Gina Noël D'Ambrosio - Director
	Before discovering her commitment to social dance, Gina spent two decades as a performer of multiple genres. The former founder of Studio Zamora - Escuela de Salsa began her career as a dancer/singer in the theater, however she performed classical music for many years. Gina has appeared as a soloist internationally in theatres such as the Vienna Konzerthaus and Carnegie Hall, and her televised
performances include broadcasts from Radio City Music Hall and The International Music Festival in Gubbio, Italy. However, her passion for all forms of Latin dance and Latin jazz fusion have prompted a return to teaching. Gina has recently been seen instructing on Discovery's HealthWatch & UPN's Blind Date.

Junes B Zahdi - Salsa Instructor, Actor, & Model. Is there is nothing this hottie can"t do? Since his arrival in New York, Junes has appeared on the Discovery Channel and in various modeling campaigns. He is soon to be seen in an Orange Paper Productions independent feature film, slated to premiere at the world famous San Sebastian Film Festival. Follow the link on the What Else page to see Junes featured on the cover of the nationally distributed fashion magazine Figure in last year's Passion Issue (Jan/Feb 2005). Junes seems to be a very popular SI instructor. hmmm...

Mike Brown was born and raised in Boston, and is now calling New York home. Trained as a hip-hop dancer, he later danced for several years as a part of the group MEZCLA, and has performed multiple styles (salsa, merengue, bachata, cumbia, and casino rueda) all over North and South America. By his own admission, whenever he's not working, he's dancing! Mike B founded the performance group, Encuentro Sabroso, in the fall of 2006. He began work with our new student team this spring.

Ariel Perez (pic left) is currently a Cultural Explosion dancer and instructor, performing in salsa congresses in the US and around the world, in sites like Chicago, New York, Puerto Rico, and Rome to name a few. Before joining CE, Ariel spent 4 years with Onda, the Latin dance troupe at U Penn. Dancing and choreographing Salsa, Cha- Cha, Merengue, Bachata, Cumbia, Hip Hop, and Reggae, Ariel blends Afro-Caribbean dance and Hip Hop into his salsa, and can be recognized by a fun and playful, smooth style on the dance floor.

Cultural Explosion Dance Company is an internationally known group of dancers and teachers who have performed at countless Salsa Congresses and other venues around the globe.

Founder Juan Calderon (pic right), has been teaching salsa to most of New Jersey since 1994. Juan's videos are also widely acclaimed. Cultural Explosion provides a weekly guest instructor to Salsa International. See Ariel Perez above.

Other instructors include Edwin Alvarez, Joel Dominguez, Yoshi Hibino, Allison Mahoney, Jason Nino, Kfir Tzyoni & Veronica Vero. Christopher Rogicki is our director of the SI Rueda Program and the Rueda performance group. Please visit us again soon for updated bios & pics.

We heartily thank all of our artists, staff and volunteers. It does indeed take a village.

Katie Danielowski has been with SI for several years now. Her rigorous college dance training spans various styles, but she fell in love with salsa when she moved to NY. Katie is a performer by day, and her recent NY credits include an Off-Off Broadway production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, A Century of Broadway (A Broadway Cares Benefit), and dance performances in several Puerto Rican Parade events!