I began teaching weekly Ballroom & Latin-American classes in central London on 5th September 2008 at the London Welsh Centre having teamed up with an existing organisation.
I was one of the judges at the UK World Salsa Championships (July 2008) in Kings Cross.
I taught Ballroom & Latin-American dancing to hundreds of people at Pontins in June 2008.
I danced cha cha cha in Regent's Park in the film "Joe's Palace" produced & directed by Stephen Poliakoff starring Sir Michael Gambon. It was first screened on 4th November 2007 on BBC1.
My Salsa dance style varies according to the music and the ability and preference of my partner. I love all styles, - Cuban, L.A., New York & Cali (Colombian) styles too. From a Ballroom background in my childhood, I am a very technical dancer and can break down & explain each and every aspect of every move in whatever dance that I teach and can translate moves from 1 dance / style to another.
This aspect of my dancing has made my dance classes more focussed on club style (social) dancing rather than performing in shows & choreography, although this can equally be used in performance work too. Some people learn to perform before they can competently dance socially, I don't believe that helps them to become good dancers.
I have been teaching Salsa in the city weekly since September 2005.
I qualified as an Associate Member of the UK Alliance of Professional Teachers of Dance (UKA) in June 2004 and taught Salsa in Redbridge from September to December 2004. (Click Here To View Certificate)
I was nicknamed "Boogaloo" after demonstrating it to a well-known Salsa teacher / performer in 2002.
I have been a finalist in several Salsa competitions. I won 1st place at the International Salsa festival 1998 at the Brittania Hotel Docklands, tied 1st place at the Scala @ Kings Cross, in 2002 and 1st place for the Roger Woor memorial cup 2004 for salsa. I was also a finalist in the 2002 UKA Merengue Championship and 2nd Runner up in the Rueda section of the Tropicana Tropics Open World Championship in 2002.
Amongst the salsa community, I was a pioneer in teaching Cha Cha Cha (On2) in 2002. Nowadays people are gradually becoming more aware and understanding the music better, but I am widely regarded by many as amongst the best cha cha cha teachers / dancers in London’s salsa scene.
In November 2001, I went to Nashville, Tennesee, to learn American Country Western partner dances e.g. Twostep & Hustle & won first prize for Twostep - beating the Americans & Canadians there.
I first became addicted to salsa in 1997. I learnt to salsa with numerous salsa teachers, hence my style being so eclectic.
I first became interested in partner dancing as a child in 1970 & went to the East London Dance Academy to study Old-time, Modern Ballroom, Latin-American, Modern Sequence, Tap, Hustle and a contemporary dance called "Slimma" which my teacher choreographed. I continued with weekly private lessons & classes and eventually competed many times in the 1970’s – nearly always one of the top 6 finalists until I married my dance partner who had been an Junior Open Scottish Old Time Champion. I have since forgotten many of the sequences that I then knew (about 60 - 70 dances), but I still know about 40 dances including 4 of the 5 those listed on my medal test result sheet when I was still a teenager (click here to view results). I am available to teach about 30 dances (click here to view list of dances). I made my debut appearance on BBC Television in the mid-1970's dancing the Minuet and Viennese Waltz in a documentary on the Royal Heritage.
I have been guest dance teacher for the following promoters.
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