Rodney Lopez(I)
- Actor
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.