Baltimore Salsa Blog

Erissa is a native of the islands of the Philippines. She and her family came to the United States when she was almost 11. She is the only girl and the eldest of 4 children. She graduated from the University of Maryland (College Park) with a Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising Design.

Ever since as a young girl, she has always had a passion for dance, whether it be folk or modern. She was introduced to the world of salsa by some friends about 10 years ago and was hooked ever since. She started her training with Ricardo Loiza and continued on with Cecilia Villalobos and im Johnson of Salsa Fuego for several years.

She went to her first Salsa Congress in L. A. in the year 2000 and was inspired even more as she took classes from Los Rumberos, Salsa Brava, Jimmy Anton, Eddie Torres, Josie Neglia, Edie “The Salsa Freak,”etc. All throughout her dancing career she took several classes from Liz Lira (Club Mayan Salsa Champion with her partner Alex Da Silva), Alex Da Silva, Lee Rios, Saeon, Giselle Ponce, Ismael Otero and several other well-known instructors. She started teaching almost 7 years ago as with her then partner Rafael Pabon at Latin Palace. After a year and a half, she went on her own and started the Wednesday classes at Latin Palace. Later, when the Saturday teaching job became open, she became the permanent instructor. She has held 6 salsa boot camps by herself and 3 with her now dance partner, Jonny Tejeda. The boot camps are designed for students who want to take their salsa to the next level. She is currently partnered with Jonny as bachata and salsa instructors at Latin Palace in Baltimore, MD.