Spartan Mambo

Spartan Mambo is San Jose State University’s official performance salsa team, founded by Max Shpungin and Takeshi Young in the September of 2010. The team is composed entirely of SJSU students, and performs and competes at events both on and off campus.

The team has won accolades at salsa competitions all over country. In 2010 they took third place at the San Francisco International Salsa Congress in the Amateur Team category, against international competition. The following year they also competed and won the team competition at the College Salsa Congress held in Long Beach, and placed third in the inaugural World Salsa Challenge at the 2011 SF Salsa Congress. The team placed third again at the 2012 World Salsa Challenge.

In July of 2013, Spartan Mambo took 3rd place at the 2013 Las Vegas Salsa Congress and qualified to compete at the World Latin Dance Cup. The team competed and won the Collegiate Team division of the 2013 World Latin Dance Cup and took 7th place in Amateur Teams division. The team also has two 2nd place finishes at the College Salsa Congress from 2012 and 2014.

In 2014, Spartan Mambo started a bachata team by the name of “Spartamiento” and competed at the 2014 World Latin Dance Cup, placing 4th in the Amateur Bachata Teams division against international competition. The team also placed 8th place in the Amateur Salsa Teams division, beating out teams from Colombia, Costa Rica, and Japan.

In 2015, Spartan Mambo took 1st place in the Amateur Teams division of the San Francisco Salsa Festival, qualifying for the 2015 World Latin Dance Cup. The team also won 1st place at the inaugural Collegiate Salsa Open and won 1st place at the 8th Annual College Salsa Congress.

In 2016, Spartan Mambo again took 1st place in the Amateur Team division of the San Francisco Salsa Festival, and 2nd place at the College Salsa Congress, losing to Stanford by just 1 point. Spartan Mambo defended their title at the 2016 Collegiate Salsa Open, winning the competition for the second year in a row.

In 2017, Spartan Mambo performed at the halftime show for the Golden State Warriors on March, 14th 2017. They also placed 1st place at the 2017 SF Salsa Festival, 2nd place at the 2017 Collegiate Salsa Open, and 3rd place at the 2017 Next Generation Salsa Congress.