Salsa Bio

Staying true to her Latin roots, her second love has always been a dance close to home, Salsa. No surprise as both flamenco and salsa are passionate, expressive forms about life, death, love and sorrow. The idea of people performing Salsa as a profession seemed a little far-fetched, as Salsa is a dance that is usually done at festive events among family and friends. This idea changed for Nelida as she was teaching a children's flamenco class and a fellow teacher at the school, Eddie Torres, was teaching a Salsa class in the studio next door. Nelida was amazed at how technically developed this dance had become and how it is now being taught; she would watch classes and sometimes join in.

She was immediately invited to perform at the Apollo Theater in "Tribute to Nelson Mandela" featuring artist Miriam Makeba alongside Latin legend himself Tito Puente. She was never able to be integrated as a consistent company member because of her touring and performance schedule, but was invited a few years later to partner Eddie Torres. As his partner, she performed frequently with Latin icons such as Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Tito Nieves, Jose Alberto "El Canario", Santitos Colon, Ismael Miranda and Tony Vega. She has performed for the current President Bush in a private, invitation-only event at The Ford Theater in Washington D.C.; appeared throughout Colombia with Tito Puente's 100th album tour and was featured in Orquesta de La Luz's "Somos Diferente" video. She currently partners Franklin Diaz and has given workshops in England and Italy. She performed in the Nike play-off festivals, the Copacabana Salsa Congress, and the UK, Miami, and Boston Congresses. En Español