When Orlando Martinez arrived in Edmonton from his native Cuba, he noticed a lack of proper Cuban salsa being offered in the city. He felt he could help people with his passion for dancing and, at the same time, bring Cuban culture to the Great White North.
“In the beginning, when I first arrived in the city, there wasn’t a lot of information about Cuban dancing,” Orlando says through his wife, business partner and translator, Jen. “People were already dancing salsa, but in my opinion they were dancing empty… their souls were empty.”
So Orlando focused on providing authentic salsa, and opened up the Fiesta Cubana Dance School. After several years offering classes to people of all ages and dancing abilities, Orlando now feels he is achieving his goal of bringing real Cuban salsa to Edmonton.
