Cortlandt Resident Offers Dance Lessons With Addie-Tude in Mt. Kisco
Addie Diaz has been a professional Latin dancer and instructor for the better part of two decades. More recently, she has been pleasantly surprised that some of the dances that she has enjoyed her entire life have been brought into the mainstream.
Thanks in part to shows like “Dancing With the Stars,” the salsa, cha-cha and rumba, among other Latin dance styles, have caught the public’s imagination.
Diaz hopes that positive response continues to grow as two weeks ago she recently moved into her instructional operations, Addi-Tude Dance Studio, to the Westchester Ballroom on Radio Circle in Mount Kisco. Diaz, a Cortlandt resident for the past six years, is teaching hip-hop and salsa classes for children and teenagers three times a week while another instructor will be handling the adult social and performance salsa classes.
Many of her students are Hispanic, but Diaz’s classes have been appealing to youngsters of all ages and ethnic backgrounds.
“They want the kids to be exposed to their culture if they are a Hispanic family,” said Diaz, who was based in Tarrytown for the past five years. “But, certainly, it’s sort of a mixed enrollment. We have kids that are African-American, Asian, white, all nationalities. It’s the same with the adults as well.”
Each of Diaz’s classes is an hour long. Youngsters’ hip-hop sessions run on Monday from 5 to 7 p.m., with the younger children (6 to 11 years old) taking the first hour’s class and the 12- to 18-year-olds in the second hour. The same schedule applies for Tuesday’s classes, but is dedicated to salsa. On Saturday, the salsa classes run from 10 a.m. to noon, with the younger children going first followed by the hip-hop sessions from 12 to 2 p.m.
Diaz’s move to Mount Kisco came about because she was able to find an adequately-sized facility, not as a result of the village’s high Hispanic population, although she hopes to reach out to the sizeable Latin community.
Classes closely mirror the school calendar from September to June, although this year they were delayed two months because of the move. Openings for classes still remain. Each class also participates in a stage production toward the end of the school year.
“It’s very exciting when the parents see the kids on the stage,” said Diaz, an artist-in-residence at ArtsWestchester who has taught in public schools and community organizations as well as having traveled internationally. “They go crazy. It’s fun to watch.”
Meanwhile, Diaz has been encouraged by the mushrooming popularity of Latin dance, which has opened eyes of many adults through the televised competition dance shows. An important step for children and teenagers, she said, was the release of the critically acclaimed 2005 documentary “Mad Hot Ballroom,” about a New York City schools ballroom dance program that used many of the Latin dances.
Although Diaz enjoyed dancing from a young age, it didn’t become her life’s work until after she went to a club in the Bronx where she grew up to listen to a favorite band. That night she saw some accomplished dancers on the floor and was amazed at the moves that she saw.
To that point, Diaz had never taken a lesson but soon after a highly respected instructor noticed her on the floor and took her under her wing. For most of the past 20 years, Diaz has taught and performed throughout the United States and abroad.
“I think the style of it, people are attracted to it,” Diaz said of Latin dance. “People love the music. They just love how the music sounds. It makes you move. I think once they’re hearing the music, it makes them want to move their body and it draws them to want to learn and take classes. It’s just a beautiful dance.”
For more information about Addie-Tude Dance Studio and the classes offered, visit www.addie-tude.com.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
