Amory Raphael
My name is Amory Raphael and I was born September 17th 1980 on the beautiful island of Curacao.
Three and a half years ago I went to a salsa party but I couldn’t dance salsa so I only danced Bachata and merengue. I became infected with the salsa virus, so I attended a few parties and only danced what I knew, bachata and merenque. When I went to Curacao for my internship at the end of 2006, I followed a few salsa lessons (Puerto Rico style) but I didn’t dance a lot socially so I quickly forgot what I had learned.
In 2007 I started taking lessons of salsa on1( LA styling) here in Holland. This time I went to parties and danced socially so I wouldn’t forget what I had learned during the lessons. I went to clubs on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and I liked the vibe of the people at these parties and the more I danced the more I liked the salsa scene and the better dancer I became. I danced on1 for nearly a year and I started dancing on2 when I Joined Matanza in 2008 nearly a year ago and been dancing this style since then.
I was approached by Gabriel (Gabi), the leader of Matanza, and he asked me if I was interested in show dancing and joining Matanza. He is a really good dancer so I thought why not. I went home and I looked Matanza up on the internet, YouTube, to see their shows. The group had great shows like Shaka and Muneca. The training was a whole new level for me, these guys trained hard but I liked the way these guys where dancing but I wasn’t familiar with the style they where dancing. When I asked Gabi what style they where dancing, he said: “on2 Mambo”. I became very interested in learning this style but I was too busy with school & work so I couldn’t attend the trainings. I decided to stop and finish my school first or at least wait until I had more time to dedicate to the team. By the time I almost finished school, I had more time free and I decided to start attending the trainings again and I have been training since then with Matanza.
Matanza is a great group to be in, hard trainings and everyone who has been in the group are great dancers, socially and performing. I really enjoy being in this group, the team members are great people to be around and we do have a lot of fun when we go out together. We all want the same and that is to become a better dancer and performer. The thing I like the most of this group is that we support each other and everyone is trying hard to help themselves, the other and the group to become better, the best. I dance much more then before, I go to more parties and I even started going to salsa congresses, I also performed in the Matanza show “Africa”. We are growing as group and as individuals. Sky isn’t the limit but a new beginning.