How, why and when did you get into salsa?
Taiti started dancing salsa in Curacao 10 years ago (1997). He saw people dancing and enjoying the music, and saw their passion, and that is how he got inspired to start dancing.
Cristel started dancing 6 years ago (2001) in Holland. A friend of hers started salsa dancing and took her to a party. When she saw how people were enjoying the music and the dance she got hooked up, and started herself.
Who first taught you to dance salsa?
Taiti learned from a guy called Burton Burleson, he was the owner / teacher of the group and dance school salsa friends in Curacao.
Cristel learned her basic steps from a guy called Rignald Burnet. After that she started learning on the dance floor and in her previous dance group.
Did you have any dance training prior to salsa?
Before salsa Taiti danced street dance / hip-hop and all the cultural dances of Curacao. After starting dancing salsa he also got interested in zouk.
Cristel was a gymnast before salsa dancing and after gymnastics she started dancing hip-hop. She also started dancing zouk and samba while she was dancing salsa.
Tell me a little about TC Dance. When, why and how was it set up?
TC Dance started 3 years ago (2004). We were already dancing together in a group, but our goals and the goals of the group were different. So one of the biggest organisers of Holland asked us if we could make a show with only the 2 of us, because he saw that our level was higher than what we let them see with the group. So we started making own our first show.
Also another organiser from Boston saw us social dancing and asked us if we had a show. We’d just made one so we told him yes. We went to Boston and after a good success we decided to launch TC (Taiti & Cristel). That was in 2005.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
We get our inspiration everywhere. We love to learn new dances and try to fit it in our salsa dancing. But we also get our inspiration on the streets, from bill boards or in our sleep. If we get an idea we will try to work it out and see how it fits with the music.
But our biggest inspiration is the music itself, when we are making a new show we will put the music on for a few 100 times and the movements will flow.
Who do you admire?
It’s not that we admire one particular person, we have our favourite dancers where we get our inspiration from. But we admire more the groups and couples that already got there a few years ago and that are still some of the top dancers. We hope that we can do that too.
What’s your favourite track at the moment?
We don’t have one favourite track, but we really like Latin Jazz songs. One of the artists we love is Willie Colon. In Latin Jazz music there is no singing so you can show people what you’re feeling is towards the music instead of what they are singing.
What was the last CD you bought?
The last CD we bought was from Masacote. We love that CD, it’s from one of our friends in Boston and they are great artists.
What music is in your car/cd player/tape player at the moment?
Music from Bob Marley, we love to listen to different music, not only salsa music. So when we are in the car we listen to songs from Bob Marley, songs from the culture of Curacao, and hip hop etc.
Who are your favourite artists?
Some of our favourite musicians are Willie Colon, Ray Barretto, Franky Hernandez, Eddie Palmieri, and Rene Block.
If you were not a successful Promoter/Teacher/DJ, what would you be doing instead? Or if you also have a full-time job, what do you do?
Cristel is also a physical therapist, but because we are so busy with dancing she doesn’t have the time to work yet as a physical therapist. So if she was not dancing she would be a full-time physical therapist.
Taiti loves to do different sports. He did physical education but couldn’t finish it because of his bad knees. Next year he will do the education of business management.
Tell me something most people wouldn’t know about you?
Maybe they don’t know that we are also a couple, and that we have our 2 cats at home as our babies.
What’s your all time favourite salsa club/event that you have played/taught/danced?
The All-Star Salsa Cruise was incredible, we like the smaller events because they always have a nice atmosphere.
What has been your most memorable moment?
When we came 5th in the World Salsa Championships in 2006 was one of our most memorable moments.
Have you had any embarrassing/nightmare-ish moments in salsa?
We got into a car accident in the US, we’d just finished performing in New York and we were driving back to New Jersey when a girl bumped into us. We couldn’t dance for 10 weeks cause of the injuries. That was a big nightmare.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
We want to say to people that dancing comes from the heart, so keep on enjoying what you’re doing because dancing is enjoying.
www.tc-dance.com
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