Eres Briones was born in Cuilco, Guatemala, where he always admired the salsa dancers in the street.  He came to Portland in 1996, and decided to start dancing in 2003, after visiting Fernando's Hideaway for the first time and experiencing the salsa scene. 

After taking a few months of classes, he performed at the Viscount Ballroom with a performance class where he met Javier Solis.  Javier took Eres under his wing and motivated him to expand his knowledge and passion of salsa to a higher level.

In 2005, Eres received the great honor of being invited to perform with the Portland Trail Blazers Dancers at the halftime show.  Shortly after that he competed at the 1st Annual Gemini Salsa Competition and placed 4th.  Later that year, Eres reunited with his very first performance partner, Alina and began dancing with her. 

They were married in February, 2006 and went on to compete together in the 2nd Annual Gemini Salsa Competition, where they placed 8th.  The next year, with much hard work, tears, and dedication, Eres finally achieved his long-awaited goal and went on to win first place in the amateur division of the 3rd Annual Gemini Salsa Competition with his partner Alina. 

They currently live in Clackamas with their three cats and a giant trophy, which couldn't have been obtained without salsa and most importantly, GEMINI.

My name is Leonardo Duran Rojas.  I was born and raised in Mexico City.  Unlike most people I grew up listening to salsa music day in and day out from the streets of my very own neighborhood. 

When I came to the United States I started going out dancing, and I found it really interesting learning the many types and styles of salsa that people were dancing there.            

I've been taking salsa lessons for about a year now, and I have truly enjoyed what I’ve see.  I've been with Adrenaline for about four months. 

Through Adrenaline I have met people from all over the country, and have enjoyed the time spent on learning more, training harder and being able to have a great time as well.

Kirigin Elstad fell in love with salsa last year while living in Ecuador. 
She discovered the Portland scene when she decided, at the last minute, to compete in the Gemini Salsa Competition this past June.
           
Though salsa is new to her, she started dancing ballet, tap and jazz at the young age of 4.  She also performed in Lakeridge High School's Company, a show choir, choreographing many of their numbers. 

Her other love is theater, where she has performed in shows such as Hello Dolly, Chicago, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  She graduated from Tufts University in the spring of 2006 and hopes to attend medical school starting next fall.   “Gózalo, que yo también lo gozo."

Hola, my name is Cristian Costa. I was born and raced in Santiago, Chile.  I came to the US at the age of 19 and graduated from Beaverton High School.  I have an associate degree in Computer Software Engineering, and Auto Collision in Technology.

Currently I am pursuing a Business degree and am Self-employed.  I started dancing salsa in May of 2006 at Satin and Latin Dance Studios.  

During the winter I had a serious accident snowboarding that forced me out for 6 months. Thanks to God, I was able to dance again.  I joined Adrenaline by Gemini in July of 2007.

My name is Catie M. Digregorio. I am 23 years old and was born here in Portland. As a little kid I danced tap and jazz for four years. Then, in Highschool I was part of a sing-and-dance group called ‘Company.’

It wasn’t until the University of Oregon that I discovered the Argentine Tango, after which I spent about two years living and breathing it, while getting my degree in Art History and Romance Languages. Currently, I work for an Italian Import Company, championing the slow food movement, and tutoring Italian. When I returned to Portland I fell in love with the music of Salsa, Cha-Cha, Merengue, Bachata… I started taking lessons, and I haven’t taken many nights off since. ;-)