Dancing became a passion for life when at the age of 6 Silvia’s mom took her to a folk dance class for the first time.

Quickly grasping the steps and becoming one of the best in the group, Silvia started traveling with the dance troupe. At the different showcases, she saw other dances and performances and one grabbed her attention as a much more elegant and dynamic style.

At 12 Silvia became a ballroom dancer and competed and taught both Latin and Standard International styles for 8 years.

While ballroom dancing provoked the competitive drive in her, Silvia got tired of all the rules and regulations of ballroom dancing.

Then she discovered salsa in a Washington, DC club where she was dazzled by the amazing moves and passion that the dancers were showing off with.

Silvia joined a DC group called Latin Motion and soon after that she was touring and performing as a lead female dancer.

With Latin Motion Silvia has performed at some of the largest salsa showcases in the World such as the LA, Puerto Rico and New York Salsa Congresses.

Along with that Silvia has always enjoyed teaching others the skill called dancing. She believes that those who dance are the happiest.

Dancing fills up her life with joy and passion. Seeing others learn her moves is the biggest reward for years of hard work.

Silvia is extremely passionate about her dancing and her classes are easy going, filled with humor, jokes, and of course great music and fun moves.

Silvia is teaching salsa group and private lessons in the DC Metro area.

OTHER INSTRUCTORS TEACHING AT SALSA WITH SILVIA:

Jennifer Trotter began dancing when she was 13 years old, starting with tap, jazz, ballet, and lyrical.  Two years later she began competing with Creative Dance Center in Chantilly, VA in competitions across Virginia and Maryland.  While in college at the University of Mary Washington she took classes in ballet and modern dance, and joined the Performing Arts Club where she both danced and choreographed jazz and modern.  In her junior year she studied abroad in Quito, Ecuador, where she was first introduced to salsa.  It was there that she joined the performance group of Latin Dance Center, and began performing salsa in quinceañeras and other parties in Ecuador and Colombia.  Two months after her first salsa class Jennifer entered an international dance competition in Quito as a member of Latin Dance Center, taking home a bronze medal to the USA.  After graduating college and moving to DC, Jennifer began taking several classes in all different styles, and it was there that she met Silvia!  Since then Jennifer has been Silvia’s student, substitute teacher, assistant teacher, and most recently a performer in Silvia’s dance company.  Dance is Jennifer’s passion.  She loves to meet new people who share the same love of movement and music, and to spread the joy to all who are interested!

Kelly Atwood started building her dance foundation through many years of competitive gymnastics. At the start of High School, Kelly decided to switch to a performance gymnastics group where she learned to choreograph individual and group routines. She also became a cheerleader and participated and helped choreograph in the annual musicals. When Kelly went off to college she returned to competitive gymnastics and became the team captain and choreographer. It was that summer when Kelly went to Mexico to study Spanish that she learned the basics of Salsa. When she returned she continued to practice the basics and took a social dance class. However, it was not until four years later when she returned to Mexico that she was able to add to her dance vocabulary, adding cumbia, bachata, and merengue to the mix. When she returned to the States, she knew it was time to actually learn what the different moves were and how to do them. She joined the AU Salsa Club and then took summer classes from Silvia. Kelly has also taken Tango lessons, which has expanded her knowledge of the different moods of Latin dance. She is now a part of Silvia’s performance group and an assistant instructor. Her love for Latin music and culture has culminated into the pure enjoyment of all the Latin dances, especially Salsa.