ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, CHOREOGRAPHER AND DANCER ABAKUA AFRO-LATIN DANCE COMPANY.
Frankie Martinez is one of the most innovative Latin contemporary dancers of his generation. Leader of the Afro-Latin Funk Movement, he founded the ABAKUÁ Afro-Latin Dance Company in 2002. Frankie and ABAKUÁ have performed and taught in over 20 countries worldwide.

Billy Fajardo, with over 30 years experience, has won multiple world dance titles. He has worked with Gloria Gaynor, Tito Puente, Celia Cruz and Bob Hope. Film credits include Carlito’s Way, Cross Over Dreams, and the Summer of Sam. Along with Katie Marlow, he runs Dancesation! Studio and Entertainment and Miami’s International Hustle and Salsa Competition.

Ryoko Ohara started her salsa training in 1997 in Tokyo, and began her carrier as a professional salsa dancer in 2000 with her former dance partner Ryu, founding the well-known and wildly creative WASABI. As well, she started her own Dance Company ELEGGUA in 2007.

Alex Lee is a Firefighter, dancing salsa since 2003. Kim Nodora began dancing salsa professionally with Alex in 2005. They are known for lifts and tricks that focus on speed, elevation, timing, and danger.

Reyno Tommy Mulyono founded Salsa Fresca Indonesia, well known throughout Southeast Asia for its high energy professional dance performances. They are two-time, first-place finishers at the Asia Pacific Open Salsa Championship. Their aim is to increase awareness of Arts Education in Indonesia.

A choreographer and instructor for over a decade working across Asia, Varun is the Director of Club Salsa International and Organizer of ISKBF Chandigarh. Varun has choreographed over 800 events and worked with over 20,000 students in 18 years of working in the dance industry.

Diogo started dancing in 2003 in Portugal. He began with Ballroom and later moved to Salsa, Bachata, Kizomba and Semba. He started the Diogo Silva Dance Academy in 2014, has pioneered the Urban Kizz style in Portugal, and is the organizer of Prestige parties.

Mariko Takahashi is a director of M Style. She also owns LOVE The Studio and is a dancer, teacher, choreographer and fitness instructor. She had a degree in Dance from U.S.A.. She taught classes, performed and choreographed Salsa and Latin Hip Hop for dance companies in L.A.. Mariko has over 20 years of experience and now owns “LOVE The Studio” for past 4 years. She creates 2 ladies styling teams performing in many Salsa festival around the globe.

Dr. Sangita is Founder and Artistic Director of Sangita’s Studio of Performing Arts. She was a Chief Minister awardee (Punjab) for service in the fields of Art and Culture. With a PHD in Indian Classical Music & Dance and an MBA in Finance, she revolutionized Indian-Western & Latin dance – most notably by introducing Salsa and Bellydance in 2005 and 2009, respectively.

Thu started Salsa and Bachata 10 years ago. She is self-taught and has become one of the major performers and teachers in Hanoi. She is the founder of S-FIRE Dance Studio which attracts a new generation of dancers in Vietnam with her 11-members ladies’ team.

Akshay, the 2012 Australia Salsa Open Amateur champion, is known for his crazy turn patterns and powerful footwork. Trained internationally by World Salsa Champions, he is also a judge in state and national level dance sport championships, a sponsored athlete of the Acrobatic Rock and Roll Federation and the subject of a “Match TV” documentary.

Joe started his dancing career as a pop lock dancer and later discovered his passion for Kizomba in 2011. A Latin dance DJ and winner of Best Kizomba Choreography at Malaysia ALIA 2015, he is currently teaching and sharing his knowledge of Kizomba, Urbankiz and Semba in the U.S. and Canada.

Amar Sohal n Aman Sohal is a sensational duo from India, popularly known as “Salsa Twins”. They started their dancing journey in 2008 as a hobby and now both of them have been teaching, dancing and performing for the last 6 years. Salsa Twins has been featured at many local and international festivals and they are also co-organizers of International Salsa, Bachata, kizomba Festival (ISKBF) in Chandigarh.

Alex has been dancing and teaching for over 10 years. Director of Bangkok Touch under the supervision of Ataca and Alemana since 2013, he has been traveling the world performing and teaching in dance festivals around the globe. His energetic and fun style is easily recognized and unforgettable. Alex is happy to share his passion and energy wherever he travel.

Ladies Touch BKK was formed in 2014. They are part of the Island Touch family (Jorge and Tanja (Ataca y La Alemana) and DJ El Tiguere), run by qualified local director, Saori Watanabe with over 18 years of experience in the international salsa scene. The team provides ladies who has passion for Bachata and eager to improve dancing skill with the professional standard of training, learn the high standard choreography with maximized performance opportunities around the world.

Lia is an Afro-Latin Dancer and Coach based in New York. In 2009, she joined the Abakuá Afro Latin Dance Company. Trained in vocal music, Lia developed her skills as a dancer through her experience and training with Frankie Martinez.

Ahtoy Juliana, one of Salsa’s most beautiful dancers, is the Artistic Co-Director of BAILA Society (BASo). She trained with the Houston and San Francisco Ballet Companies and was a top Latin Ballroom competitor. Ahtoy was a principal dancer and instructor of Santo Rico Dance company and has traveled the globe performing, teaching and judging international dance competitions.

Kaytee is the heart and soul of Salsa India and is a perfectionist, laying great emphasis on technique and also on attitude and interpretation of the music. He calls his unique style ‘Karma-Salsa’. Why? Because ‘Karma’ is Kaytee’s real name. Karma-Salsa as Kaytee likes to say, focuses on musicality, body movement and dancing through one’s body, mind and soul.

Back in 2000, Jonathan became well-known as a pioneer of Japanese NY On 2 Salsa / Mambo and an event promoter. Rhythm, trained in Ballet, Jazz, African Dance, Hip Hop and Disco Dance before coming to Salsa. They perform and teach in many Salsa festivals around the world.

Carlo Grasso & Veronica Rossi from Italy, started learning Kizomba in 2012 with some of the world’s best Kizomba teachers. Partners since 2017, they have been sharing their creative, lyrical performance style in various Congresses througout Italy and Europe.

Richard David Tholoor, a choreographer, instructor and performer, was the first Indian to qualify for the World Salsa Championship in 2007. He is the co-founder of The Richard David Tholoor Dance Project. A number of dances like Salsa, Hip Hop, Jive, and Rock and Roll are taught there. He has hosted a show on ‘Ted Talks,’ a well known online show for emerging talents.

Mac & Nia, based in Lisbon, have 17 years of combined dancing and teaching experience in Kizomba and Semba. They have danced for big artists such as Calema, Nelson Freitas and Badoxa, among others and their own videos have been awarded Video of the Week on Mais Kizomba.

Merlino is a dance professional from Cuba. He has over 15 years of dance experience in Salsa, Rumba, Afro-Cuban, Reggaeton, Jazz, Hip Hop, Modern Dance and Ballet also. He worked in Italy for 6 years as well as in Turkey and many countries in Europe. He moved to Japan in 2019 and now is Mariko Takahashi’s partiner in business and a private life. Merlino is also a Director of “M-Style Dance Company” in Japan.

Arsh has represented India in several festivals & championship events including the World Latin Dance Cup and the World Salsa Summit and has won several World Championship Titles since 2015. His biggest aspiration is to grow the community and create future dancers in India.

Suraj and Prerna are among India’s most acclaimed dancers and performers.
Known for their vibrant and unique styles they have successfully brought laurels in national and international competitions. Apart from running their Dance Schools individually in India they have an impressive list of commercial and television credits.

Energetic, passionate and inspiring, Pedro Gonzalez (Asia Pacific, Australian and Venezuelan Latin Champion, running up World Salsa Summit) is one of the most in demand Salsa instructors in Melbourne and around Australia. Trained by some of the industry’s best, Pedro has a wealth of dance knowledge, teaching and performing with over 10 years of dance training in a variety of dance styles including Cuban Salsa, Afro Cuban, Mambo On2 along with Cha Cha.

Alex and Chen from Montana Dance Academy in Penang will be presenting their number with the team. The team is led by Chen, a choreographer and dancer with background from Ballroom Dancing, Contemporary and Street Jazz.They have been teaching and dancing Salsa and Bachata for more than 10 years and has performed with different teams over the years at different festivals in New Zealand, Malaysia and Thailand.

Coming back by popular demand, “KRB66” which stands for “KANREKI BROTHES” is composed of dancers who are over 60 years old. They are sharing passion for traditional Mambo dancing. Since last year, the team has become Asia’s favorite. They performed in Japan, Thailand and many cities in U.S.A. They always dance with their tux trademark.

Bachata Team was formed in 2013 by Alex and Saori, after they were approved by Ataca and Alemana to be directors of the Thailand based dancing team. The team is composes of international dancers and are invited to perform at many Latin Dance festivals in Asia.

Hugo Leite, one of the best latin rhythm DJs in Portugal, has been awarded the Best Salsa DJ (Portugal) on three occasions. A sound designer for dance performances and TV presentations, he also focuses on technical event production, and has created DJ Trainings to help people develop their passion.

Kaytee is the heart and soul of Salsa India and is a perfectionist, laying great emphasis on technique and also on attitude and interpretation of the music. He calls his unique style ‘Karma-Salsa’. Why? Because ‘Karma’ is Kaytee’s real name. Karma-Salsa as Kaytee likes to say, focuses on musicality, body movement and dancing through one’s body, mind and soul.

DJ Hegza, a world music DJ based in Lisbon, has played in several European capitals. He is also an Urban Kizz dancer and part of the AFROSUNSET team, travelling to the world’s best beaches to make people dance Kizomba in the sand.

Roberto Grasso is a one of most popular teachers in Liguria region, Italy. He teaches, performs and DJs (Roby El Gordo) in various venues and cities in Italy. He specializes in Salsa, Bachata, Kizomba and Surfing. His style is cool and fun. His line dancing is super charming. Roberto is a very good entertainer who can keep the party going endlessly.

John Vincent Ordonia (aka Johnny O.) is a photographer, musician, and DJ from Bangkok, Thailand. He began his Salsa journey in early 2010. He became deeply involved with the Bangkok Salsa community via his love of Salsa and Bachata. When not dancing, you can find Johnny behind the camera capturing beautiful moments at various weekly Salsa parties throughout the city. Johnny has been taking photos for the Salsa Bangkok Fiesta since 2014. In addition, he has recently begun his DJ training with Henry Knowles and has been involved with the Salsa scene through DJ-ing for the Bangkok Salsa Tuesdays and Salsabangkok parties, and is the resident DJ at Flamenco Bangkok on Saturdays.