Rodney Lopez

Rodney Eric Lopez is a Senior Teaching Artist with Dancing Classrooms in New York City. His teaching work with the arts education organization is featured in the Paramount Classics hit documentary "Mad Hot Ballroom". As a result of the commercial and critical success of Mad Hot Ballroom, Rodney has had the opportunity to represent Dancing Classrooms through local, national and international media and a variety of community and corporate events. Rodney is also an accomplished Latin dance instructor and Director of the Salsa Program at Dance Manhattan, one of New York's leading dance schools. Colleagues and students alike praise him for his entertaining and thoughtful teaching style. Rodney has taught and performed at major venues such as: Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night's Swing; Halftime Shows for the New York Knicks and New York Liberty; Opening Night for the new Jazz at Lincoln Center with Arturo O'Farrill's Afro-Cuban Big Band; the Colden Performing Arts Center at Queens College; New York City's First Night; the New York Hispanic Day Parade and at several national and international Salsa Congresses. He has appeared on Good Morning America's "Dancing with the Moms" competition, Discovery Health with Dr. Oz, the WB11 Morning News, Fox's Good Day New York, The Queen Latifah Show, the Maury Povich Show and in the Off-Broadway smash, Latin Madness and the film The Big Shot Caller. He is an executive member of Areytos Performance Works, a highly regarded dance theater company that is presenting Bembe, Salon y Calle, a comprehensive look at Afro Cuban dance and Salsa. He was also Team Captain of the Addie-Tude Dance Company, under the direction of Addie Diaz. Rodney's work has been featured in documentaries, news articles and other media. He was interviewed in the PBS documentary "Nuyoricans: Puerto Ricans in New York." His dance classes were named "Best in New York" by New York Magazine and were highlighted in the book Nueva York: A Guide to Latino Life in the Five Boroughs. Rodney has also produced the first of a series of instructional DVDs, entitled Elements of Salsa. Prior to his career in dance, Rodney was a public relations and marketing professional in both the non-profit and corporate fields. He holds a B.S. in Communications Studies from New York University where he was a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholar.