Dancers / Stars

Contact:mariafalcon8@yahoo.com - Maria

leerios@semeneya.org - Lee

Lee Rios and Maria Falcon are based out of San Antonio, Texas and have been dancing together for about 4 years. Together they stand out for their unique style both in social partner work as well as in choreographies. They have taught in various congress both nationally and internationally; sharing their knowledge and inspiring many to "get addicted" to Salsa.

Lee Rios is founder and director of Semeneya Dance Company and Studios. He has studied, taught, and performed Salsa and Merengue as well as many other traditional Puerto Rican Folk Dances for more than 15 years. Lee was born in Texas and raised in a Puerto Rican, military family.

He was drawn into the art of Salsa from an early age, when the movie "Salsa" became his inspiration in the early 80's. The seed was planted then, ready to grow, but put on hold due to military and traveling circumstances.

At the early age of twelve, this seed was finally nourished when he joined a local group called Nuestras Raices. The group gave him an opportunity to study and perform with them and learn the rhythm and nature of Puerto Rican folklore and Salsa.

At the age of 20, with the encouragement of his peers, Lee took a leap of faith and made dancing his full time occupation, pursuing his love for salsa.

In his early years of dancing Lee ran across Ana Tinajero, who came to be one his biggest inspirations in dance. In January 2005, Lee decided to take the opportunity to learn and grow with guidance from Ana and Joel Massicot by joining Masacote Dance Company, thus realizing they are still a big inspiration to his art of dance.

Maria Falcon was always drawn to music and dance from a very young age, and persued her musical endeavors by taking professional dance lessons from Lee. He quickly realized her dedication and talent and took her under his wing making her one of his new members in his Semeneya Dance Company. Maria is founder and director of the only kids dance company in San Antonio that focuses on salsa, Xaxabis Dance Company

In January of 2004 , Maria began dancing with Troy Anthony and Georgette Alocer, directors of Son Creole Latin Motions in New Orleans. The experience greatly enhanced her dancing and brought about many more opportunities for her to expand her dancing.

Maria met Ana in June of 2001 when she had only been dancing 3 months. Immediately Ana was an inspiration and deeply impacted the way that she would develop her dancing in the next few years. Though they never saw each other again until the L.A. congress in 2004, the first impression Maria had of Ana always stuck with her. Now with the invitation to join Masacote Entertainment, Maria has opened a new chapter in her life. Early on she always knew that if she could train with anyone, it would be Ana, so she joined the company in January 2005. Now with this opportunity, she hopes to take her musical endeavors to a new level -- not only developing her love for dance but also her passion for music as a whole.

Videos: Video clips available on the website