Instructor Stats:

• Instructor Review

• Contact Info

• Website

• Articles

• Dance Company

• Social Dance

• Class Schedule

• Studio Directions

• Instructional Videos

• Privates

• Children

• Class Fee/Tuition
  

INSTRUCTOR REVIEW 
(Originally posted on Salsaweb NY on 1/99)
Another of New York’s hard working Mambo Instructors is Angel Navarro who has been teaching at his Mambo Unico Dance Studio for several years now. His school is literally located on the boarder-line between Queens & Brooklyn, thus making it hard for me to classify it as a pure Brooklyn or Queens Mambo school. Navarro was originally a student of Eddie Torres before going out on his own. He has performed in Puerto Rico during the 1998 World Salsa Congress as part of "Team New York", at various nightclubs throughout the New York area and is the director of the Mambo Unico Student Dance Company. Angel is also the author of an instructional video entitled: "Salsa New York Style".

The first thing I noticed when I arrived to the actual Mambo Unico Dance School was that it was originally a storefront that had been converted into a dance studio. The wooden floor, wall of mirrors, clean white walls, bathroom, office space, picture frames and posters indicate the hard work that went into its creation. Its demonstrates Angel & China’s pride for their product and automatically instills positive enthusiasm amongst the student population.

Angel was already in the middle of drilling his class with open floor shines when I finally walked in through the door. Like a commander-in-chief, he led his group of students through a series of open steps. His method of drilling these steps would be to call out a shine and repeat it various times in a back-to-back manner until he was ready to move onto the next floor shine. Occasionally, steps would be repeated. This would serve to either help review the more difficult steps being practiced on that day or to give students a breather after hitting them with some difficult floor work. Interesting thing to point out was that Angel seems to use Merengue music to breakdown some new steps. I guess merengue serves as background music to help motivate students while keeping them at a fixed practice pace.

After a brief water break, Angel is ready to begin the Partner work segment of the class. A turn pattern is illustrated and the class begins to go to work on mastering it. Students are partnered accordingly, with more experienced students paired off with newer ones. Angel feels that this accommodation is beneficial to both students. The newer student ends up struggling less due to the experience of the older one, while the more experienced student becomes a better dancer by assuming the role of leader (regardless of being a man or woman). Most importantly, students are taught what Angel calls Offensive/Defensive Dancing. Much like the concept of defensive driving, this is the etiquette of dancing on a crowded dance floor. Its the job of the man to look out for his partner and aviod unintentional collisions with other couples who do not know how to keep a nuetral dance space while dancing.

The Mambo Unico class schedule is designed to accommodate most since their lessons are held seven days a week. Besides the usual classes, Angel offers a Mambo Unico SalsaKids class every Saturday. They also provide workshops specializing in teaching ladies on their specifics (Ladies Styling...i.e. how to enhance their Rhythm, shoulders, waist, arms, head movement and so on). They also have an all men Sunday workshop too. Men are taught to lead with confidence and grace.

Angel's Style in a nutshell
If I were to compare Angel Navarro to other mambo instructors, I would say that he has an Eddie Torres influenced style mixed with his own unique sabor to mambo dancing. So if live in Brooklyn/Queens and Ridgewood New York is within you reach, then maybe Angel Navarro and his Mambo Unico Dance Studio is the place for you.

Social Dance:

• None

Website:

•  www.SalsaNYStyle.com

Articles:

• None at this time.

Instructional Videos

• SalsaNYStyle Videos

Dance Company

• No information at this time.
  

Contact Info:

• FaceBook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/angel.navarro.12914216?fref=ts
• Phone:  718-578-3770
• e-mail:  AngelNavarroNY@aol.com

Privates:

• Angel is currently available to teach private classes. Those interested should contact him directly to discuss fees and scheduling.

Children:

• No information at this time.

Class Schedule:

classes are subject to change without notice  
it is always a good idea to confirm classes or clubs before heading out

Directions:

• Please click on Angel Navarro's Web Site to see location and travel instructions to classes.