We had the pleasure of watching Raymond (12) and Jenalyn (9) Saraza Pacheco perform and receive a great standing ovation at the Los Angeles Salsa Congress this past May, and wanted to interview them to share their story. Raymond and Jenalyn currently dance with Latin Energy dance company and have been taught by instructor Vanessa Stay. Watch them dance and read their amazing story!
How did you learn to dance?
Jenalyn (9 years old): My mom says I was always dancing, even before I was born in her tummy. As soon as I could walk, I was dancing around on my tippy toes every chance I got. My parents put me in dance classes (ballet, jazz, hip hop, acro, tap) when I was 3 years old and I really loved it! With partner dancing, it all started when we saw our parents taking salsa lessons and watched my parents and grandparents dancing the cha cha and swing at family functions. We thought this kind of dancing was really cool and my brother started practicing salsa moves in our rooms when my parents weren’t watching. But one day, our parents heard us practicing and asked if we wanted to take lessons. They brought us to the Canada Salsa Congress when I was 5 years old and my brother was 7 years old, we met Vanesa Stay and Oscar Naranjo from Latin Energy and showed them our moves. Vanesa thought we were pretty good and asked us to come for salsa lessons. When we got good enough, she asked us to join the Latin Energy dance team and we began performing at weddings and festivals.
Raymond (12 years old): I started taking hip hop and breakdancing lessons when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I was always around dancing because my mom and dad loved to dance as well as my parents and uncles/aunts. My sister pretty much explained it all but I want to add that after we joined Latin Energy, our big break was when performed exactly a year later at the Canada Salsa Congress run by Jennifer Auction and the MC was Albert Torres. He was just a great guy to meet and I’ll always remember how we got our first standing ovation and Albert called us the future of Salsa. We were hooked on dancing and have continued to learn with Vanesa Stay and have taken other types of partner dancing including ballroom and other styles.
Now that Valentine’s Day is upon us we thought it would be appropriate to add some more salsa romance into our dance steps. A lot of our fans are couples who enjoy learning to salsa dance with each other – some have even met through salsa dancing! We hope that salsa dancing continues to bring romance to your relationship and enjoy this salsa dance video lesson! The major tip for the lesson is that adding musicality and style at the right moments can turn any great dance into a memorable one!
This salsa dance lesson video we teach you what is called the Salsa Swing step or the Lazy Turn. It is a small variation of the Lindy-Hop or Swing dance basic step adapted to salsa dancing. It is a great move to use when, as a leader, you are still thinking which set of dance patterns to perform next.
The prisoners and guards at Kirkham jail near Preston, Lancs (UK) are treated to salsa dance lessons on Wednesdays by an another inmate who is an expert salsa instructor. According to the article, they see this as a form to reduce the issues with drugs and mobile phones inside of the facility. While I’ll let you provide your opinions below, we wonder if they would like a copy of our dance lesson videos?
This weekend I took some time to revisit the great musical called “West Side Story“. For those who have not seen the play or movie, its plot is very similar to “Romeo and Juliet” except placed in the era of the mid-1950s during which time there was a period of migration from Puerto Rico to New York. The two lovers in the film are not only separated by race, but also by the gang violence between two feuding groups: The Sharks and The Jets. Given the popular social discussion of foreigners and immigration nowadays, I find this particular musical performance interesting as it highlights the fact that history always repeats itself and is often expressed through great art forms! For those who watch “So You Think You Can Dance“, you will notice that this was the choreography used in the audition process during what is called “Vegas Week”.
Our friends at iLIVEsalsa had the chance to attend the Washington DC salsa congress, and have written a wonderful review! With photos and video, this review provides an excellent recap to those who couldn’t make this congress. For those who are thinking about attending a salsa congress for the first time, this will give you an idea of what to expect. Here is one of the many videos they took at the salsa congress. You can see more of the workshop and interview videos on their website!
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