Dance Instructors
June & Jackson
June & Jackson’s love for salsa music and dance prompted them to teach in 2001, hence started their salsa school, JJSalsaRengue. Today, JJSalsaRengue is well known in the Singapore salsa scene for their Salsa, Salsa Casino Rueda, Street Cha Cha, Merengue & Bachata classes.
June & Jackson are one of the few pioneers to build the salsa scene in Singapore. They are also the co-organizer of the annual Singapore International Salsa Festival, working closely with Quebec Leisure International and partnering international salsa festival producer, Albert Torres.
Besides teaching classes, they also manage the JJSalsaRengue Performance Team which they started in 2002. The team has performed at many public and private events, including the West Coast Salsa Congress in Los Angeles 2004 & 2007, the Singapore International Salsa Festival 2006, 2007 & 2008, the Singapore International Latin Festivals, Singapore Arts Festival 2005, Chingay 2004 and many more.
June & Jackson are privileged to have travelled over the past years to be trained by top instructors in Los Angeles, Miami, London, Cuba, Puerto Rico, New York and the Dominican Republic.
KC Chua
Started out formal dancing at the age of 22, KC was trained under NUS Dance Ensemble in ballet and jazz. During his stint, he was trained in classical dance techniques and performed in numerous school and public events such as Arts Fringe, Next Wave and Dance Reflections.
KC picked up salsa in 2001. What started as a hobby, gradually becomes a fiery passion and saw him picking up more lessons. KC is the pioneering member of the JJSalsaRengue Performance Team and has performed at many public and private events including the West Coast Salsa Congress in LA in 2004 & 2007, Malaysia World Latin Salsa Congress 2008, and the Singapore International Salsa Festival 2006, 2007 & 2008.
Currently instructing at JJSalsaRengue, KC is known for his patience and encouraging instruction style. His classes are both fun and relaxed and enjoyed by his students. His greatest motivation in teaching are his students, to help nurture their innate desire to learn and become a better dancer.
Grace Tee
Grace had her first taste of salsa in 2001 when a friend took her to a salsa class. She was hooked straight away and has never looked back. Although a late starter, she was intrigued with salsa and sheer hardwork had brought her thus far.
Influenced by jazz, she joined the JJSalsaRengue Performance Team in 2002. Since then, she has danced and performed extensively for JJSalsaRengue in numerous events including the Malaysia World Latin Salsa Congress 2008, West Coast Salsa Congress in LA in 2004 & 2007, Singapore International Salsa Festival 2006 to 2008, as well as the Singapore Arts Festival 2005 and Chingay 2004. She is in the winning team at the Singapore SuperNova Salsa Competition, Team category, Fiesta @ Orchard, and had also taken part in the Ladies Shines Open competition in 2008.
Currently instructing at JJSalsaRengue, Grace is known for her dedication, attention to details and encouraging instruction style. She is also an enthusiastic self improver who regularly attends workshops overseas.
Lim Ee Lian
Starting her artistic adventure at the tender age of 5 years old, Ee Lian has since been involved as both performer and music educator in the Singapore’s arts scene. With ABRSM Grade 8 certification in the areas of Piano, Percussion and Ballet, she also has accumulated extensive performing and teaching experiences over the past 10 years.
Starting out as a percussionist in a Percussion Band, Ee Lian has since been involved in numerous big scale local events such as Chingay and the National Day Parade as a percussionist and performer. With the band, she was also given the chance to perform widely, both in Singapore and on a global stage. Traveling to numerous countries such as the United States of America, Korea, Japan, Ireland and Spain for international percussion and drum festivals, Ee Lian represented Singapore not only as a performer, but also an ambassador. As an educator, she has been to schools such as Admiralty Primary as performance percussion instructor and Ping Yi Secondary as a drum circle facilitator.
Aside from her music experience, Ee Lian has also been an avid salsa dancer for 5 years. Joining the JJSalsaRengue Performance Team in 2004, she has had the opportunity to perform for numerous events, most notably during the Singapore International Salsa Festivals. She is also currently instructing salsa with JJSalsaRengue.
Alexis Wan
Known for her stamina, strength and flexibility, Alexis was introduced to salsa in 2002 where she found her fiery passion in dancing. She was selected to be in the JJSalsaRengue Performance Team in 2003 and is currently a salsa instructor with the school. An ardent salsa dancer and performer, she has performed at numerous public and private events, including the Singapore International Latin Festival, the Singapore Arts Festival, the Singapore International Salsa Festival, and the West Coast Salsa Congress in LA, to name a few.
On a personal note, Alexis is a grooming and etiquette speaker, trainer and consultant to various private and government institutions. This has given her a unique insight and advantage in dance coaching, and allows her to inject style, grace and poise to the dance. A dynamic, energetic and humorous instructor, Alexis is always able to strike a chord with her students and bring fun and laughter to the class.
Dennis Goh
Dennis started salsa classes in 2004. It has since become his life-long passion. Dennis seeks continual improvement in his repertoire by attending congresses and workshops. He is known to be very observant and picks moves up very quickly. He also has a penchant for details. Dennis prides himself to be an enjoyable and fun social dancer despite the lack of formal dance training prior to salsa.
Dennis joined the JJSalsaRengue Performance Team in 2006. He has since performed in various congresses, namely Singapore International Salsa Festival 2006, 2007, 2008, the West Coast Salsa Congress 2007, and the Malaysia World Latin Salsa Congress 2008. He was also part of the winning team for the SuperNova Salsa Competition, Fiesta @ Orchard.
As an instructor, Dennis wants to impart his knowledge of the dance to his students. He also hopes to nuture and inspire them to become confident and good dancers.
Daniel Neo
What started as a get-together session with the guys at a salsa party on a cold winter night in Germany, turned out to be Daniel’s initiation into the world of salsa. Daniel’s passion for salsa was ignited that ‘fateful’ night in 2002 and it has inspired him to greater heights ever since. This amicable Salsa Instructor at JJSalsaRengue was talent scouted to be a part of the JJSalsaRengue Performance Team in 2003. Thereafter, he progressed from Salsa, to Merengue, Bachata, Street Cha Cha, and On2 salsa. Amongst the numerous performances Daniel and the team put up, the international performances and national events include the Singapore International Salsa Festival, the West Coast Salsa Congress in LA, the Singapore International Latin Festival, the Singapore Arts Festival, and the Chingay Parade 2004, to name a few.
Known for his friendly and humorous ways, his classes are never without laughter. His in-depth understanding of salsa comes from years of social dancing in addition to his many public and private performance engagements. A Program Manager who attended his class said this of him, “he’s engaging… never boring”.
His motto: Dancing and teaching solely because of passion.
Yasminbee Sheikh
Yasmin started teaching dance as a Cheerleading Captain in her secondary school and learnt first-hand to put together a cheer/dance routine as well as train the other members in the team. Her dance experience was further broadened during her college years. She contributed actively to the budding performing arts scene for both school and public performance. Major events includes a Hip Hop performance at the Singapore Arts Festival 2003 ‘Feed Me’, National Day 2003 as Neon Paint Lead Drummer performing in front of our President Mr. Nathan and the members of parliament, a Bollywood dance for a Ministers National Day 2003 Dinner and the celebration of Tamil New Year at the Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple. She also took on the role as the choreographer for a school musical in 2004 and worked together with renowned choreographer Russman Rahmat.
She started performing Bollywood dance in 2003 and began teaching at JJSalsaRengue in 2005. Yasmin’s known for her dramatic and movie-inspired Bollywood dance routines and constantly shares her Bollywood passion with her students. She continues to take part in other dance genre like Belly Dance, Reggaethon and Street Jazz to improve herself as a dancer and instructor.
Sophie
Sophie is one of the most sought after exotic dance instructors in Singapore, having taught for 2.5 years under the now defunct “thebodytalks” which is the first studio that brought exotic dance and pole dancing to Singapore. Despite having no formal training in dance, Sophie made up for it by her thirst to learn new types of dance forms including jazz, ballet, hip hop, african, afrocuban, rhumba, reggae, salsa, you name it. Then exotic dance stormed into her life. The allure and the seduction exuded by exotic dance defined her dancing style and it gave her the sensual freedom like no other dance could.
Her passion for the dance has led Sophie to share her love for dancing through teaching. Her encouraging and patient demeanor, and approachable instruction style ensure that her lessons are conducted in a fun and relaxed environment. Her energy and smiles are endless and infectious. What inspires her are her students, their enthusiasm to be better dancers and their innate desires tobe comfortable in their own skin.
Sophie also has a degree in business, and has been crunching numbers for the past 11 years.
Renee
Having lived and taught belly dance in Singapore over the past 9 years, Renee represents one of the leading belly dance instructors and performers in Singapore. Besides teaching full time, she performs in various events in Singapore and around the region, and also travels to give workshops.
Renee is a teacher by profession, with a university degree and lecturing experience in university language and literature. Dancing almost all her life, she is devoted to dance and passionate about sports in general. She was a skiing instructor while living in Europe, and also a professional instructor in belly dance, aerobics, cardio salsa and yoga.
Her classes are fun, challenging and encourages her students to test their own potential and at the same time, relax the body and mind. She is trained under Egyptian belly dance teachers and internationally recognized professional belly dancers including Laziza Layal, Rose, Serena Ramzy, Kaeshi Chai from BellyQueen, Nasser Selimi – world percussionist, Ketty from Egypt, Nancy Basky from Iran, Jenna from Los Angeles, Nuriya who represents traditional and modern Egyptian Belly Dance, and Prof. Dr. Hassam Khalil from Egypt.
