With the end of 2009 fast approaching, I have taken the time to look back and reflect on the Bachateros’ achievements and experiences throughout 2009. The smile that takes over my face when thinking about all these achievements is not big enough to thank everybody for supporting our projects and sharing their love for Bachata with us.

It is amazing to see how much Bachata love is in the world. Back in January, ’09, I had the pleasure to attend the first Bachata Festival in the USA, the Reno Bachata Convention. on the throughout 2009, I found myself traveling all over Australia, teaching at Salsa Congresses and  Festivals (Sydney, Melbourne, Darwin, Adelaide, Brisbane), then back to the USA performing in Chicago and participating at the San Francisco Bachata Festival. One month was spent teaching Bachata in Asia (Malaysia Salsa Festival, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore), and then to finish off the year I was back in Australia to complete the Bachateros Do Australia and New Zealand Tour ’09 (Adelaide, Sydney, Canberra, Christchurch, Byron Bay and Melbourne).

The Bachateros Brand and the Bachateros Online Magazine has grown in popularity The Bachateros brand is recognized both nationally and internationally as a Bachata authority. The amount of hits, page views and subscriptions the website (received from all over the world (including Africa!!) increases every day.  Well recognized Bachata bands and artist are now contacting Bachateros for the opportunity to release their brand new Bachata songs through the website. The YouTube channel has received awards from the traffic generated in Australia, the Twitter account gets more followers and the Facebook group receives lots of comments and interactions. To think that when the website was released (Jul 08) we had 5 articles to start with, now we have more than 120 articles!

Every Latin dance school now teaches Bachata regularly and not just as a one off class or workshop. Our Bachata classes in Sydney keep growing in numbers and the Moderna Style Bachata has become a standard style not only here in Australia but has also been adopted by various schools in Asia and New Zealand. We are all now using the same syllabus and fundamentals! We’re speaking the same language!

So what’s  for us in the next year? As I never imagined things to take off as fast as they did in 2009, one can only imagine what’s install for the Bachateros in 2010. Here are just a few things to look forward for 2010:

• The Sydney Bachata Festival 2010 and the many other festivals that the Bachateros have been invited to all over the world.
• Due to the overwhelming response to our Moderna Bachata DVD’s, a brand new Bachata Moderna DVD Volume 3 is in the making and will be available for purchase early 2010 via the website, international retailers, workshops and dance studios.
• Bachateros t-shirt’s supporting the slogan “I SPEAK BACHATA”, are currently in the production line and will be available to purchase by early 2010.
• There will be new student choreographies which means new Bachata Moderna moves, for sure!

One thing is for certain, the winner from all this hard work is BACHATA itself. It is not me, it is not you, it is the dance and the music that we all love (regardless of which style we dance).It is great to see that Bachata is growing and obtaining the recognition it deserves throughout the Latin dancing world.

On behalf of my team, I would like to thank you: the promoter, the school owner, the festival organizer, the Bachata artist, the performer and most importantly, the Bachata dancer for sharing your passion with me and the world!

Let 2010 be a year to remember!

-Juan Ruiz and the Bachateros Team