Find out what you did not know about Salsa Dancer Oliver Pineda

1. Introduction

Oliver Pineda & Luda Kroitor
are the current World Salsa Champions for the Championships hosted by Albert Torres and the 'Salsa Seven' in Las Vegas in November 2005.

They caught my eye at the recent West Coast Salsa Congress in May 2006.

They were fantastic and simply a class above everyone else.

Here is how they came to prominence to be what they are today.

2. The earlier years

Oliver Pineda was born in Australia of Chilean descent and has been performing at a very early age.

Luda, originally from Russia, has been dancing since the age of eleven when she partnered Oliver. She has toured the United States with the musical show 'Burn The Floor' and was also chosen to dance in two series of the Channel 7 reality TV show ‘Dancing with the Stars’.

Together they began their journey into studying, teaching and performing all styles of Latin and Dancesport all over Sydney, Australia.

3. Champion Performers, Choreographers and Instructors.

Oliver and Luda have won many local dance competitions but the competitions they have won that have projected them onto the world stage were the IDO World Salsa Championship in 2001
and of course the World Salsa Championships 2005 in Las Vegas where they are the "On 2" champions. Luda was also the Japanese Open Champion in 1999.

Oliver and Luda have performed at many Salsa Congresses around the world, including the Annual West Coast Salsa Congress in Los Angeles 2003 - 2006, the UK Salsa Congresses 2004 and 2005 and the Puerto Rican Salsa Congress 2005. In addition Oliver was the choreographer for the routines performed at the annual West Coast Salsa Congress in Los Angeles in both 2002 and 2003 and added the role of Instructor to his international performance accomplishments at the Paris Salsa Congress 2003. He also assisted the well known Australian film director Baz Luhrman with the Latin choreography for the film 'Moulin Rouge'.

Oliver is also the cofounder of Latin Motion, which is a Salsa dance company dedicated to Salsa, Mambo and Rueda worldwide, in which he is the choreographer, lead dancer and trainer. Oliver and Luda will be performing at the UK Salsa Congress in 2006 and I for one cannot wait to see them again.

For more on Oliver, Luda and the Latin Motion please visit Latin Motion

4. Updates are ongoing

Information about Salsa Dancers worldwide will be given as we develop this site. Please bear with us as we gather the relevant information.

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