Edwin Roa
Instructor
Edwin was so popular as a visiting coach at Elegant Dancing that we invited him to be part of the regular staff. He officially joined our exceptional team on January 18, 2019.
While Edwin is an expert in all styles of partnership dancing, his passion is for Argentine Tango, Salsa, Bachata, West Coast Swing and other club style dances. Whether teaching beginners or advanced dancers, Edwin is a truly gifted instructor who can teach all dances to all types of learners.
Edwin is a professional dancer who has devoted his career to the study of partner dance. He currently resides in Charlottesville, VA, where he works as an independent dance instructor. He is currently at Elegant Dancing in Fairfax every Thursday. Edwin is a native of Bogota, Colombia who moved to the US in 1995. He has trained in multiple dance disciplines including Ballet and Modern. His interest in music, cultures and the perspectives of partner dance have encouraged him to experiment and eventually develop a method of teaching social partner dance that he now calls Zabor. Edwin is deeply interested in the connectivity and the improvisational aspect of partner dance, and therefore has invested a great part of his career in the study of a variety of styles.
Edwin has danced with the Latin Ballet of Virginia, co-founded the Charlottesville Salsa Club and the Richmond Social Dance Club. He has traveled to Cuba with the University of Richmond music department to study the music and dance culture there, and to Argentina in three times for independent study of the Argentinian music and culture. He has participated in multiple competitions and created his own choreographies for couples and groups of all levels of experience. Edwin is currently a faculty member at JMU in addition to offering his own Zabor classes in the central Virginia area.
Edwin is the founder of Zabor Dance. Zabor is a method of teaching dance, with an emphasis on both the practical how-tos of social dance as well as the philosophy behind it. His mission is to provide students with the most comprehensive and highly professional learning experience possible while also developing their appreciation of the culture, history and musicality of each dance style.
Edwin’s objective is to provide our community with the highest standards in dance education. He is a professional dancer, performer and teacher. His services currently include shows, lectures demonstrations, workshops, group classes and private lessons. He offers instruction in all three major branches of partner dance: ballroom, social, and theater dance.
