Monica Parris

I grew up in an era when Reggae was the dominant choice of music and with my particular group of friends, and we loved to socialise with like-minded people on regular basis. As the Reggae style of music changed so did my taste in music.

My introduction to Salsa came by a chance. A friend celebrating her birthday invited me to a venue she had visited and enjoyed with another friend. I was amazed by the music and the way two people could appear to follow what seemed at the time to be complex movements without verbal explanation during the dance. This gave me a completely different perspective with regards to social dancing.

My initial foray into learning to dance to Salsa music started with lessons in Cuban Style Salsa.  This gave me timing and movement. However feeling I wasn’t able to respond to complex turn patterns I changed to a Cross body style of dance to improve my ability to manage some particularly quick turn patterns.
 
I have now been dancing for over 25 years and enjoy many different styles of dance and realize that it’s all about enjoying the moment rather than feeling you don’t have a particular skill when dancing.

I am back to learning and teaching Cuban style of dancing with a particular emphasis on Rueda de Casino.
 
As I am passionate about Rueda De Casino I am happiest sharing my knowledge and skills to those who are willing to learn.  This form of dance, encourages group participation, develops timing and memory (each move has a name) and is a great deal of fun.
 
My main profession is within health and its widely understood that learning something new can be transformational as it not only provides individuals with new skills, but encourages the development of new friendships which reduces social isolation and ultimately improves each person overall health and wellbeing

​I am part of the Cuban Vibes teaching team.  This is a group teachers that provides students with a friendly welcoming atmosphere and a foundation in a variety Cuban dance styles that can develop to whatever level they require.
 
My Husband Charles and I generally teach together when possible, as our teaching styles are complementary to each other. We find our shared passion keeps us bound together in a fun way.
 
I was pleased to have the opportunity to join GALF as one of their teachers as they have demonstrated they have a good deal of knowledge of the area we are travelling too and have ensured in their planning of the event that they put the participants at the heart of the programs planned. This is to ensure that each person has an enjoyable fun filled but educative time away in Gambia. .