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Edie's award-winning dance partner, Click here to read about how they both won the Year 2000 IHSC National Pro Salsa Championship in Miami Florida! I have had the pleasure of not only performing and competing with Salomon Rivera, but also watching Salomon’s video series. I must say, I’m very proud we’re advertising them on Salsaweb. The videos not only demonstrate world-class movement, but are very professionally edited, and of very high quality. They contain Salsa music we are all familiar with, and the dancing is outstanding. When I review a video, what’s most important to me is it’s content. After I watch the video, I always ask myself, “OK now. What have I actually learned, and which move(s) can I easily lead tonight.” Salomon’s unique dance style is very sharp and exciting. I’d like to describe it as powerfully “Latin”, with a very masculine ballroom spice. His footwork and body positioning is exquisite. With perfect bodylines, he displays the woman beautifully and elegantly. What consistently comes to mind is the quantity of the moves in each video, and how each move is executed and demonstrated. Verbally, Salomon does not go into excruciating pain-staking detail describing every inch of the turn pattern. He has basically “gotten the hint” and understands that we all have our own rewind and “slow mo” buttons on our video machines to analyze and breakdown the steps. This makes his series rich with content. I like to find myself hitting the “rewind” button more during instructional videos, rather than the “fast forward” button. This has proved true with Salomon Rivera’s video series. His videos also come in both Spanish and English. Overall, I truly enjoyed watching the videos, and learned quite a bit. I highly recommend Salomon’s instructional Salsa videos for all levels of dancer, from the “budding Salsero”, to the more competitive, “blood-on-your-teeth” types! To purchase Salomon's Salsa video series: www.salsacenter.com Ladies and Gentlemen, we are very proud to introduce to you, Mr. Salomon Rivera!Of all the dances you teach, which is your favorite? I love all the Latin dances, but actually favorite is Merengue. That was the one thing I used to teach quite a bit of when I first started. My friends used to tell me, “You know Salomon, you’re real good at Merengue, but the money is in Salsa.” They were right… so now my primary business is Salsa. Where were you born, and how long have you been teaching? I was born in El Salvador, but raised and Guatamala. I’ve been teaching since 1989. How many competitions have you won, and what other types of competitions have you competed and / or performed in? I’ve won over 80 competitions. I also won the Star Search in 1994 during the Marlon Castillo and. Johnny Trivinio days here in LA. I’ve since done a few Ballroom competitions in the Pro Am divisions. My forte is Rhumba, and Cha Cha. Now I’m getting into Tango quite a bit. I’ve done a few shows already, and am now teaching it more often. I I danced with Connie Fagenand as well. She had been trained by Arthur Murray studios, and was an incredible dancer. We met in a nightclub, and we started working together. She taught me a lot of things. We took coaching and different classes from different professionals. Where do you teach now? I’m the primary teacher at JC Fandangos nightclub in Orange County. I also teach at Rancho Santiago College (Santa Ana College) and Irvine Valley College. I also teach privates out of my home in Costa Mesa. Besides teaching professionally, where do you plan on going with dance? Right now I love Tango. My interests are in competing and performing, but not necessarily social dancing at various clubs. I did it for so many years, that now I’m burnt out of the nightclub scene. I did all my dancing for fun for many years. Now I just want to teach and perform. Tell us about your video series. I have six Salsa videos; four in English and two in Spanish. The Beginner and Intermediates are both in Spanish and English. They came out around mid 1998. You can get them through my website at www.salsacenter.com. Do you currently have a dance performance team? Yes, I formed a dance team consisting of three couples. We want to choreograph some Cha Cha, Salsa and Argentine Tango at the end. It should be nice. If you had the opportunity to sit yourself down and have a conversation with your “self”, what words of wisdom would you give Salomon Rivera? Never think that Salomon is better than anyone else. Never get a big head. I love to hear the great complements that people give me, but I have to remember to stay humble. I’ve seen thousands of dancers come and go. Outside the ballroom world, no one knows who they are anyway. Never forget who you are. Treat everyone as a person. We’re all human. If someone’s not talented in dancing, they may be talented in another area. I want to be treated nice by everybody, so I want to treat everyone nice. Don’t get a big head. My father was a dancer. He taught me well. Everyone loved him. My dad is my best friend. I want to be like him, humble, and kind. If you had a chance to live your life over again, what would you have done differently? It’s hard letting those I love know that I care about them. I don’t verbally tell people enough how much I feel about them. What I should and will do, is show my family how much I love and appreciate them more often. |
