Rossella Sbarra & Gavin Singh Jones (Cuban Salsa & Dominican Bachata)

Rossella and Gavin teach Cuban Salsa and Dominican Bachata in a relaxed and fun manner, though focussing on timing, leading and following. Dancers often comment on how their style of teaching is clear and conveys a deeper understanding of the dances.

Although they had no intention to teach dance, people were attracted by their dance style, love for the dances and friendly natures. This led to requests for them to teach and perform regularly in the South West of England, South Wales and as far as Cambridge.

Rossella and Gavin have been teaching Cuban Salsa since 2009, and since 2010 they have concentrated in teaching and performing Dominican Bachata. Their style of dancing and teaching combines sensual, modern moves with traditional Dominican Bachata footwork. Classes are always friendly, and great fun and teaching technique focuses on ‘’leading and following’’ so that all their routines can be easily learned and performed by all their students when freestyling. They took part in the SalsaBristol trip to Cuba 2010 where they taught Dominican Bachata as resident teachers, and in the Takemetocuba trip in 2011 and 2012 where they taught Cuban Salsa and Dominican Bachata. They have taught Dominican Bachata regularly in Cheltenham, Gloucester and at the Bridges Centre in Monmouth.

In 2011 they moved to Cornwall where they soon started teaching Dominican Bachata for different clubs in the County. Since 2012 they have been promoting and teaching Cuban Salsa and Dominican Bachata in Cornwall as the driving force of SalsaEtc. in Falmouth. Organised, promoted and hosted the SalsaEtc. End of Summer Ball in October 2012 which featured guest teacher Angelique Sinclair, and performances by Nigel May, Natalie Ward and Victor Manuel Pujols.

Rossella's passion for dancing, rhythm and elegant movement started at a very young age with gymnastics which she progressed to a competitive level. Later on, during her early 20s, she studied and performed in Italy as a jazz dancer for 11 years. She started dancing salsa in 2007, focussing on Cuban Salsa and Dominican Bachata in 2009. She was soon asked to teach regular beginners, Cuban Salsa classes, in Cheltenham with Gavin. Their partnership has proved very successful, both in Cuban Salsa and Dominican Bachata, which is their favourite dance. She has in recent years concentrated in mastering Dominican Bachata footwork and ladies styling, and she has taught 'Dominican Bachata Ladies Styling Classes' in Falmouth for the SalsaEtc. Club.

Gavin's interest in dance started in a pub in 1987, by teasing some male friends for taking Jazz dance classes. He accepted the challenge to try for himself, which rapidly led on to ballet, tap, street jazz and contemporary dance. He was a founder member of semi-professional contemporary dance group Concentric Motion and went on to perform at various venues in South West England and London, including backing dancing for several bands. When Concentric Motion disbanded, Gavin took a ten-year break from dance, to concentrate on martial arts, before re-discovering dance in Salsa in 2005. Gavin has also taught motorcycling, Tai-Chi, martial arts, shiatsu, bushcraft and survival skills. This diverse experience equips him to find novel ways to identify and overcome issues which challenge people in dance.

The teaching partnership is strong, as both have a deep understanding of body movement, together with an ability to convey their knowledge clearly.

Classes and performances:

• Simply Cuban Salsa (Natalie Ward & Ulises Carrillo Montalvo), Cheltenham - Weekly Cuban Salsa Classes 2009-2010
• Ulises Carrillo Montalvo, Cheltenham - Weekly Cuban Salsa Classes 2010
• Simply Cuban Salsa (Natalie Ward & Leandro Charanga), Cheltenham – Weekly Cuban Salsa Classes & monthly Dominica Bachata classes 2010-2011
• Leandro Charanga, Cambridge – Dominican Bachata, 2010
• The 4th Annual Sue Ryder Charity Salsa Party 2011, Ross-on-Wye – Dominican Bachata, July 2011
• Salsa Del Sol, Salsa Party, Cheltenham – Dominican Bachata Performance, July 2011
• Global Dance Festival, Cheltenham – Dominican Bachata Performance, July 2011
• Salsairie Valentine Salsa Party in aid of Breakthrough Breast Cancer – Dominican Bachata Class and Performance, February 2011
• Salsa de La Rosa (Angie Estrada), Monmouth – Dominican Bachata Monthly classes, 2011
• Havana Ese Cuban Salsa (Natalie Ward & Leandro Charanga), Gloucester – Dominican Bachata Monthly Classes, 2010 – 2011
• Salsabristol.co.uk - Resident Teachers (Dominican Bachata), Holiday to Cuba September 2010
• Takemetocuba & Salsabristol.co.uk – Resident teachers (Cuban Salsa, Dominican Bachata), Holiday to Cuba, September 2011
• Global Dance Festival, Cheltenham – Dominican Bachata Performance, July 2012
• Takemetocuba & Salsabristol.co.uk – Resident teachers (Cuban Salsa, Dominican Bachata), September 2012
• Global Dance Festival, Cheltenham – Dominican Bachata, July 2013
• OurLatinThing, Penzance – Resident Bachata teachers, leading weekly lessons from January 2012 to April 2013.
• May 2012 to present - weekly Cuban Salsa Classes (beginners to advanced) and monthly Dominican Bachata event at SalsaEtc. in Falmouth.