If you subscribe to my newsletter, then you know I competed at the World Salsa Summit in Miami, Florida last week –– the biggest Latin dance competition in the world that attracts more than 1,000 competitors from over 40 countries each year.
Competing at the World Salsa Summit as a professional dancer has been a dream of mine ever since I discovered salsa dancing back in 2010. My goal was to enjoy every moment on the dance floor and be fully present as I danced each routine. When I got nervous, I thought about how proud I am of myself for getting to this point in my dance journey. I gave myself permission to celebrate this milestone. To savor it. And I think bringing that energy and focus to the competition helped me enjoy it more than I did the last time I competed at the event in 2017.
In general, I’ve been trying to acknowledge my accomplishments and really enjoy them more this year. I used to breeze through goals and milestones (both in dance and in my professional marketing life) because I wanted to be humble. But being proud of myself doesn’t make me arrogant. Moreover, acknowledging my successes and hard work is an important part of staying motivated and continuing to grow.
2019 World Salsa Summit Competition Results
Hunter and I won the Rising Star/Semi-Pro Salsa Showcase Divison (you can watch our winning routine above) as well as the Rising Star/Semi-Pro Bachata and Salsa Heats! We are very excited about this win!
I also made it to the semi-finals in the Professional Female Salsa Soloist Divison, which I am really proud of. There were so many incredibly talented dancers in that division (about 38 dancers in the quarter-finals) and it was an honor getting to compete with so many women I look up to and admire. Additionally, doing a solo has been challenging for me, and I haven’t felt as motivated to work on it as much as my other routines, but competing with it last week made me feel re-inspired to create a new solo routine in 2019.
I didn’t make the finals in the other divisions I competed in, including the Rising Star/Semi-Pro Female Salsa Solo, Professional Salsa Showcase, or Open Same Gender, but I do think I danced better at the World Salsa Summit than I ever have before –– and that’s why I keep competing. At times it can be a HELL OF A JOURNEY and I’ve tried to talk about that honestly. But even with all the (very literal) blood, sweat, and tears that happen (like clockwork) before every competition, it’s always worth it in the end. Competition shows you what you’re capable of and every time it’s more than you thought was ever possible.
What’s Next?
In addition to helping me reach a new level in my dancing, the World Salsa Summit inspired me to keep working and growing. The caliber and creativity at the competition were incredibly high and I returned to New York with new motivation to keep training and growing (another great reason to compete!).
Over the next few months, in addition to teaching and performing, I want to focus my dance training on technique and make sure my fundamentals of lead-and-follow are as strong as they can be. In addition, I’m getting my butt back into classes each week, choreographing a pro-am routine for a new student, and developing a new monthly column on this site to share more of what I’ve learned during my dance journey with all of you.
Did you attend the World Salsa Summit or watch it live? If so, I’d love to know what your experience was like in the comments below.
P.S. Full competition results can be found on the World Salsa Summit website here.