Before Strathmore's presentation of Arturo Sandoval and Pedrito Martinez, join local Latin dance legend and community activist Ricardo Loaiza as he teaches the steps, technique, and history of salsa dance.
Designed for all ages and skill levels, this workshop will get everyone moving to the music and stories that illustrate this rich tradition.
This event is part of Strathmore’s Windows series of performances and accompanying programs. Learn more
Meet the Instructor
Ricardo Loaiza
Ricardo Loaiza founded the After School Dance Fund and Baila4Life in 2010. He continues to serve as its President and Executive Director. Ricardo is a Colombia native who has resided in Silver Spring since 1996. A teacher first and foremost, he began his dance career in 1992 as an instructor at Washington’s Havana Village and went into teaching, performing, and DJ-ing at the DC area's most popular nightclubs until 2008.
From 1998 to 2002, he served on the Latin dance faculty at the prestigious Joy of Motion Dance Center. Loaiza’s work has been featured in The Washington Post, Bethesda Magazine, Dance Studio Life, Washingtonian Magazine, Bethesda Magazine, The Washington City Paper, Washington Hispanic, El Tiempo Latino, Takoma and Silver Spring VOICE, C-SPAN, Univision, Telemundo, Caracol International, RCN Colombia, FOX 5 DC News, MCPSTV, MYMCMEDIA, Montgomery College “Generation Latina”, CNN en Español, NBC4 Washington, Great Day Washington/WUSA9, and La Voz de America.
In the fall of 2012, Loaiza worked with the Kennedy Center’s Education Department to develop an instructional online Latin Dance series, “The Five(ish) Minute Latin Dance Lessons.” The first chapter of the series received more than 1.8 million downloads in the first three months of its release, and the second series was released in fall 2013. Currently, he is working on the next five lessons of the series at the request of the Kennedy Center.
Together with his wife and dance partner Elba Garcia, Loaiza has taught, choreographed, and performed at over 500 events in the DC area, and in more than 20 cities across the U.S. and internationally. In 1996, Loaiza and Garcia co-founded DC Salseros/Latin Vibes Dance Center – DC’s first Latino-owned dance studio.
In October 2010, Loaiza was inspired by his wife to create the After School Dance Fund (ASDF), a nonprofit organization that provides artistic, technical, and financial support for the establishment and maintenance of after-school Latin dance clubs in Montgomery County Public Schools. Since then, Loaiza has organized, produced, and hosted the annual MCPS Latin Dance Competition at the Music Center at Strathmore.
Loaiza’s work reflects his desire to share the power of dance and give students opportunities to become healthy and positive members of our global society. He credits the unconditional support of his wife and kids as both his inspiration and motivation to share the transformative effects of dance with the area’s youngest people. Some community recognitions include: the 2014 Montgomery County’s Executive Award for the Excellence in the Arts, the 2016 Capital Congress Lifetime Achievement Award in the Arts, 2017 Montgomery County Civic Federation Service Award, the 2019 Montgomery County Council’s Hispanic Heritage Serving our Nation’s Award, the 2023 Board of Education Distinguished Community Individual Award, and the 2023 Friends of Glen Echo Innovation Award.