Charles Parris

I spent my early childhood in Barbados and was brought to England at the age of 7 years old to join my family. I had always had a love of music and dancing in a variety of forms and from a variety of cultures and brought this with me to England.
 
I was introduced to Salsa over 25 years ago by my wife (Monica). Who also loves to dance, I quickly found out that I was expected to lead the dance and so agreed to attend a 10-week salsa course, which lead to another 10 weeks. This was to be the beginning of my Salsa Journey.
 
The friendly and inclusive atmosphere enabled me to survive those beginning years and inspired me to continue.
 
Initially focussing on Cuban style dance before switching to cross body and then returning to Cuban style Rueda de Casino
 
I have been teaching for over 10 years and am part of the Cuban vibes teaching team, this requires planning and teaching various levels of students a Cuban style of dancing. I have also taught in a variety of venues at their request.
 
I work in a profession that requires good communication skills, professionalism and a friendly approach, all of which I bring to my teaching style. The aim as I see it, is to ensure each student feels they belong to a large friendly dance family and have fun while learning a new skill.
 
As a bonus to having learned to both dance and teach Salsa I am accompanied by my wife, who teaches alongside me. We complement each other in our approach to teaching as our styles are similar and our goals are the same.
 
Having joined the Gam Afro Latin Fest  (GALF) group as a teacher I have found they have a similar approach and ethos to my own in that they wish to ensure each individual feels listened too and are an integral part of the group.
 
GALF are meticulous in organising this event as well as endeavouring to ensure each participant achieves a positive outcome from it.