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Bachata in Canada

Kimberly Ramos and Geovanny Ricardo By Spenser McRae

Geo and Kim: Salsa Class at Toronto Salsa Fridays

Video courtesy of Araguacu Latin Dance Company

Toronto-based Latin dance couple, Kimberly Ramos and Geovanny Ricardo, have established themselves as a powerful force in the Canadian bachata dance community. Recognized for their smooth, yet strong, energy and presence, the couple has gained national and international success through numerous avenues including competing, performing and instructing at a professional level.

Ramos and Ricardo direct Araguacu Latin Dance Company, which specializes in salsa and bachata, and are also organizers of Dame Tu Bachata, one of the largest bachata socials in North America. Their goal is to broaden the scope of the bachata dance community in Canada and expose Canadian dancers to the international bachata dance scene.

The dance partners were featured contributors in The Dance Current’s 2017 November/December issue where they highlighted bachata’s origins, evolution and eventual rise to popularity - particularly, its massive success in Canada. They attributed this success to a number of individuals and institutions such as Francisco Garcia (DJ Sisco), Aventura and iFreestyle Dance Company, along with the exposure provided by social media channels.

As bachata continues to develop through more frequent events and artists garnering attention in the global dance community, there is plenty of room for the form to flourish in Canada.

Posted June 26, 2018

Political Bodies

Public protest on the land now called Canada often disrupts the rhythms of everyday life. Dance, when used in and as protest, entails the work of remembrance and caring for difficult histories, memories and stories. Elan Marchinko explores four performative works that engage in protest: The Holomodor Project, Meridian, Bearing and Blackout. Included are Rodney Diverlus’s choreographer’s notes.

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Phases of Dance: Lo Dice La Gente bachata Animated Short (2017) by Iveta Karpathyova

Phases of Dance: An Animated Short

Four months of production, with over 2100 individual drawings, culminates in three minutes of bachata technique expressed in animation. Phases of Dance by illustrator, animator, bachata dancer and instructor Iveta Karpathyova explores the movement potential of rotoscoping in documenting embodied knowledge.

Listing

8 minutes 17 seconds

Blue Ceiling Dance

Toronto ON
January 23-26 janvier 2020

The length of time it takes light to travel from the sun to the earth is the launching point for this kaleidoscopic exploration of the metaphors and soul of cosmology, the