MEET THE TEAM
THE FOUNDERS
ABEL
DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER
Born in Havana, Cuba - the birthplace of Latin beats and rhythms. Abel has over 25 years of experience dancing and has thought in Dublin and Stockholm since 1997.
Deep passion for Latin American music and dance has developed Abel's broad understanding and appreciation for a variety of Latin genres and unique dancing techniques. Since getting a taste of salsa dancing at the age of 15, his journey through music hasn't stopped. Positivity and energy are what Abel will deliver with his partner Alina in his carefully crafted dance lessons to make you the dancer you want to be.
His recent interest is learning to play the bongos.
ALINA
DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER
During Alina's childhood and teenage years she played 4 instruments, graduated from music school, and studied acting and Lithuanian folk dancing. This acquired knowledge and years spent playing in and touring with the orchestra as a percussionist has shaped her holistic understanding of music and dance.
In 2014 Salsa and Bachata became her huge passion. Strong musical knowledge and an ability to analyze dance moves in a technical way allowed Alina to create a powerful recipe for success which she now transmits to the students.
Alina together with her dance partner Abel, combined experiences and passion for dancing will undoubtedly bring you technique-packed lessons every time.
DANCE INSTRUCTORS
JONATHAN
SENIOR DANCE INSTRUCTOR
Life philosophy KAIZEN. Born in Quito-Ecuador. His dance journey started in January 2017 as a complete beginner. He fell deeply in love with Salsa, and in the subsequent year, he diversified into Bachata.
Since then his major focus has been on developing into a skilful dancer, practising with several teachers and schools in Dublin. However, Alina and Abel saw his passion and commitment and took him under their wing to be part of the DSA family. His work ethic and passion lead him to be a teacher and performance in many dance events around Ireland. However, his passion is not only Salsa and Bachata but design, marketing, and business strategies all of which have influenced the development of Dublin Salsa Academy.
BERKAN
DANCE INSTRUCTOR
Berkan, originally from Istanbul, Turkey, started his dancing journey in his secondary school with a Turkish Folk dancing group.
In high school, he tried hip-hop and modern dance. However, only in his university years did he realize that Latin dance forms were the best match and suited his personality best.
His journey in Latin dance truly began in 2014 when Berkan started to attend dance festivals and train with Dance World Champions. In 2017 Berkan joined Danskeyfi Dance Academy in Istambul and soon became a dance instructor assistant.
Berkan joined Dublin Salsa Academy only a few weeks after moving to Dublin. He has incredible energy and loves to give his best in each class.
HARSHA
DANCE INSTRUCTOR
Harsha just loves to dance!
Dance is her favourite place because it's where she feels most free.
Born in India, she grew up on Bollywood dance and music. Salsa and Bachata became her passion in 2015 after winning an award for a Group Salsa Performance in a competition. Since then there was no looking back.
Since moving to Dublin in 2019 to join her life and dance partner Kulin, everyone in the team fell in love with her as a person and a talented dancer. In no time, Harsha started training with Dublin Salsa Academy and shortly after became a member of the team. Harsha is enthusiastic about sharing the knowledge she has acquired in so many years of learning and dancing.
SABRINA
DANCE INSTRUCTOR
Sabrina was born in Germany and raised in Australia, where her love for dance was sparked. Growing up she had the opportunity to develop an in-depth understanding of musicality, having played flute in an orchestra and concert band for 9 years. Sabrina began her dance journey with 4 years of standard, Latin, and New Vogue ballroom training, and since then taken up Salsa and Bachata as her main dance styles.
A recently discovered passion for teaching others means that Sabrina is always enthusiastic about sharing her dance knowledge with her students.
Sabrina has been an outstanding student at the academy for over 2 years and since joining the Dublin Salsa Academy trainee team in just 2 short months she was promoted to Assistant Dance Instructor, all thanks to her hard work.
KULIN
DANCE INSTRUCTOR
Born in India, Kulin had an affinity for dancing since childhood. While he got his training from dance forms like Bollywood, Hip-Hop in India, he started Latin Dancing in 2014 in Dublin and since then has never looked back.
Kulin is passionate about various Latin forms, including, Salsa (Cuban & LA), Bachata, Kizomba, Cha-cha and more. He attends a number of dance congresses and socials as he believes events like this are very beneficial to getting more exposure.
Kulin joined the Dublin Salsa Academy team in 2018. He loves to add his own style while dancing and aspires to continue learning while sharing his experience and knowledge with many others as an instructor at Dublin Salsa Academy.
KEVIN
DANCE INSTRUCTOR
Kevin is originally from the west coast of Ireland. His main forte during his youth was Breakdance & Free Style. Upon attending Sligo University he became a member of the Breakdancing crew where he later thought Breakdancing for a number of years. During his years in Scotland studying for a master's degree he continued Breakdancing.
He fell in love with Bachata and Salsa when he began taking classes during his travels in South America in 2016. Upon returning to Ireland he continued his training and became a student at Dublin Salsa Academy for a number of years before joining the Team. Due to his outstanding attention to detail, energy, passion, and fun-loving personality - he progressed quickly from an assistant to a dance instructor
TRAINEES & ASSISTANT INSTRUCTORS
Meet our team of Trainees and Assistants.
We carefully select who joins our team to provide you with the best Sylabus delivery rate for reliable progress.
All our Trainees and Assistants are or once have been our Students. We believe in our teaching methods and provide the opportunity for talented eager individuals to become Dance Instructors.
VALENTINA
ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR
Valentina who is originally from Sicily, Italy, started developing an interest in Latin music during her years of secondary school at the Art Institute where she graduated.
In 2015 while working as an entertainer in a 4-star resort in Italy she was performing on stage and while having fun dancing salsa and bachata she realized how much she loves the music, the dance and just being a part of this joyful and energetic world.
When she moved to Ireland, in 2016 and eventually to Dublin she finally had the opportunity to practice all summer during social dance events until Valentina's potential was noticed by the founders of Dublin Salsa Academy. She was offered an opportunity she couldn't resist to train and start the journey of developing her skills to become a dance instructor.
ZARIA
ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR
Zaria was born and raised in Ireland, however, her passion for travelling has brought her to many countries of the world. One of which was Melbourne, where she discovered her love of dance in 2017.
There, she spent two years learning salsa, bachata and dabbling in reggaeton; fitting in as much dancing as possible from classes to socials to performance teams.
Since coming back to Ireland, she has continued to dance both in Ireland and participated in congresses abroad. Zaria loves Latin music, the energy and spirit of this community, and is keen to continue developing her dancing skills at DSA.
LEAH
ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR
Born in Dublin, Ireland Leah has always loved to dance. Growing up she danced Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz, and dipped her toes in Hip Hop. Her obsession with the movie Dirty Dancing left her always curious about Salsa. Having danced individual styles of dance her whole life, partner dance was really interesting.
Leah started dancing Salsa in Dublin in 2010 and has continued dancing ever since. She loves attending international congresses to continue developing her skills in Salsa, Cha-Cha, Bachata, Cuban and Kizomba.
Leah works in tech sales by day and also loves to travel.
She is a wonderful addition to the team, always exuberating positivity and good energy.
BILGE
ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR
Born in Turkey, Bilge's interest in dance started during her university years when she joined the school's swing dance group in 2013. After moving to Istanbul for business life, she started going to Latin dance nights. That's when she realized her interest in salsa and bachata. She joined Berkan's class as a student in 2019. With this, she started to attend dance festivals.
Apart from her interest in social dancing, her interest in ladies' styling increased. Bilge started to take solo lessons from very successful teachers in the field of dance in Turkey. Before coming to Dublin the first thing Bilge researched was dance schools. Shortly after moving to Dublin, Berkan joined the DSA team, and so she found the best place to continue her passion for dancing. And not long after Bilge proved to be a great addition to the team at DSA.
GUILLERMO
ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR
Guillermo has always been a music lover, since he was a child he used to spend time learning to play piano and guitar, developing his musical senses and rhythm.
He liked to dance at parties but it wasn't until his encounter with salsa and bachata that he fell completely in love with dancing. After joining a dance academy in Mexico he never stopped learning and spending time in social dances.
He trained salsa and bachata in Mexico for 1.5 years before leaving his entire life as an Engineer and deciding to move to Dublin for new experiences. From his very first day in the city, he went to a DSA class and social dance and had a good connection with people and the DSA environment.
His best attribute is to lead his partner in a light and relaxed way, enjoying the music and forgetting about everything else.
ADMIN TEAM
CLAUDIA
ADMIN
Claudia (Tatu) was born in Spain. Since she was little she has grown up listening to all kinds of music styles but what marked her the most were Bachata and Salsa.
When she came to live in Dublin she wanted to learn and improve in those styles and she joined Dublin Salsa Academy. Now Claudia is part of the DSA team as a receptionist and wants to transmit from the door the same energy that she received when she joined as a student.
MUSTAFA
ADMIN
(MORE INFO COMING SOON...)
BARBARA
ADMIN
Born in Brazil, Barbara has always been connected to different art forms.
Living in Dublin since 2019, she found Bachata through a friend. Since then, she fell in love with this dance style and has been learning and improving with the help of the amazing teachers from DSA.
Barbara loved the energy and dedication that the DSA team has and thought she had to be part of it somehow. Now she is one of the faces that reception our students, share the energy and ease their way to falling in love with those Latin Dances as she did.