It’s the last day of 2024 and time for a recap of how my dance blog did this year. My articles discuss social dancing and topics that Brazilian zouk, bachata, salsa, and similar style dancers come across. The goal is to help my readers become better social dancers and improve their dance skills. I also do dance-related things outside of the blog, which you can read about in the Bonus Insights section.
Blog Insights
2024 was the year I was inspired to take my blog more seriously. I invested in a course to become a better blogger, published posts as often as I could and adjusted the design and layout of the blog to improve navigation and discovery.
At the start, my blog focused more on intermediate dancers, but this year I also started posting more beginner-friendly articles.
I have an Instagram account @jettence that in the past I tried to make into an extension of the blog with short snippets and tips. I hadn’t seen much growth on there, so posting on IG was on a back burner in 2024 whilst I focused on full-length articles for the blog, simply because of better return on investment.
I knew I could gain more traction on Instagram if I posted videos (Reels) of myself dancing, but I don’t like to be that much of a public figure – I post my dance videos occasionally on Stories only (check the Highlights section for past videos).
Blog Statistics
Best of 2024
In 2024 I published 23 blog posts and these were the top 8 most read:
- Honest Review of Fuego Dance Sneakers
- Bachata vs Zouk – Dance Style Comparison
- Hygiene Tips for Social Dancing
- The Best Tropical Places to Visit for Dancing Zouk
- How To Become Better at Zouk – Checklist
- What Do Women Wear to Bachata Parties?
- Creating a Sense of Safety for Followers and Getting Better Dances
- Different Bachata Styles and Why You Should Learn Them All
The Fuego shoes review was by far the most popular one. Surprisingly, the hygiene tips article made it to 3rd place, which is encouraging to see, since I was initially hesitant to post it (it’s supposed to be common sense, right? Wrong). Tropical zouk destinations was another surprise among the top posts.
Most Viewed of 2024
Out of all the blog posts I have published over the years, these 8 got the most views this year:
- Honest Review of Fuego Dance Sneakers
- Names of Brazilian Zouk Moves in Portuguese (With GIFs!) Part 1 and Part 2
- What Is Brazilian Zouk and Why Do I Like It So Much?
- Bachata vs Zouk – Dance Style Comparison
- Hygiene Tips for Social Dancing
- Moves That Bachata Dancers Should Learn From Brazilian Zouk
- The Best Tropical Places to Visit for Dancing Zouk
- A Guide to Safe vs. Dangerous Bachata Moves (With GIFs!)
Most Commented
Comments on blog posts are quite rare nowadays, so here are the articles that did spark a response:
- Names of Brazilian Zouk Moves in Portuguese (With GIFs!)
- Honest Review of Fuego Dance Sneakers
- Definitions of Connection in Dance
- My Dance-Related Unpopular Opinions – Part 1
Reddit Mentions
I am honored to say that my blog posts have been linked on Reddit forums. These are the posts Reddit users have recommended to others so far, in no particular order:
- How to Get Out of Uncomfortable or Unsafe Dance Moves as a Follower
- What Is Musicality in Dance?
- Names of Brazilian Zouk Moves in Portuguese (With GIFs!) Part 1 and Part 2
Demographics
These are the countries that most of my 2024 visitors were from:
- United States
- Poland
- Estonia
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- Australia
- Canada
- Sweden
The US beats others by a mile. Number of visitors from Poland in second place is almost 50% smaller. As to why Estonia is in 3rd place even though it’s a small country with a small dancing scene compared to the rest – I live in Estonia so it makes sense. Thanks to all my (dance) friends who read the blog!
The top cities my visitors are from are:
- Warsaw (Poland)
- Tallinn (Estonia)
- Boardman (US)
- New York (US)
- London (UK)
- Frankfurt (Germany)
- Stockholm (Sweden)
- Los Angeles (US)
- Seattle (US)
- Chicago (US)
Reading the names of the cities finally makes it real to me that I am truly reaching people from all over the world. I feel very fortunate and grateful – thanks to everyone!
Bonus Insights
I take inspiration for blog posts from real life, as I am a social dancer myself (already 8 years!) and also teach dance. This is what I got up to outside of the blog.
Choreographies For My Students
In 2024 I taught weekly ladies styling classes called “Latin Solo” using different Latin-American dance styles. I created 29 choreographies, mostly in the following dance styles:
- Brazilian zouk (9 choreographies)
- Latin commercial (6 choreographies)
- Samba de gafieira (4 choreographies)
- Salsa (4 choreographies)
Events Abroad
To continue learning and evolving, I visited 4 larger dance events abroad:
- Warsaw Zouk Festival in Poland
- Zouk Hour – zouk festival in Brazil
- Botafé No Samba – samba de gafieira weekender in Brazil
- Leo & Robertinha samba de gafieira weekender in Switzerland
Competitions
I also took part of 2 dance competitions this year:
- Brazilian zouk competition in Warsaw – JnJ format
- Local bachata competition in Tallinn – JnJ format (won 5th place!)
2025 Plans
I will continue writing blog posts of course, and try to answer any questions you might have about the world of social dancing. Planning to keep mixing beginner-friendly articles with topics for intermediate/advanced dancers.
I will continue also with weekly ladies styling classes, and have already reduced the amount of commercial choreographies, focusing more on feminine styles like zouk, samba de gafieira and salsa and throwing in an occasional cha cha chá or lambada. If you live in Tallinn and are interested in joining my classes, contact me on Facebook or Instagram !
If you’re interested in working with me in 2025, find out some of the ways you can and contact me through my social media channels Facebook, Instagram or e-mail hello@jettence.com.
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This was a long post and I am grateful if you made it this far. It has been a productive year and I’d like to see the blog growing even more in terms of visitor numbers and business collaborations. I would also like to teach more partner dance classes in the future, let’s see if 2025 has it in the cards for me!
I appreciate all of my readers, whether we know each other in real life or not, my students, dance colleagues and dance friends, and I wish you a happy new dance-filled year. Hopefully see you somewhere on the dance floor in 2025!
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