The Start of Something New

Hello!  Let me introduce myself!  My dancing name is Jele and I have been dancing bachata sensual for about 2 years.  I grew up in the midwest on a horse farm, so the fact I have fallen deeply in love with this latin sensual dance is not the norm. How did this happen? 

I was traveling with one of my best friends in the Cayman Islands about 5 years ago.  We made dinner reservations at a beautiful, oceanfront restaurant highly reviewed for their seafood but more importantly, that had a salsa lesson starting at 10pm, followed by social dancing.  Being very much a salsa-newbie at the time, I was stoked for an opportunity to dance while on vacation.  During social dancing after the lesson, there was this beautiful dancer who was wearing a bright teal dress dancing a kind of dance unfamiliar to me. Watching her and her partner completely drew me in.  Compared to salsa dancing, the dance was more sensual and unpredictable; the connection between the two of them seemed stronger than seeing a couple dance salsa; and there was a much greater variance in the slow vs fast movements, and it all seemed dependent upon the ebb and flow of the music.  I was hooked.  To top it off, the pure joy on the woman's face while she danced was mesmerizing.  When the song was over and she walked off the dance floor, I fought through the crowded patio deck to ask what kind of dancing that was… I HAD to know what this magical, passionate dance was.  I needed to find out how so much energy, passion and joy could be experienced in a short 3 minute song between two people who were clearly not together, but spoke the same special language expressed completely through body movements vs speaking!  Bachata, she said, with the warmest, happiest smile on her face.  

And that was how it all started.

Summer Sensual Days, Rovinj Croatia 2022