Aliya Johnson

I've always enjoyed dancing and come from a family of dancers. Family reunions, weddings and birthday parties no one would be sitting down as the little kids all tried to teach "the old folks" the latest step. I remember my parents winning dance contests at the Vogue back in the day! My friends and I would even make up little routines and show them off at the junior high dances.

A couple of years ago, my brother and I went to the Jazz Kitchen thinking we'd just sit, have a drink and chill out. WRONG!! We didn't know anything about salsa but we just watched people's feet, made up the rest and danced all night. This past year, I returned to the Jazz Kitchen to really learn salsa and have been hooked ever since. Having never taken "formal" dance classes (Kindergarten ballet doesn't count!) Yang and Erin have been wonderful, PATIENT teachers and I look forward to our classes each week.

Salsa dancing has been a way to relieve stress, express my creativity, forget all the petty annoyances and frustrations of the week, meet really interesting people, travel…It goes on and on..

I look forward to learning a lot, improving, even making mistakes that's the only way we really grow.

Now if I could just learn how to lead….. : )