LEARN TO DANCE SALSA, MERINGUE, BACHATA, KIZOMBA, CHA Cha, Waltz, Swing
St Lucia’s Salsa Queen
By Nasha Smith
One, two, three...five, six, seven. It’s an oft repeated sequence for Avellina Stacy Nelson. One that has become etched in her memory bank over the past fourteen years. It has been used to instruct numerous students in the intricacies and nuances of salsa at Exposé (St. Lucia) Latin Dance Academy. It is also a lasting memory of her first encounter with the art form.
“You know normally persons say they have two left feet? That was me. Literally,” she laughed. “I loved zouk. I got introduced to zouk by two friends. Loved it. But that was it. Don’t give me anything else. Because it was easy. One, two, one, two. A group of us ended up going to Shamrock. When I entered we heard this Englishman counting, 1,2,3, 5,6,7. We went to play pool but we were wondering about it and we realized it was a class going on. I met a school friend who was helping out with registration so I went to ask her what is this. She said it was salsa, a latin dance and started giving me the whole history of salsa. She said try. I said, “No.Can’t dance.”
However Nelson found herself back at Shamrock week after week; her friend sweetening the pot with a free class. By the third week she was intrigued and gave it a shot, but found herself struggling out of the gate.
“It took six classes to get the basic steps. I really couldn’t get it. After I got that it was a breeze.”
Nelson had become a regular fixture at classes when she realized a disparity that still exists today. There was a lopsided ratio in the number of women to men. This prompted her to take up the challenge of learning to dance as a lead. When her instructor invited her to work at his studio, assisting his non-english speaking staff, she was able to gain even more practice in her unconventional choice. When she has exhausted the ladies’ knowledge, she gleaned what she could from the instructor himself. She soaked up the information with one goal in mind.
“My dream at that time was to perform at the hotels. Because the two ladies were performing at the hotel and he was choosing all kinds of students to perform. But I was not able to go because you know, two left feet, no rhythm, whatever it is. I was this full figured woman and in my eyes at the time the slim people were the ones being looked at to go and perform. So I decided I have to perform at a hotel one day. And I worked at it. I pushed and pushed. But I hate to follow, I like to lead so that was a challenge. I got used to leading so following was a difficult thing for me to do. That made it harder for me to perform at a hotel.”
Nelson got her big break when an entertainment manager from a leading hotel saw her dancing at Shamrock. He found her style refreshing and asked her to put together a simple program to perform for his guests. Although hesitant at first, she enlisted the help of her friends and seized the long-awaited opportunity.
“I spent 12 years at Le Sport performing at the hotel as a lead. The guests were fascinated. It gave me the motivation to do more.”
Bolstered by the positive feedback, Nelson committed to diversifying her dance palate.
“I started going on Youtube. They had the meringue, they had bachata, so I started to study the dances and practice at home with my mop stick. When I met the girls I told them I wanted to try something else. There was already meringue, not a class though. But I introduced bachata to St Lucia. When I started everybody looked at me like ‘bachata?’ Until they brought down Aventura for jazz. Then everybody was like ‘Ohhh Bachata.’ So it took off. And that’s how it went over the years. I did the schools. Teachers who knew that I did salsa invited me to come teach their students. I did Sir Arthur. And so my teaching career started.”
Encouraged, she registered her own studio in January 2008, starting off modestly at the Sir Ira Simmons Secondary School. She admits that she got a lot of support along the way including some tough love from a former employer: Pauline Barnard at St Lucia Reps.
‘When I did my interview there to become a rep she said, “I remember you from Le Sport. I’ve seen you countless times. You really love this thing. Why don’t you do it full time? I never thought of doing salsa full time. She said you have a passion for it. That’s something you’ll wake up everyday and want to do. I said no. I want a full time job where I know I have a salary coming in my pocket and that will stay as my money on the side. And she didn’t give me a full time job. She said she wanted me to explore that avenue of being able to do salsa as a full time job. So when it came to doing certain things my schedule was flexible. I was able to do it.”
Nelson eventually left St Lucia Reps and tried her hand at other things but she never forgot Barnard’s words. She decided to do salsa full time.
“I do other things but this is my main breadwinner. So I do the hotels more aggressively, I started to push my classes more.”
To stay current and rejuvenated she travels every year to various countries to sample the various styles of latin and pick up tips to bring back to her students. The trips have proven fruitful, moving her to introduce new dance styles and competitions to the island. Today her repertoire includes salsa, meringue, bachata, cha cha, and kizomba which is packaged neatly into a beginners program on Saturdays at Yoga on the Bay.
However her greatest joy comes from seeing her students blossom under her watchful gaze. She touts the benefits of dance.
“Dancing teaches you respect. You need to respect your partner. Especially when you’re talking about kizomba. It’s a very sensual dance. You learn to be patient. Some don’t pick it up as quickly so you need to be patient. It teaches you to be confident. I have met a lot of shy people over the years. I’ve seen people transform, become more vocal.”
Nelson has several projects in the pipeline for the coming year which she believes will encourage more people to try their hand at latin dancing and take it to the next level on the island. But in the meantime she’s thrilled with what she has been able to accomplish thus far and the bond she has been able to create with her team.
“I love the sense of family. It’s not like you’re just coming to dance. You’re entering a family.”
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