club de baile

Juan Armando, of Club de Baile, is back at Salsa Tumbao 2023. He recently returned from Chile, Argentina and Peru - with some great stories about dance festivals he attended there.


This year he will be kicking off the festival with an Afro-Cuban workshop. It's always a favourite - so get in early! His second workshop is Timba con Rumba. Timba is a combination of Cuban dance styles - Juan Armando will teach us to listen to the music and be able to switch into Rumba as the rhythm demands it.


We caught up with him over tacos and chatted about his trip and a few dance memories. He's a crazy talented guy - with a wealth of Latin dance knowledge.


Q: Why Timba?

A: Timba combines Salsa, and Afro, and Rumba, and Son - and all the other Cuban dance styles. They dance this all over the world. It's the way Cubans dance in the streets. It's a style that allows you to follow the music.

Q: How old were you when you learned to dance?

A: I was about three or four. In Peru children are encouraged to dance from a young age. At parties and festivals - and we're taught folkloric dance at school.

I went to a lot of dance classes - I remember my mum asking "Are you loving this? Because it's costing me a lot of money!" Me gusta mucho. So my mum kept paying for my classes.


Q: What styles of dance do you know?

A: I have learned from many cultures. In Peru it is a thing of pride to understand the culture and the traditional dances. The group I danced with specialised in cultural dances from all the South American countries. The group would send us into the jungle to immerse ourselves in a culture and learn their dances. I travelled all over the place like this.

Q: When did you decide to teach?

A: That would have been at Uni. I was peparing for a show for the Marriot Hotel - I had choreographed a piece about Chilean culture. Other dancers started telling me - hey you're really good at teaching - why don't you teach? So I started teaching some of my friends at Univeristy.
I started with Son. I love Son! We used to use Son in Ruedas. Then we did Rueda - Miami moves; Cuban moves and Puerto Rican moves.
Later I taught Rumba and learned how to combine this with Son. That's what our group specialised in.



Q: What was the hardest part of learning to dance?

A: When I was a child all the teachers would tell us - the music is like this. We have to respect the traditions of the music. Don't change anything - keep it like this or you will kill the soul of the music.
And I understand and respect that. 

But I also wanted to be free.
Tradition and freedom rub up against each other like this in South America.
So I learned the traditions - but then I rebelled to be free and go with the energy.


Club de Baile's classes include Son, Timba, Rueda, Afro, Rumba and Son, as well as other styles. Check out their Facebook page or Instagram pages to book in your next class.


Find Club De Baile:

On Facebook https://www.facebook.com/clubdebaileNZ/

On Instagram https://www.instagram.com/clubdebaile