Abel Villasenor was born in May 1981, in Jalisco, Mexico. He developed his passion for dance as early as 5 years old, when he danced in a Mexican folklore dance show for the first time. He continued dancing folklore dance through his youth until he got into break dancing at the age of 15. Through break dancing, he learned to express himself while also learning complicated body movements.
Although break dancing is still one of his favorite dances of all time, his turning point came when his Muy Thai teacher took him to his first salsa dance lesson. He quickly fell in love with the passionate form of art. Before long, he found himself dancing most nights at salsa clubs and taking lessons from legendary salseros such as Francisco, Johnny and Luis Vasquez — the brothers who started L.A.-style salsa in 1990s. In 2009, Abel joined the salsa team of a well-known instructor Miguel Aguirre, and he also took a salsa instructor course with Isabelle Pampillo to sharpen his teaching skills.
In 2010, Abel officially started his career as a salsa teacher with the help of his mentor, Dj Karloz, a salsa/bachata instructor and promoter who opened the door of opportunity for Abel in the Los Angeles salsa scene. Since then, Abel has been teaching salsa dance at various studios and clubs in the L.A. area. Not only does he teach techniques but he also wants to make sure all of his students have fun while learning, which he considers the most important thing about dancing.
