the company

Our Mission

Rumbamena Dance Company celebrates Latin culture honoring its roots and history as the foundation of their dance and music; values such as social inclusion, diversity, resilience, democracy, and community are essential to our work.

Welcoming innovation through fusion and opening dialogue for cultural exchange with other artistic disciplines and music genres is our biggest inspiration while staying true to our core values and Latin fundamentals.

Our company is a platform seeking to develop choreographic material and explore diverse artistic possibilities to deliver meaningful messages that touch topics in our actual society, especially women empowerment, body image, and cultural stereotypes.

We invest time and space to sincerely connect real stories of the individuals working with us since we have such a diverse and eclectic group with a majority of female artists from different parts of the world like Japan, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Cuba, Italy, and also different states within the US. We are inspired by real-life’s struggles and believe in the power of resilience.

Our ultimate goal is to work on a multidisciplinary level, connecting different artistic disciplines and welcoming artists from different walks of life. We want to bring these stories to our performances and to all types of audience hoping we touch your heart.

staff

Ximena Salgado

**Founder & Artistic Director**

An international multifaceted artist originally from Peru where she earned the title of National Salsa Champion as a Soloist in 2015. Her Dance Awards in the US includes 1st place in the Samba Team Division at the World Salsa Summit 2019, 1st place in Salsa Pro Heats and 2nd place as a Soloist at Salsa Con Fuego , Pittsburgh 2017, 2nd place in Bachata Rising Stars and 3rd place in Samba Soloist at the World Salsa Summit 2017.
As a dancer she has performed in arenas such as the Madison Square Garden and MET Life Stadium. She has been member of Balmir Latin Dance Company performing, teaching and competing in diverse Latin Dance Festivals around the US.

Her experience in Musical Theater includes “In the Heights” US Spanish Premiere at Gala Hispanic Theatre in Washington DC, “Hairspray”, “Disney’s High School Musical” (Sharpay), “Beauty and the Beast”, “The Wizard of Oz” in Peru.
Between her most important roles in Theater she played “Hamlet” (Ophelia), “Don Juan Tenorio” (Ana) in Peru, where she also played diverse featured roles in TV series and soap operas.

Based in New York City, she is Founder and Artistic Director of Rumbamena Dance Company. She also teaches her Latin Rhythms class, salsa and bachata in diverse dance studios and venues of the city.
On top of all she still pursues her acting and singing career along other passions.

A non stop dreamer and hardworking woman deeply grateful and inspired by her friends and family for the love and endless support.

Follow Ximena’s Journey:

XimenaSalgado.com

Instagram: @XimenaSalgado92

Facebook: @XimenaSalgado

Katie Hardin

Assistant Director & Program Coordinator

Born and raised in Oklahoma City, Katie has been dancing since age four and performing on stage since she was seven. Straight out of high school she decided to move to New York originally for a gap year but has stayed permanently. Since then she has choreographed and performed Off Broadway as well at regional theaters around the country.

Credits Include: The Giant Hoax- Assistant Choreographer (Theater Row) , A Chorus Line- Choreographer (Classen SAS Theater), Crazy for You- Associate Choreographer and Dance Captain (Sharon Playhouse), Anything Goes- Dance Captain (Sharon Playhouse), Nu’Arts Events- Featured Dancer (Empire Room), “That Man”- Assistant Choreographer (BDC Professional Showcase).

While performing and choreographing around the city, Katie teaches tap and musical theater at ShufflesNYC and Dance Project of Washington Heights, is a Barre instructor at Barre3, and is a certified personal trainer. She has been with Rumbamena since March of 2019 and has been grateful for every moment of it!

Follow Katie’s Journey:

Katie-hardin.com

Instagram: @my_fair_kt

Facebook: @KatieHardin

Youtube: KatieHardin

WhatsApp+Image+2020-08-11+at+09.06.35.jpg — Joseph Landaeta

**Music Editor**

Joseph or as they always say "Gabo” was born in Lima, Peru. He has liked sports and dancing in general since he was very young, and has always participated since school in folklore dance festivals, wining first place consecutively for 5 years.

In 2013 he was apart of Karin Ayulo's Passion 27 group as a co-founding member, choreographer and dancer, then in the same year Joseph became part of the staff of instructors of Tati Alcantara's Esceni-k school where he still teaches, having already taken 4 graduation promotions in the dance training program since December 2014. He has also danced in the concert of the 50 years of Ismael Miranda, participated as a choreographer in the Gran Show de Gisela, was a principal dancer, instructor, and choreographer in the Saoco Dance Company, and currently belongs to the staff of instructors of the FreeStyle dance school.

Joseph is dedicated to collecting music and since 2011 has been working as a DJ in special salsa events, having already participated in conferences in Peru. Since that same year, he participated in many more salsa and bachata congresses as a dancer or DJ such as: Trujillo Latin Fest (2017), Bachateame Mamá (2017-2019), Vive Latino (2016-2018), and Perú Latin Fest (2014-2018). Joseph likes everything related to music and is currently dedicated to making music editions. He has been an independent editor/DJ for 8 years and with Rumbamena since its inception.

dancers

Andrea Palesh is a Colorado native currently residing in New York City. After high school, she attended Colorado State University receiving a BA in dance and BS in fashion merchandising. While at CSU she had the pleasure of training with faculty members Chung-Fu Chang, Jane Slusarski-Harris, Melissa Corr, and Judy Bejarano. Additionally, she had the chance to work with such guest artists as Gabriel Masson, Kim Neal Nofsinger, and Hannah Kahn. College cultivated her artistic desire to choreograph - leading to numerous pieces selected for CSU department concerts, a commissioned piece for the Aspen Dance Connection in 2007, and the chance to present a piece at ACDFA. Since moving to NYC in 2008, Andrea has danced in Eyes of a Blue Dog Dance Theater, performing at APAP, Dance Theater Workshop, and Jacob's Pillow ‘Inside Out’ Series; danced for entertainer Robert Taylor Jr. from Season 8 of SYTYCD?; was a featured dancer in the off-broadway show Chris March’s Butt-Cracker Suite: A Trailer Park Ballet; and toured extensively both internationally and domestically with Mystic India: The World Tour. Most recently she was the choreographer for the production of Gunpowder presented at the 2018 FailSafe Festival, was the choreographer for off-broadway comedy show Rebirth of Rabbits Foot, and is currently a company member in the latin dance company Rumbamena. Since 2014 she has been directing, choreographing, and performing for the off-broadway cabaret show Guilty Pleasures Cabaret - which she founded with her best friend. When she’s not dancing or choreographing, she can be found designing costumes, contributing articles for online publications, and consulting brands with their online marketing and social media presence.

Follow Andrea’s Journey:

Andreapalesh.com

Instagram: @andreapalesh

Twitter: @andreapalesh

Erica started dancing at Marygrove College where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in performance of Fine Arts. She has studied with Penny Godboldo, Homer Bryant, Kevin Thomas and Keith Lee among others as she embarked on a journey to find her place in the dance world. Originally from Flint, MI but now resides in Harlem where she regularly performs with Rumbamena Dance Company.

Follow Erica’s Journey:

Instagram: @erica_kane8907

Facebook: @EricaKane

Jazmine grew up in Cathedral City, California with the most loving and supportive family. Following the valued advice of her oldest sister she attended the University of California, Irvine where she doubled majored in Dance and Visual Arts. After graduating university, and an enlightening solo backpacking trip, she moved to NYC and began her professional career in the Arts.

Follow Jazmine’s Journey:

Jazmineraye.com

Instagram: @jazmine_raye

Facebook: @artJAZ