Robert Robertson aka "Afrosalsero"
My name is robert roberson aka afrosalsero. i started dancing in 2002, to try to reduce the stress caused by a car accident which severely injured my mother! i am 63 yrs old.

early on, i was attracted by salsa music! it was music that moved my soul!! i have become a total student of this genre!!

dance companies are reflective of their leadership!! serena cuevas provides leadership that has made DESEO, an exceptional group! wonderful choreography, sassy and VERY classy dancers, and amazing costuming!!

my growth as an on2 mambo dancer started with lessons from jayson molina, but my continuing education has been with serena! she is a brilliant teacher and i am blessed to also know her as a friend!! she is a master of "THE ART OF HUMAN BEING"!!

Michelle Cua, 29
I started salsa dancing 3 years ago about the time when I first moved to San Diego. My friend Jenny invited me to Cafe Sevilla for the first time and I was hooked ever since.
Salsa has attracted me to dance in so many ways from mastering the basic to dizzy spins to fancy dips. I just can't help it when there's salsa music playing. One time, I was walking in Old Pasadena in LA and heard a faint sound of salsa music. The next thing I knew, I was following where the music was coming from, stepping inside the club with live music, finding myself moving to the music and dancing the night away. It's like a magnetic pull almost. =)
Being part of Deseo allowed me to take my dancing to a whole other level. With each practice, I surprise myself that there's never an end to learning salsa techniques and styling. Yay Deseo!

Bryan Grayson
I’m 33 years old and I’ve been dancing for 1 month with Serena. I started dancing after multiple occasions in which I danced with various dates unsuccessfully. The woman didn't really have a good time because I didn't know enough to really make it a fun experience. Dancing with Serena… well she’s an amazing, patient, and charismatic instructor. She is able to flip back and forth between lead and follow in the middle of moves in order to make on-the-spot corrections. She speaks in language you can understand, and will give application as basic or as advanced as you need. For the first time, I am not entirely lost out there. Thank you!

Andrea and Omar
We are in the best time of our lives yet spend a great deal of our time working. When we are together we want to have something we enjoy doing together. Salsa sounded fantastic! Watching Serena dance is a good enough reason to inspire one to want to dance just as great. When we started taking beginner lessons at the beginning of 2008, we were immediately hooked because Serena is an awesome instructor and makes the learning (and even sometimes frustrating) process fun! She is easy to follow and very patient, which are crucial qualities in dance instructors for us. She prides her students on being the best they'd like to be and does not settle for just 'okay'; we feel that works to our benefit in addition to making her look as good as her stylish dance moves we are now able to show off! Taking lessons with Serena has built an inner confidence for us to go out to the clubs and give it our best. Thank you girl, we love you!

Leland Ferguson
I'm 36, but people think I'm only 25, so I'm 25 if anyone wants to know. I’m a Sports Chiropractic Physician by day, and a foolish salsa dancing gigalo by night... hahaha, right. I've been dancing for approximately 2 years, and I've only learned to count to six or seven... Aren't there more numbers? I asked a girl, it happened to be the instructor, for her number the first night I went out to dance, and all i got was: "1-2-3---5-6-7" Why does any guy start salsa dancing? Do you have to ask? :P It's for the free ice water for the 10 dollar cover... Hmm, yah that works. My experience also includes a huge boost in dancing confidence. I love Serena! Who wouldn't? She is kind and very attentive when she teaches. I've only been dancing for a short time, so she really boosts my confidence and yet still manages to push me to improve to new levels. She is fun to work with and I highly recommend her to anyone. Thank you Serena!

Bill Calhoun
I was a solid intermediate Lindy Hop dancer…but, I had little experience with Salsa (I had taken a few club classes…and didn’t really know what I was doing). I play music at parties and weddings because I have a DJ business. Often, I would see people dancing "salsa." Some people seemed to have form and style while other people danced in a very random and awkward way. When I DJ’d for the San Diego County Fair’s Ballroom Dance Competition, I saw Serena Cuevas compete. She looked amazing. After the competition, I spoke to her and found out that she taught Salsa. Shortly after that, I began taking private lessons with her. Taking private lessons was a really great way to develop good Salsa dancing habits. Serena helped me with counting music, how to move with the music, how to turn my partner (with the music and do it physically correctly), how to keep my balance while doing the moves, how to help my partner keep her balance…in addition to learning basic salsa moves. There are a lot of details that make up good Salsa partner dancing. It is much easier (and more efficient) to learn these details through private lessons than it is to try to get them from most group classes. Now, when I take a group class, I can get much more out of it. That is because my Salsa foundation is correct and solid thanks to the private lessons with Serena. Serena Cuevas is very intelligent and has the ability to get her student to understand what needs to be done. She often uses clever analogies to get her point across…and she never gives up. If one approach is not working, she will come up with another completely different way of getting her student to learn. I can sincerely recommend Serena Cuevas to anyone wanting to learn Salsa. Training with Serena is also good for intermediate dancers who want to refine their skills.

Ranier Keith
I’m a Post-Production Video Editor / Motion Graphics Artist and I have been a fan of dancing since my junior year in High School, when I learned that it was the fast track to the ladies. Since then, I've been a "Step-Master" for my fraternity, Phi Beta Sigma, and now, I Salsa!

Why did I start salsa dancing? In one word… Serena. I witnessed her Salsa dancing one Saturday night and haven't been the same since. She had inspired me to take lessons and train and my life hasn't been the same since.

I learned a tremendous amount of coordinated movement in a relatively short amount of time. It wasn't easy, but she was always available to help me refine what I learned, as well as push me towards more complicated moves. She made sure that I added the proper moves into my muscle memory, and dancing as whole has become much easier. She is very passionate about this art form, and as a fellow artist that was very important to me. Overall, she is a very talented artist who can take your Salsa to the next level. Try her beginner class, and thank me later.