When I initiated my dance career in the beautiful, elegant Ballroom world, I encountered a lot of challenges. Being Cuban, born and raised, and graduating from the most successful dance school in Havana, I was expected to be able to merge an ethnic, original feeling, along with the International Latin and American Rhythm styles, and that seemed impossible! Throughout the process, when I tried to introduce the Cuban essence, flavor and ethnicity, and mix it with the Latin or American Rhythm Style, I was told I danced either
- too mechanical,
- too technical and inexpressive, or
- too social looking
It was hard to find the balance and create that interesting concept that people expected, the real Cuban flavor without altering too much of the requirements and the elegance.
After so many years of struggling with this issue, and dancing, training, competing, and performing all-around the world, I was able to find the perfect formula. I have come to conclude that only by adding the correct PERCENTAGE you can blend them both into a competitive success.
Over the years, I have continued developing into this subject and asked myself the following questions, firstly as a student, then as a Professional, and now as a teacher:
- What percentage of both technique and authenticity do you need to have in your dance routine or social dancing to create the magic?
- How do you achieve that blend and how do you find a formula that can be clearly understood? and then
- How do you explain that to the students and professionals, whether it is for competitive or social dances (including the Cha Cha Cha, Mambo, International or American Rumba, the Bolero, or even the Samba) without degenerating the style?
If you want to share your thoughts and learn more about my experience stay tuned for my upcoming blogs!