My salsa dance addiction started in 2002, at the beginning of a 12-year divorce from hell.

Dance was my exercise. My escape. My solace.

I lived in Toronto, within minutes of salsa socials and studios. I was a single working mom with a live-in nanny for my then one- and three-year-old kids. When they went to sleep, I went dancing, five nights a week.

It was as if I had another life: Working by day, dancing by night. No matter how badly I felt, all my stress disappeared on the dance floor. Dance changed everything in my mind and body.

Twelve years ago, I shelved salsa and transitioned to west coast swing dancing, which was gentler on my aging body. West coast swing is an improvisational, playful smooth partner dance to music ranging from blues to pop. The dance features an extension-compression style of partner connection.

Now separated and single again, I’ve added salsa back to my dance repertoire. I love moving to the beat of Latin music. I needed something uplifting to take my mi...

As human beings, we all want to better ourselves. Now, how that betterment translates for you will be different than what it means for your child, neighbor, colleague, partner, friends, etc.
 
Of course, though our journeys may be different, there are universal themes that remain the same: We, as human beings, cherish and strive for many of the same outcomes i.e. love, acceptance, connection, happiness and a sense of meaning and purpose. 
 
In order to achieve these outcomes, we have to be vulnerable and open ourselves up to new experiences. To this end, I took on a new challenge: I participated in a 20-day salsa “warm-up musicality marathon " in November 2022. While this was a team challenge, the focus was on solo freestyle dancing. Spoiler alert: My team won the challenge! 

"Frigid Freestyler" -- My Journey to Vulnerability

My goals were to embody musicality and become a more improvisational and creative dancer. I aspired to move my body like a musical instrument, to better connect ...

Do you talk tango or speak salsa? If not, you needn’t worry: people don’t have to speak a foreign language nor be a professional dancer to enjoy the many spiritual, physical, and mental benefits of dance. 

How A Virtual Dance Challenge Changed My Mindset

If you follow me and my journey as a mother, academic, professional coach, and dance enthusiast, you’ll know that dancing is in my blood.

As such, this past November, I joined a 20-day international salsa challenge! No, we weren’t meeting in Cuba. We all meet and danced online. Yup, online and the energy was infectious! There were 250 salsa dancers competing from all over the world! And, these competitors embodied a range of ages and skills – from beginner to super advanced.

TRAINING & STRUCTURE

How did it work? Well, there were 10 teams with approximately 25 dancers per team. On my team, there were 8 local (D.C. area) dancers. The remainder of the teams were from overseas.

Each day, during the 20-day challenge, the eastern Eur...

My salsa dance addiction started in 2002, at the beginning of a 12-year divorce from hell.

Dance was my exercise. My escape. My solace.

I lived in Toronto, within minutes of salsa socials and studios. I was a single working mom with a live-in nanny for my then one- and three-year-old kids. When they went to sleep, I went dancing, five nights a week.

It was as if I had another life: Working by day, dancing by night. No matter how badly I felt, all my stress disappeared on the dance floor. Dance changed everything in my mind and body.

Ten years ago, I shelved salsa and transitioned to west coast swing dancing, which was gentler on my aging body. West coast swing is an improvisational, playful smooth partner dance to music ranging from blues to pop. The dance features an extension-compression style of partner connection.

Now, recently separated and I’ve added salsa back to my dance repertoire. I love moving to the beat of Latin music. I needed something uplifting to take my mind of...