Song: “La-La (Means I Love You)” by La Fuerza Gigante So we made our first sequel video! Our first salsa dancing trio video, Tu Con El, has been one of our most popular videos to date, so when Imaan approached us about doing a sequel we immediately agreed. We wanted to continue the storyline from …
Famed mambo dancers Benny Ayala and Ashley Magaña from Portland will be teaching a special workshop next Sunday in San Francisco! The workshop will be hosted at the Verdi Club in SF, with workshops going from 3:30pm – 5:30pm. The first hour will be footwork, followed by an hour of partnerwork. The social dancing starts …
World-renowned salsa artist Tania Cannarsa will be teaching a special workshop next Tuesday at Mambo Flames! Tania Cannarsa, based in Milan, Italy, is one of the top female salsa dancers in the world and she will be teaching a workshop on afro mambo footwork and body movement. She will also be debuting her latest dance …
A group of organizers for the International Salsa Museum (ISM) held a press conference yesterday outside of the Kingsbridge Armory where they hope to open a museum dedicated to salsa music and dance. The ISM is a non-profit organization that seeks to “educate, increase the public’s awareness, and preserve Salsa music’s rich cultural history” through …
Update: The 2022 WLDC was cancelled, but dates for the 2023 World Latin Dance Cup have been announced. The World Latin Dance Cup announced on their Facebook page today that the competition will be returning in-person again from April 11-17, 2022. The 2021 competition was held completely virtually this year due to the pandemic, with …
The much anticipated musical In The Heights released this week in theaters, featuring several dance scenes featuring incredible salsa performances. The film is based on a stage stage musical of the same name, and is set in the predominantly Dominican Washington Heights neighborhood in New York City. In The Heights is directed by Jon M. …
With COVID restrictions starting to lift in California, salsa events are returning again to the Bay Area! Salsa instructors are offering in-person classes outdoors or limited-capacity indoors, and salsa socials are starting to return as well!
Song: “BS Mambo” by Salsón May the 4th be with you! It was a lot of fun putting together our latest salsa video– and also a lot of work! We filmed the video at the Algodones Sand Dunes two hours east of San Diego, where some of the scenes from Return of the Jedi and …
Song: “Tu Con El” by Frankie Ruiz When Imaan Taghavi from the Omni Movement approached us about doing a collab, we quickly landed on the idea of doing a trio– two leads dancing with one follow. For the story we decided on two suitors competing for the attention of the same woman. The classic salsa …
Salsa dancing isn’t just for humans anymore! A number of pet owners have taught their dogs how to dance salsa, with some even doing partnerwork and following turn patterns! Here are some of the best videos of salsa dancing dogs from around the web: Salsa Dancing Dog with Partnerwork Stuart the Salsa Dancing Dog Cute …
Johnny Pacheco, considered by many to be the “godfather of salsa music” passed away today at age 85 from an undisclosed cause. Pacheco, originally from the Dominican Republic, moved to the Bronx in the 1940s where he developed his talent for music. Pacheco attended the Juilliard School in New York City, and started his own …
If you’re new to salsa dancing, you may not be aware that there are actually a few different types of salsa dance that are danced around the world. The music that they are danced to is usually the same (although there are a few exceptions) but that the styles are different enough that if you …
Want to get into salsa music, but don’t know where to start? Not to worry– we sat down with veteran salsa DJ Felipe Martinez, aka DJ EldelaClave, and asked for his top picks. Born in Colombia and raised on the sounds of cumbia, cha cha, and salsa, DJ EldelaClave is one of the most popular …
Song: “Indestructible” by Diego El Cigala I’ve been in love with Colombian salsa since I first saw it performed on stage at the SF Salsa Congress in 2010. The incredibly fast footwork of Colombian-style salsa just captures the energy of high-tempo salsa songs in a way that other styles can’t match. My favorite Colombian couple …
Song: “Aguanile” by Héctor Lavoe & Willie Colón 2020 was not an easy year to say the least, and it was an especially difficult time being a salsa dancer, with global lockdowns and restrictions virtually shutting down all dance studios and venues, no salsa congresses and festivals, and no social dancing. But 2020 also brought …
Omar Muñoz, the founder and director of the Omambo Dance Project, announced today that he has decided to end the team after 7 years in operation. Founded in 2013 in Los Angeles, Omambo Dance Project quickly grew to become one of the top competitive dance teams in the world. Omar drew on his experience as …
The 2021 World Latin Dance Cup Moves Online 2020 was a year that saw most salsa competitions cancelled due to the pandemic, and with widespread vaccination still on the horizon, the World Latin Dance Cup (WLDC) has announced that their 2021 competition will be held online. The 2021 WLDC will be a month-long online extravaganza, …
Song: “Así Así” by Poncho Sanchez When Dalia heard that I was visiting Mexico in November, she recommended that I visit her hometown of Oaxaca. She was back in Oaxaca during that time due to the pandemic, and promised to show me around her city, so I added Oaxaca to my itinerary. I’d been to …
Song: “Recuerdame” by Gabriel C “Coco” is one of the most original films from Disney/Pixar in recent years, and the main theme song “Remember Me” (“Recuerdame” in Spanish) is as memorable as it is poignant. I was first introduced the salsa version of the song (by the talented Gabriel C) by one of my students. …
Song: “Fragilidad” by Sanmera Having lived in the SF Bay Area now for over 15 years I’ve been through a number of wildfires, but nothing like what we saw this year in 2020. A freak lightning storm started while we were filming our Bay Bridge video and smoke choked the air in the Bay Area …
