Founding Partners

Ahtoy Juliana
Ahtoy JulianaArtistic Director
Ahtoy grew up on Guam and has indigenous CHamoru and Cuban ancestry. She has been a part of the Afro-Latinx dance community since she moved to New York City at 17 years old. Since then, she has sought to preserve and share the legacy of Afro-Latinx dance culture through her work as a performer, choreographer, and educator.

Ahtoy began her professional dance training in childhood in Guam and studied classical ballet and modern dance with the Houston and San Francisco Ballet Companies. Ahtoy was a top International Latin Ballroom competitor in the collegiate circuit while attending Columbia University and later became a professional Theater Arts Champion. Ahtoy’s salsa career began in 2003 with Santo Rico, where she was a principal dancer and instructor. Ahtoy has performed worldwide with the multi-dance champion Billy Fajardo, as well as with several other dance companies, including Santo Rico, The Hustle Collective, Team Fajardo, and The New York Movement.

Ahtoy formed BAILA Society in 2006 with Daniel Enskat and Joseph Rivera. As Artistic Director, she created over three dozen works for the company that were showcased worldwide. BAILA Society became internationally recognized in the salsa industry, and Ahtoy had the privilege of mentoring countless young dancers, choreographers, and champions who came through the school and company.

Ahtoy is currently dancing with Edwin Tolentino, and together they hold numerous world champion titles in salsa and Latin Hustle. Ahtoy & Edwin are proud to represent Latin Hustle in the global salsa industry where they are showcasing and restoring the Latinx and Queer heritage of Latin Hustle.

Ahtoy is a founding judge of the World Salsa Summit and continues to adjudicate national and international dance competitions. She co-founded the United States Latin Social Dance Championship and The Youth Summit Championship.

Ahtoy has numerous theater, TV, and film credits, and was a principal dancer in the film adaptation of “In the Heights”. In 2022, she joined the cast of “Do the Hustle”, which was featured at Jacob’s Pillow and the Guggenheim Museum. Ahtoy dedicates most of her work to dance education as faculty of the Peridance Center and the Ailey Extension.

Ahtoy has a bachelor’s degree in biology, two master’s degrees in public health and epidemiology, and a PhD in epidemiology, all from Columbia University.

Daniel Enskat
Daniel EnskatFounding Partner
Daniel speaks seven languages and received his Master of Arts degree in Germany. After a decade of working in Europe and Asia, he moved to New York City in 2000 on an O-Visa as a “person with extraordinary abilities”. He studied Jazz and music theory, and as a professional tennis player, martial artist and part-time model, Daniel used his athletic abilities to study many different dance forms including ballet, jazz, Dunham, African, and ballroom, before founding BAILA Society with Ahtoy Juliana and Joseph Rivera, to focus on Latin Dance and Salsa. Daniel is currently focusing on innovative approaches to health and movement while raising a family.
Joseph Rivera
Joseph RiveraFounding Partner
Born in NYC and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Salsa has always been a part of Joseph’s life. He now holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and Finance from Georgetown University. Today he is the Director of Interactive Design at a financial research/media company and is a founding partner of BAILA Society. When not dancing, he enjoys snowboarding, surfing, traveling and coaching youth basketball.

Current instructors

Jessica Ho
Jessica Ho
Andrew Yu
Andrew Yu

BASo Familia – former dancers and instructors

Thaikisha Alvarez
Thaikisha Alvarez
Gerry Caba
Gerry Caba
Bernard Baffoe
Bernard Baffoe
Frederick DenBleyker
Frederick DenBleyker
Rebecca Blomberg
Rebecca Blomberg
Saioa Lopez-Briones
Saioa Lopez-Briones
Jonathan Peguero
Jonathan Peguero
Andre Irving
Andre Irving
Avi Poonacha
Avi Poonacha
Ayako Izu
Ayako Izu
Fitgi Saint-Louis
Fitgi Saint-Louis
Gulsaya Tuleubayeva
Gulsaya Tuleubayeva
Gabriela Quiles
Gabriela Quiles
Leah Sparkes
Leah Sparkes
Luis Ampuero
Luis Ampuero