Salsa Ithaca
Salsa Ithaca
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- Michael teaches Salsa Casino style and other Latin nightclub partnered dances. His passion for Salsa and Latin music originates in his Puerto Rican cultural roots and appropriation of a world-Latin cultural aesthetic. Michael has studied Salsa formally with instructors in New York City, central New York, and New Jersey, and has learned informally in Puerto Rico, Cuba and Spain. Dance classes are invaluable to new and experienced dancers alike. Yet Michael instructs that a true Salsa and Latin dance acumen also derives from music appreciation, self-teaching, persistent practice – alone, with a partner, and socially – and through the spontaneity of movement and expression generated through enjoyment of music and ambience. Michael helps provide his students with all the tools they need to become great dancers.
Michael Luis Ristorucci
Instructor & DJ
Michael began teaching Salsa in the Ithaca and Finger Lakes area in 2005. His instruction emphasizes rhythm, timing, music flow, body expression, lead-follow connection, confidence-building and having fun. Partnered classes combine open step arrangements (“shines”) with partnered turn patterns and guided social dance practice. His “Suelta” (loose) instruction develops choreographic arrangement in line dance format and aims to provide both a workout and great moves for the dance floor.
An added benefit for Michael’s students is immediate integration into a Latin social dance community. In addition to being a dance instructor, Michael is also a DJ and promoter of Latin music and dance in the Finger Lakes area. He treats his students to the best in dance instruction and to a social context where music and dance is enjoyed. - Adolfo began his professional career in 2008 as a dancer in the company of musical shows of the Provincial Music Center of Guantánamo, participating in different events, artistic galas of the province and the Bayaitiquirí Cabaret in fulfillment of his social service. In 2011, he started working at the Babul Folkloric Ballet company in the province of Guantánamo as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher of dance technique, Afro-Cuban folkloric and popular dances. During the period he was part of this company, he participated in different galas, events and national and international tours. He was also part of the artistic technical council of the company and the Provincial Music Center as a dance specialist, participating as a jury in artistic evaluations of groups in the professional catalog of the province, as well as in dance competitions, festivals and provincial carnivals.
Adolfo Castillo
Instructor
From 2019, he began to work as a dancer in the Soldance Company in the province of Matanzas and as a teacher of Folkloric and General Dances at the Professional School of Dance of that province. In 2021, he created the DanSaril project that brought together dancers with the aim of exchanging experience and experimenting with dance creation and artistic expression on stage while cultivating the value of cultural traditions and respect for Cuban cultural identity. He currently serves as general director, dancer and choreographer of the DanSaril project, as choreographer, regisseur and dancer of the Soldance company and as chair and professor of Dances and Folkloric Dances at the Professional School of Art of Matanzas.
In 2022, he was selected by the International Dance Council (CID) to be an active member of this prestigious institution that belongs to the UN representing the traditional Cuban and Caribbean popular culture.
He has taught workshops and master classes both in Cuba and abroad, always focusing on the value and diversity of Cuban traditional, popular and folk culture.
Since February 2024, he has been residing in Ithaca and working as part of the Salsa Ithaca team, teaching Master Classes and workshops of both Latin, Afro-Cuban and percussion Dances with the aim of contributing to the development and preservation of Latin, Afro-Cuban and Caribbean cultures. - Lisbet graduated from the Alfredo Velázquez Carcases Professional School of Dance in the province of Guantánamo in 2018. She then began her professional dance career at the Babul Folkloric Ballet Company as part of its Social Service. Here, she participated in different events, shows, cultural and artistic galas, and national tours, gaining vast experience and raising her technical-artistic level.
Lisbet Lopez
Instructor
In 2020, she began working as a professor of modern dance technique at the Alfonzo Pérez Isaac Professional School of Art in the province of Matanzas. She stood out for her excellent results in the training and preparation of elementary school students. That same year, she performed as a professional dancer in the Somos Latinos company. From 2021 to 2024, she worked with the DanSaril Project as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer, and as a dancer in the Soldance Company at the Varadero Tourism Center.
Since February 2024, she has been residing in Ithaca and working as part of the Salsa Ithaca team, teaching Master Classes and workshops of both Latin, Afro-Cuban and percussion Dances with the aim of contributing to the development and preservation of Latin, Afro-Cuban and Caribbean cultures.
About
Welcome to your hub of Latin music and dance in the Ithaca area. We provide private dance instruction for individuals and small groups, as well as private event DJ service. Please email info@salsaithaca.com to book group classes and/or DJ service.
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