Rodney Aquino

RODNEY "RODCHATA" AQUINO BIO

Rodney "Rodchata" Aquino is a Latin Dance instructor, writer and lecturer in the United States. Solely responsible for popularizing bachata dance in San Francisco Bay Area, RODCHATA, as bachateros intimately calls him, has been in the Latin Dance scene for over 15 years and is considered one of the foremost authority in salsa and bachata dance. A certified instructor, his dance background includes Latin International Ballroom, salsa (on1, on2 mambo, and Cuban son, Casino), chachacha, merengue and bachata. His 1st encounter of the bachata dance was in the East Coast in the 90's. He embarked himself into dancing and teaching bachata and concentrated in studying the culture ever since.

He is the founder of numerous popular dance websites; Salsagang.com, iBachata.com, BachataNews.com, Rodchata.com, iTimba.com and CEO of Rodchata Enterprises, LLC. Since creating Salsagang, he had the opportunity to teach the Latin Dance at big events all over the world such as San Francisco International Salsa Congress, Reno Dance Sensation, Sonoma County Salsa Festival, Salsa Extravaganza (Palm Springs), Summer Splash (Palm Springs), North West Salsa Congress (Seattle), Chico Dance Sensation, Sacramento Salsa Festival, Hawaii Dance Sensation, Casino Rueda Congress PS, Sydney Bachata Festival (Australia), Swedish Bachata Festival Alicia (Gothenburg), Philippines Salsa Festival and Dallas International Salsa Congress. He also teaches regular bachata and salsa classes all over the San Francisco Bay Area and is constantly sought for teaching Latin Dance workshops in nationallly and internationally.

He has written numerous popular dance articles including Bachata Innovation, Bachata Is Not Grinding, Pseudo Instructors and others. You can search his articles with the exact titles or search under "Rodchata Articles." Aside from being a gifted teacher, Rodchata has Masters in Psychology and presently pursuing his PhD in Cognition, Brain and Behavior. He is a certified Personal Fitness Trainer and holds 4th Degree Black Belt in the Martial Arts. His experience in the Martial Arts for 20 years and his background in Fitness Training plays a vital role on his effectiveness as a dance teacher. You can obtain more information regarding his dance classes, workshops and events at Rodchata.com, or email him - Contact@Rodchata.com

ALICIA SANTISTEVAN BIO

A professional photographer, and currently residing in Reno, USA, Alicia Santistevan has been dancing for over 12 years. A former instructor from a competitive ballroom dance studio, she spent 3 years training and teaching under title-holding Latin dancers like; Louis Van Amstel, Bob Powers and Julia Gorchakova.

Alicia danced American-style ballroom and rhythm dances, encompassing everything from Rumba to Paso-Doble, Waltz to Swing. She is currently a Rodchata Dance Team member and a part-time dance partner of Rodney Rodchata Aquino. While she still loves ballroom, she has spent the past four years focusing solely on Salsa, Casino Rueda and Bachata and is thrilled to continue the journey with The Rodchata Project.