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 pre-1999)

Steve Seda was recently the focus of a New York Stories Profile.  In the past I’ve tried to make it a point to reserve mambo instructors for instructor reviews only and mambo performer for profiles only.  But its becoming apparent that more and more mamberos are gradually crossing over to both fields of mambo dancing.  It was only after I started my research for his Profile, that I heard of Steve’s teaching skills.  You can imagine how surprised I was to learn that he was teaching a mambo class almost under my very nose.  With a little more digging, I discovered that Steve keeps a low profile (no pun intended) on his classes because he’s not interested in the publicity. He happens to love teaching mambo for the sake of teaching. Most people who go to his classes learn about him via word of mouth.  So armed with this info, I decided to drop by for a surprise visit and watch him teach.

First of all, Steve is not a rookie in the field of mambo dancing.  He has danced in such groups like the RMM Dance Company, The Mario Diaz Dance Review, The Addie-tude Dance Company and is currently a member of The Descarga Latina Dance Company.  He has performed on the Combinacon Perfecta Tour; appeared on stage at Madison Square Garden, Roberto Clemente Arena, Carnegie Hall, Waldorf Astoria, Copacabana and at various New York’s Salsa/Mambo Dance Clubs.  He has traveled to Philadelphia, Florida, Los Angeles, Chicago, Texas and Colombia.  He has also appeared in various videos including India, Tito Puente, Hilton Ruiz and La Combinacion Perfecta.  Enough said.

Back to the class. Steve teaches a couple of classes each week.  It was at one of these locations where I dropped in on the unsuspecting Steve as he began his class.  After exchanging a warm greeting, I began to see the man in action.  It was apparent in both his open floor work (floor shines) and in his partner work segments, that Steve focuses on developing good basics in all his students.  As I said earlier, he isn’t into teaching for publicity, so he really isn’t into teaching fancy steps until he is certain that you can handle them.  He wants to turn out good students with a solid mambo foundation.  Steve knows that teaching people 100 different moves in a couple of lessons will never create good dancers.  That a student will benefit more with a few strong and confident moves, than he would if he kind-of/sort-of knows many half-ass, weak and insecure moves.  Its quality not quantity that counts with him.

The day that I was there, Steve was running through a series of moves with his students which formed part to a dance choreography of his.  Before getting into the actual routine, he would drill the hell out of his students.  As the class progressed, he began to go over his choreography.  I could see how the order in which he taught his skills in class flowed which his his student dance routine.  The moves and the routine were like Steve himself, simple and clean.  It was clear that he was having a good time teaching, dancing to the choreography and watching his students perform his routine.  All during this time I noticed how very attentive he was to each and every one of his students and how he generated a positive atmosphere.  That impressed me.  By the end of the class he managed to give everyone his personal touch.  I think he actually gets a kick at watching people learn to dance mambo as much as a parent does when observing their child learn to crawl, stand, walk then run.

Steve's Style in a nutshell:
If I were to describe Steve’s style of dancing, I would say its clean, simple and fun.  He has a smile that is contagious and spreads like wildfire.  He is satisfied to break students into the beginning level of mambo dancing.  Once students master the basics of his class, he encourages them to move onto other teachers.  So if you are looking for an alternative in the lower west side of Manhattan, want to get into a smaller more intimate class environment, are interested in developing good basics and learn from a patient instructor, then Steve Seda could be the mambo instructor for you.

Social Dance:

• None at this time.
  Check our calendar for a list of all current local Social Dances

Website:

• www.MySpace.com/SedaOn2

Articles:

• None at this time.

Instructional Videos

• None at this time.

Dance Company

• Descarga Latina Dance Company: Steve Seda, Dancer/Member
  Check SalsaNewYork.com Calendar for Dance Company Performances
• See listing in the SalsaNewYork Directory of Mambo Performing Groups
  

Contact Info:

• Cell Phone: (646)489-0238 
• Email: SedaOn2@yahoo.com

Privates:

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

Children:

• Steve mainly caters to an adult mambo student dance crowd.

Class Schedule:

Directions:

• By Subway/Train:
  Take the 1/9, F or V train to 23rd Street Station.  Then walk up to 26th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues.
  
  NYC Transit : NYC Public Transit Authority Website which supplies you info on train/bus routes, transportation, etc.

• Mapquest.com : Map/direction providing website for those using their own vehicles to get to class location. 
  Yahoo.com: This is the link to the Yahoo map for the address of the studio. According to Steve Shaw, it may be the better of the two Map websites.