Bachata Jack & Jill - NYC Instructor Competition 2023

A few weeks ago I participated in an “instructor bachata Jack & Jill” competition at the Bachateros Dímelo social hosted by Mike Gil and Desiree Godsell at KTown Dance Studio. The music was half modern & half traditional bachata, and the partners were selected at random from a hat. The best part of the whole competition was the camaraderie between the artists, and the love from the crowd. Everyone was excited to be a part of the competition, share some of their talents, and cheer on their peers, and that was really special.
The competitors included, in order of appearance in this video:
1: Daniel Collins & Desiree Godsell
2: Sael Nuñez & Monique Richard
3: Watson Saintsulne & Vanessa Lopes
4: Valentina Giovannini & Serena Spears
5: Dani Cabrera & Brandon Johnson
6: Ismael Otero & Annette Gonzalez
7: Brian “El Matatan” & Ana Sofía Dallal
Who was your favorite couple? Were you feeling the sentimiento of their traditional footwork, or sweating from the heat in their sensual waves and dips? Show them some love in the comments and let them know why they were the best!
🎥 Jason “Kimchi”
#bachata #bachatacompetition #bachatacontest #bachatasensual #sensualbachata #traditionalbachata

[@Yo_Kelz]

ELITE

[@KolaIL]

Amazing energyyyyyy seems super fun. I have to visit someday

[@DanielCollinsBachata]

Yesss it was so much fun! Definitely come out if you can, it’s a nice scene. 💃🏻🕺🏻

[@FITBOYGAMING]

omg this was so fun to watch!!! disregard the hater below 7897. i am going to to show this to my instructor. i think this is a great way to get some quick impromptu dancing..especially for those who are leery about social dancing vs class dancing. Is that also one of the bachatatwins in there as well?! great dancers and watch all their videos

[@DanielCollinsBachata]

So happy you enjoyed! And yes it was lots of fun to be part of it too. We had a blast and especially since the instructors/competitors all have different styles, it really unified the scene a bit.

[@DanielCollinsBachata]

Ah yes that is indeed Dani of the Bachatwins. Super cool guys in person too 👌🏽

[@user7897]

Weak scene. Too much hype,not enough technic!

[@DanielCollinsBachata]

Fair enough. We really had a blast, and the unity and support for one another was unique and special. I can only speak for myself when it comes to technique. I’ve been dancing 13 years and over that time I’ve been consistently taking classes, practicing, etc. with a primary focus on technical improvement. Me a year ago is noticeably different from me now, and same will be the case in a year. That’s part of the fun. So I’m not worried about it, just staying the course and getting better and better.
I was fortunate to have a great partner who also has some sensual bachata follow skills and even then I found this more of a challenge than expected. I do demos all the time and I don’t have a partner so they’re with many follows, but still it’s different not knowing the song or which style will come first, or whether there will be an intro etc, and between move selection and musicality, it wasn’t the normal me. But that’s ok because it was so much fun. Really enjoyed myself :)
Sorry for the book lol. Thanks for the comment.