Colleen and I fell in love with salsa in the Spring of 1995, when we first heard a Latin band from Youngstown, OH (Sabor Latino) play at Rosebud in the Strip District of Pittsburgh. It was almost as if the music had cast a spell on us...we had never really listened to Latin music before, but as the band played, we couldn't stop tapping our toes and fingers. We didn't know how to dance salsa so we tried to swing dance to it....didn't quite work. Later that summer we saw Tito Puente play at the Three Rivers Arts Festival, and then vacationed in Miami where we became immersed in the music. As we drove through Miami we listened to El Nuevo Zol 95.7 FM constantly....It was then, that we became hooked on the music and wanted desperately to learn how to dance after visiting some Miami clubs and just watching.

Six months later in Pittsburgh, we enrolled in a salsa dance class taught by Miguel Sague, his wife Lenny, and son, "Cha" of the local band, Guaracha. We practiced at home but struggled with the basic steps. Miguel, of Cuban descent, and a pioneer of Latin music in Pittsburgh, really helped ground us in the fundamentals and history of the dance. Eventually our steps clicked and we were eager to learn more....a few months later we were introduced to local instructor, Marlon Silva, and began taking classes from Marlon and his partner at the time, Nancy Sakach. From them, we expanded our knowledge and love of salsa. Being high school teachers, we had the summers free to explore other salsa dancing styles, and we began traveling to Los Angeles, CA, where we met Edie the Salsa Freak (co-founder of SalsaWeb and one of the most remarkable icons in the salsa industry).

Los Angeles seemed like our second home, as we spent one month each summer for seven years learning to dance from many of the original creators of "LA Style" salsa. We took group and private classes with Edie, Luis & Joby Vazquez, Francisco Vazquez, Josie Neglia, Al "Liquid Silver", and many others. We traveled hundreds of miles each summer in our rental car crisscrossing the freeways of LA taking lessons, hitting the salsa clubs, and chatting with many of our dancer friends in the coffee shops after a night of dancing.

It is hard to believe that our journey with salsa music and dance began 15 years ago. We never dreamed that we would eventually run a website, teach, dee jay, and organize workshops and events...all dedicated to sharing our love and passion for salsa music and dance. We really must credit Edie for making much of this happen, because she is the one that inspired and encouraged us to do all that we are doing now.

It has been, and continues to be, a labor of love. We are thankful for all the support we have received from the salsa community going all the way back to our first group dance classes and events in 1999. We hope that our website will serve as a valuable resource to those of you that are either beginning or continuing your journey with salsa music and dance as well.

Jeff & Colleen Shirey (Feb 2010)

Salsa Pittsburgh's Past Events since 1999 (most recent listed first)
Links to older photo albums will be added to the website in the near future

	EVENT PICTURES
	Spring Salsa Spectacular 2010 April 9 - 11, 2010 Shaka Brown/Vianette Silva (FL) Joe Figueroa/Christy Kam (PA)
EVENT PICTURES	EVENT PICTURES	EVENT PICTURES
Salsa Spooktacular 2009 Oct 30-Nov 1, 2009 Xtravaganza Latin Dance Company (MI)	Bachata Bootcamp Dance Weekend 2009 July 24-25, 2009 Lee "El Gringuito" (DC)	March Madness 2009 Mar 13-15, 2009 Art in Motion (PA) Liquid Silver Productions (FL)
EVENT PICTURES	EVENT PICTURES	EVENT PICTURES
Salsa Spooktacular 2008 Oct 31-Nov 2, 2008 Edie the Salsa Freak (FL) Joe Figueroa (PA)	Spring Dance Weekend 2008 Apr 11-13, 2008 Darlin Garcia (PA) Art in Motion (PA)	Weekend of Champions 2007 Nov 9-11, 2007 Abel Pena, Zulmara Torres (CA) Martin Avendano (CA) Esti Ashkenazi (CA)
EVENT PICTURES	EVENT PICTURES	EVENT PICTURES
Spring Salsa Rumble 2007 Apr 13-15, 2007 Al & Karla Espinoza (CA) Ismael Ottero (NJ) Shani Talmor (NY)	Nov Dance Weekend 2006 Apr 11-13, 2006 Al & Karla Espinoza (FL)	Spring Salsa Spectacular 2006 Apr 7-9, 2006 Mambo Tribe (Toronto) Salsa Band, Bio Ritmo from Richmond, VA
EVENT PICTURES	EVENT PICTURES	EVENT PICTURES
Salsa Spooktacular 2004 Oct 19-31, 2004 Al "Liquid Silver" Espinoza (CA) Edie the Salsa Freak (CA ) Salsa Band, Sammy Deleon Y Su Orquesta from OH	Nov Dance Weekend 2003 Nov 14-16, 2003 Salsa Brava's Diana & Ricky Lemoli (CA) Salsa Band, Noel Quintana's Latin Crew from OH	Nov Dance Weekend 2002 Nov 8-10, 2002 Super Mario (London) Griselle Ponce (NJ) Salsa Band, Sammy Deleon Y Su Orquesta from OH
EVENT PICTURES	EVENT PICTURES	EVENT PICTURES
Spring Salsa Fling 2002 April 12-14, 2002 Jamie Josephson (NY) Rodney Harris (NY) Salsa Band, Son Alegre from Cleveland, OH	March Dance Weekend 2002 March 1-3, 2002 Cultural Explosion (NJ)	Sept Dance Weekend 2001 Sept 28-30, 2001 Edie the Salsa Freak (CA) Al Espinoza (CA) Salsa Band, Sabor Latino from Youngstown, OH
EVENT PICTURES	EVENT PICTURES	EVENT PICTURES
Spring Salsa Spectacular 2001 May 11-13, 2001 Cultural Explosion (NJ) Salsa Band, Orquesta La Romana from Washington, DC	Valentines Salsa Bash 2001 Feb 9-11, 2001 Juan Calderon (NJ) Diana Dieppa (NJ) Salsa Band, Sammy Deleon & Su Orquesta from OH	Nov Dance Weekend 2000 Nov 17-18, 2000 Edie the Salsa Freak(CA) Solomon Rivera (CA) Salsa Band, Sabor Latino from Youngstown, OH
Our Very First Workshop Weekend April 2-4, 1999 Edie the Salsa Freak (CA) Raul Santiago (DC)