Our Team
A fierce entrepreneur founding, owning and managing F.O.L.D., Kiz NH, Delphina Rose Photography, Sapphire Rain Management, PandoraZ Box RecordZ, and Divas Head to Toe. She is a single mother of two amazing young daughters, she teaches dance weekly, travels to dance events locally and nationwide frequently, and she really positively impacts all those who come in contact with her. Her joy of sharing her affection for the art of dance and music along with working with people is infectious. She loves to share all her knowledge to help those around her to be empowered, to be lifted as she climbs and be “in the fold”.
Jacob S. Heiss is the founder & CEO of Just Jacob Ventures LLC, launched in 2013 as a business and entertainment solutions company helping private, nonprofit, and corporate clients surmount every obstacle and leverage every opportunity with a specialization in strategic development, enterprise transformation, customer growth, process optimization, and special event production. Corporate clients and production partners include Monster Vision Productions, Island Touch Events, Latin Street Music & Dancing, Kickstand Productions, Dance Center Chicago, The Refuge Foundation for the Arts, The Brazilian Cultural Center of Chicago, Clary Collection, Dizengoff Audio, West Monroe Partners, Purdue University, The Hispanic Alliance for Career Advancement, Latino Del Mundo, The Canadian Salsa Dance Corporation, DC Bachata Congress LLC, and many more.
From 2013 onwards, Jacob used the platform afforded by his company to support his artistic interests under the moniker, Just Jacob. As such, he is a highly sought after musical artist, producer, DJ, and dance instructor with residencies at such Chicago establishments as Sound-Bar, Subterranean, Primary, Beauty Bar, Y Bar, The Loft, Bassline, Reverie, Rio, and more plus featured performances across the nation and world at Solas (NYC), Space 550 (San Francisco), Lawrence Memorial Chapel (Appleton), Lique (Miami), Aeon Studios (LA), High Noon Saloon (Madison), Tsar (Orlando), House of Loom (Omaha), Werehouse (Milwaukee), Hard Rock Cafe (Chicago), and more. Festival performances include Chicago Salsa & Bachata Festival, Elevation Zouk Festival Denver, Dallas Bachata Fusion Festival, Toronto Zouk Marathon, Chicago SummerDance, Orlando International Kizomba Festival, NYC Zouk Marathon, The Israeli International Salsa Congress, Los Angeles Dance Fusion Festival, New York International Salsa Congress, The Montreal Salsa Convention, DCBX, and more.
From 2015 onwards, Jacob developed the subsidiary Future Zouk to accomplish his community development goals within the global Afro Latin social dancing context. In 2018, this led to the creation of Future Zouk Chicago Congress, the first and largest annual festival of Brazilian zouk music, dancing, and culture in the Midwest providing a platform for hundreds of artists to share their passion and craftsmanship with thousands of attenders from all over the world. Jacob has served as a staff instructor for such styles as Bachata, Brazilian zouk, Kizomba, and more at some of the largest social dance studios in Chicago, such as Dance Center Chicago and Latin Street Music & Dancing. To date, he has produced over 30 weekenders and festivals across the country in such markets as Chicago, Seattle, Cleveland, Nashville, Milwaukee, Iowa City, Minneapolis, and more while serving as a director of production for some of the biggest and best Afro Latin dance festivals in the world, such as Chicago Salsa & Bachata Festival by Island Touch Events, Dallas Bachata Fusion Festival by Monster Vision Productions, and more.
Savannah Bynum is the owner and photographer for Girasoles Photography located in New Hampshire. She started dabbling in photography in 2018 when she had planned a trip abroad and wanted to learn to take pictures. With her beginner camera in hand she took on Latin America tour and captured some cool photos in the process. This was only the beginning of her journey as a photographer. With her interested in photography expanding she bought a professional camera and focused more on composition. She decided to officially start her photography business in March 2022 and her quality of work has been growing rapidly, catching the eye of many in the arts field. She has worked her magic behind the lens at major congresses such as Boston Salsa Festival & Rode Island Salsa and Bachata Festival, along with many other local events in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. She does a range of photography including events, portraitures, couples and more. Her mission is to empower people through photography. Her editing style is very colorful with real colors slightly enhanced for aesthetics, yet leaving skin tones and backdrops natural, unless requested otherwise. Savannah is down to earth and extremely talented.
Diamond Rivera who is originally from New York City, started his dance journey in 1996 at the age of 5 with the late David Melendez, founder of Starlite Dance Studio of the Bronx.
During his tenure at the dance school he learned Mambo, Jazz, Cha Cha & etc. After his time there, he was part of an all male group called East Side Edition, that performed in over 150 showcases throughout the U.S.
Since then, he has had the honor of performing with teams such as Gifted Souls NYC, Santo Rico, Framboyan, Pura Vida and CODARI Dance Company.
Throughout his time in the latin dance scene, he has had a passion for filmmaking and wanted to combine his love for dance and filmmaking into one. In 2016, he created his own media company called DiamondRiveraFilmz. His intention was to have a company that focused on filming dance, live performances, showcases, interviews and more within the dance scene. He felt it was important that a fellow dancer could capture moments in time and display works of art.
Since 2016, DIAMONDRIVERAFILMZ has created visuals for various organizations including Yamulee Dance Company, Salsa Salsa Dance Studio, Alma Latina, Pura Vida Dance Company, Dallas Bachata Festival, Tri-State Dance Fest and etc. The present and future goal for himself is to continue to expose how beautiful the Latin dance scene is and to create pieces of beautiful art that will be around for years to come.
The media team has been blessed to have expanded into other states such as Dallas, Virginia, and Boston. The overall mission of Diamond is to help and empower other content creators and give them the platforms that enable them to succeed.
I have been dancing for 11 wonderful years and I can honestly say dance is my life, my passion! Even though I've taught for over 9 years and owned Legend Latin Dance company for the last 7, I am still a perpetual student. I know how to dance over 30 different styles because of my curiosity and desire to learn. Teaching (and performing) is my way of sharing that knowledge and passion for dance with others... Hopefully inspiring them to find and follow their passions. I have found that dance leads to incredible experiences, friendships, memories and much more.
"Find something that allows you to find yourself and lose yourself at the same time, then hold into it with all that you are."
Known as one of the best Emcees on the world famous Bourbon street of New Orleans, Nina Cartier has been entertaining crowds for the last 25 years. From talent shows through her child hood and teen years to various night clubs, concert venues, professional fights, weddings, corporate events, and so much more. Cartier has perfected her craft more and more over the years. Keeping up with music and dance trends of all kinds. Nina Cartier also known as Christina Cardec has also traveled to bars across the nation to entertain and emcee crowds of all kinds. With high energy and dance skills and a great attitude many have become a fan of this entertainer. Although Cartier has been raised in the salsa culture all her life, it wasn’t til 2009 she discovered the professional Latin dance scene and 2015 she attended her first congress. Over the years Cartier slowly progressed in her experience in Latin dancing and attending Congresses. Finally in 2022 she was asked to Emcee the New Orleans salsa bachata festival. Succeeding in her first congress as an emcee she was recognized by many and now will be hosting the very first ever New Hampshire F.O.L.D. Congress 2023!
We are aware of an issue where on some mobile devices the Right Side of the ticket purchase Window is cut off. We apologize for the inconvenience and we’re working to resolve the issue. PLease be advised that if you simply turn your phone sideways, it will no longer be cut off and you’ll be able to place youR order. Thank you for your patronage, we’ll see you at the Congress! 🙂 – Jessica
Prices increase as the date draws closer, buy now save now. If not sold out passes will be available at full price at the door.
*All passes are final sale and nontransferable*
Hotel Highlights!
- Newly Renovated Hilton Property Hotel
- 100% Private Event - Rented the entire hotel.
- Food Trucks - Good Eats
- Thursday night Pre-party located at the venue!
Interested in performing, instructing, working the event, being a vendor or being a sponsor? Limited pass exchange available for working at the event, must apply by contacting F.O.L.D. Contact Jessica C. at: foldcongress@gmail.com.
