Mikko Kemppe
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MAJOR Dance accomplishments:
*Finnish Latin Champion 2018 (Finland)
*WDSF Latin World Championship Finalist 2017 (Miami, US)
*Finnish Latin Champion 2017 (Finland)
*Founder and organizer of Palladium Nights
*Nordic Salsa Championships Judge 2017 (Reykjavik)
*Nordic Salsa Championships Judge 2014 (Stockholm)
Founder and organizer of Arctic Salsa Festival 2014
*World Salsa Summit Finalist 2013, (Miami)
*World Salsa Championships judge 2013 (Hong Kong)
*Founder of Nordic Salsa Championships 2013
*World Salsa Championships judge 2012 (Hong Kong)
Head Trainer & Founder of Helsinki Salsa Academy 2010
BIO
Mikko Kemppe used to be highly competitive basketball player. At the age of 22 at the peak of his basketball career he was nominated to the Southland Conference Basketball Division 1 Academic All-Star Team in 2001 when playing for the University of Louisiana at Monroe in United States.
At the end of his basketball career he decided to took it upon himself to learn salsa. He is credited to be the principle founder for two salsa communities in Louisiana leaving a legacy of students and teachers behind after deciding to move to San Francisco to study salsa with some of the best instructors in US.
Once in the San Francisco Bay Area Mikko took a more serious approach to his learning and quickly became one of the area’s top dancers. In December 2010 Mikko moved back to his home country Finland and founded Helsinki Salsa Academy, one of the leading salsa schools in Finland.
While in Helsinki, he began training more seriously also in other dances like afro-cuban and ballroom and became the first male international latin ballroom dancer in Finland to rise directly to compete at the highest A-class senior level and to win his first international latin ballroom competition. Last year in 2017 he became the Finnish Latin Champion and with his partner Johanna Raatikainen made it all to way to the WDSF World Latin Championship Finals (Miami, US). This year in 2018 Johanna and Mikko became the two time Finnish Latin champions.
Mikko has been invited to teach and perform in many dance schools, festivals, and events around the world including Hong Kong, San Francisco, London, Berlin, Marrakech, Tokyo, Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, Stockholm, Reykjavik, Hamburg, Istanbul among many others. He is also the founder and organizer of many international events and festivals including the Arctic Salsa Festival, Nordic Salsa Championships, and Palladium Nights.
Today Mikko focuses primarily in developing Helsinki Salsa Academy with a vision for it to become internationally known and respected salsa dance training organization.
SHORT SALSA STORY OF OUR FOUNDER
