Dance Cultura Podcast Dance Cultura Podcast

In this episode we talk to Alien Ramirez, a 24 time world latin dance champion from Bayamo, Cuba. She comes from a family of musicians, composers, and self-proclaimed “dreamers”. She started taking lessons in ballet, singing, gymnastics, flamenco and cuban folk dance at 4 years old.

In her early twenties, she moved to LA and worked with renowned dancers like Alex Da Silva and Grizzly Hidriago and has choreographed for tv shows like so you think you can dance. Unfortunately, this partnership ended after Alex was convicted of a sex crime and Alien found herself lacking the same recognition on her own. After this, she made the decision to develop a career as a solo dancer so she wouldn’t find herself as dependent on another partner in the future.

She has danced and taught all over the world but above her many accolades and achievements, she really values time with daughter and family.

Follow Alien:

Instagram: @alienramirez

https://www.facebook.com/alienrocio/

In this episode we interview Rodrigo Cortazar who is one of the most life-loving, open, humble, and hilarious people we’ve spoken to yet! He is a natural storyteller and shared about his musical training in a conservatory, his deep respect and appreciation for other artists, and his love for art in general.

Some of the life lessons we learned from Rodrigo during this interview are that you need to believe in your own dreams because no one else will, you have the power to create your own joy, and that without taking risks, there are no rewards. He made us laugh and cry, and he is a testament of what can happen when you are willing to believe in yourself and work hard to achieve your goals.

Follow Rodrigo Cortazar:

https://www.facebook.com/rodrigo.cortazar1

https://www.instagram.com/rodrigo.cortazar.210/

In this episode we talk to Francisco Garcia, aka Dj Sisco who is a key member of the dance community in Toronto. He has been Dj-ing for over 12 years and he was part of the mastermind group that created the extremely successful, and dearly missed event Dame Tu Bachata. Before the pandemic started, him and his business partners started a new salsa event in Toronto called Tumbao! We are so glad and grateful that we had the opportunity to experience such an amazing event before the lockdown.

He is incredibly passionate about music and is dedicated to keeping the art of vinyl alive. His music collection is carefully curated and he is always supporting new artists and discovering new music. He is very encouraging of new talent (us included) and is dedicated to sharing his knowledge to help the new generation thrive. Speaking to him reminded us why we started the podcast, how much we miss dancing, and how lucky we are to live in a city where the community is so strong, vibrant and diverse.

Follow Dj Sisco:

https://www.facebook.com/DjSiscoAndHisTorontoSalsaDuraEvents

https://www.instagram.com/sisco84/

In this episode we talk to Jennifer Aucoin, the founder of Steps Dance Studio and the Canada Salsa and Bachata Congress, the longest running Salsa and Bachata congress in Canada. Jennifer has been dancing her whole life and she fell in love with Salsa when she visited the Dominican Republic when she was just 19 years old.

She has dedicated her life to the art form of Latin dance ever since. Her dedication, focus, and optimism are contagious, especially in these times. She is an example that you don’t have to come from a specific background in order to love and contribute to its culture.

Follow Jennifer:

https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.aucoin.77

https://www.instagram.com/jenaucoin27/

Follow Steps:

https://www.stepsdancestudio.com/

https://www.instagram.com/stepsdancestudiotoronto/?hl=en

Canada Salsa Congress:

https://www.canadasalsacongress.com/

In this episode we interview Jessica Taylor, the founder of For the Love of Bachata which started as a Facebook page to share bachata music with her community but has grown into socials, bi-annual festivals, and DJ’ing.

In March 2017, Jessica was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation by the International Ambassador of Dominican Arts, Edwin Ferreras for her dedication to the development of Bachata in her community. She is truly a superfan of bachata and latin music and is an incredibly thoughtful event planner, recently having added sign language interpreters and instituting a code of conduct and consent for her events.

FTLOB events are continuing online, please visit https://www.fortheloveofbachata.com for details.

Follow Jessica:

https://www.instagram.com/fortheloveofbachata

https://www.facebook.com/jessica.djtay

Follow FTLOB:

https://www.fortheloveofbachata.com

https://www.instagram.com/ftlobevents

https://www.facebook.com/love4bachata

Our guests in this episode are two incredible bachata dancers that have an instantly recognizable style that focuses on intricate footwork with smooth transitions and isolations. They have so much flow, flavour, and a lot of wisdom about life too. Cristian is originally from the Dominican Republic but did not start his dance journey until he arrived in Spain, where he would later meet Katerina at a dance club. Katerina is from Russia and her dance career started when she was 4 years old which would take her to China and later to Spain.

Cristian and Katerina manage the Bachata Crew Instagram page where they promote traditional Dominican bachata videos and have been teaching online since the pandemic started, you can visit their website www.bachatacrew.com for more information.

Follow Cristian & Katerina:

www.facebook.com/Cristianykaterina/

www.instagram.com/cristianykaterina/

Follow Bachata Crew:

www.facebook.com/groups/311155745696345/

www.instagram.com/thebachatacrew/