What was it that got you hooked on bachata?
My love for Bachata started when I moved to Australia (from USA) back in 2004. I was dancing Bachata and Salsa at that time, but when I arrived to Australia, I was surprised that no one was teaching and / or promoting it. I love Salsa, but not dancing Bachata on the night was not fun, so I felt that I had to get the Australian dancers dancing Bachata.
How did you manage to get the Australians hooked on bachata as well? That must not have been easy.
It wasn’t my plan to start the Bachata revolution in Australia. I started it by teaching to different people individually because I wanted to dance Bachata, and I wanted the DJs to see that if they play Bachata, people will dance, and not clear the dance floor, as they thought at that time (I had to give Bachata music to the DJs as well). Eventually the word got out and I taught the first Bachata workshop in Australia in March 2005, at the Latin Dance Australia school. I had more than 80+ people at the workshop, and from them they organized weekly classes for me to teach.
Classes were popular and other school followed by teaching Bachata at their schools. At the end of 2005, I was teaching Bachata at different Congresses (Latin Dance Corroboree) and National events in Australia (Australian Salsa Championships). It was clear then that Bachata was a style that had to be included in every Latin dance school and Latin dance event. I have documented the early days of Bachata in Australia on my website; you can find more details here
http://goo.gl/XN6e9G
Bachata has become enormously popular all over the world in a very short time, and it looks like it’s there to stay. What do you think is the main trigger for that?
I love that Bachata is almost as popular (or share the same popularity) as Salsa. The smoothness of the rhythm and the connection you create with your partner is something that no other dance style can offer. And lately, it is helping a lot that major Bachata artists like Romeo, Prince Royce are collaborating with mainstream pop artists (i.e. Usher, Drake, Enrique Iglesias, etc.), so a lot of non-Latino people are being introduced to Bachata more than ever.
What is bachata moderna?
I’m glad you asked me this question. Bachata Moderna is more than just Bachata (dancing from side to side). Bachata Moderna is composed of 9 fundamentals which help the dancers create patterns and shapes never created before, moving away from the Bachata square as I called it (the very basic predictable side to side step). The beginning of Bachata Moderna started in 2009 when I was looking for something more for my Bachata dancing, but without losing the essence and flavor of Bachata. Instead of focusing on turn patterns and / or styling (body rolls, arm styling, etc.), I started focusing on creating fundamentals that could be used and re-used in different order and that would enable me to create variations of these fundamentals. I have documented the 9 fundamentals on my website (
http://wp.me/P28zux-9) and I’m also documenting them on my YouTube Channel (
http://goo.gl/gt61S4)
With the popularity of Dominican Bachata, I have also developed a lot of Dominican Footwork, but I have integrated it with my Bachata Moderna style. Nowadays, when I travel to dance events, promoters usually ask me to teach MODERN DOMINICAN BACHATA (check a sample video here http://goo.gl/nEn6jp) which is combination of Bachata Moderna and Dominican Bachata.
Have you always wanted to be a dancing instructor?
When I was young, I didn’t plan on becoming a dance instructor and I didn’t even imagine that I would be able to travel the world teaching dancing, doing shows, organizing events, and also owning a successful dance studio in Australia (Tropical Soul Dance Studio
www.tsdance.com.au). I feel blessed that I have been able to make a living from my passion for Bachata and Latin dancing. I always tell my students, my life is my work and my work is my life.
Which aspect of your work do you enjoy most?
I enjoy performing, but I prefer doing Bachata demos (or freestyles) where people can see the things that they can do on the dance floor just by feeling the music and using the Bachata Moderna fundamentals. But most of all, I enjoy teaching classes and workshops.
