For each dance that I learn in my journey, I make a video. Throughout the Bailando Series, you will see my dance technique gradually improve, confidence increase, and videos get more creative.
Hours of class: 10. Three and a half months into my journey.
Dancing Reggaeton with dancers from Coabey Dance Academy in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where I spent a week working on a basic routine to a mash-up of hits by Puerto Rican artists.
Hours of class: 0. Three months into my journey.
Dancing Merengue, the national dance of the Dominican Republic, in Santo Domingo. Every Sunday evening in the ruins of San Francisco in Santo Domingo’s Zona Colonial, musicians from the Grupo Bonyé perform to a crowd of locals and curious foreigners that dance merengue and other rhythms into the night. I didn’t take any classes, but instead learnt Merengue just by dancing in the streets!
Hours of class: 8. Three months into my journey.
Dancing Bachata at the iconic Lucía 203 in the heart of Santo Domingo’s Zona Colonial in Dominican Republic with my incredible teacher Nathanael Vasquez from the Centro de Danza Belkis Sandoval.
Hours of class: 1. Eleven weeks into my journey.
Dancing Cubatón with Tierra Kaliente, one of Cuba’s best dance groups in el Malecón – Havana, Cuba. Cubatón is Cuban Reggaeton, which tends to have a slightly different rhythm to Puerto Rican Reggaeton and draws more heavily from Cuban influences.
Hours of class: 6. Eleven weeks into my Journey.
Dancing Son Cubano (or Cuban Son) with my incredible teacher Yosnel Herrera on the rooftops of old Havana. Son is probably the most distinctively Cuban to the ear, and seen by many as the predecessor to Salsa. Thanks to Baila habana, I was able to learn this romantic dance.
Hours of class: 20. Eleven weeks into my journey.
Dancing Cuban Salsa with Yosnel Herrera in the iconic Hotel Florida in Havana, Cuba. Thanks to Baila Habana, a social project that supports Cuban dancers, I was able to learn Cuban Salsa to this level in an intensive course in just 5 days.
Hours of class: 0. Two months into my journey.
El Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, falls on the 2nd November and is celebrated to remember those who are no longer with us. This skeleton dance to the song ‘Bailando’ was entirely improvised, and after my professional dance partner had an accident, we had to choose a random skeleton in the park who would agree to dance with me. It was also my first attempt at some more serious video editing – a really fun creative experience!
Hours of class: 8. Two months into my journey.
Dancing Mexican folkloric dance on stage! It’s easy to spot me, I’m the only girl in the guy’s row! Such an honour as to be so warmly included join in this show with the Instituto de Danza Mizoc! This dance, called “Sones de Betaza”, was performed among others to celebrate the Instituto de Danza Mizoc’s 49th Anniversary. It is usually performed as part of a “Guelagatza” – an annual indigenous cultural celebration in Mexico’s state of Oaxaca.
Hours of class: 8. Six weeks into my journey.
Dancing the Jarabe Tapatio, Mexico’s national dance also known as the “Mexican Hat Dance”, with Osvaldo Santos at Mexico’s world-renowned Ballet Folklórico de Mexico de Amalia Hernández. Popularised in the 19th Century, the dance represents courtship, with the woman at first refusing the man’s advances until she receives his hat.
Hours of class: 1. Ten days into my journey.
The first in a series to document my dance journey, this video is a first attempt to dance New York Salsa with Ismael Otero, a prominent dancer and instructor on the New York dance scene. What differentiates NY Salsa from other styles is that it is danced “on 2”, or on the second beat of the music, with the follower stepping forward first. Rather than travelling while dancing, both partners dance within a limited space while facing each other most of the time. I took just one hour of class with Ismael to prepare this video, but had taken several group classes beforehand.
Hours of class: 9. Three days into my journey.
Diving into the deep end! My first time on stage, an audience of 800 people at one of the world’s most important salsa events, and one of the most complex routines I ever learnt! Infiltrating the group alongside experienced dancers, including professionals, you can spot me hiding at the back to the right.
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