People who love Cuban dance and music.

Los Van Van, Manolito, ...................the list goes on. I can't list all the Cuban timba and son I love or the soul and rhythm and blues. But I love a lot of music!! Music is life!

Always! I have a wonderful husband and dance partner from Cuba BUT I enjoy dancing with everyone!! I also lead and love to be the creator! But I equally love to go on the ride when an awesome lead creates a memorable moment for me.

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How does one come from growing up on a ranch to loving everything about Cuban dance and music?? This is a question I often ponder because I did indeed grow up on a cattle ranch in South Dakota which still thrives!

I came to Alaska when I was 18 to visit relatives in Wrangell. A year later I was enrolled in college here in Fairbanks at the University of Alaska. I met and married to be later divorced and moved to Phoenix to attend and finish college at Arizona State University.

After returning to Alaska I pursued various jobs in the teaching field of special education, worked 60 days straight on the oil spill in 1989 and then ended up in Thailand where I taught English for 3 years.

That led to the beginning of entrepreneurship for me because I started importing goods to sell which on April 1, 1994 became The Magic Carpet - a gallery of global goods. I ran that successful store for 13 years and closed it in 2005. In the meantime I also opened a branch near Denali Park where I sell Quality Alaskan art, jewelry and gifts. This year will be the 10th year. But that store is seasonal!

So what do I do with my winters? The Anwser is - VISIT CUBA.

In 2001 I discovered salsa dance on a trip to Cuba to study percussion with Global Exchange. BUT, I saw something I had NEVER heard of and that was SALSA (now known to me as casino). I came home for that trip HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY for MORE and my journey to seek out casino style salsa took me to LA, SF, NYC, Miami and ultimately La Habana where I met my husband, Felix, who now resides and teaches here in Alaska.

Now my passion is helping him to share his culture and our love for Cuban music and dance! We are doing this through our business Sabor Cubano Dance Productions and our first big project - Havana In Alaska - a salsa cruise adventure.

My dream is to do a series of Salsa Cruises through the next five years in different parts of the world that celebrate Cuban music and dance.

My favorite places to dance are anywhere in Miami, San Francisco or NYC where there is Cuban Style salsa and great people to dance with and our living room studio!

Our local scene is building with once a month Que Pasa nights at a place called The Blue Loon and dances that we sponsor for ALL AGES.

Dance - Pilates - Yoga - exercise - volleyball - business