About Rafael

Rafael, a native of Colombia, is a master salsa instructor recognized and respected for his salsa expertise and highly successful instruction.

• He is the proud coach of the current Colorado Salsa Open Champions in 2008 as well as other top-placing Colorado salsa competitors.
• In 2008, Rafael instructed for Los Secretos de Maya television show for the Azteca station.
• New for 2009, Rafael published an excellent follow-lead salsa instruction DVD.
• Rafael teaches for Salsa Central Denver, which is the promoter for Denver's Wednesday Night Salsa Social.

For eleven years, Rafael has showcased at the two largest Salsa dance conventions: The West Coast Salsa Congress in Los Angeles, CA and the East Coast Salsa Congress in Puerto Rico. He has performed in the Denver area in numerous private parties and other local events since 2005 and has taught Salsa in Colorado since 1995. He has hosted numerous local dance events for corporate parties, such as the Janus Funds summer festival, Manuel Molina Carnaval, Aspen Latino Festival, Latino Film Festival, Colorado Start Ball Showcase, Las Vegas Salsa Congress, and many more venues.

Rafael and Barbara (Barbie) Novoryta were the owners of Latin Dance FX, one of the largest Salsa dance schools in Denver. They were also the Directors of the Colorado Professional and Amateur Salsa Caliente Dance Company.

Rafael moved to the USA from Colombia in 1994 and started teaching African and Latin American dance forms from Colombia at the prestigious Colorado Dance Festival (Colorado University in Boulder, CO).

Rafael started dancing Colombian Folklore and Ethno Modern dance when he was 16. He studied dance with a scholarship at the Escuela Nacional del Distrito in Bogota, Colombia. Part of this training was with two of the most important dance companies in Colombia: The National Ballet of Colombia and the Barrio Ballet Contemporary Dance Company from Cali, Colombia. As a highlight, Rafael was part of the Ballet de Las Estellas, performing on El Show de las Estrellas (The Show of Stars), one of the most popular television shows in Colombia.