Dancer's corner: Ryoko Ohara Ryuki Murata - dancers; salsa music enthusiasts - Entrevista - Artículo breve

Latin Beat Magazine, Feb, 2004

With the recent surge in salsa congresses all over the world, perhaps the message of music crossing all borders is an indication of better things to come. Although the congresses attract musicians, music lovers, aficionados of tropical rhythms and people wanting to just go out and dance till dawn, there is a certain demographic that frequent these congresses with great fervor; sometimes following them as they go from city to city to all parts of the globe. Dancers, whether they belong to dance companies performing at the salsa congresses of professionals out to showcase their moves, passionately attend and literally breathe nothing but dance fumes throughout the usual four-day duration of these events.

Latin Beat Magazine has been highlighting dancers from time to time and is committed to bringing well-deserved notice to the dance population. One couple who stood out from the crowd in last year's Japan and Los Angeles congresses traveled with the Japanese contingency. Friends Ryoko and Ryu exhibited smooth, refined mores with their lithe, ethereal bodies whenever they danced. The language barrier was not a deterrent to discovering their sweet personalities. Ryoko began her ballet training at age eight in Tokyo and was accepted to the English National Ballet School in London, UK, for a 2-year course training at the age of 18. A knee injury halted her ballet career soon thereafter. After performing as a member of Team La Bomba in the 1999 Puerto Rico Salsa Congress and 2000 West Coast Salsa Congress, she started partnering with Ryu.

Ryu was a soccer enthusiast for 14 years, since age seven. He was introduced to salsa dancing while he was studying in London. He instantly became a salsa freak then, placing salsa as the first priority in his life. After graduating from the Aoyama Gakuin University, he began working for a newspaper publishing company, and at the same time, became Ryoko's dance partner, from whom he learned the dance form seriously.