Basara

“Don't think of Afro-Cuban or lady styling as a genre of dance. It's just a way to get the user's manual for your own body.”

Introducing the KISS program and explaining why you'd learn Afro-rooted dances

“How to use my body, how to express myself freely to all kinds of music, how to let it flow without hurting, and how to put my own emotions into it. Those are the things the Afro-rooted dances teach you.”

On what Afro-Cuban, Afro-salsa, Afrobeat and other Afro-rooted dances all have in common to teach

“Afro-Cuban is such an amazing dance — you can express every one of salsa's different rhythms fully with your body.”

Describing the first impression of discovering the Afro-Cuban genre

“There's this deep rhythm that rises up from the floor and makes you understand your own body. And I think Afro-based dance is the only dance where you can actually touch that.”

Talking about the raw, physical experience of rhythm that Afro-based dance gives you

“It's not a dance you have to put in years before you're allowed to learn — if you want to learn about your own body, about movement, anyone can do it, salsa, bachata, kizomba, doesn't matter.”

Clearing up the misconceptions about what you need before you can learn Afro-Cuban

“If you try moving with that kind of intense energy even once, I promise your understanding of your own body goes way, way up.”

Explaining how experiencing high-energy movement changes the way you understand your body

“Such an incredible teacher — got even total beginners dancing, taught the principles so simply you just got it.”

Describing how moved they were watching that teacher's beginner class

“You can kiss the dance. You can kiss your own soul, the one dancing that dance. That's what I want.”

Answering a question about the KISS festival name, putting the relationship between the dance and the self into a metaphor