What do you call a guy who’s had years of intensive training in ballet, modern dance, jazz, reggaeton, salsa, cumbia, folk dance, merengue and hip-hop?
He’s the guy who founded Sabor Latino 100%, and his name is William Flores.
The Peruvian international dance sensation recently stopped by Manila during his Asian tour and performed a series of master classes and workshops that left the local dance community breathless and hankering for more.
Flores—who also happens to be an international Zumba dance instructor—brought his own brand of heart-pumping, high-energy dance class, Sabor Latino 100%. It’s a combination of the many dance disciplines he has learned since he was 15 years old. Now 26, Flores describes dance as not just movement, but a series of body movements that has a language of its own.
“You say something without talking. That is Sabor Latino 100%. It is intense and emotional. The steps are easy to follow—only two to three different steps at a given time—but they are strong and energetic,” he said.
Quick preview
The power-packed dance lasts for 90 minutes. In those 90 minutes, students get a quick preview of cumbia, a folkloric rhythm-and-dance from Colombia; reggaeton, a Puerto Rican dance influenced by hip hop, Latin American and Caribbean music.
There’s the grace of ballet, the expressive style of modern dance, jazz dance, the street dance styles of hip-hop, the Cuban dance of salsa, traditional folk dance, and the Dominican dance merengue.
“Dancing is my life. If you like something, you will work for it. I worked 24 hours perfecting my brand of dance. This is my passion,” Flores said.
Among the dance enthusiasts who joined his class during the recent Soleus Dancefest Media Launch was Eric “Eruption” Tai, former member of the country’s rugby team, the Philippine Volcanoes.
Tai said that before he joined the Volcanoes and showbiz, he was a dancer. He used to compete in salsa, hip-hop and breakdance. He loves salsa, even techno, house, regaetton and hip hop.
“When I go to the gym, I can listen to any type of music. While I’m getting big, I maintained the grace, softness and suave moves. Magaling pa rin ako,” Tai said.
Dancefest
Last Saturday, Soleus organized its first-ever Sabor Latino 100% dancefest.
Since Judith Staples, Soleus brand and team manager, is also a runner, the dancefest was held after the 5k, 10k and 21k events. A total of 1,500 people registered for the event. At 6 a.m., runners trooped to the Sabor Latino 100% dancefest for another 90 minutes of high-energy dance class.
Soleus has partnered with William Flores to launch its first phase of their fitness program in Manila. The brand will also be launching a series of fitness devices that will count steps and perform lift counts—
in other words, watches you can wear at leisure or at the gym while you’re doing your weight lifts. This will come with a heart rate monitor for accurate reading of calories burned vis-a-vis age, sex, weight and height, and heart rate, maximizing the time you spent working out.
“In 2017, we’re going to expand beyond running. We’re going to create devices for the gym, fitness and dance. You’ll be seeing products in the next three to six months,” said Soleus founder David Arnold.
After the Philippines, Flores is set to continue his Asian tour to seven cities in Indonesia. He has already covered Singapore, Nepal, Japan, Hong Kong and Malaysia. He is booked until November, touring cities in Europe, the United States and Canada.
Visit www.williamfloresdance.com. Subscribe on his channel www.youtube.com/user/williamfloresTV.