SALSAMUNDO EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

by Angel Ortiz

Luis & Ava                                                                                                               San Francisco, California                                                                                     Interview conducted at the 2nd World Salsa Congress after their performance there.

Ava & Luis met in New York three days before entering their first dance competition at "Hustle USA ’96" where they placed 3rd out of fifteen couples. Since then, they have been dancing and teaching on both the East & West coasts. They specialize in New York Hustle, Salsa, and Mambo mixed with exciting aerials, drops, and sweeps. Ava teaches Salsa & Mambo in the San Francisco Bay Area attracting 40-50 students per class, seven to ten times a week. They competed and performed in various locations throughout California and New York. Both Ava & Luis have been dancing since their early teens, and with previous partners, have earned many titles and awards. The following interview follows their appearance at The 2nd World Salsa Congress. (A separate interview with Luis will follow).

Q. Hello Ava. Nice to meet you. Hi Luis. Thank you for taking time for this interview. You are both here representing San Francisco. Ava, I’d like to start with you. How long have you lived in San Francisco?

A. I was born and raised in San Francisco. I still live there.

Q. Is there is large Salsa community in San Francisco?

A.  Right now we have at least four clubs available for Salsa dancing.

Q. When did you become interested in dancing?

A. At a very young age. My parents were into the arts and so it was a natural                progression for me. My favorites while I was growing up were ballet, folk dancing, tap, jazz, and partner dancing in my mid-teens but I’ve always preferredrhythm dancing. I’ve had training in all these forms of dance.

Q.  Do you remember you first performance? What was that like?

A.  My first was during a studio recital in tap dancing. I remember being told that I had no expression on my face and that I needed to smile.

Q.  Looking at your resume, I see that you have an extensive teaching record. Could you tell the readers some of the places you teach?

A.  I’ve taught throughout various cities in California at the following places:

Xenon Ballroom, Allegro Ballroom, Metronome Ballroom, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, University YWCA, Stanford University, Civic Arts Education, Caribbean Gardens Nightclub, Jewish Community Center, La Pena Cultural Center, Club 650 Howard, UC Berkeley Adult Sports Program, Studio 101, Pick School of Dance, and Bob Dean School of Dance.

Q.  You have been dancing for sometime now. Before dancing with your current partner, Luis, I understand you had a partner for 8yrs. Could you tell us about that?

A.  Yes. I’ve had several partners but the one I’ve danced longest with so far was Andre Washington. We danced together for eight years performing and competing in the Hustle and Salsa.

Q.  Ava, how did you hear about the World Salsa Congress?

A.  While I was visiting New York, I met with Freddie Rios and he mentioned the event to me. Then I also looked it up on the Internet and found it on Salsaweb.

Q.  What made you decide to participate?

A.  Well, I saw that no one from the Bay Area was attending so I wanted to be the first. Also, it seemed like a good challenge.

Q.  You had an opportunity to perform at the 2nd World Salsa Congress. How long was your performance and as you look back, how do you feel about your performance?

A.  Our performance was about three minutes long and Luis and I felt very good about it. It was not a competition so that made it fun and we especially enjoyed the sharing that went on. Luis and I wanted to show something different and that’s why we chose to include aerials and tricks in our routine. Luis and I felt that the audience responded positively. As we look back, we felt confident and we especially hope the kids enjoyed our performance. We wanted the kids to see our interpretation of dance. We also enjoyed the exchanging of steps with the other dancers, the meeting of new friends, seeing the different styles, and the shows were visually appealing.

Q.  As a performer, is there anything you would like to see different next year?

A.  Yes. I think the stage should be at least a foot higher and there should be a choice of workshops going on at the same time. Also, information should be more readily available during the day and evening. (maybe post a workshop schedule).

Q.  What are your plans in the future for dance?

A.  I’d like to take it to the world. I’d like to continue traveling and also continue to teach. I would like to encourage Salsa dancers to incorporate more tricks in their dancing. A lot of the tricks were created by the Hustle dancers and there are not too many people left that can do those tricks. Luis and I would like to keep that aspect alive.

Q.  Any thoughts about the Congress? Would you encourage your friends to attend future Congress events?

A.  Yes I would. I would definitely encourage people to attend. I will send the message out more because there definitely should be more participants.

Thank you Ava. It’s a pleasure meeting you and I definitely enjoyed your performance. Best wishes to you and Luis and I hope to see you next year at the 3rd World Salsa Congress.