Who arethe artists & djsat the SalsaPlatform Festival.
Virgile & Juneline
From Amsterdam to Groningen: Kizomba duo Virgile and Juneline have made quite a name for themselves. Many of the current Kiz-dancers in Groningen travel to Almere on a weekly basis to follow their classes. This says something about their level of knowledge and skills.
Both Virgile and Juneline are frequently asked to teach at different Kizomba festivals, both nationally as well as internationally. We are happy to welcome them to the North in September!
Adana Arojan
Besides a Master of Laws and lots of knowledge from doing gymnastics almost all her life, Adana has expanded her salsa horizons the last couple of years.
In 2018 she became Dutch Salsa Champion in the Style Salsa on One with her partner Ian van der Vlist. Their show was called ‘Rankankan’.
After their win, Adana went on to participate in showteam Aguila (by Mechteld Sterk and Kurt Alexander) as well as a ladies showteam with Monique van den Berg.
Natalia & Krzysztof
All the way from Berlin, Natalia and Kriss have found the time to come join our festival in order to teach us more about Bachata! Their style flows from sensual to modern and together their style of teaching is focused on making sure they are precise and give both the men and women in the class good information to perfect their movements both individually as well as in a couple. Collecting raving reviews online about her enthusiastic way of teaching classes, as well as fun shows, we are more than happy to welcome Natalia and Kriss, a bachata power couple, to Groningen in September
Frank Vleeshouwer
Frank is locally known as the expert in ChaChaCha, so we couldn’t leave him off our festival program.
With his clear instructions, he is an excellent teacher and will be able to pass along a lot of ChaChaCha information during his class.
Our SalsaPlatform visitors were very clear in the survey they filled out for us in May: they want ChaChaCha, and they want Frank! So, here he is! Thank you for joining the SalsaPlatform Festival!
Juan Carlos Gonzales Cintra
Juan Carlos has been a very well-known face on the salsa scene in the Netherlands (and Groningen) for the past (??) years. Together with his partner Feline Brinkgreve he runs Salsa Juan Carlos dance school at the Lijnbaanstraat in Groningen. Their Wednesday parties are legendary and their smiles are too.
Juan comes all the way from Cuba, and is the master of the ‘son’ dance style. This is also the style he will be teaching as a workshop to all of you who interested. Be sure to expect your heartrate to go up, blood to boil, but most importantly: your party spirit will surely be found and turned on!
Rosa Bos
Coming back to Groningen she has dedicated her ‘dancer heart’ to teach us more about this ‘Salsa Caleña’, a quick and intricate dance.
This Colombian dance style focusses on footwork, acrobatic moves and high speed. Want to know more? Join her workshop, and take a sneak peek at the videos of her practicing this style in Cali. In Rosa's own words: "Caleña is a full body workout, bring a towel ;)"
Irina
She has run her own salsa school called Bailando Oldenburg since 2014, and that same year she won the German Salsa Championship with Alexander Mastens.
From the age of 18 Irina danced in a show team and was taught extensively in salsa LA and NY style when she was living in America. Irina isn’t a stranger to our festival, we have welcomed her in the past and cannot wait to welcome her to Groningen on Saturday the 28th of September!
Junior Schmidt
Being from the Dominican Republic himself, he can bring the latin flavour like nobody else!
At the same time he knows how to reach ‘us Dutchies’ and he always takes his time in explaining the moves to you. We hope you will join his workshop on Friday!
Danielle & Monika
Their style of kizomba is, of course, very feminine. This is why they decided to develop it further, and start teaching Kizomba Ladystyling under the name “Mixture Kiz”. This summer they were present at many of the international Kizomba festivals in Europe, teaching in places like Hamburg, Offenburg, Gothenburg, Bodrum, Berlin, and luckily also many Dutch cities. We welcome them for a two hour workshop on Sunday the 29th of September.
Ayaovi Kokousse
When he came to the Netherlands he started his own dance company called Forêt Sacrée Obouibé. He didn’t sit still, but continued his dance training in Amsterdam with PACT.
He has been teaching at different dance academies like Amsterdamse Hogeschool voor de Kunsten (AHvK), PACD, Fontys and Codarts. He also taught at Global Dance Centre in Amsterdam and Almere.
In his lessons Ayaovi is enthusiastic, explanatory but the tempo is up! So be prepared for an intensive workshop on Saturday by Ayaovi, who currently lives in Amsterdam! We hope he will feel welcome in the North! Let’s make sure of it!
Rick Ho A Hing
Rick doesn’t just teach Traditional, he also teaches Fusion and UrbanKiz, but we’ve asked him to stick to Traditional just for our festival! Don’t miss out on his bootcamp on Sunday the 29th of September.
DJ's at the Festival
dj Caramelo
On Friday Night Kamiel Piek, also known as DJ Caramelo, will be spinning the salsa and bachata tunes at Salsa Juan Carlos.
dj La Pasión
dj Latin Pro
Besides a Master of Laws and lots of knowledge from doing gymnastics almost all her life, Adana has expanded her salsa horizons the last couple of years.
In 2018 she became Dutch Salsa Champion in the Style Salsa on One with her partner Ian van der Vlist. Their show was called ‘Rankankan’.
After their win, Adana went on to participate in showteam Aguila (byMechteld Sterk and Kurt Alexander) as well as a ladies showteam with Monique van den Berg.
dj duo RIRAY
The location is SalsaPlatform’s home base: Platform Theater at the Boterdiep.
dj José
SOCIAL DANCING
On both Saturday and Sunday afternoon we have created time and space for social dancing. This means you can immediately try out what you have learnt in your bootcamp, or take the time to dance freely in Platform Theatre with friends or family present. The DJs will play following a “3-3-3”construction of salsa, bachata and kizomba.
dj Marcel
Because we will be having a party from 20.00 to 01.00 on Sunday the 29th of September, our final Festival day.
The final party will also be held at our homebase, Platform Theater at Boterdiep.
dj Maddy Madpac
The final party will also be held at our homebase, Platform Theater at Boterdiep.
dj Caramelo
SOCIAL DANCING
On both Saturday and Sunday afternoon we have created time and space for social dancing. This means you can immediately try out what you have learnt in your bootcamp, or take the time to dance freely in Platform Theatre with friends or family present. The DJs will play following a “3-3-3”construction of salsa, bachata and kizomba.
Support artists at the Festival
Videographer Karam Shebat
Dancer, singer, musician, and….. videographer!!
Karam Shebat will be with us during the whole festival to shoot video footage ]of the bootcamps, workshops, social dancing and of course the parties.
When you see him, put your best foot forward and who knows: you might see yourself in one of our after movies!