MEET OUR INSTRUCTOR TEAM

Christie Chancy
Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Christie grew up in a Dominican-Haitian household where Merengue and Bachata were constantly pulsating through the walls. This early exposure to latin rhythms help lead to the formulation of a passion for dance. Throughout high school and college, she danced and performed with hip-hop teams and various dance genres Seveillana, Tango and Kompa. But it wasn’t until 2009, when she bought her first pair of latin dance shoes and attended her first Absolute Beginner class with R.I.S.E. that she realized that Salsa was where her heart truly lied. Mixing her natural “salsa swag” with eye catching ladies styling, she eventually started instructing a Ladies Styling Class and Beginner Partner Work.  Today, Christie continues to encourage new students in the art of salsa with RISE.


Richard Carrion
Richie has performed for many reputable salsa teams such as Bailando Con Daseo and Bugalu lead by Jonahtan Rodriguez. He is currently a member of Los Pachangueros, which is the professional team lead by the Garry Portugual who is world famous for his Pachanga style of salsa.

Richie has performed all over NYC in well known salsa venues such as Cache, Dancesport, Iguana, Dance Manhattan, LQ, and Santo Rico. He will be breaking out this year at DC the Bachata Congress, Boston Salsa Congress, and San Diego Salsa Congress. He originally started as a beginner student and devoted himself to mastering the art of salsa. You can currently find him teaching Level 2 salsa classes at RiSE.


Yowceph "Yoshi" Haddad
Yowceph, better known as Yoshi by students and fellow instructors, is a graduate of Notre Dame. He first found his love of dance as a b-boy with the urban dance crew Project Fresh. He later made a transition to Salsa after moving to NYC and learning about the underground salsa scene. Yowceph starting taking salsa classes at RiSE in the beginning of and quickly moved through the levels and onto the dance floor. "I have finally found a passion that I know I will pursue the rest of my life." Taking as many as six classes a week and social dancing as often as he could. While he has experience teaching higher level classes, Yowceph specializes at helping students make the difficult transition from level 1 to level 2 by patiently breaking every move down step by step for both the leader and follower. In addition to teaching for RiSE. Yowceph has also taught classes for R'aleau dance company