About Us

ETOWN SALSA’s vision is to educate people from all races and cultures on Latin social dancing, Latin culture and the Spanish language and also to inspire others to Salsa dance at a highly competitive level.

The Founder

Alejandro was born in Santiago, Chile, and was raised in Canada as a first generation Chilean-Canadian. His parents instilled in him much of their latin roots which included music, language, traditional culture and DANCE!

So as young as 8 yrs of age, he started performing folkloric dances traditional to Chile. As soon as Alex entered adulthood, he frequented the one latin nightclub to go dancing to his favorite latin music. He soon fell in love with SALSA and since 2003, he has made his presence known through this website and to world audiences.

He also speaks fluent English and Spanish and is married to his beautiful Colombian wife Ana who now assists in teaching classes at their new dance studio.

Performer

He has performed at the largest congresses in the world including Los Angeles, Puerto Rico, San Francisco as well as other international congresses such as Vancouver and Calgary.

Director

As a dance team director, he has managed a different team each of the past 3 years and successfully travelled abroad with these groups to escalate their knowledge of salsa.

Teacher

Teaching primarily Salsa for the past 10 years, he is one of only a hand full of EDMONTON instructors teaching salsa with his skill and experience.

The Name

The name “ETOWN SALSA” was originally linked to the “Edmonton Salsa Club” in 2003. The chosen name had to describe the organizations nature, and the fact that it was part of Edmonton.

The modification of “ETOWN” instead of “Edmonton” was used for 2 reasons. One, because many Edmontonians already used the nickname “Etown” to give the city a more modern hip feel. And secondly, cause “ETOWN”, to many worldwide web users would be translated as “Electronic Town”, just like ECommerce and Email.

So not only did the name have a local interest, but a world-wide interest as the internet is so global that way. So you will always see many people misinterpret the name and write it E-Town Salsa. To create less confusion, the name is written all capital letters.

History

Originally an idea thought of in the summer of 2003, ETOWN SALSA was born out of an inspired number of individuals wanting to create a non-profit society to promote the word of “Salsa”.

The idea was to have the group do a number of social events and fundraising to invest into bringing in professional dancers and seasoned latin bands to the Edmonton area. Alex Rojas, (creator of ETOWNSALSA.com) was not bound to this ambitious group but was willing to donate his time and efforts to help the cause and create a website for the group to pass on the good word of “SALSA!”. And on October 31, 2003, ETOWNSALSA.com was launched and it was very well known by not only local Salseros, but world-wide Salseros, as a FANTASTIC WEBSITE. ETOWNSALSA.com’s slogan was “Your guide to the Salsa and Latin music scene in Edmonton”.

After only a few months after launching the site, the society backed out and the website was left without a strong backbone.

Today

Today, ETOWNSALSA.com is now known as ‘ETOWN SALSA’ Dance Company or Dance Studio. Still promoting local latin and salsa events in the city, it also promotes other global events. Now with a strong influence in the community and with proven world-wide viewership, ETOWN SALSA is asked on a regular basis to participate at annual events and festivals as well as regularly at schools.

Our Business

For its business , from private lessons to group lessons, from wedding stagettes to wedding dances, from tots to seniors, from Bachata classes to Cardio Salsa classes, ETOWN SALSA has a wide demographic that caters to latin music lovers, dancers and non-dancers!

Salsa is not the only dance that has people moving but many other dances such as Bachata, Merengue, Chacha, Mambo and new emerging line dances like Bachataton, and Merengueton. Classes in these line dances are now offered through the ZUMBA Fitness classes already very popular around the globe!

In addition, the company also has its own performance team meant to inspire anybody to dance. So if you want to take your Salsa to the next level, we’ve been there and know what it takes to challenge yourself to perform at a professional level in Salsa.

Our Instructors

We want to use quick and effective methods of teaching that emphasize fun with learning. This is why we have a lot of repeat business and word of mouth advertising.
We want to have you start at the bottom learning the foundations of social dance and if you want to go further, entering the dance team offers you more extensive training to get your dance skills elevated at a phenomenal rate.

Alejandro Rojas – Salsa/Mambo/Latin Dance Instructor

Alejandro born out of Santiago, Chile moved to Canada at a young age was always influenced by his parents to be involved in the arts. Starting with traditional folkloric dances from his native Chile, Alejandro also has a background in classical music playing trumpet in a classical band and piano. Alejandro has travelled the world with Salsa and always makes his vacation time Salsa oriented so that he gets his fix all the time! He has performed for audiences in Puerto Rico, San Francisco, Orlando, Montreal, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Calgary, Saskatoon and Santiago, Chile. Alejandro started teaching Latin dances in 2001 and Latin dance fitness since 2007. He certified himself in Zumba fitness and Zumba Gold in 2009.

Ana Rojas – Salsa Assistant

Ana was born in Colombia and came to Canada before the Millenium. Little did she know she would meet a crazy guy that loved Salsa so much. Having a good support system is hard to find and Ana has been a pillar in seeing the success of the organization. Ana has been assisting in Salsa & ZUMBA classes for over 5 years now and continues to learn and love what her husband is passionate about. Ana has become certified in ZUMBA Basics 1 and attended the instructors only ZUMBA Convention in July of 2011 in Orlando, Florida.

Kelly Eggleston – Assistant

This talented young lady has been Latin dancing since 2021 and has owned the dance in a very short period of time. She brings dance background from ballet to jazz and has applied much of the great things these disciplines have to Latin dancing. Very passionate, hard working, dedicated, and just a great team player, Kelly has made a lot of friends in the dance community already and will continue to inspire those around her.

Maria Pucci – Guest Instructor

Maria Pucci recently returned from 4 yrs in Italy and brings a plethora of moves to get you loving Zumba. With background in Chilean folklore, she brings a Latin flavor that you crave for when listening to this music. If your interested in pilates, she also looks to start up some pilates classes at the studio.

Simba Nyazika – Guest Instructor

Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Simba migrated to Canada in 2005 where he first took on dance through the ballroom arena. He eventually made his way to the Latin dance circles with ETOWN SALSA learning Salsa and Bachata and has not turned back. With a solid foundation, Simba also teaches at On The Rocks Thursdays at times, and as well at Azucar Taco House on a Friday or Saturday night. His energy is fantastic and he will always give you 100% to each and every event!

Sean Donovan – Guest Instructor

Starting with Salsaddiction, Sean has gained over 15 years of teaching experience in teaching Cuban Style Casino & Casino Rueda, Bachata, and Salsa on1. He also has some experience with On2 as well. Sean really has become a great asset to the Latin dance community as he loves to dance with anyone and everyone on the dance floor.