Our Team
Rebeka Moreno is a graduate from Arizona State University with a Bachelor's Degree in Performance and Movement with a focus on Dance and Theatre. She also holds certifications in arts education (pedagogy).
She has over 20 years of experience performing Mexican folklore dance (danzas tradicionales Mexicanas) and has achieved multiple dance certifications throughout her career. She currently performs with our professional dance team and continues her advanced studies in danza folclorica Mexicana.
She is fun and energetic and her classes are always packed with dance insights and techniques that keep our students engaged and having fun while learning.
She is a professional salsa and cumbia dancer as well among the many styles of dancing that she loves!
Skye Valentine is our school coordinator with over 15 years of experience as an instructor.
He holds various degrees and careers in photojournalism, media production, desktop publishing, marketing, technology consulting, music education and martial arts.
He started learning Mexican folklore dance at the age of 7 in Mexico City and attended the Centro Cultural Ollin Yoliztli where he further learned music theory and traditional Mexican dances from our Director Ana Bonilla.
He also studied classical guitar at the University of Arizona and continued his musical studies under three of today's finest musicians, Philip Hemmo (composer and acclaimed classical guitar performer), Raul Castillo (which is considered to be the greatest Mexican vihuela player of our generation), and Victor Cardenas Garcia (El Pato), professional vihuela legend that performed for over 50 years with El Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan and created all of today's traditional vihuela manicos (right hand techniques).
He is also a certified black belt Taekwondo instructor and currently teaches our martial arts program at our school to help our students further develop their fitness levels, promote their self confidence and self defense skills.
Hector Moreno is our professional Mexican folklore dancer instructor for all of our advanced Mexican folklore dance levels.
He has been dancing danza folklorica Mexicana for over 24 years! He holds many professional and instructor certifications from Mexico City, Veracruz and Quintana Roo.
He is constantly preparing our advanced students with fresh repertories of dances and choreographies to bring the beauty of the Mexican culture to all our events.
He is also a bachata and cumbia instructor and is currently furthering his dance studies in Irish dancing.
Jehu Bautista es our professional Nahuatl language instructor. He is a native Nahuatl speaker. Our dance academy's name, Ollin Yoliztli is in Nahuatl so it was only natural for us to want to share more about the beautiful Mexican culture with the world through Nahuatl language classes.
In 2019, Jehu published the nahuatl manual by the name, Yolitahtol (Lit. the language that rebirths). He has been a lecturer at the Universidad de Guanajuato and at the Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores Unidad León.
Jehu is also currently furthering his studies at the Master's degree level in language didactics and Indo American Cultures at National Pedagogical University (Universidad Pedagogica Nacional) en Veracruz, Mexico,
Modena Paulsen is the lead trumpet instructor for our mariachi music education program, the Arizona Mariachi Music Academy. She brings a wealth of musical knowledge and expertise to our team with over 40 years of experience!
She also performs professionally with all of our mariachi ensembles: Mariachi Alas de Arizona, Mariachi Alas de Phoenix and Mariachi Aguilas de Jesus.
Modena received her Bachelors of Music Education degree from the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York.
She also received her Masters of Music Education degree from Illinois State University and has been teaching in public schools for 30 years!
Edgar Sánchez is a professional music arranger and music producer, graduated with a degree in Music from the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas (Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas).
He has participated as an musical arranger for various artists such as Alejandra Avalos, Héctor Gamaliel, Antonio Puga, Maxie Rodríguez, etc. Edgar has worked as an arranger for various mariachi groups such as Mariachi Arce de México, Mariachi Luceros de mi Tierra, Mariachi 7 Mares, Mariachi Manantial de Salvación, Mariachi los Potrillos, Mariachi Juvenil Zamora, among others.
He obtained first place in the instrumental song category and was the winner of first place award in arrangement in the popular song category of the Manuel Barroso contest, organized by the music faculty of the Autonomous University of Tamaulipas.
Maestro Moises Arroyo Carballo has a degree in Orchestral Instrument (Violin), He is a composer, arranger, and mariachi director.
He specializes in teaching violin as an orchestral and solo instrument. He is also a professional violinist in mariachi music.
During his career he has held various positions as music teacher at elementary and high schools and directed solfège and mariachi harmony courses.
Apart from being a professional violinist, he has also worked in the transcription of musical arrangements for mariachi music and accompanied artists such as Vicente Fernández, Antonio Aguilar, Placido Domingo, Pablo Montero, Ana Bárbara, José Julián, Valente Pastor, Humberto Herrera, Ireland Valenzuela, María Elena Leal Beltrán, Maribel Guardia, Alicia Villa Real, Oscar Cruz, among others.
Among his professional achievements, in 2022, Maestro Moises became the founder and producer of the first National Mariachi Festival in Zacatlán, Puebla., in which 8 members of Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlan and Master Harp Instructor. Iván Velasco, professor at the Veracruzana University attended.
During his first festival over 220 mariachi musicians from all over Mexico and the United States gathered attended.
America Yazmín Martínez Rodríguez.
Born in Tijuana, Baja California, at the age of 9, her love for mariachi and the Guitarrón began when her father instilled in her the love for the most beautiful music in the world, mariachi music. He was the one who gave her first performance classes and music theory on the Guitarrón.
At the age of 13 she began working with different groups in the city of "Tijuana" and it was not until she was 16 that she was invited to be part of the Mariachi Femenil Nuevo Tecalitlán, in Guadalajara Jalisco where she stayed for 5 years.
She recorded the famous song "MEXICO EN LA PIEL" with the Mariachi Femenil Nuevo Tecalitlán. She has performed on big stages and visited several cities in the Mexican Republic.
So much has been her love for mariachi music that she dedicated 3 years of her life to study privately all the original guitarron techniques with the renowned teacher, Marco Antonio de Santiago Casanova.
She also studied with the renowned teacher Crescencio Hernandez L. who taught her the original "style" of Mexican music. She had the great opportunity to record the album "Un Pensamiento" with him.
She also performed for 3 years with the Mariachi Joya de Mexico, directed by Maestro Enrique Rodriguez "El Remy" and Director Juan Saavedra. She has had the opportunity to play alongside several renowned musicians, such as Víctor Cárdenas "EL PATO" "Guadalupe Alfaro" with whom she also recorded several singles.
Today she is still active, working with different mariachi groups, carrying high her pride of being a mariachi woman and her passion for Mexican music, "THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MUSIC IN THE WORLD."