Unfortunately we could only give away one full pass. However, for everybody else we have a great  but we have a great offer for everybody else that participated. If you book your full pass within one week from today you will receive a FREE UPGRADE to a VIP PASS ! ! !

Just follow the simple instruction in the email you will receive later today to claim your  free upgrade.

For now, have fun and hope to see you in Egypt !

Egypt Salsa Congress Free Full Pass Winner ! is a post from: Becoming a Salsero

For now though I wanted to let everybody know that the Egypt Full Pass giveaway will close at the end of this week.

So if you haven’t entered yet, now is the time to do it!

Just click the link and follow the instructions.

Closing Egypt Give Away Soon is a post from: Becoming a Salsero

Bodrum is a pretty popular tourist destination but we couldn’t find any information about salsa clubs there.

Luckily a turkish salsero had just been to Bodrum and was able to recommend some clubs.

So, in an effort to make more information about salsa dancing in Bodrum available online for other salseros who plan to go to Bodrum I decided to post the information here as well.

There are 4 places in Bodrum to go salsa dancing that he knows off.

First, there is Filika. It is a place where they play salsa, bachata, cha cha. The downside is that it is very hot and that the owner doesn’t do anything to change it as he is not a dancer. This one should be easy to find as it is at the beginning of the ‘bars street’. Filika is not at street level but it is one floor up. That said, the music can always be heard on the street so just taking a walk at the bars street is enough to find Filika.

The second place is near the end of the same street. the name is “Addres bar”. Here they also have tango but there are 2 or 3 nights of salsa as well. He is pretty sure that Friday is a salsa night but doesn’t dare say anything about the other nights. This bar is very close to White House Disco which is apparently very well known.

The third place is at the end of the same street as well. It is at the back of Halikarnas Disco and it is called ‘Halikarnas pier cafe & bar’. Halikarnas disco is apparently known all throughout Turkey so anybody in Bodrum should be able to point you towards it. It has live latin music (a Cuban band) every night except Monday. Most of the people there are apparently not dancers though, they just come to listen to the music.

The last place is a bit out of the center. It is in an area called ‘Bitez’, about 5km (about 3 miles) from the center of Bodrum. In Bitez you can find “Manuela Hotel” and in the bar of this hotel they also have live cuban music on Wednesdays.

Salsa in Bodrum – Turkey is a post from: Becoming a Salsero

——

The “Win A Full Event Pass to the Upcoming San Diego Salsa Festival!” is hosted by John at RitmoBello.com.

To find out how you easy it is to win this Full Event Pass just click the link and all will be explained to you.

So thanks to the power of the internet you now have the chance to go to 2 amazing events for free ! The Egypt Salsa Congress and the San Diego Salsa Festival! Life is good for internet salser@s.

Good luck and hopefully I’ll see you at one of the events !

Win a Full Event Pass for the 2009 San Diego Salsa Festival is a post from: Becoming a Salsero

Alex Da Silva

Just when the situation around Alex Da Silva seemed to have calmed down (on the internet anyway) it appears that he has been arrested again:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/08/dance-instructor-arrested-and-charged-with-sexual-assault.html

Bail has been said at $ 6.2 Million and Alex Da Silva is to be arraigned on Thursday.

They say there is no such thing as bad publicity but still, it would be nice to see salsa featured in news items on a more positive note.

On that thought… the Egypt Congress Full Pass giveaway is still open.  Don’t miss out on your chance to get that free full pass and enjoy sun, salsa and culture in a beautiful country

Alex Da Silva – Arrested Again… is a post from: Becoming a Salsero

For years now Addicted2Salsa has been putting out, amongst other salsa related content, free instructional videos and podcast. These have always been available for viewing at Addicted2Salsa and on Youtube.

At the moment the entire collection (a must for every salsa ethusiast) is available for download from Addicted2Salsa with Anthony picking up the bandwith tab.

However as he is trying to save up for a new PC adding to his expenses just doesn’t make sense to me. So I have taken all the files and created a torrent (just click here to download it). This way we can help keeping Addicted2Salsa’s expenses down and save ourselves the trouble of opening all episodes individually to download them. If you have no idea what a torrent is this site offers some basic information.

This way we can all enjoy the videos and podcasts and we won’t run Addicted2Salsa’s bill up any further.

Like I already said, Anthony has been creating all this wonderful content for free.  Unfortunately that doesn’t mean that there are no costs involved for Addicted2Salsa. Bandwidth, video equipment, renting a studio,  lighting, editing software, etc. Like everybody else, they have to pay for that. Add to that the time Anthony and Julie have put into making the videos and you’ll realize that the costs of creating quality content runs up a fair bit.

At the moment Addicted2Salsa could really do with a new computer to do video editing as the laptop they have used for the last 3 years just doesn’t meet today’s requirements anymore.

What may come as a surprise to some people is that Julie and Anthony run Addicted2Salsa from their apartment and from our their own budget.

Therefore, they appreciate any monetary contributions or donations you are willing to provide them (even if it is just $1.00!). Every little bit helps them teach the current and future generations of salsa dancers. Your donations go directly to their costs, and helps them grow the website to offer new and engaging content. Think of it as if you were buying them a cup of coffee or a beer .

I just bought them a round but alas, that is all I could do without getting into trouble with my own bills

If you too like what they have been doing for us than please consider making a contribution as well. Let’s make sure that they can continue to create quality content for us.

Complete Addicted2Salsa podcast /videocast collection is a post from: Becoming a Salsero

Is it a way to defend himself? A way to explain the situation? Just a publicity stunt? Or, as he said in his interview with Edie, a satire? Will it hurt him in the long run or will it help him?

Personally, I don’t dare to make any predictions about that. Would I have done something similar if I was in his position? I don’t know. I guess not but then, I haven’t been in his shoes so I really can’t relate.

Either way, regardless of what the show is based on and/or how it is perceived, I am always impressed by people that try to get back in the saddle right after they have been thrown off of the horse.

Here is the show so you can form your own opinion:

And for something else entirely…

The Egypt Congress Full Pass giveaway competition is still open.  Don’t miss out on your chance to go there for free!

Alex da Silva’s new show, satire or publicity stunt? is a post from: Becoming a Salsero

After they won the finals Janette Valenzuela interviewed Eli Torres and Yen Dorado. Unfortunately I can’t provide a back link for this interview as I’m not sure where Janette first published it. So far I’ve been able to track it back to Salsa Hotline Japan and one of Edie’s websites (from which I copied it).

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May 23, 2009 : INTERVIEW

MAYAN SALSA CHAMPIONS: ELI TORRES AND YEN DORADO.

by JANETTE VALENZUELA

Summary of the 14th annual Mayan Professional Salsa Championships. July 8, 2009

Hello Salseros,

I know this interview is long overdue. I want to recap for our readers what took place the evening of May 16, 2009.

History was made when we witnessed for the first time ever a couple from the international category, Eli and Yen, winning the 1st place professional title. Not only did it make news because of this, but also due to the fact that it was two men dancing together in the competition!

First of all, I was not judging this evening. I had been a judge in the semi-final round and, quite honestly, I was very certain that Cristian Oveido and Liz Lira would take the grand prize by a landslide. But low and behold, here out of nowhere, Eli and Yen show up to shake things up, and did they ever!

I will be honest. In the beginning half of the evening, I had mixed feelings with the Mayan allowing two men to compete together. On one hand, there is no stipulation in the rules of the Mayan contest prohibiting a same gender-couple from entering the competition together. I thought, ‘Would this be allowed in professional figure skating?’ Now, don’t get me wrong, prior to this, I thought I was one of the most liberal people around. During this contest, I discovered that I am in fact a purist. I found myself saying, ‘a dance should be between a man and a woman.’ OMG! I sound just like my worst nightmare, George W. Bush! If anyone had any reservations regarding this, Eli and Yen should have been allowed to compete. The rules were very clear. Nowhere did it say this wasn’t allowed. Then again, I am a former competitor. I can put myself in the shoes of the other competitors that evening. If I would have been competing I probably wouldn’t have been too pleased knowing that somehow the whole contest would have felt, shall we say, unbalanced? The argument could be that, technically, a man is stronger than a woman and would allow for him to be able achieve greater levels of technique. From an audience standpoint, it is a great treat to be able to witness something so unique and entertaining. For the judges, I’m sure it threw them for a loop! The question is how do I judge Eli(he was the follower) the same as the other female competitors? All the female competitors traditionally compete in heels. Don’t get me wrong, Eli did an amazing job. In fact, he was one of the best follow competitors I have ever witnessed. But the question is, ‘Can Eli do everything he did with 2 1/2 to 3″ heels?

In the end, Eli and Yen achieved what they came to achieve; they showed up to dance their choreography and have people love it. By the crowning of their title, I was a believer.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq7gLdL4KCU&feature=related

In this interview, I found them to be pure artists who love what they do.

Enjoy the article as much as I enjoyed talking to these two fascinating characters!

Preview to the interview.

First of all, being the typical female Latina , I’m late! I have to text the guys because I can’t find them. I’m making my way through the lobby of the LA Salsa Congress until finally we locate each other. We proceed to make our way to a couch, have a seat and get started. They ask me if they can know the questions ahead of time. I say no. Then Eli confesses that he’s nervous. He tells me he’s never done an interview before. I’m thinking, ‘how perfect!’ I know I’ll get some raw sincere answers…..and sure enough I did!

JANETTE

Hello everyone! We are sitting here in the lobby of the LA Salsa Congress and today I am interviewing the 14th annual winners of the Professional Mayan Salsa Contest. I want to welcome Eli Torres and Yen Dorado.

ELI and YEN

Thank you.

JANETTE

Welcome. We will be having the first interview of the 14th annual champions of the Mayan 2009 Salsa contest. I want to welcome two talented individuals who did an amazing job and broke records and pretty much took the Salsa world by storm.

My first question to you is;

The Mayan crowd went absolutely ballistic with your performance. I was sitting in the balcony and you received a standing ovation. I’ve witnessed every single Mayan contest and the only time I witnessed this was the year Johnny Vazquez competed with Olivia Dasso. How did you feel that night after your performance?

ELI

Oh wow….now that you mention that I feel like wow! I felt great…I felt shocked but great. I felt like we deserved it we worked really hard for it…..

YEN

It was a relief that we were actually able to do a clean routine and perform all of the elements that we wanted to perform without having any mistakes.

ELI

…and the pressure was on being that it was two guys, of course, so for me it was very shocking that they would have even considered us and judged us without discriminating.

YEN

We were very happy about that.

ELI

I was just very happy about the whole situation.

JANETTE

When did you feel discriminated?

ELI

Well, at the World Salsa ESPN. I think I took them by shock and I think because of that we weren’t judged correctly. They didn’t know what to think about what we were doing. So I felt like we did it just to do it anyway, to be known, but we weren’t recognized.

YEN

I think they were shocked. I think the judges didn’t know how to judge us, whether to judge us the same way they judge the female followers or should it be different? Should they have a higher standard for us or not? It was just both parts. It was completely new shocking and people just didn’t know how to handle it and that’s why the result of the worlds were how they were.

note: Yen and Eli competed in the World ESPN Salsa Championships in Dec of 2007 and were eliminated during the semi-final round.

JANETTE

So tell us how is it that the two of you decided to work together? How did this dance partnership come about?

ELI

Well, Yen came to me four years ago to audition for my company.

JANETTE

What’s the name of your company?

ELI

Aru N’egwu Dance Company, it means body in the state of dance in Nigerian.. He came to audition for the company and I saw talent in him.  I brought him in and have been training him for four years.. But three years ago we decided to partner together.  Every time I trained him, he had the best lead in the whole company. The guy is something and I said, ‘you know, I’m short and I haven’t been able to find a female partner back home.’ I found one that was in Italy, but the traveling distance, back and forth, back and forth, it was too expensive and I love leading….in fact I wanted to compete originally just as a leader. Then I said, ‘why don’t I do something different?’ I see this all the time in the congresses, girls dancing with girls, guys dancing with guys, ‘Why don’t we take it to a different degree, a totally different level?’

YEN

We’ve been dancing for three years…well, I started from scratch, from  zero when I started with his company…..

JANETTE

So you had no dance background experience whatsoever? Wow…no formal training?

YEN

No formal training.. When I auditioned for his company that’s when I decided I wanted to take it to the next level, do something more serious…take my dancing more seriously… when I went to his company I liked his style. It has a lot of technique, very jazzy, but at the same time stays true to Salsa.  I love that… when I saw him in the club dancing I said to myself I want to learn from him. I don’t want to learn from anyone else. I just want to learn from him.

JANETTE

I know! Like I want to learn from him.(group laugh)

YEN

I partnered with him for four years. We’ve been doing performances together locally for the past 3 years so we decided to take it to the next level by going to ESPN Worlds.

ELI

That was our main thing to see if we could take it to the next level. It was a little bit of a disappointment not going all the way at worlds…..but you go home and then you say, ‘Let’s do it again!’

YEN

Well you learn from it.

ELI

Yes, you learn from it and see what you can clean up to make it look even better. Let’s do it again. Let’s try this. Don’t let them take you down in other words. Basically, I don’t want to grow old without showing what I can do. I can do both parts and I like both parts and I think I need more opportunities to express myself through dance.. That’s how he became my partner and we just partnered ever since. I’ve just been training him, and kind of molding him to be my lead (Eli laughs). He’s a good lead. All the girls say he’s a good lead. He’s like the one-finger man (now Yen laughs), because even with one finger he’ll still be able to turn you.

YEN

Yes, they all joke around with me because I can make them turn with one finger.

ELI

….I also don’t have prior training.

JANETTE

Wow…. wow, wow….ok, that’s fascinating. You gotta be careful with those fingers though because after a few years there going to start not working anymore(group laugh).

JANETTE

Tell us who and what were your artistic and musical influences during your childhood. Where did you grow up? How and when did you start dancing?

ELI

Well, for me it was Tito Puente. I love Tito…I love his music. All the beats in his songs…that’s what made me go and I felt it. I grew up in Philadelphia , born and raised in Philadelphia . I started dancing when I was 20 and I’m now 29.  I’m going to be 30 this year(eli says it with hesitation)…but

JANETTE

You don’t look it. You still look 20.

ELI

So I started dancing when I was 20. I was just coming to the congresses, watching you, watching everybody else that I saw, all the Salsa Brava members….and I guess in a sense everybody was my instructor without even knowing it….because growing up poor I could make it to the congress but then it was, I either go each night and try to watch as much as I can to learn or go to the workshop and then miss the night. I had to play it out.  If I was making it down here I had to make it where I would just kind of do one or the other and then go eat at McDonald’s. It was more like…..I was just focused every time. I went out at night just to watch all the dancers and be inspired. So everyone in a sense was my instructor I would say, even though nobody formally trained me.

JANETTE

So you really learned how to budget?

YEN

That’s the life of an artist. I was born and raised in Bolivia. I’m half Bolivian half Chinese. I started dancing when I went to Philadelphia for college. I went to college there to U PENN.  I first saw him at a club. I loved to dance my entire life. I was like the life of the party but there was no training there. When I saw him dance at one of the studios in Philadelphia …..I couldn’t stop watching. I just couldn’t understand how his connection with the females was so different. It set him apart from everybody else. You could be in a crowded dance floor and he would stand out.

ELI

I wasn’t following at that time.

YEN

Yeah, he wasn’t following. I didn’t know he followed back then but I had been told you should see him follow a little bit because every now and then they’d say they would see him.

ELI

There was another guy in the company that would kind of throw me around a little bit..

YEN

……throw him around a little bit…but it was like every now and then but I never saw him follow. So when I saw him I said, ‘let me just try it.’ My artistic influences, since I’m half latino and was raised in Bolivia , listening to all latin music not just Salsa, merengue, cumbia…..

ELI

(turning to Yen) But, do you have a certain artist though that you really…

YEN

Yeah, Celia Cruz was back then one of my biggest influences. I like her music a lot……

ELI

When she sings she makes you want to move…

YEN

…because of her voice. You know how some artists have the band and the band usually takes over the entire song and the artist is kind of part of the music? Well her voice was like an instrument. Her voice carried out above the band. That was the most I liked about her.

JANETTE

What did your parents do for a living?

ELI

My parents…my mom was a school assistant teacher and my father was a street salesman. He was a street vendor selling bicycles, stuffed animals all that kind of stuff, shirts, and now he has a store where he does it all. When I grew up he was doing it in the street.

YEN

My mom is a teacher but now she’s a housewife. She used to teach a lot and my dad is in government, works for public service.

JANETTE

What do your parents think of your success/career?

ELI

Um…they think it’s funny acutally..(laughing). They think it’s funny. They don’t knock it. They think I do good dancing both parts. They know that I’m doing it for a profession not something that you know….

JANETTE

…a hobby?….

ELI

Yeah, like a hobby. They know it’s a professional thing so they take it serious and they’re supportive.

YEN

My mom is very supportive. First, I thought my dad was going to be a little….um…judgemental…but when I told him about it because he’s very asian and he’s very conservative….

JANETTE

…and he’s a government official!…

YEN

…but, he actually likes to dance a lot. He likes ballroom because in China ballroom is big. It’s a big deal and there’s a bunch of studios over there apparently and he likes to dance chinese tango. He loves to dance. So when he heard that I was in the company he was very happy and when I told him what I did ….he was like, ‘oh, ok.’ He had to get used to the idea but when I showed him a video on youtube of us performing he was very impressed. My mom and dad are very supportive and now they’re very happy that we’re doing this.

ELI

And we still have our female dance partners that are in the dance company…the girls, one is a mom, his dance partner…

YEN

…two kids…

ELI

…two kids so she can’t travel as much. My dance partner is still in school. Traveling for her won’t happen right now until she graduates.

JANETTE

So, when you were either kids or teenagers did you ever imagine, or did your parents ever imagine, that this is what you would be doing?

ELI

(long pause) …………….Hell no(group laugh).

JANETTE

Hell no?

ELI

Hell no….

JANETTE

What did you think you were going to be doing?

ELI

Well, I graduated with a business degree in management and I was getting ready to go into being a financial analyst?

JANETTE

Really???

ELI

Yeah, and I never thought that I was supposed to dance…….but ever since I discovered dance I just want to dance. That’s it. I wouldn’t even trade it.  I know I should have conquered school and I feel like I’m a little behind now because I don’t have all this dance training and I’m lacking the degree in dance but I still feel like this is my calling. This is what I was meant to do.

JANETTE

Amazing..(turning to Yen), what did you think you were going to be doing?

YEN

I thought I was going to be a doctor.(Yen laughs) But, I did find the middle of the road.  I just graduated last year from the University of Pennsylvania . I have a business degree from The Wharton School and I have a nursing degree from the school of nursing in UPENN,  I’m both a nurse with a business degree at the same time.  I’m a registered nurse right now and I’m going for my masters this coming year to become a nurse practitioner but I’m still going to continue pursuing dancing.  I didn’t quite make it to being a doctor but I guess being a nurse practitioner will give me enough time to dedicate to my artistic life.

ELI

So he kind of wants to 50/50 it….he wants to still do this and do that…

YEN

…because I think life is very multi-dimensional. It has to have many different levels, many different phases, otherwise you get bored with life. You can’t just do one thing. You have to have another thing on the side. That’s why people have hobbies.

JANETTE

Very good. So now, let’s go back to the Mayan. As you are aware, this is the very first time we’ve ever witnessed a same-gender couple win a major Salsa dance contest, did you experience any backlash as a result of this bold move?

ELI

Backlash?

JANETTE

Anything? Any criticism?

ELI

I did receive some…one of the competitors, I won’t mention her name, but she did give me a negative response. She said that I was lucky to have won. She gave me the finger in my chest like I was lucky.

JANETTE

Hard core like that?

ELI (Eli proceeds to go into an impersonation of her), Yeah, she said, ‘you got lucky!’  That stuff happens whether it’s female/male, male/male. I think it’s just people that just don’t appreciate each other as dancers sometimes. That stuff I just brush off my shoulders.

JANETTE

But, I think if you’re envied that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

ELI

Yeah, if you’re not spoken about you’re not important. Let them talk all they want because I must be doing something right……and they’re always going to talk badly and we expect it being same gender….

YEN

We expect going into anything we do, we expect them either to …..

ELI

…..boo us with a tomato….

YEN

…..or really like us. We expect anything, anything goes. We prepare for whatever happens. When we went to the Mayan, we said to each other whatever happens happens. Let’s let everything fall where it falls.

JANETTE

Really good so what are your career plans from this day forward?

ELI

I want to continue competing. I do teach professionally back home, I have a studio. If you want more information my site is www.elitorresdance.com. I teach full time, and I perform back home.  My plans for the future, I want to continue competing with him. I do want to compete with my female partner too. I don’t want people to just notice me because I’ve been dancing now for 9 years. People noticed me the first 6 years as a leader and I was starting to establish my name as a leader.  I like that and now I’m establishing my name as a follower. We get a lot of different reactions from people like last night some guy came over to him and said, ‘would you mind if I danced with him?’ We’re  not gay nor are we partners like that, people think they have to ask me to dance with him…..

YEN

…if anything we’re like brothers…

ELI

..it doesn’t bother me. I laugh at it but at the same time I know what they’re thinking and I don’t want that to….because I do want to re-establish myself again as a leader because I really love to lead.  I think that’s where I want to take it. I’m still going to compete with him. I’m still going to do this with him professionally but I want to show my leading skills and I want to continue competing if there’s any competitions coming around.

YEN

We want to take it globally too….

ELI

…take it globally yeah…

YEN

…go to Europe , Asia …

ELI

…travel more…

YEN

…and we feel as though we want to show people what Salsa can be, how it can be danced with technique and flavor and how versatile it can be,  how anybody can do it in any type of way. And we feel if we go onstage and we have people forget that it’s two guys dancing and just appreciate the art of dancing, that we’re doing what we want to represent. It’s not a statement of anything else or a sexual orientation. It’s not a political statement for us. It’s just showing art….

ELI

…and specifically my spins. That’s what I want to show because I haven’t seen many people do what I’m doing, female or male.  The fact is that I’m coming out with a bunch of creative forms. That’s what I want to be noticed for too as a follower. I’m not trying to be the female. I just want to show there’s so many things you can do as a follower as well as the lead.

JANETTE

Well, at this point, I don’t think traveling globally is going to be any problem. I think you definitely made your mark at the Mayan. I think that’s your take-off point. I wish you a lot of success with that. I have no doubt you’re going to achieve that.

JANETTE

Let me ask you what does a typical work week look like for you guys?

ELI

Well, he’s in school. For me it’s teaching everyday all day. During the day it’s privates and in the evenings it’s group classes. I teach monday through sunday, 7 days a week. It is getting popular. I had a little bit of a down time with the economy and people have to pay the bills and taking care of their kids but it’s coming back up because summer is here, so I’m teaching a lot.

JANETTE

Do you teach at one studio or several different studios?

ELI

One.

JANETTE

Do you own the studio?

ELI

Yes.

JANETTE

What’s the name of your studio?

ELI

EliT   Dance Academy .

JANETTE

How many hours a week do you dedicate to private and group lessons?

ELI

For privates I would say 30. Privates are more popular.  For the group classes I would say 8. So 38 hours total.

JANETTE

So how many hours do you dedicate to train yourself?

YEN

It’s very hard….

ELI

…..to train myself? when he’s free….it’s very hard actually. Believe it or not we don’t get enough time. I want to practice more and we don’t get the time to practice. Also it puts us in a very weird position when we go to congresses, we don’t get enough time to practice. It’s just very fortunate that we have a very nice connection with each other. It’s about 3 hours every other day, Tuesdays, Thursday and Sundays.

JANETTE

So about 9 hours a week you dedicate to practice? It seems like you dedicate a lot more time.

ELI

I wish. Sometimes my body is too dead to do it as I’m teaching all day and he’s ready and really spunked up

YEN

As a nurse usually you work 12 hour shifts and I work 3 or 4 days a week and sometimes we have to practice because we have to dance on the weekends. So I have to come out from a 12 hour shift to go to the studio and he has classes from …

ELI

…and I have a 10 hour day from classes, so we’re kind of forcing ourselves and basically it’s a rough time for muscle memory. At least if we get together for muscle memory for an hour we feel accomplished.

YEN

We feel comfortable.

JANETTE

Well, now that you say that, I don’t know about this next question. It seems like it doesn’t even fit. Other than Salsa what do you do for fun? It seems like there’s no time for fun.(group laugh)

YEN

Oh my gosh!

ELI

When I do have free time like in holidays I love to go to the movies. I love the movies. My fun is to relax. My fun is doing stuff at home. I’m a homebody. I like to be home, watch movies and be quiet.  I’m always listening to music and sometimes I just want to be quiet. I don’t want to go home and I don’t want any noise. No tv, nothing and I love being in my own apartment where I can have nothing, do nothing…

JANETTE

…..so that’s your sanctuary?….

ELI

….I love that, just some solo time, just some quiet time and the movies. I like to rollerblade and if I get a chance I go to the gym.

YEN

Same thing, after being in the hospital and you go home and you still hear things…… you’re still hearing the beats of the pump and sometimes you can go crazy because you’re in your room with no noise and all of a sudden you hear a ‘beep, beep’ because you’re so used to hearing all the med pumps at work. I swear sometimes I scare myself. I’m like ‘am I going crazy here?’ So I too like quiet time but I’m a tv fanatic. I could sit there and watch tv forever. That’s how I relax. I lay in my bed watch tv. Outside of that I like bowling, going to the movies, running, rollerblading, just hanging out with our friends. We’ve made a lot of friends out of the company and just kind of hanging out with them. We do other stuff with them that’s not Salsa, not related to Salsa…

ELI

Our relax time is totally not Salsa.

JANETTE

Do your co-workers know that you dance as well as your patients?

YEN

Yeah

JANETTE

….and what do they say? Do you show them videos?

YEN

…actually, because it’s the hospital you really can’t show YouTube videos but some of them know. My boss definitely knows and they are actually very supportive with my schedule. They allow me to switch my days so I can make an event for the weekend.

JANETTE

So what did they say when you told them, ‘I’m going to LA. I’m going to Hollywood?’

YEN

..actually, they don’t know yet…

JANETTE

They don’t know yet?

YEN

…well because we decided to keep this a little down low.

ELI

We didn’t say anything to anybody, not even anyone in Philly knew we were actually coming to LA…

YEN

…yeah, until the very next day when we won, thank God we won, everybody knew..

ELI

…well, sometimes you say stuff so much and then you jinx it. So it’s better to keep things you know…

YEN

…keep it to ourselves. So no one at my job knows that I’m a champion. For them I’m just a nurse.(I laugh). A regular nurse.

JANETTE

What do you refer to this music? Do you refer to it as Salsa or mambo?

ELI

Both, because I love dancing on 2 as well as on 1.

JANETTE

Ok. So what does Salsa/mambo, music/dancing mean to you?

ELI

For me everything. It’s my life. That’s it. Because even when I’m frustrated, I dance, I dance that off. When I’m happy and I dance, I dance even happier. My emotions come all out in my dance.

JANETTE

..and when you’re sad?

ELI

Everything. I feel like that’s all I need to make myself feel better. So for me it means everything. That’s why I don’t really plan anything else but expanding my studio and continue teaching indefinitely. So this is everything for me. I found total passion in this and that’s why I want to do this all the time.

YEN

For me, at first it was a hobby but since I’ve been so immersed into this whole Salsa scene and community, it’s becoming my second life….because I have my one professional life and I have my Salsa life…and now it’s definitely not a hobby. I take it more seriously than I did before because now that we’re champions and now we’re trying to expand the Eli and Yen brand all over the world, we take it as a business. So I have a business degree and he has a business degree it’s going to help us with promoting EliT Dance.

JANETTE

There’s an article that came out with Tiger Woods and I believe it’s called, “5 Rules for Total Domination” and he’s obviously one that’s dominated golfing. He says the #1 element is having unlimited reservoirs of passion but yet maintaining total emotional control over what you do.

ELI

Interesting.

JANETTE

It sounds like what you described to me is just that. Because there are champions but then there are world class champions and the rest. Make sense?

ELI

Total sense.

JANETTE

Right now who are your favorite Salsa artists?

ELI

El Gran Combo. I like them a lot. La Sonora Poncena and…..

JANETTE

Are you puerto-rican?

ELI

Yes.

JANETTE

That’s what I thought.

ELI

Gilberto Santa Rosa .

JANETTE

Oh, yeah, he’s great.

ELI

..sometimes I like those really soft ones, Eddie Santiago..

YEN

…La Sonora Poncena, Celia Cruz, Tito Puente, Angel Canales….., Eddie Palmieri….

ELI

….oh yeah!

YEN

…very jazzy, I like that..

JANETTE

..gotta dig that piano… he’s bad!

JANETTE

Who are your favorite Salsa dancer artists?

ELI

Frankie Martinez has been my influence in my body movements. I like watching him. I love the way he has total control of his body. So when I think of body movement and I think of putting something together in choreography I think of how he would interpret that. For ladies styling, I’ve always loved Griselle Ponce….she’s sexy!..She’s like sex on the dance floor..

YEN

You might want to edit that out.

ELI

I L-O-V-E Griselle Ponce!

JANETTE

We’ll put sexy.

ELI

…..and male I like Adolfo and his combinations and the way he puts his choreography together. I like the way he thinks with all his turn patterns. Also John and Liz, they’re one of my favorites. I love the way they work together. They work very nice together.

YEN

For me in terms of a group that inspires me right now it’s Salsamania, John and Liz’s group. Just yesterday, we we’re watching Son de Mania, the semi-pro team and we were admiring the fact the couples on stage mimic exactly how John and Liz dance…

ELI

..they were so in sync, just watching them on the floor, ‘is that John and Liz?’ or ‘is that their company?’ You can see that they work really hard.

YEN

..to train people to have your own style and to convey that on the stage it takes a lot of work and we appreciate that. They are wonderful performers. They’re wonderful teachers. They’re wonderful social dancers. I like that about them….

ELI

…and they’re humble. That’s one thing that I like. You like certain people because of they’re talent but when they have a total overall package, it’s even better because you feel so much more comfortable talking to them. There’s no standoff-ish type feeling there. You come in and you’re comfortable, you’re ready to talk, you’re ready to exchange talent and knowledge. I like working with them.

YEN

We dance on 1 when we compete, but we borrow on 2 styling and blend on 1 and 2 styling together. Eddie Torres has a wonderful on 2 style and he taught Adolfo Indacochea.

ELI

…and taught Frankie Martinez.    So mambo is actually coming from Eddie Torres, so recognition to him big time.  We also like Tito and Tamara because their choreography is very creative and just beautiful.

JANETTE

Describe to us what is the Salsa scene in Philadelphia like?

ELI

It’s getting bigger. It’s doing well actually. Philly is also starting to get recognized as having good dancers because when we would go out of town people would say, ‘oh, where you from?’ and we’d say, ‘Philly, Philly’s got dancers? ‘Philly?’ So they’d give us that look like ‘really?’ But now they’re starting to recognize, ‘oh Philly.’ They’re no longer saying, ‘Philly?’with a question mark. They’re starting to recognize that Philly has talent.

JANETTE

Well I think you’ve definitely stamped it on the Salsa map.

ELI

That’s good.

JANETTE

So what cities have you traveled to perform and compete?

ELI

This year we went to Hawaii , San Francisco , Texas , Orlando …

YEN

..Virginia,

ELI

..Los Angeles,

YEN

… New York ..

ELI

..we definitely traveled more this year taking this to the next level. It’s helping us getting recognize that we’re trying to make this work and have people take us seriously.

YEN

…and the interesting factor for us is that the ballroom world is actually also welcoming us: two guys dancing not in competitions but actual regular ballroom events. They’ve actually been welcoming us more and they’ve warmed up to our act…

ELI

…right because the ballroom world can look down upon Salsa dancers..

JANETTE

..absolutely..

ELI

..because they treat us, ‘oh these street dancers!’ I don’t even like the terminology these ’street dancers.’ I like to say that we do have talent and we can do a lot of stuff as much as they can do it’s just how everybody works on how they do it….

YEN

..and they’ve been appreciating it a lot. So we’re very happy that we’re breaking through the Salsa world and the ballroom world. I hope that we can be liaisons between these two worlds because sometimes there can be a little division between them.

ELI

Going back to Philly because we went off on a tangent, Philly is moving up now. We have a lot more dancers in Philly. I’m proud to say that.

JANETTE

What about clubs? What about bands?

ELI

Bands in Philadelphia. . .we have a local band, Jorge y su Latin Express. They’re moving up. I think they’re very good.

YEN

New artists, Annette Carrion.

ELI

…a new Salsa artist. She just came out with her new cd and she’s from Philadelphia .

JANETTE

What about clubs?

ELI

Clubs, we have a club every night.

JANETTE

..oh good..

ELI

..Monday through Sunday we have a club…

JANETTE

…just one or several?…

YEN

..several, we have an event every single night there’s Salsa dancing..

ELI

..and it’s good because the students get to go out wherever they want to practice.

JANETTE

Other than Philly, what is your favorite city to dance Salsa? Where have you had the most fun?

ELI

San Francisco .

JANETTE

Yeah? Why is that?

YEN

Very welcoming. Humble people over there when we went for John and Liz’s Salsa Festival everybody was just so welcoming. They just wanted to dance nothing else.

ELI

It reminded me when I was first dancing where I was dancing all the time. They were very welcoming. We had a good time..

YEN

…and sometimes we know some salseros get carried away and they just want to show off on the dance floor, but in San Francisco we felt everyone just wanted to dance, just social dance, it’s not about showing off. It’s just about having fun so we had the most fun there and we were dancing with Adolfo and his partner, Carla, from Italy . They were there so we had fun dancing with them…

ELI

…that’s when all the dancers do the best when they’re actually having fun. When they’re thinking about it, they’re thinking about who’s watching and who’s doing what…and I think that when we get to a certain level sometimes that takes over too much. That holds everybody back. You have to be able to recognize that you’re moving up but stay humble because if not it turns off many people..

JANETTE

….Yes, and we go back to that maintaining that emotional control. That has a lot to do with it. Never stop your growth.

ELI

To never think you can’t learn something new.

JANETTE

Exactly.

My last question to you is and I’ll finish with a comment. If you were to do everything all over again what would you do differently?

YEN

Not holding back at the Worlds.(Yen and Eli laugh)

ELI

..because we did, because we were really nervous to see if they would accept us…

YEN

..we held back a lot at the ESPN Worlds..

JANETTE

….held back what?…

YEN

…everything…

ELI

…..I felt like we didn’t dance at all like I was supposed to dance..

YEN

…we didn’t style as much as we wanted to….

ELI

…I just didn’t know what they were going to think and I let that kill me at the moment.

JANETTE

You allowed it to throw you out of the game?

ELI

It threw me all off. And so I went out there not nervous but thinking about what they were going to think.

YEN

We got worried about what everyone was going to think about us than just doing us. So we would do that…

ELI

…each and every time that I would have done something I would have done it more like a performance should be…

YEN

…not holding back anything…

ELI

…at times, I felt like we could have done even much better if I didn’t hold back and so now we’re going for it.

JANETTE

But don’t you agree that the experience is what helped you make that decision?

ELI

Right.

YEN

Yep.

ELI

It was a bonus and a minus. A plus and minus because it helped….

YEN

…it helped us grow professionally and we realized if we’re going to do this we need to do it 100% not just give it 50%. If we’re gonna style, we’re gonna style as a follower and leader should style. We need to perform it how it should be performed. No more thinking about what they were going to think. Just do your performance. Do us, and then let the crowd respond.

JANETTE

Very good.

I was judging the Mayan contest in the semi-final round. Every time they switch the judges from semi-final to final round. So they call me for different things so this year I thought, ‘what article am I going to write if I won’t be a deciding factor for the finals?’ My thought was I’ll just interview the winning couple!(group laugh)

ELI

I thought you were going to be a judge actually.

JANETTE

Yes, I thought, I’ll do that and me just thinking hands down it was going to go to Christian Oveido and Liz Lira and so then I see you guys and said holy *%^^!(group laugh). It was very awkward for me. I never thought I was going to to come up to you and say, ‘excuse me, can I interview you guys?’ But then I thought how interesting this interview was going to be.

ELI

Christian and Liz were very good competition. I actually love the fact that we competed against them.

YEN

Yes.

ELI

I love competing against really good talent…

YEN

..really good people..

ELI

..I want them to motivate me…

JANETTE

…absolutely….

ELI

That’s what motivates me. Instead of it being an intimidation factor, I love it when there’s 10 of all of us. Imagine that? You know how good of a show we would give everybody? I think we would all work so hard….

JANETTE

…because Christian and Liz had dominated the semi-final round, I had completely ruled out the international category, because let’s face it they’ve never really done anything. I wasn’t thinking there would be any competition, but on the other hand you never know who’s going to show up. But that night was wham in your face! All the rules were changed! All the rules were broken!

YEN

…before going to the Mayan one of our friends in Texas told us, ‘you do know that no one in the 14 years in the history of the Mayan, no international couple has ever won the Mayan?’

JANETTE

That’s why I ruled that category out.

YEN

Right. So we were kind of a little bit discouraged coming into the Mayan but we were like, ‘you know what….’

ELI

I just wanted to show our talent…

YEN

…let’s just do this. We were thinking, ‘look what happened to us at worlds?’ We held back. No, just do us. so we did…

ELI

…and surprisingly, the crowd loved it…

YEN

…yeah…

JANETTE

…I’m telling you they went ballistic…

ELI

…and we had nobody in that crowd…

JANETTE

…..that’s when you know…

YEN

….we didn’t know anyone there. We only had one friend.(I start cracking up) Our one friend came over…

ELI

…..from Philadelphia and she said, ‘you guys are going to be good.’(group laugh). So we told her, ‘yell at the top of her lungs because you’re the only person we have.’ But everyone was so supportive. That was really nice..

JANETTE

Also, the feedback on the internet was very supportive. Everyone was commenting on how you were so refreshing, different, entertaining, it was great to watch. It was everything.

JANETTE

I’m just so glad that we were able to do this interview live in person.(Since Yen and Eli were flying back to Philly after the contest we were contemplating doing a telephone interview).

ELI

I wanted to do it in person because I wanted you to see our expressions.

JANETTE

Absolutely. Going back to the ESPN I think if anything that was the greatest practice you could have done being that it’s the biggest competition there is. To have made that decision at such a big event was your turning point.

ELI

…and we do plan on doing it again..

JANETTE

Good.

And the last book I want to leave you guys with and I know you’re going to love this book, because I’m into reading a lot. This is a must read for you. It’s a book you will study, study, study. It’s called “177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class,” by Steven Seibold. Get that one and read the article with Tiger Woods.

ELI

That would be nice.

YEN

..I’d like to read them! I like to read.

ELI

(turning to Yen)You can read them and tell me all about it. I don’t like to read that much,

but um..

JANETTE

…You know what? This book is more like lessons and it’s a book that you’ll really study. What I really really really encourage you to do, looking back now at my career, is to journal everything that you’re currently doing because when you look back these are going to be the best moments of your life. You’ll have recorded everything that you’re going through, just journal it, journal it, journal it and I promise looking back you’ll be so glad you did…

YEN

…then 20 years from now we’ll be like, ‘Oh my gosh, we can’t believe we went to the Mayan to compete as two guys.’….

ELI

…and I’ll be like, ‘what was I thinking?’(Yen laughs)

JANETTE

…and all that stuff could end up becoming a book. You never know. People are hungry for these stories..

ELI

…that would be a good idea…

JANETTE

….they really are and we have to acknowledge the fact there are many people out there that don’t get to experience things that you’ve experienced but yet they want to live through you and want to know these things. What’s holding them back is either the fear and or the fact that they don’t believe in themselves. And so, if we could share our stories from people exactly like yourselves that never thought they would be doing this, you could make a strong impact.

YEN

Many people have come up to us and told us we’ve inspired them….

ELI

…we’ve been an inspiration for them to try new things….

YEN

….because many people get so nervous when they’re about to perform onstage and they say, ‘if you guys as two guys went up there and did what you guys did and you guys weren’t nervous and not anxious but you still had the courage to go onstage and do what you did, why can’t I do that to?’

ELI

…and that feels good to have inspired somebody else because I’ve been inspired by all you guys that I was watching until I became noticed now. I know what they’re feeling and for me to be inspirational to somebody else I feel like that’s great.

JANETTE

Where it starts is with this love for dancing. You’re just in it so in it because you love it so much that you have zero clue that you’re inspiring people. When they start telling you and you start to see the impact that you’re having then you realize, oh my God, it’s transcends from inspiring people to empowering people.  You are truly empowering them with what you do..

So I wish you more, no, I don’t have to wish you success. You are already success and you are going to achieve more and go farther and farther.

ELI

We’ll take blessings.

JANETTE

I will bless you from this day forward.(of course we’re being totally silly now)

ELI

We always thank God. He is always by our side.

JANETTE

Thank you so much for taking the time.

ELI and YEN

Thank you. It was really nice of you.

JANETTE

It was fun.

Janette teaches at Mama Juanas on Saturday evenings in studio city, www.mamajuanas.com

and The Artists Studio on Sunday afternoon in Burbank, www.theartists-studio.com

Who Are The Men that Took The Mayan? is a post from: Becoming a Salsero

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Imagine yourself driving your car on a high way. Suddenly the car in from of you breaks hard and turns. You step on your break. You curse. What an idiot! Suddenly you see another car coming towards you, on your side of the road. Aaaaaaaaaa! Break. You turn. What an idiot! You look around. Every single car is moving in a different direction, and nobody is respecting any signs. Cars are going in all possible directions on this one way highway!!! What idiots! Nobody is taking care about the other cars! Crash! Somebody just hit you! What an idiot! Didn’t they tech you in school to take care about others?! You are not alone here! Didn’t you see the sign that this is a one way street?? What an idiot!

And now imagine yourself on the dance floor… You are dancing with your partner and somebody unexpectedly changes his moving direction! They almost step on you. What an idiot! Crash! A high heel just ends up in you ankle. Auuu! What a pain! What an idiot! Didn’t they teach you in you in your dance school to look out for others?! You are not alone on the dance floor! What an idiot!

You wipe away the blood from your ankle from the cut you just got, which is about 5 – 6cm long and think about whether to go back dancing at all or not. This was the fourth time already you have been stepped on this night. Will I be to stand on my feet tomorrow?!

A lot of times it happened that I get stepped on the moment I walk onto the dance floor. Usually a high heel or an elbow finds its way to my body. Imagine what it’s going to be like in the crowd… And what’s the solution? Not to dance on a crowded party? Put on some sneakers? Or to step on someone before they have the chance to step on you?

More and more dancers are going out to salsa parties, especially if there is some workshop or congress going on. This is one of the reasons why it can get crowded on the dance floor, and the dancers have less space to dance their figures. Then problems start. But once I eve got stepped on by a girl when there were only three couples dancing!

In Croatia most of the dancers are dancing Cuban style salsa, and this takes a lot more space than another line- dancing styles. On Croatian dance floors people like to “mix” salsa styles. At this moment I am not talking about advance dancers who are developing their own style, but about students from different dance schools who just went to some workshop and insert some new figures from a different style into their existing one. What does this mean on a dance floor? The problem in this is that, when you see a couple dancing a specific style and all of the sudden they decide to “pop” in some figure from another style. What happens? Crash! Somebody ends up being stepped on! When a dancer is dancing he should really check all his rear-view mirrors and analyze the situation as if driving on a highway. For example, ok – I got two couples dancing “Cuban” to my left, in front of me a couple is dancing “New York” style and to the right I got a couple of lovers just dancing close not moving to much. In this way the dancer can measure his dancing space in the crowd and by the style the other couples are dancing predict their way of direction.

On salsa parties, girls usually like to dress up into some nice like nice skirts or dresses, but also put on some high heels. The problem here starts when those girls are starting to make huge steps (and with this they look everything feminine) placing their right heel about a meter away from them directly to the floor or on somebody else’s foot! For such a girl I can only conclude that she had a bad salsa teacher who never dedicated some attention in explaining feminine steps and the technique about not putting the right heel on the floor.

I also think that most of the instructors don’t give much importance to educating their students about respecting their space and other dancers. I think that teaching “dancing manners” should be put in from the first day on, in every possible school that teach some kind of social dancing.

At the “Rovinj Salsa Festival”, I was stepped on a few times really badly. I also had a chance to talk to some instructors about this problem; we even discussed it on the instructional classes. Some of the instructor there said that this is one of the bigger problems of salsa here in Croatia. The famous instructor Mambo Mike was of great help, contributing with his comments in writing this article, stressing out that the safety on the dance floor and taking care about other dancers and their space is one of the most important things. You need to be aware of the people on the dance floor, take care that you don’t step, hit or crash into somebody and say “I’M SORRY” in case it accidentally happens, although I would rather classify an apology as a personal manner of every human being.

The first thing we all can do is to respect other dancer and their space.

Secondly, I would like to call upon the instructors of all dancing schools to devote some time for teaching dancing manners on their classes, not only in theory – but in practice as well where the students get a chance to learn and dance figures when there is less space available. It also should be explained that the right heel should never be placed on the floor. This counts for both partners.

The third thing is that usually every dancing couple wants the biggest space for themselves so they can show to others what they know and how they dance (acrobatics, dips, saltos, etc.). In case someone wants to show off, he can do that on the stage while performing, and not in the crowd of a salsa party where everyone tries to enjoy their time dancing. Here are some more advices:

• Don’t dance unpracticed figures for which you are not certain that you will be able to lead your partner, or the partner won’t be able to follow. You can do this at home, on class or somewhere next to the dance floor.
• Do not exaggerate with spins if you can’t really keep you balance so you don’t hit people around you.
• For the guys, please take care about leading your partner in empty space and not someone else’s.
• Do not walk through the dance floor – it’s meant for dancing!
• Ladies, you can refuse to dance certain figures if you think that you will endanger other people by doing so or if think that your partner is not able to lead you properly into this figure.
• Ladies, if you are dancing with a partner who endangers your safety or other peoples safety, you can always reject the dance and tell him where the problem is so he can improve his leading and dancing skills. Give him a copy of this article.
• Guys, some girls are just incontrollable and wild on the dance floor. Don’t let them act like wild animals there. Salsa is a dance in which YOU are leading.
• Ladies, please adjust the moves of your styling to the space you have. Uncontrolled throwing of arms or the high lifting of legs can only harms someone.
• Guys, regulate your figures according to the dance level of you partner. Not all girls can do triple spins and complicated figures.
• When dancing in a crowded place, make small steps and adjust your figures according to the space which is available to you.
• Don’t drink and dance. If you’re drunk you are dangerous on the dance floor.

The art of dancing manifests in the ability to adjust to the conditions in which you are dancing, the crowd on the dance floor, the level of your partner and in the awareness of having other people around you. If you are going to follow those rules, you will become better dancers that is, dancers who are taking care of their partners and partners who everybody likes to dance with.

What can we do today?
Nowadays it is really hard to get through to the dancers because they can’t find themselves in those stories. Everybody thinks that they don’t step on or push other people while they are dancing. Personally I think that this article refers to all the dancers because every now and then, everybody steps on someone. If all dancers become aware and contribute to the solving of this problem, we can maybe achieve something.

Please forward this message to all the salsa dancers so that they can become aware of this problem and so there can be more laughter on the people’s faces and less injuries. I would like for us all to work together and take care about other dancers not to get injured or to suffer more serious injuries just because of our unawareness and not respecting other people’s space.

Stop Salsa Dancing Violence! is a post from: Becoming a Salsero

Don’t forget that The Egypt Salsa Congress Full Pass giveaway is still open for entry.  The winner will be announced in September so don’t miss out on your chance to go for free!

——

The one thing I realized quickly after the news about Alex da Silva broke is that follow up news was hard to come by. His release was hardly reported and more info about the case was really almost impossible to find. It seemed like nobody cared what the outcome of the case was, they just wanted the quick attention by publishing the bad news.

Edie has interviewed Alex to give him a chance to tell his side of the story as, like she puts it, no matter how thin you slice it there are always two sides.

Here is her interview with Alex da Silva that was published in her newsletter and on her site (http://www.salsafreak.com):

What if…

The Story of Alex da Silva www.AlexdaSilva.com

By Edie, The Salsa FREAK!!

What if…

What if you went on a few dates with someone from a small town and after the third date, they asked to borrow several thousand dollars from you?

What if…
…they threaten to file rape charges against you if you refused to loan them the money?

What if…

…they followed through with rape charges against you without your knowledge?

What if…

…a couple years later, the exact same thing happened again with another person from the same small town as the first?

What if…

… news of unproven “rape charges” against you started spreading all over the internet like wildfire?

What would you do? What could you do? How can you stop the speed of Internet news?

Have you ever heard the saying, “No matter how thin you slice it, there are always two sides to every story.” ?

This is the story that no one heard – that somehow never reached the world internet online waves. This is the story of what could happen to YOU. It could happen to ANYONE – especially if you are famous and in the limelight – in ANY business, not just entertainment.

This is the story of world famous choreographer / performer Alex da Silva. So far, what the entire world has been told is just one side of the story – especially online. What about the other side of the story? Why did the news agencies ever mention his side of the story? The internet and news agencies only told one side of the story – Alex the rapist. Two days later, all the charges were dropped and he went back to good ‘ole Alex – but did anyone neither care nor even dare talk about THAT?

Everyone loves dirty laundry. If the accused comes clean, the news drops the story faster than a bad habit. NOTHING is said, mentioned, nor reported… silence. Conversations stop and news agencies pretend it never happened. And what about the lingering stories all over the internet? They stay on the servers for weeks, months, and even years. Dropped charges, false accusations, and false imprisonment never accompany the initial stories told. Embellished ongoing accusations and rumors continue to spread online for years to come.

This is the story of Alex da Silva; World Famous Choreographer, performer, and instructor. Alex was chosen to choreograph and work with dancers and producers on the popular television show “So You Think You Can Dance”. He is one of the most successful Salsa dancers in the industry. His residence is surrounded by some of the most famous Hollywood movie stars in Los Angeles. Films, movies, and television is commonplace for him as he not only has appeared on various television commercials and movies but has also trained some of the most famous movie stars in the world. He has several international competition titles under his belt, and for the past twenty years has taught Salsa to some of the best competitive dancers in the world. Love him or hate him, like it or not, Alex da Silva has earned his rank as one of the most prominent and famous Salsa dancers in the world.

Why, why, WHY???

I found it interesting, that his bail was posted at 3.8 million dollars – higher than OJ Simpson’s case. Why?

I found it interesting that ALL the charges were immediately dropped on his first and only court date – but that fact was never announced in the news, nor online… Why?

I found it interesting that Alex never paid a single cent of bail money – but that fact was never published online … Why?

That is why I was not surprised when all the charges were dropped and he was released with no fines nor charges. “It was all about the money” he said. Here is his story…

Edie,TSF
So Alex. What happened?

Alex:

In 2003 I met this woman at the Mayan nightclub on a Saturday night. We danced a bit and she wanted to hang out for the rest of the weekend. She came over to my house at 10am, had breakfast, lunch, then we went dancing again, and then went to movies. She left my house at 3am. After that I left town, came back, and was too busy to call her. She started calling me but our conversations became strange. Then she asked for $20,000.

Naturally I refused to give her any money –Blackmail is in not an option! 2 weeks later she accused me of rape. Of course I denied everything, and next a undercover detective began to inquire about my personal life. He came to all my classes, and monitored my house. After the accusations were dropped, we had a talk and he warned me about who I get involved with. If you are in the limelight, there are a lot of women out there that will definitely try to get money from you in any way possible.

I can’t account for 2004,and 2005. Those accusations turned out to be false as well.

Six years later in 2009, I met another person from the same small town on the island, (possibly a friend of the first). We met at the Edge dance studio and later met at the Mayan, and had consentual sex on three separate occasions. Then on my birthday, she asked to borrow $5000 . I had said “we do not have that kind of relationship” On Saturday which is the day after my birthday, she came to my class, I made an announcement that it was my birthday all weekend and that I will be performing a Salsa show that night at the Hollywood Park Casino. She told me she wanted to come over and “be my birthday present.”

She came over and started acting really strange. So on this day all these things began to accumulate. Like can I borrow $5000, she asked who I was seeing and finally after saying she was my birthday present, she changed her mind and we did not do what we usually do, if you know what I mean. So that was the end of our liason. Then she accused me of raping her. I am so lucky we did not have sex that day. She thought I would settle out of court like Cobey Bryan did.

When I was in jail over the weekend, my bail was set at 3.8 million bail – higher than all 30 guys put together with me in that cell. It was a bail set higher than Michael Jackson’s bail. The police never took my passport, my driver’s license – nothing. I was in jail for only three days.

I was arrested on Saturday and I was out on Tuesday. The same day as my court date. I did not even see the judge due to insufficient evidence.

Edie,TSF:
So what is the status of your case now?

Alex:

There is no case..

Edie,TSF:
People are concerned about the charges if you raping a “minor”… can you explain that?

Alex:

There was never charge of a rape of a minor – at all. Someone that didn’t like me must have started that rumor. This story was not in any of the news nor newspapers. There are a lot of haters in this world. There are people who like me, and hate me. Once the hater’s fire starts, it’s copycat all over the internet – the rumors just seem to spread and get worse.

Alex:

One of the girls that accused me of rape sent me a text message just a few days ago, “Alex, how are you? I hope everything is going well with you.” I saved it and informed my attorney.. Would you send your “rapist” a pleasant text message?

Edie,TSF
Did you know these women for many years prior to their accusations?

Alex:

Not at all. I just met them, one asked me to show them around LA since it was her first time to the city. The other came and took my class.

Edie,TSF
Where they U.S. citizens?

Alex:

Yes.

Edie,TSF
Why do you think women pry on you like this?

Alex:

I meet a lot of women, but I never thought this would happen to me.

I only see this kind of stuff in movies. Once I was arrested, I kept thinking, “Wow this is not happening… how am I in here with all these real criminals?”

A lot of women will say good things about me. There are a lot of haters in the Salsa scene. Most of the haters are men. After I did the show “Mr. Smooth”, every guywanted to be me, or hated me even more.

Edie,TSF
How has this affected your relationship with your dance partner Alian?

Alex:

It brought us even closer together because she knows what kind of person I am.

For two months prior to my nightmare, we had a rocky time in our relationship so we took a break. During all the madness I told her everything. She loves me even more for opening up and telling her the truth. What happened to me could have happened to anyone. I was the one with the nightmare.

Edie,TSF
Are you going to change the way you approach students/women/ etc?

Alex:

Yes. I think I will exercise more caution and qualify the people I teach. I still would like to offer privacy to my students. This is the best way to teach one on one. I will scrutinize my new students in the future. I can’t change my whole life because of two bad apples.

I know the truth, and I don’t even know who the others are, it’s all a bunch of lies, and people just want to bring me down. If something like that really happened, then they should have gone to the police that night, or the same day, but it was never that way. I have too much to lose. I don’t need that type of thing in my life. Edie, you see me all over the world, you see how people react to men like us. I’m not bad looking, I’m definitely not desperate, and when you’re a high-profile person, the news and EVERYONE will know about it.

Edie,TSF
To what extent has this damaged your career? Have you been asked to leave the So you Think You Can Dance show?

Alex:

I spoke to the producers of the show. They like me and will be hiring me back if not this year, then the next.

It’s about the Fox network. To work for them is very difficult. Yes, my name is tarnished, but I will clear my name again. The truth will come out.

Edie,TSF
What do you plan on doing to reverse the damages, if they can be?

Alex:

We are taking steps, but all that is under wraps at the moment. My head is up, and I will never look down nor look behind. I will always keep moving and looking forward because I know the truth in my heart. Some of the women who tried to accuse me of this know the truth as well.

Edie,TSF
What have you learned about your friends in this business?

Alex:

In times like these, you really know who your friends are. I had a lot of support from people whom I thought were my enemies. They came up to me and told me they were glad to see me. I didn’t know what to expect. When you go to online web forums, you don’t know who wrote what. When I shake someone’s hand I always look into their eyes, and see if they are genuine. When they aren’t, those are the ones you have to worry about. The internet is explosive, within a matter of seconds information flies all over the world. Good or bad. When it’s bad, it’s magnified one hundred times worse than it really is.

Edie,TSF:
If you had a chance to un-do the past, what would you have done differently?

Alex:

I woiuld not have gotten involved with people like that again.

Edie,TSF
What did you learn from this? What has this taught you?

I have to think twice about trusting people in life. I found out who my friends are from all of this. I wouldn’t have wished this on my worst enemy. This was the real deal. I was in there with real criminals, and I was innocent.

Edie,TSF:
What are some of your goals for the future?

Alex:
I’m a dancer, and I love to dance, and I am never going to stop dancing. My new Salsa show with my dance partner and others will be a satire of the situation that happened to me. Once you see the story on stage, it will it make you think, and blow your mind.

Alex and his dance partner Alien will premier their new Salsa show at the Key Club on Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood June 24 The event is called Carnaval. Then he is off to Hamurg Germany for the Hamburg Salsa Congress in Europe, July 15th – 20th, 2009.

Alex can be reached at www.AlexDaSilva.com

Alex da Silva’s side of the story is a post from: Becoming a Salsero