Niko Salgado

Niko “Suave” is smooth and dynamic in his dancing and provides a lot of fun in the challenges of dance.  He has been teaching with the Social Dance Studio since 2004 to begin his professional teaching career and has been dancing since 1996. A multi-focused dancer, he started with East Coast Swing and Lindy Hop, followed by Ballroom and Ballroom competition, until he discovered his extreme love for Salsa. He has gone outside the box and excelled in high standards having choreographed routines to present at other cities, as well as teach workshops at different cities around the US. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Chicago, Milwaukee, Tampa Bay, St. Louis and New York are some of the places he has been to continue learning and connecting with other people, as well as spreading the knowledge of dancing. Eddie “The Mambo King” Torres is one of his favorite teachers. He has taught incredible workshops with great feedback for the Chicago International Salsa Congress since 2008, and Internationally recognized Chicago Salsa Festival since 2009.

But the fun does not stop there for Niko. He has delved in and explored Argentine Tango as a complimentary dance to further his interests in dance and dance training. He had co-founded the Argentine Tango classes at the Social Dance Studio, and although not teaching the group classes, is in full support of the tango program and continues to teach private lessons. He continues to travel to learn this passionate and intense dance to bring back and share his experiences with his students.

Most recently he has opened himself to the pursuit of learning West Coast Swing. He has taken a strong interest in his participation and has grown very quickly. Through his travels in West Coast Swing events and competition, he has met some of the top professionals and is growing in his understanding and execution of the dance.

Niko’s specialty as an instructor is making sure clear instruction is present. He also represents hard work and discipline contributed by his training in the martial art of Aikido, breathing and meditation. He is very attentive to details pertaining body positioning, mechanics of posture, flexibility and core strength for stability.