JAZZY RUIZ - FOUNDER OF SALSAKOMPANIET

CAREER FACTS:

• Bachelor Degree in Dance and Pedagogy from “ The Norwegian College of Dance.

• Dance diplom from the National Ballet of Cuba of Alicia Alonzo and ENA - Escuela Nacional de Arte, (Cuba`s National Academy of Arts.

• Dance education since childhood at “Ritmo Latino Dance Academy” By Aura Marina Ruiz Porras

• 35 year of dance experience and 25 years of international dance carrier.

• Choreographer and dancer for TV programs such as: Dancing with the stars, So you think you can dance, Norways Got talent, to name a few.

• Head instructor and founder of Norway`s Largest Salsa and Mambo Organization – Danseklubben SalsaKompaniet

• Pioneer of Mambo in Norway and Salsa On1 cross body lead style.

• The first dance instructor in Norway to intergrate Cha cha cha, boogaloo and Pachanga and Cuban salsa under one company - SalsaKompaniet

• Funder of Royal Tumbao Dance Co. representing Norway`s at international festival and events.

• Manger of JazzSon Sextet, one of Norwya`s finest Salsa and Latin Jazz bands

• Co-founder of the biggest Salsa congress in Norway “ The Nordic salsa Experience “ known today as “ Salsa Nordic”

• Co-founder of Mambo Festival Norway and Tumbao Latin Weekend

• 4 times Norwegian Salsa Champion and co-organiser of the official Norwegian salsa championship.

• Silver medal in the World Salsa Championships 2018 IDO, representing Norway

• Percussionist and music coach for dancers, organiser of events for the development of the latin dance and music culture in Norway.
  
  Jazzy started his dance career at the age of 5 at his parents' dance school, where he received a general education in jazz, modern, ballet, breakdance, hip-hop, Latin jazz, flamenco and other Latin dances such as salsa, cha-cha-cha, mambo, Afro-Cuban and show dance.
  Inspired by the family's artistic heritage, he continued his dance training and began teaching at the age of 15 at the family's dance school. He also taught at various cultural centers and other prestigious events.
  
  Jazzy moved to Norway in 1999, and in 2003 he graduated with a bachelor's degree in dance and pedagogy at the Norwegian Ballet Academy. He also has further education in Afro-Cuban dance and popular Latin American dance at the "Conjunto Folklorico Nacional de Cuba" and the "Ballet Nacional de Alicia Alonso" in Havana, Cuba.
  
  Since 2001, Jazzy has represented Norway at many different salsa congresses and festivals in 52 countries and over 200 cities worldwide. Here he has had the opportunity to work with some of the world's best event producers, dancers, artists and orchestras in the salsa world. Jazzy has won several competitions at home and abroad, and is currently part owner of Salsa Kompaniet AS - Norway's largest salsa school. Today he continues to work as a dance teacher and dancer, with Latin American dance as his specialty.
  Together with partner Erica Rodriguez, he won a silver medal and 2nd place in the IDO World Championship in Salsa 2018.
  Jazzy has also worked in several TV productions as a dancer and choreographer. For big TV shows productions such "So You Think You Can Dance?" three seasons in a row, as a choreographer in TV2's "Skal Vi Danse", "Norway’s Got Talent", "Adils Hemmelige Dansere", "Stjernekamp" m.m.
  
  Dance background: Jazz ballet, modern, classical ballet, flamenco, cabaret, hip hop, breakdance, ballroom (standard and Latin), Latin hustle, tango. He is specialist in salsa, mambo, cha cha cha, pachanga, boogaloo and bachata.

IRIS REDER

Iris er utdannet danser og pedagog ved Norges Dansehøyskole, fordypning i jazzdans. Uteksaminert i 2014. Hun har siden da undervist ulike dansestiler i inn og utland. Og alle aldre fra barn til voksne. Iris har lang erfaring innen salsa og latinske stiler. Hun har undervist i Salsakompaniet, norges største salsaskole, siden 2014. Her har hun undervist pardans på alle nivåer, ladystyling og bachata. I 2017 ble Iris Reder og Jazzy Ruiz Norgesmestre i salsa linjestil profesjonell klasse. De deltok også på VM i salsa samme år. Iris og Jazzy har siden 2014 undervist og hatt show på mange ulike salsa festivaler i Europa, Nord-Afrika og Vest-Asia. Iris har jobbet som utøvende danser og koreograf for Show de Vida siden 2014. Her har hun gjort nærmere 400 show for næringslivet hovedsakelig i Norge. Tv opptredener: “Skal vi danse” (2019,2021), “Stjernekamp” (2015,2018,2019,2021) , “Allsang på grensen” (2019), “God morgen Norge” (2019)

Steeve oagi 

Steeve was born and educated in Paris. He has an African background where he learnt to appreciate a wide variety of music and dance from an early age.

In 2007 he started to dance Salsa in several night clubs around London – his life would never be the same again. After he moved to Copenhagen in 2009 he decided to dedicate all his time to dancing. Passionately, he rapidly grew in the dance scene and started to teach and hold events in Copenhagen after only a few months.

Steeve has studied Salsa, Bachata, Cha-cha, Afro-Cuban in different studios around the world. Today he is still continuing on this incredible journey! Steeve has been based in Oslo, Norway since 2013 where he currently teaches  Salsa, Bachata & Cha Cha.

NALINI LØVER

Nalini fell in love with salsa dancing when she was living in Ecuador and has never stopped since she took her first basic steps in 2009. She has experience from different styles within the latin american dances but her heart is with mambo. She works at Salsakompaniet as an Instructor and dancer, she is a member of Royal Tumbao Mambo Dancer and Royal Tumbao Bachata Dancers as well as leading her own ladies group Las Despeinadas.

Bjørn are therkelsen

Bjørn Are is a former volleyball player who turned into a dancer. He played at Norway’s top level for 4 years, but a knee injury made him switch to dancing. Bjørn Are was also a coach for three years and completed NVBF’s first trainer course. In 2017 he started to dance at NTNUI Salsa and SalsaNor in Trondheim. At NTNUI, he became an instructor and choreographer in salsa and cha cha cha. Bjørn Are was also a part of SalsaNor Men Show Team for two and a half years. The group performed at multiple events in Norway, as well as Vienna Salsa Congress. Bjørn Are moved to Korea to study and dance in 2021. He joined Inwoo Choi and his mambo team. A year later he performed a solo show, a group show and taught boogaloo at Jeju Latin Culture Festival. When Bjørn Are moved back to Oslo he started to teach for Salsakompaniet and founded a men’s show team called Gents of Oslo. He is passionate about making social dancing feel comfortable and fun for both leaders and followers.

DIXIE GRACE CARDENAS KLETTEN

Dixie is a dancer, performer and teacher. She danced ballet for 6 years in her childhood, and has always loved trying new dance styles ever since. She has danced styles such as jazzballett, tango, hip hop, reggaeton, heels and more. She started dancing salsa in 2002 in Kristiansand and fell in love with the dance. She was a teacher at Kristiansand Salsaklubb, and later at SalsaSi Dance School in Kristiansand. She then moved to Oslo in 2015, and is now a part of Royal Tumbao Mambo Dancers, Vyara Dance Project and Las Despeinadas.

TONE HJORT MADSEN

Tone started her dance journey with Hip Hop and Ballet at around 11 years old. She switched to competitive boxing for a few years but rediscovered her love for dance when trying Salsa in 2016 as an exchange student in the US. She continued with salsa at the student dance club NTNUI Dans when returning to Norway. After graduating, while working and traveling abroad, she always explored the local salsa scenes. After moving to Oslo in 2020, Tone has focused on Salsa On2 and has been part of Royal Tumbao and Sara Borgnes Productions & Edyta show team. Tone started teaching at Salsakompaniet in 2023.

Lisa ask 

Lisa Ask has education in dance in Cuba and in Barcelona, ​​focusing on Afro Cuban, Afro contemporary and salsa. She has danced in several dance companies in both Sweden and Barcelona. She dances line style (Salsa on1), Mambo (Salsa on2), but first and foremost Cuban styles. Lisa has experience teaching and performing in Barcelona, Norway, Sweden and other countries at international festivals. Lisa teaches Cuban Salsa Ladystyling at Salsakompaniet, in addition to Cuban Salsa partnerwork with her partner Yordano and other classes. Lisa is also a member and performer of the ladies group Las Despeinadas.

sara borgnes

Sara started dancing Hip Hop and Streetdance when she was 15 years old. She continued on to take a year of Ballet and Jazz at Stange Vg Danselinje when she was sixteen.
After many years without dancing, she took her first Beginner Salsa class at Salsakompaniet in 2017, and fell in love with latin dance. Shortly after she started teaching with Jazzy Ruiz in Oslo and in cities around Norway. She became and instructor at Salsakompaniet in 2019. Sara is a member and co-founder in Jazzy Ruiz’ mambo team, Royal Tumbao Mambo Dancers, and a dancer in the ladies mambo group Las Despeinadas lead by Nalini. Sara is also the Manager of Salsakompaniet, and is passionate about offering Oslo a rich scene of culture and latin dance.

Judith Cordero Pereiro

Judith Cordero Pereiro er en av Salsakomponaiets mest kjente internasjonale instrukør. Hennes bakgrunn er ballett og rytmisk sportsgymnastikk på konkurransenivå fra hun var 7 år, men fra hun var 16 år har hun danset latinske danser på fulltid. Hun er grunnlegger av Bachata Sensual sammen med sin internasjonale dansepartner Korke. Denne bachatastilen har blitt enorm populær, og Judith underviser og holder show på de aller største salsa/bachata kongresser og festivaler kontinuerlig. Instruktører fra hele verden tar klasser med henne for å lære og dette har gjort at Bachata har blitt en av de mest populære dansene i verden. Judith er kjent for sin elegante og sensuelle stil og er en glimrende pedagog og koreograf. 

LAURA KOLLING

Laura is Spanish-Norwegian and started with classical ballet when she was five. Among other things, she attended the Opera's ballet school and participated in productions for the ballet school and the National Ballet, and competitions at home and abroad.
At the age of sixteen, she moved to London where she completed a three-year dance education at the Central School of Ballet in classical ballet and related dance styles. For the past year, she has been part of the graduating ballet company that toured the UK for four months.
Since then, she has explored hip hop and house before she started with salsa and other Latin American dances in Argentina in 2009, and has, among other things. other performed in the salsa group Ladyshow in Oslo. In 2013, she became part of Sambaladies, and also began performing in professional salsa shows with dance partners. In 2014, she won third place with her dance partner in an international salsa competition in Guatemala, and they also qualified in the world championship in Puerto Rico, the World Salsa Open. Laura is currently working on various dance projects in various styles. Together with Samba Ladies, she has, among other things, participated in Star Wars, Good Morning Norway, VGTV, at the opening of the 2014 FIFA World Cup on TV2 and on Kontraskjæret, in addition to a number of company events and festivals. Laura has performed internationally with Jazzy Ruiz and Iris Reder. She is a member and performer of Royal Tumbao Mambo Dancers by Jazzy Ruiz & Las Despeinadas. Laura is a skilled dancer and not least a fantastic choreographer!

Erica rodriguez

Erica is an international salsa dancer, ex-gymnast and Jazz dancer with Scholarship in Madrid and Los Angeles by World Dance Movement. Erica won 2nd place in Salsa Shine World Championship "La Negra Salsa" in 2013. She is also certificated as Salsa Open judge. 
She has made dance accompanying to different salsa singers andorchestras as Jose Alberto el Canario, Oscar de León, Los Van Van and more.

Erica won the silver medal together with Jazzy Ruiz in IDO World Championship in Salsa 2018.

Cyrena & Steinar

Cyrena and Steinar are professional Tango dancers based in Oslo. They studied Tango in Buenos Aires with some of the best tango dancers in the world. Cyrena won the US Tango Championship in 2007 and then finished as a finalist in the Tango World Championship in Buenos Aires. She has performed with renowned Argentine Tango companies like Tango Pasión, and has taught and performed around the world. Steinar is a certified teacher and has a bachelor in Performing Arts Jazz which gives him a unique understanding of musicality and improvisation in Tango. They have taught and performed all over the world and are very popular teachers among their students. They are known for their clear and thorough teaching style based on technique, creativity and musicality. Their classes are designed to be fun and challenging for students of all levels.

YULIET ESTRADA LINARES

Yuliet ble født og oppvokst i Havana, hvor dansen har vært en stor del av livet hennes siden barndommen. Hun utviklet seg mer som danser gjennom danseundervisningen på “Conjunto Folclorico de la Universidad de la Havana”. 

Siden hun gjorde ferdig sine studier som danser, har hun opptrådt med shows og undersvist på konkurranser både nationalt og internationalt. I 2007 vandt hun 1.plass på den første “Festival Internacional de Bailes Populares y de Salón” i Havana. 

I 2008 flyttet Yuliet til Norge. Hun har jobbet som danser og koreograf for “Danseglede”, som er en av Oslos største cubansk-salsaskoler. Hun har også gjort suksess med å delta som både danser og instruktør på mange internationale festivaler.

ANDY GONZALO VARONA

Andy was born in Cuba, in the heart of Havana and come from a humble family. He grew up in a neighbourhood where the art was lived and breathed in all it's facets. Since very young he felt a deep connection and dependence to it, being committed to live, breathe and share his art. His heritage led him to accomplish his dreams and goals and gave him the possibility to work with different dance companies and projects like "Conjunto Folclórico Nacional de Cuba", "Raíces profundas" and "Agrupación Músico Danzaria Osain del Monte”, one of the most important rumba groups in Cuba.
Andy travels internationally to teach and perform with his dance partner Yuliet Estrada.

ALIOCHY ARAGON

Aliochy Aragon ble født på Cuba, og vokste opp i byen Cienfuegos. Her var dansen en stor del av livet hans. Det hele startet med at Aliochy danset på gata og tok kurs i salsa, afro og cubanskteknikk, på hobbybasis. Derifra startet han et salsakompani, med venner. De danset og konkurrerte ulike steder på Cuba.

Aliochy hadde store ambisjoner for dansen, og ønsket mer. Han ble deretter medlem av et profesjonelt dansekompani, ”Wilfred Figueredo”. Hvor han jobbet som hoveddanser i 3 år. Stilen de danset i kompaniet var ”Cabaret”. Cabaret er sammensatt av salsa. Afro, jazz, moderne, ballett og hip hop. Alt mikset til en forrykende forestilling. I 2010 flyttet Aliochy til Norge. Her har han jobbet som instruktør, koreograf og danser på ulike festivaler, forestillinger og eventer. Han er i tillegg danser i det største afrikansk-karibiske kompaniet i skandinavia; Tabanka Crew. De har gjort flere forestillinger på Den Norske Opera og Ballett, tv-program og forestillinger i utlandet. Tabanka Crew danser reggae, dancehall og flere ulike afrikanske stiler. I dag studerer han bachelor i dans og pedagogikk på Norges Dansehøyskole.

VILDE ROKSAND

Vilde has danced Salsa for many years and has her background in jazz and ballet. She has traveled internationally to salsa congresses to teach and perform throughout her career. Vilde teaches as Salsakompaniet weekly and is also a part of Royal Tumbao Mambo & Bachata Dancers. She specializes in Mambo and Bachata Sensual, and coaches Royal Tumbao Bachata Dancers together with Jazzy Ruiz. 

VYARA KLISURSKA

Vyara is a professional ballroom and salsa dancer, music theatre performer, director and choreographer. Vyara is the winner of Dancing with the Stars season in Vietnam in 2016-2017. In 2018-2019 she completed a contract on board MS Color Fantasy, Norway as a speciality act and ballroom dance captain. She also choreographed for the 2entertain production shows on board Color Fantasy 2019-2020. Over the last 5 years she have been choreographing and performing for TV shows, World Stars Dance Festivals, music theatre shows, tours and music videos and she also has been teaching workshops and dance lessons in Bulgaria, Macedonia, Greece, Croatia, Vietnam, Spain, Norway and Germany.

CAROLINA SANTANA VEGA