September 14, 2008

New York Salsa Dance Instructor: Jorday Rivera

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Jorday Rivera may not have been teaching the longest, but she has the pleasure of being the first lone female instructor (not to mention the first Queens instructor) I review for the NY Instructor’s page (others like Evelyn Ramos will follow in the near future). Jorday is cousin to well known mambo Instructor, Performer and Dance Company Director Addie Diaz and has only been involved in Mambo dancing for a couple of years. But within that short period of time she has made her presence known in the New York Mambo community. Jorday’s dedication and desire to dance quickly paved the way for her to get into several well known Mambo dance companies. Jorday has formed part of such dance groups as The Fuerza Latina Dancers, The Descarga Latina Dance Company, The Eddie Torres Dancers and The Addie-tude Dance Company. She is currently the director of her own dance company: Mambo Finest .

Realizing that Queens had a void in mambo instruction prompt Jorday to open up her Jorday Rivera Dance School. The school currently is teaching one class a week with plans for more in the future. Most women would find it tough to teach a successful mambo class because many students have the preconception that a good mambo instructor should be a man (men usually get more credit for mambo type activities than their female counterparts). But this has not deterred Jorday from fulfilling her dreams of teaching. She has developed a loyal following in the short amount of time her school has been opened. As a matter of fact she had a full house the day I went to visit her class with as many male students as female.

The first thing that you notice when you come to Jorday’s class is that its a family run operation. Jorday teaches her class with the full support of her family. Her mother (Daisy) is behind the desk, her younger sister (Tiffany) is teaching beginners, her kid sister (Dasianne) is handing out flyers in the street and even her father (Jorge) is there to lend elbow grease wherever needed. The actual student body present is broken down into three groups: raw beginners, beginner/intermediate and the more advanced students.

Jorday begins the first half of her class by running her students through a regimen of demanding shines. She begins by teaching or reviewing one shine at a time to her group. After several shines have been taught, they are tied together to form mini-floor shine routines. As a teacher she pays close attention to detail. She moves from group to group to check on individual progress and provides either a helpful hint or a word of encouragement to struggling members of her class. Jorday even goes as far as to supply students with a sheet of paper containing a list of all the shines she expects them to learn.

After a brief recess Jorday is ready to focus the remaining half of her class on partner work or turn patterns. With the assistance of fellow NY Mambo Performer Danny Ramirez, the class is taught at least two new turn patterns. Each pattern is broken down for each group. Variations of the same turn pattern are sometimes taught to help accommodate a student’s skill level (beginner, intermediate, advance). First the moves to the pattern are taught, then the moves are broken down to the 8 beat count of the clave and finally students get a chance to practice the pattern to actual music.

Jorday's Style in a nutshell:
If I were to describe Jorday to other mambo instructors, I would say that she has a very energetic, sensual Bronx style of dancing mambo. What Jorday may lack in years of experience she makes up in pure enthusiasm, determination and youthful energy. So if you live in Queens and are looking to learn from one of NY’s upcoming talents, then Jorday Rivera may be the person for you.

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