My big dream is to spread the message of salsa, Salsa King Albert Torres tells Jyoti Kalsi during his recent visit to Dubai

He is known as the Salsa King but prefers to call himself the salsa ambassador. Albert Torres is responsible for the massive interest in salsa dancing on the West Coast of USA and has made it is his mission to introduce the joy of salsa to every city in the world. He was in Dubai recently to host the first Salsa Congress in the UAE that he organised along with Mark Turner, owner of Malecon, the Cuban restaurant at Dubai Marine Beach Resort and Spa. The two-day congress was held on December 12 and 13 at The Fairmont Dubai.

"Dance is a way of life for me. My mother was a gifted dancer and she began teaching me traditional dances like the Mambo when I was five. Since then it has been my dream to dance and to travel all over the world as a dancer," says Albert, who is a Puerto Rican raised in New York. "My mother still dances. She complains of aches and pains but the moment I start dancing with her they disappear miraculously," he laughs.

His portly look belies his grace and expertise in every form of Latin dancing. Albert, who is now based in Los Angeles, has been dancing professionally for more than 15 years and is a well-known teacher and choreographer. In 1993 he was invited to dance at the Academy Awards ceremony and has since choreographed for several Hollywood films. He has also appeared in films like Mambo Kings, Out to Sea and Dance With Me.

"I have enjoyed working with stars like Antonio Banderas, Vanessa Williams, Sandra Bullock, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau. They loved the music and were eager students. I also had the opportunity to dance with Jennifer Lopez on a television programme and performed at her first wedding. Hollywood and choreography are great, but my big dream is to spread the message of salsa," he says.

Albert started promoting Latin music and dance on the West Coast of USA in 1993. "The response was poor because people did not understand the music and thought that it was for Latinos only. My dream faded into a nightmare and I lost everything I had," he admits candidly.

But Albert did not give up his dream. He heard of the first Salsa Congress that was held in Puerto Rico eight years ago. Albert got involved in the next one as a dancer and a producer and decided to take this concept worldwide. His company, Albert Torres Productions, organised the first Salsa Congress in Los Angeles five years ago. "We have grown from a few hundred participants in 1998 to 11,000 over three days this year. Salsa now attracts people from every nationality and every age group," he says, beaming with pride.

Albert and his wife Maya, who is also a dancer, travel all over the world for the Salsa Congresses. "This year we have done 13 such events in cities like Zurich, Hong Kong and Tokyo and plan to take it to China soon. We pick dancers and bands from all over the world and give them the chance to perform for an international audience. Because I am a dancer myself, I take extra care to treat them well. The idea is to give them international exposure and make their dreams come true, but the most important thing is to give these dancers the respect they deserve," emphasises Albert.

For the Dubai Congress he had brought with him a team of professional dancers and teachers who held workshops for Dubai salseros during the day and presented stunning performances in the evening.

Every form of Latin dancing from the different styles of salsa to samba and the Tango as well as dance comedy improvisations were presented. "Salsa means sauce and I make sure that every show has as many flavours as possible," says Albert whose lively compering added to the drama of the event.

Some dancers from Dubai also got the opportunity to share the stage with professionals from Cuba, Italy, Jordan, Paris and New York. And afterwards the floor was thrown open for Dubai salseros to dance the night away.

"Dubai is now on the world salsa map. It is fantastic for my students and me to watch and learn from these greats. Not only will our dancing improve but there is a change in our attitude to salsa now," said an excited Tamie Fowlie, a well-known Dubai based salsa instructor and one of the volunteers helping with the event.

Albert is involved in every aspect of the preparations. He came to Dubai in June to set the ball rolling. "The congress provides a common platform for salsa teachers and professionals to come together. I was happy to see all of them working so well together during the Dubai event. Some of them came to the first congress in the UK in September this year and participated in the workshops. I am amazed to see the tremendous improvement in the teachers and the students since I saw them in June," he enthuses.

The workshops held in Dubai for every level of salsero were intensive and designed to propel them to a new level of achievement. Albert himself held workshops on the history and evolution of salsa illustrating his talks with interesting video clips of performances from different eras and also tapes of the music as it sounded in different decades.

"I talk about the history because I want to pass on this legacy to the next generation. Dance changed my life. It made me want to learn Spanish and know more about my culture. It made me proud to be who I am and I also met my beautiful wife through dance," he smiles.

"Most of us stop ourselves from letting go. Dance is about bringing out the child in you. It is like walking to the rhythm of music. If you can walk, then you can dance. Just let the music creep up from your feet till it reaches your heart because the beauty of salsa is that you do not have to understand the words to be able to dance to them," says Albert. "The motto of my company is to create unity through salsa. I believe that if everyone was on the dance floor there would be no war," he says with conviction.

The lady dancing by his side

"They say that behind every successful man is a woman; but in my case she is beside me and sometimes ahead of me pulling me along," says Albert about his wife Maya. A well-known dancer in her own right, Maya is of Syrian and French descent.

"I used to do jazz, hip hop and belly dancing till I heard salsa music for the first time two-and-a-half years ago. I loved it so much that I decided to attend the salsa congress in Puerto Rico. That changed my life. I moved to Los Angeles and started taking lessons. I auditioned and was lucky to be picked and trained further by the number one dance company in Los Angeles," exults Maya.

She now travels all over the world with her dance group as well as with Albert to organise the salsa congresses. They got married this year and are obviously very much in love. "The first time I saw him dance I was enthralled by him. I bought tickets to all his shows and trained hard because I wanted to be good enough to dance with him," she says giving him that special adoring look.

Albert reciprocates these feelings. "Earlier I danced to show off a bit, but now I dance with her to show her off," he admits. "I hired her to work with me before I married her. She has been a great asset to the company and has changed my way of looking at relationships and interacting with people. She is also the one who introduced me to the culture