The Sad Tale Of Alex Da Silva
The story of Alex Da Silva is a sad, horrible story. Once a dancer and choreographer with deep, significant ties to salsa dancing, Da Silva is now associated with something considerably different and absolutely monstrous.
On January 12th, 2012, Da Silva was sentenced by L.A. Superior Court to ten years in prison. The sentence stemmed from his 2009 arrest for four counts of forcible rape. However, in order to appreciate this story in its grim entirety, you are going to want to go back a few years.
Alex Da Silva And So You Think You Can Dance
Born in 1968 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Alex Da Silva discovered salsa dancing at the age of twenty. From this point, Da Silva became an important figure in the ongoing story and evolution of salsa dancing. In particular, Da Silva specialized in what is known as the L.A. style of salsa dancing. It is important to remember that there are numerous styles of salsa dancing to be found throughout the world. While the L.A. style is one of the most popular, it is not the only approach to salsa by any means.
Nonetheless, Da Silva found a calling and career by focusing his attentions and energies on this particular style. From his career as a Salsa dancer and instructor in the San Francisco Bay Area, Da Silva eventually found his way to the FOX reality dancing competition known as So You Think You Can Dance. The show proved to be a hit, and Da Silver became a familiar face across four hugely popular seasons.
And then the scandal broke. This would be a scandal that would result in Da Silva being dealt a decade-long prison term, which in turn rocked the beloved FOX series to its core. The show is still on the air, and it remains popular, but it doesn’t change the fact that the show has been associated with scandal on at least two occasions.
The Arrest And Conviction Of Alex Da Silva
In 2009, Alex Da Silva was arrested and charged with the following:
- 4 counts of forcible rape.
- 2 counts of assault with intent to commit rape.
- 2 counts of sexual penetration with a foreign object.
Da Silva hit back at the claims by arguing that the sex was consensual. He further argued that the women in question were trying to get money from him. Claiming innocence to the bitter end, Da Silva pled not guilty to all charges. He also suggested that the women all knew one another, given that all of them came from the same small town.
Following Da Silva’s arrest, his bail was set at two million dollars. Unable to make bail, Da Silva had little choice but to remain in jail. Mistrials and other delays caused him to remain in jail for an additional two years.
On September 16th, 2011, Da Silva was found guilty of rape and assault with intent to commit rape. Following the decision of the jury, Da Silva received his sentence of ten years. According to the DUI Lawyer in Santa Cruz, he will normally serve at least 85% of such sentence in California
Da Silva is currently serving out his jail sentence. While it is unknown what the future holds for the former instructor, there is little doubt that his career as a teacher and choreographer are likely over.
As mentioned earlier, the story above is not the only scandal associated with So You Think You Can Dance. Shane Sparks, another choreographer with the show, was arrested in 2009, and charged with 8 counts of felony child molestation. After pleading no-content to one of the counts, he received a jail sentence of 270 days.
As of this writing, So You Think You Can Dance remains a staple of FOX programming.