MeetJulio MonteroCuban Born Dance InstructorBased in Downtown Vancouver, Canada
Julio Montero is a Cuban-born dance instructor who has an in-depth knowledge of Cuban Salsa, which is actually called “casino” in his native island. He was born into a family that is completely obsessed with music and dance. He grew up in the historic city of Santiago de Cuba, motherland to the very roots of Cuba’s most distinctive musical exports, and lived in neighbourhoods renowned for their strong traditions of Conga, Son, and Afro-Haitian rhythms. Upon arriving in Canada, he continued to pursue post-secondary studies, eventually obtaining a double major from the University of British Columbia. Julio does not have formal dance training in Cuban Salsa, because that doesn’t really exist: “In Cuba, you don’t go to dance school to learn how to salsa. I dance like every other empirical Cuban dancer, and that’s the best role model I could be for anyone who wants to move their body like ordinary Cubans do”. That being said, in his methodology, Julio incorporates the skills acquired during four years at the Frank País Teachers’ University of Santiago de Cuba, where he studied to become an English teacher. Julio’s main goal is to pass onto his students the rhythmic legacy he has inherited, as well as the positive cultural values associated with Afro-Latin-Caribbean culture. “Through social dancing we not only learn steps and have incredible fun –we also develop vital social skills that favourably impact our daily lives, our sense of self-esteem and our overall sense of happiness“, he says, adding: “I shall give you something that no one will be able to take away from you, because Salsa dancing knowledge is almost as indelible as learning how to ride a bike “. Julio strongly believes in the symbiosis of learning proper technique while having a cultural experience in class, an opportunity available only through the Cuban way of dancing salsa, as it represents a nation’s heritage. He’s done so teaching in Japan, France, Norway, Greece, Turkey, Croatia and Cyprus.
Julio believes that sharing his native culture is the best contribution he can make to his Canadian home and the World, bringing in the genuine, ever lasting and effective system of joy that Caribbean people have conceived. Visit the Class Schedule page for details.
