Maria Benitez Institute for Spanish Arts Santa Fe, NM United States

Recently, a Bachata DJ came forward with a post lamenting the use of they/them pronouns, followed by an extensive (and since deleted) posting about his deeper feelings. The initial post read as follows: Pronouns… It was either “he” or “she.”… Read more

Steals and Three-Ways – and How to Do It Right

January 07, 2022

In many partner genres, steal dances and three-way dances (or more) are becoming more popular. In others, stealing has been part of the groundwork of the dance since its very inception. But, with this growing trend and with the adoption… Read more

Why your teacher isn’t taking your passion for dance seriously

July 26, 2021

Are you super, duper passionate about social dance? Are you ready to take advantage of every opportunity possible? Are you prepared to dig deep and put in all the work to become great at this new passion you’ve discovered in… Read more

In Dance, are you Self or Others Oriented?

July 20, 2021

In my experience, there’s a spectrum between being Others-Oriented or Self-Oriented with regards to both dance and life. In dance, these orientations affect almost all our interactions. Generally speaking, Others-Oriented dancers focus on the energy they release into the world… Read more

The Limits of Compassion: Organizing in the COVID-19 Era

July 10, 2021

It’s no secret that I am very much for vaccination. I’ve worked with Dr. Hsu to write articles to give insight into the dominant view of the medical and public health professional sectors. I have gotten both doses of my… Read more

Followers, Women, and Sexism

June 12, 2021

This isn’t the first time I’m writing about the underappreciation of follows – or the sexism that is so entwined with the concept. We’ve come a long way from when I first started writing about it around 2015/16. I wasn’t the… Read more