I usually write about what I have experienced and felt. I share what I consider important and helpful in learning Latin dances. My holistic approach to teaching encompasses not only the physical, psychological and spiritual aspects of a dancer’s development, but also the way I acquire and deepen my knowledge as a teacher. I have a constant need to keep learning in different fields: dance, psychology, musicology, dance history and Latin American culture. I reflect deeply on what I learn and experience so that I can put that knowledge to the best possible use in coaching dancers.
A journey that changed my perspective
Cuba restored my belief in a kind of dance that brings out the best in us: the joy of living. My adventure with this country began in February 2014. A week-long workshop organised by Slovenian dance coach Barbara Nagoda Ambroz prompted me to visit Havana. The Cuban Experience project brought together two cultures, Western and Latin American. Cuban dancers and ballroom dancers trained together and presented both forms in a theatre in Havana. Bringing the styles together led to shared interpretations of rumba, cha cha cha, mambo and salsa. I later returned to Cuba several times independently, taking individual lessons in danzón, son, rumba, cha cha cha, mambo and salsa. I also consulted musicologist Dr Olavo Alén Rodríguez and explored the dances of the Orishas.
The inner world and the body
I believe that the physical world mirrors our emotional and spiritual world. Particular thoughts evoke feelings and emotions which, when set in motion, produce external results. Our outer world depends on our inner world. What did Cuba change in my inner world? A great deal, and with it my way of understanding and teaching Latin dances.
For me, Cuba is above all dance, music and simplicity of living. It is a place where a totalitarian system has not extinguished Latin joy, and where African and European influences meet in dance, music and other parts of life. I was captivated by Cuba and by the Cubans I met: open and deeply proud people despite poverty and difficult living conditions. During my travels around the island, they showed me another way to live: being here and now, enjoying every moment, appreciating what each day brings while accepting life’s difficulties. Cuba truly rebuilt my soul. The Cuban inspirations I bring to my teaching come mainly from observing how the dancers I met feel and accept their bodies. They seem more grounded in their bodies, working more clearly with a low centre of gravity. I see a strong connection to the ground and a freer flow of energy in their movement. This goes hand in hand with their bodies’ suppleness and agility. They can feel and interpret music with every part of their bodies.
The body, the earth and acceptance
I also interpret this connection to the ground through the symbolism of Mother Earth and attentiveness to what each day brings. Acceptance of one’s body and sexuality is important. The lack of inhibition and greater freedom of expression I observed make their movement natural and graceful. Latin dancing is based largely on movement of the pelvis, full of life and joy. In dancers from my own cultural background, I often notice tension and inhibition in this area. It took me time to appreciate the pelvis’s role, and Cuba, with the many hours I spent dancing there, helped me do so. Pelvic movement greatly influences balance and lightness of movement. It connects the lower and upper body, allowing energy to flow and movement to continue. The pelvis is a source of genuine strength, inner power and vitality that I see in Cubans, especially Cuban women. Free movement of the hips can express joy, inner calm, independence and a sense of being grounded in the world. Awareness of the pelvis remains limited in our culture. Understanding the potential for joy held in this part of the body gave a different quality to my dancing and my life.
Connection rather than display
Self-acceptance also meant that the Cuban dancers I met felt no need to show off excessively or prove who was better. This is visible at dance parties, where tourists display their skills in search of outside approval. Many Cuban dancers, enjoying dancing with another person, find pleasure in the interaction within the couple. Their dancing is about play, action and reaction, and energy flowing between the dancers. Connection and creativity are central. They can follow their partner’s lead, listening to their inner voice and adapting so that together they find fluidity and the strength of their relationship. In life and dance, they seek communication with another person. Eye contact matters: the eyes are the mirror of the soul. What mattered in these encounters was sincerity and wholehearted engagement.
What I learn from Cuban dancers
In many Cuban dancers I met, I see grace, inner strength, the courage to follow intuition, creativity and connection with the body, music and partner. These are qualities I try to awaken in my students every day. I am fascinated by the softness and speed of their movement, their play with rhythm and their partner, their musicality and sensitivity to sound. I admire their ability to be here and now, their commitment and their immense passion for dance.
A deep connection with themselves allows them to draw energy from intuition and instinct. In their dancing, intuition often seems more important to me than the intellectual analysis so prominent in Western culture. Yet it is above all from intuition that art and love grow…