Our Instructors

Kimberly was born and raised in NY and has a style like no other in the business: Soulful and Elegant with tons of flavor. At 8, Kimberly learned how to dance Bomba, Plena, and other Folkloric dances from Puerto Rico and began to dance for world-famous Puerto Rican traditional musician William Cepeda. She began her salsa training at 12 in New York City with David Melendez and Maribel Maldonado at Starlite Dance Studio in NYC. Her expertise has enabled her to travel the world alongside Candy Mena, Andy Cruz, Adolfo Indacochea, Sekou McMiller, Jorge “Ataca” Burgos, Tanja “La Alemana” Kensinger, and the Mambo King Eddie Torres as one of his principal partners. Kimberly is the director and founder of an all-ladies team, Diosas, a coed team, Tun Bere, and a franchise team, MG Chicago. She is also a Latin dance instructor for several programs at After School Matters and is now the proud owner of her studio, KR Dance Studio.

Tabitha De La O has traveled the country teaching and performing at International Latin Festivals for over ten years with Chicago and New York dance teams and dance partners. She is a trained Ballet, Jazz, and Modern Dancer from Homer's Chicago Multicultural Dance Center that turned Salsa Dancer that has been able to share the stage with Andy "Lyrik" Cruz, Ernesto & Denisse, Elvis Collado, Angel Martinez, Kimberly Rivera, Bruno Rodriguez and many more. Tabitha moved to New York in 2018, and since then, she was cast as a dancer in a movie that hit theaters summer of 2021 called "In The Heights" and trained with Irôko Dance Company, which became World Latin Summit Champions in 2020. Tabitha has moved back to Chicago and has so much passion for music, and dance is ready to inspire.

Hello, My name is Jose Jr. Pereyda. I am a Talent Recruiter with Chicago Public Schools and a part-time Dance Instructor. I have been dancing for 10 years now, first starting with Ritmo Dembow at DePaul University before expanding into other local dance teams. I have been under the guidance and mentorship of Kimberly Rivera since 2016, having been in multiple teams of hers such as Tun Bere, Island Touch and UV. I specifically focus on Latin Style of Dance which include Salsa on 2 (Mambo), Bachata, and Cumbia, just to name a few. Thanks to dance I have been able to travel and perform in multiple festivals across Chicago, the country and internationally as well. I look forward to continue my growth with KR Dance Studio and to bring all my years of experience to the students and dance community of Chicago. My main goal is to help grow a new generation of Dancers, educating them on not only the style of dance but the cultural history and impact it has to all of Latin America and the Latinx Identity. Come join us on this new journey!

My name is Anahi Rivera, and I started my dance journey at about eight years old. I danced Mexican folklore around the Old Irving Park area for about five years. I later transitioned into Latin dance through After School Matters under Kimberly Rivera during the spring of 2017. Since focusing on Latin dance, I have been a part of the Island Touch franchise, Chicago Touch, the former dance team, Urban Vibe, and I am currently on Diosas Atabey. I’ve been fortunate to perform on stages like the After School Matters Fundraiser Gala, Chicago’s International Salsa Congress, Denver’s Salsa Congress, and many more! I look forward to growing my passion for dance, and I can’t wait to connect with others by sharing and continuing my journey with everyone! 

Jocelyn started dancing in high school, “Hubbard Bachata Club,” at 15. By 17 years old, she knew that dancing was what she wanted to pursue for the rest of her life! She studied dance at Columbia College for two years, learning many different styles. (Ballet, modern, West African, Hip Hop, etc.) Sebastian was 12 years old when he started dancing with The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. He was with them for seven years, then went to the Chicago High School for the Arts, where I had more ballet training and danced contemporary, Modern, Horton, etc. Together, they have several years of experience dancing, training, performing, and teaching. They are also Bachata World Champions, winning titles at the Summit Championship.