Philadelphia Salsafest from La Luna Dance Studio

Posted on March 27th, 2009 by Allan Tabilas

Sonya Elmore and La Luna Dance Studio in Bensalem, Pa have announced the first annual Philadelphia Salsafest to be held from Halloween weekend, October 30-November 1, 2009.  The invited performers and instructors list appears to be quite stacked, as Sonya has invited local, national, and international talent including Puerto Rico Open & Mayan champions and World Salsa Championships finalists (Sonya and partner Victor Colon finished 5th at the 2006 World Salsa Championships in the cabaret division, and is a principal subject in our Salsamentary documentary).  Local talent includes Jessica Rodriguez, Calle Luna, Darlin Garcia, Mike Andino, Barbara Capaldi, and Joe Figueroa.  Here is an abbrieviated list of scheduled artists:

• Roberto Arenas & Marie-Josee Strazzero (Chilital Dance), Montreal, Quebec, Canada (interview | social | performance)
• John Narvaez & Liz Rojas (Salsamania), Bay Area, CA (interview | social | performance)
• Cristian Oviedo & Liz Lira, Los Angeles, California (interview | social | performance)
• Victor Perez & Burju Hurturk, (Hacha y Machete) Boston, MA (interview | social | performance)
• Al Espinoza, Los Angeles, CA / Florida (interview | social | performance)
• Magna Gopal, NJ (interview | social)
• Mario “B” Gonzales, (Plan B Dancers) Jersey City, NJ (interview | social | performance)
• Griselle Ponce, Passaic, NJ (interview | social | performance)
• Cultural Explosion, Elizabeth, NJ (interview | social | performance)
• Shaka Brown, DC/Florida  (interview | social | performance)

The event will be located at the Ramada Philadelphia airport.  Congratulations to Sonya and La Luna for organizing this event.

Tags: La Luna Dance Studio, Philadelphia Salsafest, Sonya Elmore
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La Luna 1st annual Pro-Am Salsa Competition

Posted on March 15th, 2009 by Allan Tabilas

Question: what does an electrical engineer, police officer, and a software developer have in common?  Answer: they all competed in La Luna Dance Studio’s first annual Pro-Am salsa competition on March 13.  The Bensalem, Pennsylvania based dance studio paired some of their finest instructors with students who competed in the male and female divisions.  The students’ skill levels ranged from six months to three years of dance experience.   Aside from pre-dancing jitters, all the competitors did an excellent job in front of a very large crowd.

In addition, Philadelphia’s very own Visual Impact Performers made their return with a well-received all-men shines performance with Raul Santiago, Homi Malave, and Joey Vasquez.   For the past two years, Raul has been working with Jayson Molina y su Rompecabezas (puzzle pieces).  As a group, Visual Impact has plans to add their female partners to the shines routine, and are also choreographing a new partner-work routine in the spring-summer timeframe.

Nick Padin (Philly Jam 3 promoter and Plan B Dancer) and Melissa Padin (World Salsa Championships on1 semifinalist, Enixe and Art in Motion dancer) served as judges.  We anticipate that next year’s event will have even more participation.

As an aside, Philadelphia’s Chelsea Gaillard is hosting the 2nd annual LuvSalsa Competition on March 28, where Nick and Melissa will once again play the role as judges.

Here are the final results of the pro-am competition.

Female division (click the link to watch their performance)

1. Stacy SanSeverino & Jose Maldonado
2. Nicole Maloy & Jose Maldonado
3. Natalie Colon & Mike Andino

Male division

1. Al Rivera and Amber Rawls
2. John Zell and Star Sequinot

Congratulations to all dancers in the competition!  Nuevotec correspondent Jessica Hannah caught up with the winners of each division (Al Rivera and Stacy Sanseverino) to get their thoughts on the competition.

Interview - Jose Maldonado & Stacy Sanseverino

Interview - Amber Rawls and Allen Rivera

Tags: , , Amber Rawls, Jose Maldonado, La Luna Dance Studio, Melissa Pabon, Mike Andino, Nick Padin, Sonya Elmore, Star Sequinot
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Permanent Link

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