Anaya Latin Dance


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Cultivating Community & Confidence Among Young Alaskans Through Social Dance


Working at West High School and Steller Secondary School, Anaya Latin Dance will host a series of classes to provide an opportunity for social contact and physical connection that has been lacking after a year of Covid-related restrictions, while building not only dance and cultural knowledge, but also mutual respect, healthy boundaries, kindness, good etiquette, and self-assured enjoyment among the participating youth. This project will introduce ASD teens to salsa and to other styles of social dance, to local leaders and instructors in the social dance community, and help them to develop the social skills that are not only essential for social dance but also for a healthy social life.

Join in the dance! 

All Anchorage School District secondary students are invited to join Anaya Latin Dance for this series of fun and free dance classes. Teens will be learning rueda de casino, a fun way of dancing Cuban salsa as a group of interchanging partners. This is to say that while students will dance with pairs, everyone will also dance together. Participants can expect a little bit of mambo, a little rumba, a little reggaeton, and a lot of laughter and tons of fun! 

Classes will meet from 2:30 to 3:30 pm on Mondays (West) and Wednesdays (Steller) from September 20th through November 10th. A special after school party will be held for the participants on Monday, November 15th incorporating members from the wider social dance community. 

Students will need to sign up in advance to reserve their spots as leaders and followers in the series, with each week building upon the next. Young men are strongly encouraged to join! 

Students may attend at either West or Steller or both, but do not need to be a student at either school, only an ASD secondary student. Masks and frequent hand sanitation will be required.

Student Sign Up Form

About the Teachers, Ciro Anaya & Liz Anaya

Teaching in Alaska since 2018, their dance classes, courses, and workshops mainly focus on Cuban salsa (casino, timba) for individual dancers (“salsa suelta”), for partners/couples, and for groups of partners/couples (“rueda de casino”). They also teach other Cuban social and popular dances, including the genres of son, mambo, and chachachá, incorporating other Cuban and Afro-Cuban elements to the extent of their collective knowledge and capacity.

Student Sign Up Form