Why I Dance
I find it difficult to find the words to describe what dance means to me as there is no separation. It’s a part of me, I am the dance.
I grew up in Veracruz, a vibrant city with Mexican, Spanish and Caribbean influences. Dance is a big part of our culture and every weekend there was music and dancing in the square. I loved it and started dancing at the age of 6 years old. When I was 8 years old I choreographed 2 dances for the school’s end of year dance choosing the music and selecting the dancers. I was in my element. My mum made me a wizard’s outfit for one of the dances.
She continued to make many of my dance costumes when I was performing as an adult.
I remember someone asking me when I was a boy if I wanted to be a dancer and I answered that I didn’t know. The truth is that I was so embedded in the music and in my body that the word dancer had no meaning for me.
I was just so absorbed in the movement, in the moment. It never even occurred to me that I would be doing this kind of work when I grew up.
I am so grateful to my Auntie Carmen for introducing me to the world of dance. When I danced I felt alive. I felt like a butterfly. I felt free like the sea or the wind. I always loved to explore the elements, I was born next to the sea. and we have a windy season in Veracruz. We had a hammock in the house and I loved to swing in it, I somehow felt like I was a butterfly when I was swinging in that hammock.
Although she wasn’t a dancer my mum loved to dance. She especially loved Latin rhythms and I have wonderful memories of her spinning me around endlessly when I was little. It was an honour to dance with her in my film Building Bridges in later life.
My grandfather used to organise the El Dia de la Razas in Los Robles where we lived. It was a day when we commemorated and celebrated all nationalities. The women would appear in all their finery, carrying their country’s flag and each had a ‘Chambelan’, a man who escorted them by the hand around the parade.
I remember I was having fun, dancing one time and some of the girls needed an escort so I volunteered myself for the job! It was amazing. I just loved to be moving and dancing in whatever form. As I discovered the world of dance I knew I wanted to be a part of it.
My Dance Journey
I began my dance and theatre training in the theatre company of the Veracruz Institute of Culture and toured with them in 1986 in the state of Veracruz.
After high school, I moved to Mexico City to pursue choreography at the National Institute of Fine Arts (Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes) where I graduated in 2003.
In 2004 I settled in Spain to follow courses in Anatomy of Movement in I’Eix (Palafrugell, Spain). During this time I developed my knowledge of Conscious Fitness and Gentle Movement Techniques.
Between 2007 and 2011 I ran a successful series of Dance and Movement workshops for the elderly at Civic Centres in Barcelona.
In 2010 I gained my diploma and qualified as a Dance Movement Therapist with the Asociación Aragonesa de Danzaterapia de Zaragoza.
In 2011 I designed, organized and adapted Dance and Movement workshops for the Association of the Blind – ACIC in Barcelona. These workshops supported and helped blind people with movement, expression, flexibility, coordination, relation with space, developing relations with others and their connection with emotions.
At the end of 2011, I was Movement Director for a group of amputee amateur actors for the Spanish première of the play A Party for Boris by Thomas Bernhard directed by Matthias Janser.
I moved to England with my partner and made my home in Southampton in 2011.
I was starting out in a new country and learning a new language so I volunteered with the Solent Wheelchair Dancing Club; Age Concern, I offered my classes to several Lunch Clubs for the elderly and I held Jajouka dance classes at The Point Eastleigh, and dance classes for people with disabilities at Eastleigh College.
In 2015 I completed a six months Apprenticeship in Reminiscence Arts in Dementia Care with the European Reminiscence Network, then in 2016 I completed the Dance for Parkinson’s Teacher Training with Pavilion Dance South West, Bournemouth.
In the last few years, my focus has moved more and more into movement and care for the elderly.
At present, I run a series of movement classes across Southampton and Eastleigh and a weekly Dance for Parkinson Class at The Point in Eastleigh.
