Baker. Cat-lover. Dancer. Just some of the ways you could describe me.
Havana Londres throwing another legendary event at Tower Bridge, London
Many of you know me for my cakes but on the rare weekend I’m not in the bakery, I find myself in London—dancing Cuban salsa with the lovely Havana Londres crew.
(You might think that being on my feet in the bakery all week would make me want to take a break but clearly my feet don’t take enough punishment..)
How it started
I first met Dani, who runs the Havana Londres (HL) dance school many years ago – they’ve been going for 10 years now. When we met, I was already dancing salsa here in Cambridge but it wasn’t long before I was hooked on Rueda de Casino and the HL energy.
What on Earth is Rueda de Casino?
Havana Londres specialise in a street-style of salsa called Rueda de Casino (rueda, for short). Typically, couples dance in a circle. A caller shouts the name of a move or sequence of moves and everyone in the circle follows, at the same time and (hopefully) in time with the music. With many moves, dancers change partners – if one person makes a mistake then usually the entire performance ends in chaos. It’s fun and challenging at the same time!
This was the first time I had seen it danced at such speed and with very technical moves.
In Dani’s own words, they teach “Rueda fused with afro, son, cha cha cha, breaking, crazy footwork, 100% musicality, and plenty of comedy”
Since that meeting…
- We’ve performed at many events across London! Even in a fancy private members’ club
- I’ve taught lots of salsa classes – in Cambridge and in London
- I’ve made countless amazing friends, who will be friends for life
- I’ve served hundreds of cakes at HL events!!
Circumstances have made a lot of this impossible in the last year so here’s an homage to my dancing life and my Havana Londres friends – I can’t wait to be reunited again soon.
