Cuban Salsa Expert Teaches Celebrities to Dance in Argentina

Jorge Rodríguez, widely known as "The Salsa Engineer," was born 56 years ago in Santiago de Cuba. He has risen to fame as the preferred salsa instructor for celebrities in Argentina. Despite his love for his homeland, where his passion for dance was born, he emigrated in search of a better future for himself and his family, as he shared with the news portal Infobae.

"You have to become a mechanical engineer," his father insisted. Although he fulfilled that wish, his heart was set on a different path: the arts called to him. Rodríguez admitted that he dedicated a year to engineering, but after hanging his degree in his father's house, he decided to fully commit to dance.

The nickname "The Salsa Engineer" came later, once he settled in Argentina. Nearly three decades ago, he arrived in the country, where he developed a dance career that led him through various television programs and allowed him to train figures such as Graciela Alfano, Claudia Villafañe, and Alberto Cormillot, among many others.

"And today, besides teaching at La Viruta and organizing events, he animates the parties of the celebrities who adore him," noted Infobae. Rodríguez declared that his love for the arts was present since childhood. "I grew up in a home filled with music. My parents, Jorge Antonio and Emilia, always danced, especially on Sundays," he shared.

While his childhood lacked nothing, his twenties were marked by the collapse of the socialist bloc and the onset of the "Special Period" in Cuba, which changed the reality. At that time, he was studying Mechanical Engineering but remained involved in cultural activities, his true passion.

Although he graduated, Cuba's economic situation worsened: "The message then was that we had to live with just enough. I remember Fidel Castro saying at a women's congress, 'Save those dresses because you'll have to wear them again next year.'" Rodríguez admitted that music and dance saved him: "I channeled everything through that and didn't let the crisis get to me."

In '96, he met some Argentinians who invited him for an exchange. "I, of course, said yes, but I didn't believe it would happen until one day I received the invitation letter with a ticket to visit this country." Initially, he was supposed to stay for only three months, but he saw an opportunity to work and teach dance at a school called Danzario Americano, "which is where I began my professional career in Argentina."

To stay in Argentina, he found a woman willing to marry him in exchange for money. "Through a friend, I met a girl to whom I paid a thousand dollars to marry me. She had no problem getting married and welcomed the money. Also, being my wife allowed her to study theater in Cuba on a scholarship instead of paying tourist fees. It was beneficial for both," he told Infobae. With legal status, his professional career took off: "I started getting a lot of work with dance, workshops, hosting events, and shows. I also gave talks on Afro-Cuban culture. In Punta del Este, I had the chance to meet stars like Ricky Martin and Valeria Mazza."

Known as "the favorite teacher of celebrities," Rodríguez has trained personalities like Grace Alfano, Catherine Fulop, Dr. Alberto Cormillot, Claudia Villafañe, Karina Rabolini, and Mora Godoy, among others. He admitted that his work allowed him to meet many famous people, including the late Diego Maradona.

On his personal life, he explained that he still has his mother and four sisters in Cuba, "because my older brother passed away." He visits Cuba every two or three years. "My last visit was in June. It's tough because you find a country in a difficult situation. My family lives there, and it hurts. I help them, but sometimes I wish I could have a coffee with my mom when she's so far away."

Regarding Cuba's political situation, Rodríguez told Infobae that the people "deserve the right to choose which sociopolitical system they want to live in." He added, "I like when Silvio Rodríguez says that sometimes the word 'revolution' needs to lose the 'r' to start 'evolution.' We're talking about a revolution from 1959 when it's 2024, and the world is different."

"Today, there are new generations with new concerns. That's why I think it's unjustifiable that my country can't have the right to choose its destiny. At least the right to choose. We'll see what happens next. But since I was born, I've only seen one option: the Communist Party of Cuba," he emphasized.

Regarding his hope of living in Cuba again, he said, "If things change, if there's some socio-political opening, I would clearly live in Cuba. But in that Cuba we don't know yet."