Our Team

Josie Cote

Josie has been dancing as soon as she learned how to walk, and has an extensive training in Ballet, Contemporary, Hip Hop and various other dance styles. She discovered Latin dancing in 2005 and immediately immersed herself and fell in love with it.  She will be recognised on the dance floor by her amazing body movement and her flawless technique in Salsa, Mambo, Bachata and other Latin dances. She is the director and co-founder of Tropical Soul Dance Studio, one of Sydney’s most exciting new dance school: www.tsdance.com.au.

She has performed and taught around the world and around Australia, promoting various Latin dance styles. Some of her achievements include the following:

• 2009 Australian Salsa Champion, Professional Couples Division (Sydney, AUS)
• 2009 New South Wales Salsa Champion, Professional Couples Division (Sydney, AUS)
• 2007 & 2008 Australian Salsa Champion, Teams Division (Sydney, AUS)
• Placed 6^th at the 2007 & 2009 World Salsa Championships, Teams Division (Orlando, FL)

Josie loves to share her passion for dancing and teach exciting classes and workshops that will bring variety and inspiration to everyone who attends. She has travelled the world doing so, and has been recognised as a world class performer and instructor in many countries.

Juan Ruiz

Juan is responsible for the Bachata craze in Australia as 2004 saw him in a new country & culture when he arrived in Sydney, only to find the dance he was most passionate about was a taboo, never played in nightclubs or taught at dance studios. Inspired as no one else can be with Bachata, Juan started running classes & workshops, as well as promoting Bachata music to various influential DJ’s, Nightclubs & Latin Events. It was from there his fame as ‘El Bachatero’ grew quickly making him the best know Bachata Instructor in Australia & New Zealand. From then on, Juan became one of the most influential Bachateros in the world. He has taught hundreds of workshops throughout the world (Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, France, USA and more) and performed at prestigious Latin events around the world. Juan is also one of the organizers of the successful ‘Sydney Bachata Festival’ and he’s the director of Bachateros Online Magazine, one of the first web portals dedicated to Bachata only.

Juan’s is the pioneer of the Bachata Moderna movement and his syllabus and moves are being used around the world (you can read the history of Bachata Moderna here). With the growth and evolution of Bachata music, Juan has ensured that the dancing evolves as well. Bachata Moderna is a more stylized style of Bachata were dancers can add different footwork and transitions and yet remain true to Bachata form, maintaining the feeling & emotional elements that makes Bachata what it is.

Most importantly, he is the director and co-founder of Tropical Soul Dance Studio, one of Sydney’s most exciting new dance school: www.tsdance.com.au.

Samantha Cilia

Samantha Cilia’s dancing life started at the age of 5 years old when her mother enrolled her into jazz & ballet classes at Barbara Easton Dance Studio in Sydney. Over the next 12 years she successfully completed all levels of the British Australasian Limited (BAL) Jazz, Tap and Ballet syllabus. She also competed nationally in Eisteddfods as part of the Barbara Easton Dance Troupe. Wanting to broaden her dancing ability, Samantha enrolled in her first salsa class in 2006 and since then has fallen in love with all Latin styles including Salsa, Bachata and Zouk.

Samantha joined forces with Juan Ruiz in 2008 and together, they developed the Bachata Moderna syllabus and were responsible for pioneering this style in Australia. Being the Artistic Principal of Bachateros, Samantha is responsible for the creation and development of the Bachateros teaching syllabus. The Bachateros believe that having a strong and detailed syllabus ensures that all workshops and classes being taught across the country involve the same fundamentals. This guarantees that Juan and Samantha’s style of teaching is consistent in all classes. The uniqueness of the Bachateros syllabus has received much attention from promoters as Bachateros can offer an exciting new style of bachata to be showcased at their events.

Samantha has performed and taught at some of the most prestigious Latin dance events both nationally and internationally. She has gained a reputation in the Latin world as being not only a great teacher but also a fun and energetic member of the Australian Latin community. When Samantha isn’t in the studio working on new techniques to share with the Bachata world, you’ll find her spreading the love of Latin dance at salsa venues across Sydney, so make sure you ask her to dance!

Yvonne G. Laycy.

Yvonne G. Laycy. is one of Australia’s most recognised salsa dancers. She is known for her fire, energy, attitude and sexy ladies styling. Yvonne has over 14 years of dance training in JFH (jazz/funk/hip hop), Salsa (On1 & On 2), Samba, Dancehall,  and other street latin styles. Yvonne is recognised for her musicality and for her ability to break down technique in detail.

Yvonne is an accomplished performer having been entertaining audiences as a violinist and dancer since the age of 4, she is a 4 time Australian Salsa Champion and has also represented Australia at world competition level placing 8th in the Salsa On 1 divistion at the World Latin Dance Cup in San Diego, December 2010, 13th in the On2 division at the World Salsa Championships in Orlando (December 2007) and in July 2007 was a semi-finalist at the Puerto Rico World Salsa Open. Her music and dance background has allowed her to travel across Europe, Asia and America.

Yvonne is an actress, presenter and dancer extraodinaire. She is currently the face of Zumba on television with her work currently on air on Channel 7′s “The Morning Show”, TVS “Latin Dance Alive” and Aurora TV’s “The Wrong Show. In 2008 she was an Antenna Award Nominee for Best Female Presenter.

Natalia Amoore

Nat discovered Zumba whilst working as a Sports & Entertainment Manager at Club Med. In 2009, she was sent to Ixtapa in Mexico, only to arrive right in the middle of ‘Zumba Week’ with Zumba instructors and dedicated enthusiasts from around the world. And she was hooked!

Having a strong background in dance and performance, she was inspired by the concept of great music, great fun and great exercise all in one and, most importantly, how much people loved it!

Having taught Zumba in Mexico, Malaysia and Australia she recently updated her Zumba Certification in Las Vegas and moved back to Australia to join forces with Tropical Soul, and ensure that people are shaking their booties all the way to a fitter and healthier life!

Vali Damaskou

Of Greek origin, Vali Damaskou began her passion for dance at age 5. It all started for her, more than 23 years ago entering the world of ballet, jazz, contemporary, ballroom, hiphop, salsa, zouk, kizomba and Burlesque. She was born always to detonate the floor on fire and as a lover and practician of all styles of dance it is no surprise that she is already recognized worldwide and known as the Greek Goddess of the latin beat and one of the worlds best and more exciting body shakers of the dance arena today.

Vali for more than 7 years representing Australia and Greece at various congresses & festivals around the clobe including Australia, New Zealand, Bali, Malaysia, San Fransisco, New York, Seattle, Holland, Spain, Beirut, Russia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Miami, Montreal, Los Angeles just to name few and she was both pivotal and instrumental for introducing Zouk & Kizomba down under. She has also performed and featured in various world salsa tours and major events throughout Europe, Oceania, United States of America and Asia.

-Australian Bachata Champion 2011
-World Salsa Championships 6th place 2009 (pro division)
-Asian Salsa Open Champion 2009 (pro division)
-Australian Salsa Champion 2008 (pro division)
-Australian Salsa Champion 2007 (team division)
-Australian Dancing Society Honours 2006
-Dancesport Latin/Ballroom Champion 2006 (pro/am division)
-Diploma 3 Academie Internationale De Danse “Varna”
-Diploma 2 Academie Internationale De Danse “Varna”
-Diploma 1 Academie Internationale De Danse “Varna”
-Assistant Movie Director
-Choreographer in “Dancing With The Stars” & “So You Think You Can Dance”­ Australia 2008 – 2009
-Head Dancer in the Show “Dance Dance Dance” Productions since 2007
-International Judge since 2008
-Dance Partner of Oliver Pineda 5 Times World Salsa Champion since 2007

Multi award winning international artiste Vali is ready to further mesmerize your every sense in the world of dance.

Steven Thompson

Our Cuban Salsa instructor