Well how DID it all begin? How did I earn my reputation and name of "Artista Famosa"?
That question has been posed many times by my friends and students. So let me take you back....back when Salsa hit Sydney like a thunderstorm.......

T'was the year 1997 I think, I can't even remember now.....
A very dear friend of mine and someone well known in the Latin Scene DJ MARSSS came up with the idea that we should have a BIG Salsa party.... he'd play the music and I could get the people. Well, we all know that I was good at "getting the people" . But I think what really gave him the "Wake Up Call" was when we went for a coffee at Bondi Beach at the Gran Cafe ( regular hangout in the late 90's of Salseros and Salseras ) on a Sunday arvo. We'd have Breakfast and Coffee after 1pm of course with slight hangovers, but would reminisce about the previous night, where we went dancing, and what was the lastest gossip in the Salsa as well as Non Salsa World. After all, we were all beginners at some stage in our lives. But our dearest friend ALFI ( the owner of the Gran Cafe) would always welcome us with strong coffee, great pizzas and yummy cakes.... We'd spend the entire afternoon there and just refused to leave.....

Anyway, one day I had invited about 5 people for coffee, however, by the end of the afternoon there was a table of about 30 people. DJ Marsss just looked at me and said "You have something here and you don't even know it...! So I go: "What are you talking about" ? He goes: "You are the only person I know that invites 30pax or more for "A COFFEE ! Can you imagine if there was A CRUISE or something? Girlfriend...we have to talk"

Hahaha I"ll never forget the look on his face. He'd imitate my friends and go " Hey how's it going? What are you up to this afternoon?" And the response would be " Well I'm going to Bondi for coffee man.. Branka's organising it.!! What do you mean you're NOT coming? " etc etc etc
He'd sound very sarcastic whilst he was explaining this, of course and was teasing me bigtime, but little did we know, that we really had something going here and that it was only the beginning. I guess I wasn't aware of what I was creating at the time.....All I knew was that SALSA was a way of bringing people together, no matter what Religion, Nationality, or Background. And for some reason, people were always coming to me for Ideas, Opinions and Questions. But it became much more than that....Salsa was about to change my life forever. "Artista Famosa" was born.
So DJ MARSSS tells me about this friend of his that has a BOAT and the rest as they say... again... is history.

Our First Salsa Cruise had 45 people.
During the Feb 2003 Cruise we had 200 people. However a very unusual thing happened. 25 people could not fit on the boat as I was told that the maximum was 200. No one expected that so many more would turn up on the day. It was the most painful thing to watch ... 25 of my students, and friends....just looking at us as the boat pulled away. I promised myself THAT would never happen again, and that I would make it up for them. Hence our current cruise boat can hold 500 people.

But my idea with these CRUISES was a bit more than creating just a SALSA CRUISE. Being European myself, from the former Yugoslavia ( Serbia ) and very passionate about my background... I understood that the need to create an ambience that would bring EVERYONE together had to be blended, with a bit of vairiety of different types of music that would suit everyone. That is the challenge I guess and is not easy to acheive. To try and blend in the Salsa with an "intenational but modern" feel to it. Something that would get everyones' attention.
On our last cruise we had a Performance by SOPHIE SERAFINO. Sophie is an amazing Singer, Violinist, Performer of Classical/Modern Music and it was an opportunity for her to bring awareness to the Launch of her new CD. And it was different. A kind of "Salsa Mmd Butterfly" if you will.....

You see, I beleive that everyone is an "Artist" in their own way, and have a mission in life of some sort. My dream is to bring them all together, in a "FUSION OF SALSA". On the next CRUISE Sunday 30 Ocotber - Our guest appearance will be from a band called "MARSALA" who are an incredible mix of Serbian/Macedonian/Spanish/French/Gypsy Cocktail of Incredible Sounds.... and guess what ? you CAN dance Salsa to it. So GET YOUR TICKETS ONLINE and come and experience the MAGIC !!!