Alba, guardian angel of salsa, has no recollection of her first salsa dance. She has been dancing for as long as she can remember! Born in Villa de Cura in Aragua State, Venezuela, a famous cocoa producing region during Colonial times, Alba's earliest childhood memories are of singing and dancing. At the age of three she recalls strutting around the house in her mother's stilettos, hairbrush mic in hand - clearly a lady destined for the stage! She was always physically active. At five she was seriously into gymnastics and playing boyish games that involve a lot of rough and tumble. She describes one game called 'tombola" which, if I understand rightly, involves holding on to a lamp post and bearing the weight of three boys above you (or as many as you can carry!)

Alba comes from an artistic family. Her mother worked in theatre and writes poetry. One of her uncles is an actor and has produced many films in Cuba and Chile. Another plays the drums in an afroCaribbean band in Miami. Her aunt owns a ballet and contemporary dance school, 'Barquisimeto' which Alba joined at the age of eight (the year it opened). She hasn't stopped dancing since! At eighteen Alba graduated from the ballet school and moved on to contemporary dance. At twentyone she was actively teaching and studying and was the youngest qualified ballet teacher in the country. "All the rest were grannies!" she says. A year later she was teaching in the National Ballet School in Caracas and belonged to the prestigious contemporary dance group 'Compania Regional de Danza del Estado Lara' A major performance undertaken by the group was to adapt a poem, 'La Loca Luz Caraballo' by Andres Eloy Blanco, to dance. Alba speaks of this work with pride. As we wait for our drinks she recites the words of the poem passionately as if they had recently been performed. "I knew the words of the poem by heart well before the company decided to adapt the words to dance, because of poetry being so important in our house when we were growing up."

Alba's adventurous spirit lead her to explore far beyond the boundaries of her homeland. In 1993 she came to Europe. The first thing she did when she arrived in Edinburgh, was take her CV to Dancebase. "It was the only dance school which offered many styles of dancing, and that appealed to me for its international flare."
Although at first she had every intention of pursuing a teaching career in ballet, it soon became apparent that it would be difficult to adapt her own style (Russian, Cuban) to the established ballet teaching style of the UK. Dancebase were quick to realise that Alba had something else to offer that no one else had. - a true feel for the tropical rhythms of her homeland. In her fourth year of ballet study in Venezuela, elements of salsa were naturally added to classes and there was an emphasis on cross training that borrowed from a multitude of genres.

Salsa was something that Alba did in her sleep! She has fond memories of dancing with her fifty cousins at Christmas time and at family gatherings. The music was to be found in so many facets of life. She began teaching salsa and merengue at Dancebase in Edinburgh in 1994 and very soon there was a long waiting list! An intermediate class was added later. Soon Alba was teaching eight classes a week at Dancebase, two at the University and also teaching in Stirling, Livingstone and Dundee! She took a break in 1999 to travel to Italy as part of the degree course she is currently taking at Edinburgh University. Very soon she will be multilingual! Amongst other things, she is considering writing and journalism as options for the future - exciting times lie ahead!

In an age in which Latin rhythms have become increasingly commercial, Alba is quick to point out that salsa is more than something to purchase. There is a whole culture behind it. She speaks affectionately about what salsa means to her. "It is the voice of my mother, what I feel, a language I use to communicate." Of course she is quite realistic when a newcomer joins her class. She doesn't expect them to feel what she does, so she starts with the basics, a technical breakdown of the steps and movements. She gives them a basic framework or 'skeleton' which may be awkward and mechanical at first, but provides a tool to work with. She always allows people plenty of time to get acquainted with the music. The apparent ease with which Alba teaches is no accident. She has the benefit of many years of rigorous training in the field of dance, including the study of anatomy. She also has many years of teaching experience behind her.

Alba's lessons are fun and accessible to everyone. She is a natural performer who shines on stage. She is charismatic and an inspiration to many people.
One such person is Carol-Ann Stephenson (left) who attended one of her classes in 1996.
"As soon as the music started it was as if suddenly she had found meaning to her life," says Alba of Carol-Ann. "She had rhythm inside her but just needed to be shown what to do with it. As a complete beginner, she would loose the beat and find it again quickly all by herself." Clearly Carol Ann is a natural dancer who has worked hard at it. She has been teaching with Alba since 1997 and much of her social life evolves around salsa. She has been on dancing holidays to Miami and often attends weekend courses that bring together teachers from around the country. By day she is a radiographer at the Western General Hospital. By night she is a performing 'Salsa Angel!'

Denisse Chadwin (right) joined the team soon afterwards, after attending Alba's classes in Stirling. Denisse helps to run the dance classes with Alba and Carol-Ann and the trio frequently perform together.

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