Baila Room

In this podcast Ilias Benz speaks with Walter Rivera about his life as a dancer, performer, singer and choreographer.  Here are some topics discussed.
The business of being in a boys band. The history of Salsa. Life in New York. 

Ilias Benz talks to Christine Harrison owner of H4L dance school about the business side of the dance world and her evolution in it.

Here are some topics discussed:

How she started her dance school... the good and not so good moments

What are some common myths about the dance profession or field that need to be debunked

Things to look for when a parent chooses a dance school for their child 

The contribution of all the dance TV shows

And much more...

I discovered Salsa when a friend of mine brought me to a club. I was very anxious but right away, I fell in love with the music, the rhythms and this dance. Following that evening, I started taking salsa lessons. It was a revelation for me. The love that I felt and still feel for this Latin dance made me stand out. Quickly, I joined a dance troupe in Montreal and started to teach. At a steady pace, I refined my teaching and dancing techniques.

After a couple of years, I graduated in Psycho-education and left Montreal to go to Asia. I spent 2 years exploring this continent that haunted my childhood imagination. During my trip, I founded the Baila Productions Dance Studio in Taiwan. After a few months, more than a hundred students were attending classes... I have to say that they are many people living in Taiwan! Nonetheless, I was very surprised by the Taiwanese interest for Salsa. At the beginning, it was fairly tricky to communicate because of language and cultural barriers but the dance itself helped bridge this communication gap. During that time, I gave multiple salsa workshops, choreographed shows and had the opportunity to associate myself with many dancers that had international careers.

Finally, I came back to Montreal, my home town, to continue to promote and teach my first love in this domain: Salsa. Currently, I'm interested in many styles of dances and the pleasure I feel doing it drives me further to express my own style!!!

Ilias Benz

Ilias is a Salsa black belt, owner of Baila Productions Salsa school, musician and entrepreneur.  With his trusted sidekick Belinda they discuss the intimacies of Latin dance connection, the effect of an elitist attitude towards the arts and telltale signs of the infamous burn out.

https://bailaproductions.com/