This Bolivian beauty says that her secret to her success is her family. “Family is First”, she says, as she explains that her dancing career bought her a house. “Sometimes I say to myself, ‘What am I doing?’. Some moments I think, ‘Gosh!’ I mean, how many people do you find live out of dancing? And I’m one of them!” And she laughs joyfully. She has danced since age 8 starting with ballet classes. She also explains that she has “done it all” in dancing: danced, performed, taught, choreographed, has her own dance company, etc.

If Liz Lira wins “all” competitions what chance do the dancers at the 1st Annual World Salsa Championship in Las Vegas have? Well, they’re in luck. La Rosa de Salsa is going to sit this one out and be a spectator. Due to scheduling conflicts she doesn’t have adequate amount of time to practice. At least not enough time to make sure she wins because she “wants to win! Or not do it at all!”

What advice does she have for anyone trying to make it in dance? The lovely Liz explains that to accomplish something you dream about, “Find someone you admire and respect and tell them. For example, on Thanksgiving, as my family sat around the dinner table, we each went around and said thanks for whatever, you know. And I said ‘I’m going to buy a house’. Not ‘I wanna’ buy a house. I’m GOING TO. I didn’t know how I was going to do it but”, she giggles, “Look, it works for me because then once you say you’re going to do something – it’s out there and you can’t take it back. I make mistakes but when I fall I just get back up again and keep on … dancing!”