Meet the Team

Winter, was born and raised in Cali, Colombia, so Latin music and dancing have always been part of his life. He grew up close to the Colombian Pacific Coast hence his dance style has been influenced by Afro-Colombian rhythms. In his mid 20’s he enrolled the well-known salsa casino school Rucafé (in his native town), where he studied for more than a year.  Winter has been dancing and learning salsa casino ever since.

Winter is based in Perth, Australia where he has been living for the last 10 years, where he’s been part of different dancing groups, participated in several dance performances and collaborated with other dance schools.

Winter has travelled around the world and assisted different dance festivals in Malaysia, Indonesia, Croatia, United States, Colombia and Cuba. With years of practice and learning from international maestros of salsa such as: Alberto Valdes, Mykel Fonts and Osbanis Tejeda to mention just a few, Winter is now a seasoned salsa casino instructor.

Sophie is well known for her love of traditional Latin and African dances as well as her technical knowledge and dance teaching skills. Her exposure to Latin American Dance allowed her to develop a love for authentic traditional Latin dances. Born in Chile, throughout her childhood and teenage years, Sophie took part in countless musicals and dance performances for her School’s Performing Dance Academies. When Sophie was 15, her family migrated to Australia, where she continued to develop her passion for dance and once again, found herself performing in School Musicals and for local Latin American groups in WA.

Sophie has experience in Latin and Afro-Latin styles of dance including Salsa, Cuban Casino & Son, Cha-Cha, Cuban Rumba, Bachata, Kizomba, Semba & various Chilean folklore dances like the Cueca.

In 2013 Sophie was mentored and trained by renowned Dancer Choreographer Eric Turro Martinez & Chantal Turro Martinez (Directors, Buena Vista TM & Buena Vista Social Club) in Cuban Traditional dances, who Sophie is now a representative of in WA. In 2014, Sophie taught Cuban Casino and Cuban Son at the Cuban Salsa Congress where she worked with Eric Turro Martinez and Lukas Enciso.

Bianca was born in Australia and raised in Croatia where she developed her love for dancing. She has a diverse background in all sorts of dancing styles. She started as a primary school kid learning standard and latin, however her passion for modern dance styles inspired by MTV music steered her to jazz, mtv and street styles. On the dance floor she likes to mix it all up!

She enrolled with Talent Studio M at the age of 15 and had been on many competitions including Dance Star ESDU national and international competitions every year. She had been a part of formation, group, trio and duo winning awards for first, second and third place over the years.  She also traveled Europe to learn from world reknown dancers such as; Ez twinz, Nika Kljun, Matic Zadravec, Željko Božić, Igor Barberić, Jose De La Cruz, Žiga Sotlar, Jasmine Meakin, Anthony Lee…

Bianca moved back to her birth place in 2018 and has been with Salsanation since April 2019. Winter and Sophie reintroduced her to Salsa and Bachata.  Bianca has been quickly learning the details of Cuban and Dominican styling to help bring the sabor to Perth. If anyone asks she is Latina now!

Alissa, from Seattle, has been passionate about movement since her first gymnastics class at age 6. In High School, she switched from competitive gymnastics to Lindy Hop, then to Salsa & Bachata in college. She enrolled with Rumba Northwest in 2008 studying Casino (Cuban salsa), Bachata, Son, Rumba and Reggaetón.

Alissa has been teaching and performing Cuban Salsa since 2015. She performed for congresses in Portland and Vancouver, DJed the 2016 KiZouk Festival in Vancouver, and studied with Nicholas Van Eyck & Serena Wong, Kati Hernandez, Wilfredo Guilbiac Rodriguez, Evelyn Magyari, among others.

Alissa founded Dance in Bellingham and organized dance events in the Pacific Northwest. She guest instructed and DJed for venues from Vancouver to Seattle and taught private classes. Alissa founded Havana Rhythm and Hedland Social Dance after moving to Port Hedland, Western Australia, in 2017.

Alissa has been teaching Casino and Bachata with Salsanation since October 2019.

@dancewithalissacleo Youtube