I started my professional Bachata career 4 years ago. Even though I was teaching Bachata before, it is not until 2008 that I decided to push it as far as I can. Now, 2011 is coming to an end, and as every year, I like to look back and remember the year’s accomplishments, wonderful memories, be grateful for what has been achieved and plan for the next year, 2012!
The best reward for 2011 is that I have met so many Bachateros all over the world! In every country that I taught Bachata – New Caledonia, Holland, France, Singapore, USA – I was welcomed by wonderful Bachateros that were eager to learn, dance and enjoy themselves! In my homeland, Australia, I was a judge for the NSW, ACT, VIC and National Bachata Championships (4 competitions). I also had the opportunity to be part of the first Bachata dedicated events in Perth, Coffs Harbour and Tasmania, and kicking-off the Bachata revolution there!
Also, for this year, Bachateros finally had a home: TROPICAL SOUL Dance Studio! In April 2011, together with my partner Josie, we opened our dream, our own dance studio! At Tropical Soul, Bachateros has grown even stronger and faster. We have 2 teams full of dedicated Bachateros! I love the Bachateros teams!
The Bachateros website continues to grow and generate more traffic, we’ve had visits from all over the world! We have 51 Bachata songs on the Download section for free, and close to 400 Bachata posts and 300+ comments! The website accomplished all that even though we were under the Australian domain name (Bachateros.com.au). Imagine what will happen if we go with the International domain name (Bachateros.com)?!
The Bachateros brand also grew online. We doubled up on the number of Bachata Moderna fans on Facebook (close to 2000 fans) and on our twitter account (600+ followers), and we finally passed the 1000 subscribers on our Youtube Bachata channel!
So, the question I ask myself every year is: What’s next for 2012?
- The famous Sydney International Bachata Festival will continue to lead the way (have you checked out the website? It’s going to be an awesome event!)
- Bachata Moderna DVDs Volume 4 and 5. Yes, thanks to popular demand, they are coming soon!
- New choreographies for the Bachateros team that will be showcased at the Tropical Gala Parties, the SIBF and the Byron Latin Fiesta.
- More travels to teach and promote Bachata all over Australia and the world.
I feel privileged and grateful that God has put me in this wonderful path. The lovely dance of Bachata has definitely changed and improved my life, and I hope I’ve been able to do the same for all my students. 2011 has been a wonderful year! So I raise my glass…. Here’s to a great year with Bachateros!
– Juan Ruiz
Seeing as Nobody has said it yet…I’m going to say it:
Congratulations Juan, on your achivements for Bachata 2011, and Bachata in General…
You’ve always been 100% committed to Bachata’s growth and development….and widening people’s knowledge of the dance. I’ll admit that I wasnt even aware that Australia knew what Bachata was until I came across you… 🙂
Teaching Bachata is one thing, (Heck….1,000’s of teachers do that), but very few, have put in the time, effort, to Teach abroad / Workshops/ Website / instructional DVD’s/ Youtube videos/ Performance teams, etc….in an effort to promote Bachata, and maybe one day make it as widely recognised as Salsa (Hey, maybe Bachata isn’t truly for the masses…..but thats another topic)
As seeing as your best placed to answer this question Juan: “Where/What direction do you see Bachata going in the next few years??”…..will sub-sections of bachata such as “Urban Bachata” make any impact?….or will new variations on Crosses/Turn-Patterns come to light….or will Footwork make a comeback?…or do you see something completely different happening with Bachata…?
Lee
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Hello Lee! thanks for the nice comment. It makes a difference when you are passionate about your work. I know I am, so putting my time and effort on Bachateros is just enjoyable 🙂
On your last paragraph, you bring up a very good topic for discussion…
In a nutshell, from my experience in the Bachata community, the direction of the Bachata dancing will be dependent of the developments of the Bachata music. For example, we just witness Usher dancing Bachata at the Latin Grammy Awards! Usher did traditional bachata steps, meaning that lots of people (millions of people) where introduced to the traditional bachata steps.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTXZtO-LV9o
I do believe that Urban Bachata, and/or Bachata Moderna, and/or Fusion Bachata will be the most exposed Bachata styles out there, mostly because of the music (music by the Urban Bachata artists are played worldwide). Once people have been introduced to these dance styles, then they will learn about the Dominican Style. From them, people will integrate the different elements of each style and make a style on their own.
I’m thinking this is definitely worth an article to write about… (so thank you for the idea!)
Juan…
Admittedly “The Future of Bachata” was a topic, that had been bouncing around in my head for a while (along with a couple of other topics), and I wasnt sure how best to suggest this
Is it worth adding my thoughts to this posting?, or waiting until you create, a new article?…
As I have a few thoughts to debate regarding this…