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Welcome back to LNXdance with your Co-Hosts, Marcus & Mari! We are honored to open up Hispanic/Latine Heritage Month with the remarkable Alex Morel. You may have spotted him during his VMA performance with the one-and-only Karol G!

Some things that came up in this episode:

DR Escape: October 27 - November 3, 2024

Find Alex on Instagram @bachatadura

AnD Website

“Music can make you go through a range of so many different emotions – sadness, excitement, melancholy, love…it’s beautiful.” -Alex M.

Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Alex Morel is known for his musical style and flavor on the dance floor.

In 2005, Alex began lessons with renowned instructor, choreographer, and director of Caribbean Soul Dance Co. Ismael Otero – also known as the “Million Moves Man”. With the help of both instructors Shani Talmor and Ismael Otero, Alex was able to grow both musically and technically.

Today, Alex is also known for his unique and creative touch of Traditional-style Bachata. Once he began creating his own set of moves and footwork, others began to notice how much fun and exciting it could be to dance Bachata. Alex would bring the music to life by playing with virtually every beat of the music and showcasing stylish moves matched with flavor and technique.

Alex has now taken his Bachata to another level and shares his repertoire of “Killer Moves” with dancers from around the globe. His very first DVD Bachata Fundamentals and Killer Moves was released in the summer of 2010 and has gained positive reviews from both dancers and instructors. He's taught and performed throughout the United States and internationally, including Canada, China, Germany, Israel, Portugal, Spain, France, and the Dominican Republic, to name a few. Alex hopes to help and inspire other Bachata dancers through his classes, workshops, and social dancing. He also aims to continue bringing Bachata to new heights with his dance partner, Desiree Godsell, through their unique flair, smooth-elegant style, and abundant flavor.

We are so happy to share his story with you. Comparte el amor with our guest, and let us know your favorite part of this chat. We want to t

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Brought to you by MotionScoop Dance Corp, LNXdance Podcast is a series of conversations FOR Latinx dancers and educators BY Latinx dancers and educators. Join Mari & Marcus -M&M- as they dive deep into important topics in the dance industry and explore how being part of the Latinx community affects us, our contributions, decisions, and careers.

We hope you enjoy our sip and chat. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment with what you loved, questions, and topics for next time!

Follow us on our Instagram page, LNXdance, to interact with our community and with us.

For business inquiries and to apply to be a guest, please email motionscoopinfo@gmail.com

¡Adiós!

Hosts: Marcus Mantilla-Valentin & Mari Vasconez
Sponsors: MotionScoop Dance Corp.

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Welcome back to another season with LNXdance with your Co-Hosts, Marcus & Mari!

In this season kickoff episode, Marcus and Mari catch up on what they have been up to... updates, learning, and growing pains for this duo. They also look back at a few things that have happened during our break from Season 3 and share their excitement for the season ahead.

A few things that came up in this show:

Jimmy Anton's Socials

Bombazo Dance Company - Bronx, NYC

Comparte el amor with us by leaving a comment and following up on Instagram LNXdance. Let us know what your favorite part of this chat was. We want to send a big thank you to all of our guests this Season, so far, for your willingness to share your stories and for your vulnerability—for making Season 4 happen!

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Brought to you by MotionScoop Dance Corp, LNXdance Podcast is a series of conversations FOR Latinx dancers and educators BY Latinx dancers and educators. Join Mari & Marcus -M&M- as they dive deep into important topics in the dance industry and explore how being part of the Latinx community affects us, our contributions, decisions, and careers.

We hope you enjoy our sip and chat. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment with what you loved, questions, and topics for next time!

Follow us on our Instagram page, LNXdance, to interact with our community and with us.

For business inquiries and to apply to be a guest, please email motionscoopinfo@gmail.com

¡Adiós!

Hosts: Marcus Mantilla-Valentin & Mari Vasconez
Sponsors: MotionScoop Dance Corp.

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Welcome back to our final episode of Season 3, with your Co-Hosts, Marcus & Mari!

In this episode, M&M catch up on what they have been up to this Summer. They also look back at this past season with gratitude, lessons learned and incredible memories.

We are so beyond grateful for ALL of the support we have been receiving, thank you to all of our Guests and our Listeners (Friends & Family).

A few things that came up in this show:

MotionScoop Dance Academy (Adult & Kids Classes in Queens, NYC)

Ballet Hispanico (Adult & Kids Classes in Manhattan, NYC)

Mark Travis' Book (Drafts: An Imperfect Collection of Writing)

We cannot wait to come back with more stories (and tea) at the start of Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month on Wednesday, September 18th - mark those calendars!

Comparte el amor by leaving a comment and following up on Instagram LNXdance. Let us know what your favorite part of this SEASON was.

Support the Show.

--
Brought to you by MotionScoop Dance Corp, LNXdance Podcast is a series of conversations FOR Latinx dancers and educators BY Latinx dancers and educators. Join Mari & Marcus -M&M- as they dive deep into important topics in the dance industry and explore how being part of the Latinx community affects us, our contributions, decisions, and careers.

We hope you enjoy our sip and chat. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment with what you loved, questions, and topics for next time!

Follow us on our Instagram page, LNXdance, to interact with our community and with us.

For business inquiries and to apply to be a guest, please email motionscoopinfo@gmail.com

¡Adiós!

Hosts: Marcus Mantilla-Valentin & Mari Vasconez
Sponsors: MotionScoop Dance Corp.

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Welcome back to LNXdance with your Co-Hosts, Marcus & Mari! As we close out Season 3, we would like to share one last guest with our friends and familia, the dazzling Antonio Doza.

Get More Antonio: https://www.instagram.com/senor_doza/?hl=en

Antonio Doza - Dancer, Actor, Model and Mortgage Advisor based in New York City.

Antonio is known for his captivating presence, clear teaching technique and all around festive, inviting energy. He has traveled throughout the world educating and showing off his talents.

He Co-Stars in the hit movie, “SHINE” and is featured in numerous music videos by many top name latin commercial artists. You may have seen him in his most recent appearance on NBC at the Macy’s 4th of July Firework Spectacular.

Antonio Doza is the principal founder of Doza Dance Company. bringing his knowledge of the business and professional dance experience to dancers around the globe. “Doza Dance” features over 80 dancers worldwide, including but not limited to an All Women Team ( Lindas De Doza) , All Men Team (Team HÈLLO) and CoEd Teams (DDC). His teams are based on presence, elegance, technical development and self-growth. Antonio provides an all-around lifestyle for his teams.

We are so happy to share his story with you and hope you have enjoyed Season 3 of LNXdance Podcast. Comparte el amor with our guest, and let us know your favorite part of this chat. We want to thank Antonio for making this Sip & Chat happen and sharing his story with us!

Stay tuned for our last episode by Marcus & Mari next week as we close out Season 3 and share some exciting news for Season 4.

Support the Show.

--
Brought to you by MotionScoop Dance Corp, LNXdance Podcast is a series of conversations FOR Latinx dancers and educators BY Latinx dancers and educators. Join Mari & Marcus -M&M- as they dive deep into important topics in the dance industry and explore how being part of the Latinx community affects us, our contributions, decisions, and careers.

We hope you enjoy our sip and chat. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment with what you loved, questions, and topics for next time!

Follow us on our Instagram page, LNXdance, to interact with our community and with us.

For business inquiries and to apply to be a guest, please email motionscoopinfo@gmail.com

¡Adiós!

Hosts: Marcus Mantilla-Valentin & Mari Vasconez
Sponsors: MotionScoop Dance Corp.

Send us a message!

Welcome back to LNXdance with your Co-Hosts, Marcus & Mari! Introducing our next guest, the inspiring Mark Travis Rivera. We are so honored to share his story with you. Enjoy!

Trigger Warning: this episode talks about gun violence and mental health.

Get More Mark: https://linktr.ee/marktravrivera

Telling stories is at the core of Mark Travis Rivera’s purpose in life. He is an award-winning creative entrepreneur and the Chief Executive Officer + Founder of The Professional Storyteller, where he embraces the power of story to create a more inclusive world. As a writer, Rivera’s bylines include The Bergen Record, Herald News, The Star-Ledger, Fox News Latino, and The Huffington Post. He was also a contributing author in the anthology, Crisis and Care: Queer Activist Responses to a Global Pandemic (PM Press, 2022), edited by Adrian Shanker. His debut collection, Drafts: An Imperfect Collection of Writing, was published in August 2017. He was also a contributing writer for Imagining: A Gibney Journal, where he shared his experience as a disabled choreographer and dancer.

As a 17-year-old, Rivera founded the Marked Dance Project (2009-2019), becoming the youngest person in the US to create and lead an integrated dance company for disabled and non-disabled dancers. Inspired by his desire to dance as a person with cerebral palsy, he would go on to help disabled and non-disabled dancers alike find their voice as artists. As a Puerto Rican queer man, he was also one of a handful of artistic directors of color in the disability dance field in the US. As an independent disabled choreographer, Mark is determined to build a bridge between the main dance field and disability dance. Mark was recently selected to participate in Ballet Hispanico’s Instituto Coreográfico program.

As a speaker, he has addressed audiences at various institutions, including Harvard, MIT, Rutgers, and NYU. He has also spoken to corporate audiences virtually in the UK, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, Israel, China, and India. His TEDx Talk, “Embracing Yourself, Embracing Your Potential,” was a smash in 2014 at Bergen Community College.

A first-generation college graduate, Rivera earned his bachelor’s degree in Women’s & Gender Studies from William Paterson University of New Jersey. He is a proud Tio to 5 nieces and 2 nephews. He was born in Miami, raised in New Jersey, and lived in New York City and the Bay Area, but now calls Atlanta, GA, home.

Support the Show.

--
Brought to you by MotionScoop Dance Corp, LNXdance Podcast is a series of conversations FOR Latinx dancers and educators BY Latinx dancers and educators. Join Mari & Marcus -M&M- as they dive deep into important topics in the dance industry and explore how being part of the Latinx community affects us, our contributions, decisions, and careers.

We hope you enjoy our sip and chat. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment with what you loved, questions, and topics for next time!

Follow us on our Instagram page, LNXdance, to interact with our community and with us.

For business inquiries and to apply to be a guest, please email motionscoopinfo@gmail.com

¡Adiós!

Hosts: Marcus Mantilla-Valentin & Mari Vasconez
Sponsors: MotionScoop Dance Corp.

Send us a message!

Welcome back to LNXdance with your Co-Hosts, Marcus & Mari! After a little break, we are excited to regresar with our next guest... the beautiful Tess Losada Miner. We are so honored to share her story with you. Enjoy!

Tess on IG: https://www.instagram.com/losadanza/
Tess' Website: https://losadatess.wixsite.com/dance

Tess Angelica Losada Miner is a Cuban-American dancer, choreographer, scholar, and educator currently working towards her MFA in Dance at Washington University in St. Louis. Tess’ research considers liminality, bicultural straddling, and how identity is shaped by a lifetime of being ni de aquí, ni de allá. Tess is currently choreographing for the Washington University Dance Collective and producing her own works. Prior to graduate school, Tess earned a BA in Dance Performance from Illinois State University, and spent the better part of a decade dancing, teaching, and performing in New Orleans.

Comparte el amor with our guest, and let us know your favorite part of this chat. We want to thank Tess for making this Sip & Chat happen and sharing her story with us!

Support the Show.

--
Brought to you by MotionScoop Dance Corp, LNXdance Podcast is a series of conversations FOR Latinx dancers and educators BY Latinx dancers and educators. Join Mari & Marcus -M&M- as they dive deep into important topics in the dance industry and explore how being part of the Latinx community affects us, our contributions, decisions, and careers.

We hope you enjoy our sip and chat. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment with what you loved, questions, and topics for next time!

Follow us on our Instagram page, LNXdance, to interact with our community and with us.

For business inquiries and to apply to be a guest, please email motionscoopinfo@gmail.com

¡Adiós!

Hosts: Marcus Mantilla-Valentin & Mari Vasconez
Sponsors: MotionScoop Dance Corp.

Send us a message!

Welcome back to LNXdance with your Co-Hosts, Marcus & Mari! Our guest for this episode is the inspiring David Herrera. We are so honored to share his story with you. Enjoy!

Learn More: www.dhperformance.org
Instagram: DHPC

Comparte el amor with our guest, and let us know your favorite part of this chat. We want to thank David for making this Sip & Chat happen and sharing his story with us!

David Herrera is a choreographer, producer, and community leader in San Francisco, California, whose work centers Latinx/e voices, aesthetics, and narratives through David Herrera Performance Company. He is also the Director of the Latinx Hispanic Dancers United initiative.

David grew up in Hollywood, CA influenced by his culturally diverse neighborhood and his Mexican and American heritages. He advocates to provide Latinx/e and BIPOC artists opportunities while challenging non-equitable practices in the modern dance field. In 2007, he launched David Herrera Performance Company to respond to the lack of Latinx visibility and representation. He has created over 30 works including evening-length productions ÒRALE!, The Tip of My Tongue, The Least of Them, TOUCH, and Slumber. His work has been presented at the Austin Dance Festival, Mix&Match Festival, ODC's Walking-Distance Festival, Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers, SJ Dance Company's "Choreoproject", and more.

David leads the national network Latinx Hispanic Dancers United, which serves the national Latinx/e/a/o dance community, and is the director and mentor of LatinXtensions, a 12-month mentorship program for emerging Latinx/e/a/o dance artists.

David is a recipient of the National Latino Arts & Culture Leadership Fellowship and Bridge Live Art’s Community Engagement Residency. In 2023, David was a Co-Curator for the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival's "Choreofest". He served as advisor to the Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers, Isadora Duncan Awards Committee, and is a founding member of Dancing Around Race, a community program dedicated to the discussion and implementation of cultural equity in the dance sector led by Gerald Casel. David has also mentored homeless individuals through the Community Housing Partnership in SF. He serves as Deborah Slater's Studio 210 Residency mentor.

David holds B.A.s in American Studies

Support the Show.

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Brought to you by MotionScoop Dance Corp, LNXdance Podcast is a series of conversations FOR Latinx dancers and educators BY Latinx dancers and educators. Join Mari & Marcus -M&M- as they dive deep into important topics in the dance industry and explore how being part of the Latinx community affects us, our contributions, decisions, and careers.

We hope you enjoy our sip and chat. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment with what you loved, questions, and topics for next time!

Follow us on our Instagram page, LNXdance, to interact with our community and with us.

For business inquiries and to apply to be a guest, please email motionscoopinfo@gmail.com

¡Adiós!

Hosts: Marcus Mantilla-Valentin & Mari Vasconez
Sponsors: MotionScoop Dance Corp.

Send us a message!

Welcome back to LNXdance with your Co-Hosts, Marcus & Mari! Our guest for this episode is our wonderful and beautiful friend Natalia Mesa. We are so honored to share her story with you. Enjoy!

Natalia on IG: https://www.instagram.com/natalia.mesah/
Ballet Hispanico's Community Arts: https://www.ballethispanico.org/community/community-arts-partnerships
LXDEA: https://www.latinxdanceeducatorsalliance.com/

BAAND Together Festival: FREE Latin Social Class July 30th
https://lincolncenter.org/series/summer-for-the-city/dance-workshop-with-ballet-hispanico-194

Comparte el amor with our guest, and let us know your favorite part of this chat. We want to thank Natalia for making this Sip & Chat happen and sharing her story with us!

Natalia Mesa (Community Engagement Director) holds a master’s degree in performance arts administration from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in industrial design with a minor in business administration from Universidad de Los Andes in Colombia. Her dance training started at Ballarte Escuela de Ballet and Ballet Anna Pavlova in Bogotá. Early in her dance career, she won an honorary mention on the V Encuentro para Estudiantes de Ballet, in Habana, Cuba, obtained a scholarship for the ballet program at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, and later moved to New York where she completed her dance education at The Ailey School. Her experience in arts in education started at La Fundación Niños de Los Andes in Bogotá where she developed and implemented creative dance workshops with youth survivors of domestic violence. During her years working at Battery Dance, she managed the Battery Dance Festival, implemented arts in education programs into the New York public school system, and supported dance education programs in Latin America. In 2018, she was a panelist in support of 16 Days Against Gender-Based violence organized by RESIU within the U.S. State Department. Natalia recognizes the arts as a medium for social change that fosters dialogue, builds community, and changes misconceptions.

Natalia Mesa is currently the Community Engagement Director for Ballet Hispanico's Community Arts Partnerships

Support the Show.

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Brought to you by MotionScoop Dance Corp, LNXdance Podcast is a series of conversations FOR Latinx dancers and educators BY Latinx dancers and educators. Join Mari & Marcus -M&M- as they dive deep into important topics in the dance industry and explore how being part of the Latinx community affects us, our contributions, decisions, and careers.

We hope you enjoy our sip and chat. Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment with what you loved, questions, and topics for next time!

Follow us on our Instagram page, LNXdance, to interact with our community and with us.

For business inquiries and to apply to be a guest, please email motionscoopinfo@gmail.com

¡Adiós!

Hosts: Marcus Mantilla-Valentin & Mari Vasconez
Sponsors: MotionScoop Dance Corp.