One of our good friends, Serena Cuevas from Deseo Dance Co., made a guest star appearance with Cristian Oviedo (another addicted2salsa favorite) at last night’s show of “Dancing With the Stars”. They performed alongside another couple, to a new song called “Tu Conga Bach” by group Tiempo Libre. Great job to Serena and Cristian, both in orange in the video, for once again showcasing great Latin dance performances to the world. Don’t forget to give us a ride when you become even more famous and drive a new Bugatti!
Tag Archive for 'Los Angeles'
Alex Da Silva, well known Los Angeles Latin dancer and salsa choreographer for the Fox Television show “So You Think You Can Dance”, was arrested Saturday on accusations of sexually assaulting students in his two homes in the San Fernando Valley. Because he was accused of sexual assault in 2003, 2004 and again in 2005, the previous cases were re-opened once a fourth accuser pressed charges on March 28th, 2009. All four accounts were found to be similar, despite the fact that the women did not know one another. He is currently being held on $3.8 million bail for allegedly raping four female students over the past six years. Detectives believe there may have been more victims and hope they come forward with information. He was arrested 20 minutes before the end of a class he was teaching Saturday at the EDGE Performing Arts Center in Hollywood, said Det. John Eum of the Los Angeles Police Department.
Alex Da Silva, now 41 years, started salsa dancing when he was 20. Many dances in the salsa scene credit him for introducing the “LA Style” of salsa dancing. He has won numerous World Salsa Dancing Championships and is well known in the Los Angeles salsa dance scene.
[Update 4-7-09] The court date was today and no charges were filed against Alex Da Silva given that new victims have come forward and the prosecution still has to interview them.
“Los Angeles County prosecutors declined today to file criminal charges against salsa dancer and choreographer Alex Da Silva of the Fox television show “So You Think You Can Dance,” saying further investigation was needed into allegations that he sexually assaulted four of his students… [...] Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office, said prosecutors wanted police to conduct more investigation before charges are considered. She also said more alleged victims have come forward, and they still needed to be interviewed. “
Sources:
[Read from Associated Content]
[Read from L.A. Times]
[Read from New York Times]
[Read from NBC LA]
[Updated 8-18-2009]
After a further investigation by police, Alex Da Silva, has been arrested again at his North Hollywood home by Los Angeles police. They have pressed charges which include: four counts of forcible rape, two counts of assault with intent to commit rape and two counts of sexual penetration by foreign object. Bail set to $6.2 million dollars.
[Source: LA Times via BecomingSalsero]
Over the weekend there was an amazing competition at Steven’s Steakhouse in Los Angeles, California where many professional salsa dance couples competed for a grand prize of $10,000 smackeroos in addition to respect from the overall salsa community. We are happy to congratulate Christian Oviedo and Liz Lira for winning first place and showing us why they are number 1 (must see video)!
The second and third place winners are:
Continue reading ‘First Place at Stevens Steakhouse Competition in Los Angeles’
It was Ladies Night in Los Angeles last weekend, and the feeling was definitely right! There were lots of talented dancers who entered the contest for Top Female Dancer at Steven’s Steakhouse, here I give you a video with highlights of each of the finalists.
There are full videos posted on YouTube of each contestant, which I highly recommend. It is a real treat to get to see an individual competition, and especially a female dancer competition. Not only can we ladies learn from their footwork and styling, but it is a great inspiration to see them as individual dancers.
The top 3 ladies were…
1. Stephanie Stevenson
2. Gabriela Equiz
3. Cindy Stevenson
Enjoy!
I finally started recovering from our trip to the 10th Annual Los Angeles Salsa Congress. While the event gets various mixed reviews this year, one workshop session I personally enjoyed was by the famous pair, the on2 World Salsa Champions: Oliver and Luda. For those who may not have known about their amazing dance skills, I posted a video below of, what I consider one of their best choreographies. They have won first place every year since 2005 at the World Salsa Championships. This performance shows how sharp yet smooth technical skill, amazing musicality in choreography and their ability to inspire future performers. The Australia salsa scene is lucky to have this amazing pair.
[More over at LatinMotion (Australia)]
Club Mayan results are in! Though they are not posted on the Mayan website yet, the Jamaican Salsero Blog has posted the information along with a review of the competition from the competitor’s perspective. The 13th Annual Mayan World Salsa Competition took place over the last two weeks, with professional finals this past Saturday.
The winners were David Nieto and Charlene Rose, followed by Raul Santiago and Sergia Anderson in 2nd place, and Christian Oviedo and Diana Sanchez in 3rd. Other well known dancers that didn’t make it to the top include Liz Lira with Luis Aguilar, who came in 4th place, and Isidro Corona and Sheila Zepeda (Bay area favorites), who have done quite well in Albert Torres’ World Salsa Championships.
Some have criticized the Mayan Competition, claiming that this once revered contest that determined the true greats has since been corrupted and is even being replaced by the World Salsa Championships (Albert Torres Productions). The main complaint is that the Mayan is “an LA competition“, meaning that in order to win, one must be from Los Angeles. This is evidenced by the fact that the International category is defined as “outside of California” (though even in the International warm-up dance, some of the internationals hailed from as far as San Francisco- see more info on the video below).
Despite criticisms, many of the best On1 dancers still compete in this competition every year. This year, there were some surprises. Couples like Isidro and Sheila, who won the semifinal round in the world championships, only placed 9th in the Mayan competition. The winners of the Mayan competition, David and Charlene, placed 4th in the semi-finals and 3rd in the finals of the world competition. Some of the discrepancies are no doubt due to differences between individual performances, but it is interesting to compare the two competitions. The results of the 2007 World Salsa Championships are below; you can judge for yourself once the Mayan videos are posted.
Details of placing aside, the quality of dancing is exceptional in this competition. Check out the Mayan website to watch the semifinal rounds videos in both pro and am categories.
2008 Mayan Competition
Final Results On 1
1. Abel Peña y Zulmara Torres (Mexico y Los Angeles)
2. Roberto Areans y Marie Josee Strazero (Canadá)
3. David Nieto y Charlene Rose (Ecuador/USA)
Semi Final Results On 1
6. Abel Pena & Zulmara Torres 81.6
4. David Nieto & Charlene Rose 82.31
1. Isidro Corona & Sheila Cepeda 88.3
3. Johnatan Platero & Sophia Cepeda 82.32
9. Kikis Kakoullis & Elina Kostova 81.02
7-8. Ricardo Tellez & Tianne Frias 81.25
2. Roberto Arenas Jr & Marie Josee Strazzero 85.11
7-8. Sergio Jasso & Gabriela Equiz 81.25
10. Tetsu Kasahra & Emi Uno 80.98
5. Ibicocay Regueira & Marina Prada 82.07
[More at JamaicanSalsero]
[More of 2007 World Salsa Championships]
Bloch is carried here as well,...
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