DERRICK ALLEN (aka Chocolate Love)

"Derrick has everything: precision, technique and personality.
But it's not about facility. It's what he can do on top of that
that makes the artist. - Anonymous

Ever in search of idols, the mambo world has rightly found
one in Derrick Allen, the charismatic 26-year-old Bronx
native who has been dancing with Razz M' Tazz since 1999.
Silky smooth in his elegant classical style, sensational
technique and muscular power, he can bring down the house
effortlessly by leading his partner into one of his many intricate
turn patterns. Anyone who has seen him at a salsa cub or social
knows that his special appeal goes beyond bravura. Like Mikhail
Baryshnikov and Rudolf Nureyev, he channels a formidable
technique into a personal style: in his case a human touch.
The heart of Mr. Allen's dancing lies in the quality he wondrously
discovered in himself as a 13-year-old. "I realized I could touch
people with salsa," Mr. Allen said. "That's when I started to like it."

Derrick is currently teaching weeknights at  Nola's Dance
Studio (250 W.54 st and 7th Ave.) and at Dance Manhattan Studios
(39-47 19th st bet 5th and 6th Ave.) on Saturdays from 2-5 p.m.

You can contact him at D_Live@yahoo.com

Dance Performances:

• SPICE Salsa & Tango Festival (June 2002)
• Harlem Jazz Festival (May 2002)
• Dance Manhattan (numerous appearances)
• 2001 Puerto Rico World Salsa Congress (Summer 2001)
• Rome, Italy (Summer 2001)