Malaysia World Bachata Festival - Kuala Lumpur 2010

Bebe is from Porto Seguro, Bahia in Brazil (the city where Lambada-Zouk aka Zouk Lambada originated) and has had 16 years of teaching & performing Lambada-Zouk in Brazil, Argentina, UK, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Israel, Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. He is hugely popular for his fun & energy.

Ben and Kathryn are the principal dancers of Latin Heat, one of Australia's hottest dance groups. Based in Canberra, they have represented Latin Heat at several local, national and international latin dance festivals, including the Sydney International Bachata Festival, the Melbourne Latin Festival, the Adelaide Salsa Festival and the Manila International Salsa Festival. Ben and Kathryn each have over 20 years of dance experience and have been performing together since 2009.

Ben Benedictos is one of the most versatile dance choreographers / instructors in Australia. Ben has trained in a wide range of dance styles, including

Jorge Elizondo was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, where the sounds of Mexico, the Caribbean, and the United States meet. In this unique environment, Jorge trained in music theory and Latin dance and developed "Bachata Fusion," a style of dance that combines turn patterns and body movements from traditional Bachata, Tango, Cha Cha, and Salsa with many original

Gabryel was born in Seville, Spain. He has always been interested in music and dance, which led him to learn dances as Sevillanas, Flamenco, Ballroom, Latin, etc. When he was introduced to the Latin dance, he fell for Bachata and began to develop his own style and technique.

Gene & Lili Gong are the founders of Hot Salsa Club. They are the pioneers of Bachata in Shanghai, China. Gene was born into a Ballroom Latin Dance teachers' family and began his dance training, in traditional Chinese Folk Dance, 10 years ago.

Jaxen is the lead instructor for Rhythm Identity and is an international instructor who has been the leading figure for the Bachata and Brazilian Zouk-Lambada dance scene in Malaysia. He is the 2005 Malaysian Salsa Champion and has traveled around Asia teaching and performing in festivals and congresses. Jaxen has pioneered the Bachata Moderna style in Malaysia and also the Brazilian Zouk-Lambada dance. Cecilia is new to the dance scene but has been elevated to the position of dance and teaching partner of Rhythm Identity's lead instructor, Jaxen. Together, they have both traveled in and out of Malaysia teaching and performing and spreading their love for Bachata and Zouk-Lambada.

Dancing is more than just a passion for Jenni Tan. For her, it is life itself. Beginning from the tender age of 10, Jenni felt a calling to the symphony of body and music. She decided the best way to follow her destiny was to learn the art of ballet. In the next 10 years of Jenni’s life, she devoted her entire being to mastering the subject. She absorbed the graceful movements into her soul until she was a mistress of ballet and continued to pursue greater heights of artistic expression in the field. She formed her own distinct style characterized by precision in movement and enthusiastic personality in artistic expression.

He is a Contemporary dancer cum choreographer. He was trained in traditional dance, Contemporary and Modern Jazz since young age. In 2004, he furthered his dancing in Latin Ballroom and Salsa. He found a strong connection in couple dance, and fell in love with it. Bachata is his favorite dance on the dance floor.

He had performed several times in the Malaysian Dance Festival and various events to express his passion and expand his dance experience. He participated in the Malaysia Dancesport Championships 2006, 2007 and 2009.Currently he coaches various schools and dance studios in Contemporary, Lyrical, Modern Jazz, Salsa Latin, and Bachata.

Sachin & KD have been dancing Salsa together for the past 4 years and stood 2nd in Made of Honor, Malaysia’s Most talented Couple contest organized by Buena Vista Columbia TriStar held in KL on 12th June 2008. They got exposed to Salsa on1 4 years back and just have recently started dancing on2 couple of years back. KD is well known for her groove and body movement in the Malaysian Salsa Scene and Sachin for his innovative style and moves. They both are highly motivated to take every opportunity to showcase their passion for the dance. Both KD and Sachin has performed at the most recent and prestigious Malaysian Salsa Festival 2008 organized by Linline Productions and held in Kuala Lumpur. KD has performed with Reyno (Hongkong Salsa Champion 2007) at the Malaysian Salsa Festival 2007.

Lycia never had the chance to learn dancing from any Dance School during her childhood days.

Despite having no formal training in dancing, she had discovered her dancing talents while she was growing up.  She was eventually invited to perform in many Traditional/Cultural as well as in Modern Dance at various Private, Corporate and Government functions throughout Malaysia

She was shortlisted as one of the Principal Role in the 2005 Musical Show “The Sparks “ and won herself a free trip to New York to watch the  Broadway Musical.

Peter (DJ Bachatafreak) started dancing Bachata in 2007, and quickly fell in love with the music and dance. His love for Bachata propelled him to seek and encourage DJ's in different venues to play more Bachata.

After traveling to the Dominican Republic and attending many Bachata events in the US. The love for Bachata grew, he started to help organize Bachata events and DJ'ed at these venues. In hope of inspiring new Bachateros and sharing the passion with those who share the same heart for Bachata.

The founder of Grace Fitness Studio. Dash has been teaching in aerobics and fitness training for the past 7 years. She intends to take the desire and passion she found in all dance into fitness and getting people the fitness results that they want to achieve. She loves an upbeat, energetic class that's both challenging for the mind and fun for all levels of fitness. Her background in dance along with her love of club music provided the perfect recipe for versatile fitness instructor. Lately, she was training in Belly dance and creating a combination in all dance step in aerobic moves. She is committed to extend her education to promote health and well-being, while feeling the Grace Fitness Studio that belong to her. Dash focuses on unique choreography that's funky but attainable and loves attending fitness conventions in an effort to learn the latest moves and trends in the fitness world! She has been conducting few fitness workshop all over places and she loves what she does and intends to keep teaching and helping people stay healthy and fit.

Read more...