Rumba Y Cache Dance Company

DIRECTOR Antonio Torres:
Antonio Torres is the Founder, Director and Choreographer of RumbaY Cache Dance Company and Rumba Y Cache Performance Team. Born in Mexico, Antonio grew up dancing to different genres of music, such as cumbia, folklorico, and others, then, in 1984 He relocated to Oregon, and has lived here ever since.
While a student at Oregon State University, Antonio began studying ballroom dancing and Latin dancing, and it was here that he was introduced to Salsa. Soon thereafter, He joined the University's Latin Performance Group and began performing locally.
After finishing his education at O.S.U., Antonio relocated to Portland and started taking Salsa Classes again. He began performing again in 2002, locally and out of state, and has been doing that ever since. In 2004, Antonio started teaching Salsa classes in the Portland-Metro area. In 2007, He created Rumba Y Cache Dance Company, the ONLY L.A. Style Dance Company in Portland. Rumba Y Cache Performance Team was created in 2009.
Antonio has performed in major Salsa Congresses, such as Portland, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas . He has studied abroad various summers in Los Angeles, and in Milan Italy, with Alex Da Silva, Francisco Vazquez, Fernando Sosa, and Cristian Oviedo. He has also taking an infinite amount of workshops and private lessons whenever there is an opportunity with many other world-renown instructors, such as Jayson Molina, Maykel Fonts, Rogelio Moreno, Salsamania, Edie, and many others.
These experiences have had a strong influence on Antonio's choreographies, as well as in his philosophy for dancing--which is, WE NEVER STOP LEARNING and WE MUST REMAIN HUMBLE--no matter how long we have been dancing and no matter how many competitions we have won--Thank you, to Cristian Oviedo, my friend and Mentor, for instilling this philosophy in me.
Antonio has competed in several competitions, where He has done very well. He won the Portland Jack and Jill Salsa Competition in 2005. This competition TRULY judges a dancer's ability on the dance floor---because He or She competes with people that one has never danced with, and it is NOT a choreographed number. Competing and Fame is not Antonio's goal; however. His love and passion for Salsa and for dancing is to help people grow as dancers and to help them reach their full potential. It is due to Antonio's SINCERE love and passion for Salsa, that He is well-respected by Portland dancers, D.J.s, and Instructors, as well as by Salsa promotors in different states of the Union. Antonio has also had the experience of being a judge at several Salsa competitions around Oregon.
Antonio has a Masters Degree in Education, a Black belt in Taekwondo, was an amateur boxer, and a soccer player. See You on the dance floor!

Matt Simpson:
Matt is a Portland native who was inspired to learn salsa after a month long trip to Costa Rica in 2009. With no prior dance experience, Matt has been taking lessons with Antonio for nearly a year. His lack of experience motivated him to quickly learn salsa basics, which further fortified his passion for salsa dancing. Matt is excited to be a member of the Rumba Y Cache Performance Team and take his dancing to the next level.

Jesse Jarvis:
Jesse has been dancing salsa for 10 years now. Previously a member of various performance groups in Eugene, in 2008 he joined the Rumba Y Cache Dance Company in Portland OR , performing at various events along the west coast. Jesse has taught salsa at both the University of Oregon and Lane Community College, and just recently joined up with Breakdown. One of Jesse's most recent accomplishments is he is the current Champion of the 2009 Gemini Armature Competition. He looks forward to sharing the knowledge he's learned and passing it on to the future generation of salseros!

Amber Black:
Amber was first introduced to salsa dancing in 2004, but it wasn’t until she completed graduate school, in 2008, that she really prioritized salsa dance into her life. Amber has grown up learning a variety of dance, including: ballet, tap, jazz/lyrical, and currently teaches children at Pacific Dance Academy in Milwaukie, OR. Amber is excited to have finally found a balance between her career as an occupational therapist and her passion for dance. In 2009, Amber co-founded the all woman’s Latin fusion group, Remix, and is proud to have joined Rumba y Cache in 2010. Amber is looking forward to the challenges that come with performance partner dancing and the opportunity to have fun while learning!

Shannon Butler:
Originally from Canada, Shannon has been living in Portland for the last 20 years. She has a degree in fine arts from the University of Calgary, and is currently self employed as a photographer.

Although Shannon has no dance background except for some figure skating as a child, in the spring of 2009 on a total whim, she took a salsa class and was immediately hooked. She loves everything from the music, the energy, the movement, and the warmth of the people in the salsa community.

Jennifer Ford:
Jennifer has been dancing for 3 years now and loving every minute. Previously she could be found in her barn with her horses, she rides English hunter jumper. If not in the barn then she was at the fire station, where she served 10 years as a Firefighter/Medic. Jennifer has no previous formal dance training, but grew up on the ice, skating. She continues to take classes, workshops and attend congresses. She has had the honor of training with Cristian Oviedo and Liz Lira as well as taking lessons form Alex DeSilva, Jayson Molina and Alien Ramirez. She became a member of Rumba Y Cache in 2008, where she started on the training team and has been working hard under the careful guidance of the director Antonio Torres and Coach Leslie Justiniani. Jennifer enjoys the challenges each new choreography brings and is excited to continue to learn and grow as a dancer.

Stacy Sprando:
Stacy did gymnastics for 19 years and as part of her training took ballet lessons. She discovered, and fell in love with salsa dancing, in 2008 while spending a year in Ecuador. Since returning to Portland for graduate school she has enjoyed dancing salsa socially, but had a strong desire to learn the basics and technique. She recently joined the Rumba y Cache Performance team and is honored to be part of such a great group of individuals and excited to improve as a dancer.

Chris Frey:
I started salsa thru a friends persistence, not really wanting to learn. The first time I took classes it only lasted a couple months, before I quit. I did the same thing over the next couple years. I took classes from various instructors in Portland, but after consistently learning from Antonio and being encouraged from him I was asked to join his dance company. I was hesitant at first, but liked his style of teaching and now I look forward to performing and representing his dance company.