilla, Colombia. Rest in peace, Joe! 

 

Also, on the day of his death, it was announced that he was among the recipients of the Latin Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award.

 

Joe Arroyo, born Alvaro Jose Arroyo González, was born on November 1st, 1955. At the age of 10 years old, he was already singing in one of Cartagena's popular music halls. 

 

In 1971, Joe was discovered by Ernesto Estrada, the bass player and singer of the band Fruko y Sus Tesos and he was signed with Colombian record label Discos Fuentes. He performed with the band for 10 years until 1981, when he began his solo career leading his own band, named "La Verdad." (The Truth)

 

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AFRO CUBAN DANCE CLASS — Kati Hernández is a native of Cuba and an Afro-Cuban Dance Master who teaches different levels of Afro-Cuban dance in Los Angeles. This is a treat for our Los Angeles dance scene and one that, I personally feel, should be taken advantage by all salsa and dance afficionados who wish to improve their control on body mobility, sabor, and style. 

 

[ AFRO CUBAN DANCE CLASSES: SEE FULL CLASS LISTINGS HERE ]

 

Kati teaches at Live Arts Los Angeles (LALA) near the area of Echo Park, and at Universal Dance Designs Studio near the Miracle Mile in Los Angeles, CA.

 

Her classes are taught with LIVE DRUMMING according to Cuban costumes and are a great experience for anyone who has never seen anything like this. I truly recommend you go if you have an interest in Afro-Cuban! 

 

The reason why I recommend Afro-Cuban to salsa dancers…

LAURA LUU, SALSA INTOCABLE — Laura Luu, founder and director of Salsa Intocable Dance Company, has been a key player and has contributed tremendously to the growth and spur of the salsa dancing scene in the city of Long Beach, CA - a city on the outskirts of Los Angeles and part of the LA Salsa scene. 

 

With all the diversity that exists in the city of Los Angeles when it comes to salsa dancing, 'Salsa Intocable Dance Company (SIDC)' is surely a name that you come across very often in the LA salsa scene. The company is fairly new, founded in 2008, but it has grown rapidly and currently has over 40 dancers training and performing routines in their Pro/Am team, Semi-pro team, Professional team, and Ladies' team.

 

Its growing membership surely makes SIDC an important part of the current Los Angeles Salsa Scene, and with…

LOS ANGELES SALSA — There are many names that come up as possible contributors of what L.A. Style Salsa has become in the past decade or so, but when it comes to giving credit to a sole originator of the style, that person has and will always be: Francisco Vazquez. 

 

Francisco Vazquez is considered by many as the greatest salsa dancer in the world. A complete innovator, a visionary, and someone who in the 90s single-handedly promoted a flashy, dynamic, showy style of salsa dancing that featured fast-paced footwork and strong accents to the music: L.A. Style Salsa. 

 

He is the founder, choreographer, and principal dancer of the world acclaimed dance troupe "Los Rumberos," which has been consistently in the top 5 salsa dance teams in the world. Los Rumberos has laid the foundation to many of the greats in salsa, such as Luis and Johnny Vazquez (Francisco's…

LOS ANGELES, CA — In the recent months, Los Angeles has been hit by the buzz that tells us that somehow "LA is dancing On2" nowadays, and while at the beginning such were strange news in our city, the buzz has now started to become a part of the mainstream LA Salsa scene. Surely, more and more dancers are demonstrating an interest in this "On2" thing that for years, and since the Seaon Stylist days, had not interested enough individuals to become relevant in a city like LA, where On1 is king. But now, a new face has come to town, with a new attitude about the dance, the art, and the style, and is trying to bring people together to get LA to start dancing On2 more and more. Her name is Frances Nieves. 

 

Frances Nieves was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and has been living and…

For those of us who started dancing Salsa a few years before websites like YouTube began bringing global Salsa figures to the convenience of our computer monitors, the nickname of "Super Mario" belonged to a guy who seemed to be a myth in Salsa; someone who was spoken of as living in the UK and having a million moves in his Salsa dancing arsenal. You only knew about him if you were part of the roots of L.A. Style (which I personally wasn't) when Super Mario would visit the U.S. to teach and perform at Congresses and Salsa Festival Events in many cities. Some people even met him at these events and saw him live, and it was only by their accounts that the validity of his existence gained value as word continued to spread that he was actually a real person. :-) 

  Well, Super Mario is real and many salsa…

CRISTIAN OVIEDA SALSA — Many years ago, when I first began dancing Salsa and started going to clubs like Rudolpho's, Papaz, the old Conga Room, and the Mayan, I met and became well-acquainted with an extremely good dancer, Cristian Oviedo. At the time, Cristian was and up-and-coming dancer who demonstrated a lot of potential and had won 1st place at the Amateur Division of the Mayan World Salsa Championships in Los Angeles, CA. He was seen by many as a future top Salsa dancer in Los Angeles, and now, many years later, it is clear that he did not disappoint. 

 

Cristian's style of dancing has always been seen as unique in Los Angeles, CA, although many may simply conclude that it has been pure good old L.A. Style Salsa for the most part. However, for those of us who have seen him grow into the dancer that he is today, we…

For more than half a century, the Queen of Salsa carried her title with class and distinction. Her powerful voice and electrifying rhythm garnered more than 100 worldwide recognitions, multiple platinum and gold records, three GRAMMY® awards and four Latin GRAMMY® awards, as well as a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. Celia Cruz also received three honorary degrees from the following US universities: Yale, Florida International University, and the University of Miami. 

Her boundless enthusiasm, genuine warmth, and deep-seated humanitarianism made Celia Cruz the music industry’s most accomplished and revered performer … and the world's most notable ambassador of Hispanic culture.

 

CELIA CRUZ'S LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS:

Celia was born in the diverse Santos Suárez neighborhood of La Habana, Cuba as Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso on October 21, 1925. She was the second child of…

Fernando Sosa is known worldwide as one of the most achieved and complete dancers in Salsa. Web videos about him or his dance teams collect millions of views by users from all over the world, and his influence can easily be seen on many other dancers around the world. Few people know anything more about him, where he came from, or what his accomplishments entail. This is an attempt at giving a short biography on him for anyone who is interested. 

 

 

Fernando Sosa was born on May 19, 1977 in the South American city of Monte Video, Uruguay. During his childhood he frequented an important athletic club in Monte Video where he learned Artistic Gymnastics. At the age of 15, he arrived in Italy and met his great dance teacher (Maestro) Alberto Valdes, who showed him the doors to Cuba in order to deepen his Afro-Cuban dance roots…

Angel Lebrón has quickly become a very popular name in the Los Angeles Salsa Scene. With a 14-piece band, sincere passion and commitment to Salsa, and a repertoire of great sounding music, it did not take long for dancers, venue owners, and promoters to fall in love with what Angel Lebrón was bringing to the table.

 

In April of 2007, Angel Lebrón created his own band, Angel Lebrón y Su Sabor Latino, and its popularity rapidly spread across Los Angeles and he was soon considered one of the town’s top names in Salsa music. With complete support and motivation from his family, Angel formed the band to do what he does best, direct great music.

 

This was an opportunity for Angel to introduce a return to the Latin Big Band sound that he loves so much, reclaiming the classic street salsa sound of New York City streets,…

Alyra Lennox was born on February 1, 1977 in Elverson, Pennsylvania in the United States. When Alyra was five years old her family moved to Florida and she began to study "Danza Duncan" (a style of dance created by Isodora Duncan, recognized for the modern creation of dance). Then, at the age of 10 years old, Alyra once again moves with her family to North Carolina, where she began to take Jazz lessons and after just two years she takes the decision to make an audition to enter a school of art in Los Angeles, California. Quickly admitted on her first attempt, Alyra moves to the city of angels and in the successive three years she studies recitals and dance.

 

At age 19, Alyra discovered for the first time Latin American music and learned her first salsa steps from Laura Canellias, "La Dama de la Salsa". Alyra passionately continued…