Today I wanted to share a bit of inspiration and show you some of the dancers I admire. I draw inspiration from a lot of different styles, within the social dance world and also outside of that, so the following people I am going to mention will be from various disciplines. In no particular order, other than who I remembered first, here are my current favorite dancers!
Veronica B. Calvo
One of my favorite dancers from outside of the latin dance world is Veronica Bella Calvo. She is Brian Esperon’s student who immediately caught my eye in his dance videos. Calvo has so much power and precision in her movements, also tons of confidence and her facial expressions are fire! I discovered her two years ago when she was only 16. One of her most memorable dance videos for me is “Havana”, that I shared above (she’s the one dancing in the middle).
Sara Panero
It probably comes as no surprise, because she is a favourite for many social dancers. What I like about her is that while too many bachata dancers tend to fall into the overly sensual category, she manages to keep it classy and I respect her for that immensely. She is very creative in styling – I love how she is mixing Dominican with sensual bachata and even adding things from heels dance. Her technique is impeccable and you can tell she is dancing with her heart and soul. It was hard to choose just 1 video from her, so here’s another favorite of mine.
Jarred Manista
@jarred_manista THIS DANCE is giving me everything I need and more 🤩 dc: @tashaahs ##dance
♬ original sound – Boomer B
Jarred is one of my newer favourites, but I appreciate him more and more each time he uploads something. I found him on TikTok and he caught my attention with always dancing on 110% energy – something he apparently from time to time gets criticised for, but what I absolutely love. His movements are powerful and clean and I love how he’s slightly late to hitting the beats in this video, giving his dance a relaxed feel.
Carolina Fajardo
Carolina has been known as the kizomba queen and for a very good reason. She is one of the most feminine and passionate dancers I know, sensuality oozing out of her every buttery smooth move. All of this backed up with excellent technique. She has been on a maternity break recently and is now slowly getting back to dance by teaching brazilian zouk with her husband Kadu Pires. With her it was also hard to choose just one video, so check her out here dancing kizomba with her partner Enah or watch this ladies styling choreo that I loved so much I learned it at home from the video!
Christina Montoya
Obviously I can’t wrap up this article without mentioning my current inspiration in Brazilian zouk. It’s Christina Montoya! Her technique is ridiculously good and I haven’t seen anyone using such a variety of hand styling in zouk as she does. I love how she’s empowering followers and promoting practicing solo for better results, being a great example herself. She is also the creator of the choreography group Zoukbabes. Christina was one of the first ones I saw teaching zouk follower’s styling and now she has inspired me to do the same!
If I tried to sum up what are the common characteristics in all my favourite dancers then that would be dancing with full energy, using their whole body, giving facial expressions that tell a story or show that they’re enjoying themselves, dancing with precise technique and having strong but relaxed movements. Within the social dance world, I tend to like those who also excel in ladies styling. I’ve also noticed that most of the dancers I like tend to have a ballet background.
In case you watched all the videos above, which one of my favourite dancers did you like the most?