Chen Lizra - Founder, Entrepreneur & Dancer
Lululemon ambassador - Vancouver 2006-2007
Member of the International Dance Council (CID-UNESCO) since 2007
Student Entrepreneur Champion for British Columbia,Canada (ACE Canada) 2008
Nominated for Women of Distinction, YWCA Vancouver, Canada - 2009
Bachelor of Business Administration with major in Marketing (Graduated with distinction) - 2009
Woman of the
Month - Modern Working Woman Magazine - Feb 2010
Nominated by
AusDance NSW and granted by the Australian Gov. - a Distinguished Talent
permanent residency - 2010
Chen Lizra is an inspiring teacher! Her passion and love for movement is infectious! Dancing for Chen is about self-expression, laughter, and fun.
She is one of the leading forces of Cuban dance in Vancouver and has a unique approach to coaching people. Chen concentrates on detail, breaking each move down to very simple exercises, teaching people how to really dance, while keeping it light, warm and playful. She has taken knowledge from Cuban professional dancers and tailored the programs for people outside of Cuba. She is a rare combination of creativity, sensuality and a person with a vision.
Chen started dancing and performing at the age of 7 as a gymnast. She's been involved over the years with many disciplines such as 5 Rhythms, Contact improvisation, Brazilian Samba, Afro-Brazilian dances, Capoeira and Lindy Hop. In 2000 she got exposed to Cuban Salsa and got hooked.
Chen constantly looks for ways to expend her knowledge. She travels each year to Cuba, where she trains with some of the best professional dancers and brings unique knowledge like Cuban Son, Cuban Rumba, Reggaeton, Sueltas, Afro-Cuban movements etc. back to Vancouver. She then, initiates special classes, some of which are being offered for the first time in Vancouver, at affordable prices. Chen has taken on traveling and sharing this knowledge in other places in the world and each year initiates new trips internationally.
On top of that, Chen possesses a real entrepreneurial spirit, coming from her business studies, which make her an exciting innovator. Chen was a successful animator for eight years, working on many well known TV shows for some of the best companies, all across Canada. The website is her vision of the fun and playfulness that Latidos Productions offers. Chen is both an artist and an entrepreneur, and is the driving force of Latidos Productions.
Dancing is just something that she has to do to be happy!! Sharing it is her way of leaving her mark on the world!!
Leanne Soon - Latidos Performance team & Instructor (Reggaeton)
Leanne Soon developed a passion for dance as a youth through hip hop. As she entered adulthood, she discovered the beautiful and sensual world of belly dancing, which she studied for 2 years. After that she decided to explore other forms of dance, which led her to Latidos Productions. Reggaeton was the first class she took with Latidos in 2006, and after her first class she was completely hooked. Reggaeton makes Leanne go on fire! Since then Leanne has trained with Latidos in Cuban Reggaeton, Son, Rumba, Salsa, Cha Cha Cha and Afro-Cuban movements. In the summer of 2009, Leanne traveled to Cuba to train with professional dancers from the National Folklore Group of Cuba. After her trip to Cuba, her love for Cuban culture and dance grew even more. That's when she joined the Latidos performance team. In 2010 Leanne joined the Latidos faculty while she keeps training on a regular basis and performing with our sassy team.
Graeme Sampson - Dancer & Instructor (Reggaeton & Cuban Salsa)
Graeme Sampson began dancing as a child in his mom’s kitchen, picking up Reggae, Soca and Merengue moves from her as she cooked. Eventually a Dominican friend of the family got him hooked on Latin rhythms, and Graeme traveled to Cuba for the first time. Since then, he has studied Cuban dance in Vancouver, Havana, and Santiago de Cuba.
This past year, Graeme was living in Ecuador, and spent several months in Cuba, where he learned many Reggaeton moves and male styling. In Havana, he trained with teachers from the National Folklore Group of Cuba, in Cuban Salsa, Son, Rumba and Reggaeton. Graeme has the passion for many Caribbean and Latin dances, and has also been learning Reggae and Dancehall, which he incorporates into his unique dancing style.
GUEST INSTRUCTORS
José Carrión - Cuban professional master
José Carrión was the principal dancer & corps professor of Cutumba
until he retired in 2005 after dancing in the company of 25 years. The Ballet Folklórico Cutumba is undoubtedly one of Cuba's most vibrant folkloric dance companies, based in Santiago de Cuba. He
now resides in Seattle, Washington, where he and his wife Naomi
co-direct the Academy of Cuban Folklore & Dance.
José is an incredible Cuban master and has knowledge that very few have in the world today. His instruction is light, fun and full of Cuban Humour and his workshops are always sold out.
