Artistic Manager/Salsa & Bachata Instructor
Nationality: USA
Holly started her dance journey as a ballroom dancer in college and quickly grew to love the community and connection that dance uniquely provides. In 2017, she transitioned to focus solely on salsa and bachata while she worked on her master’s degree in Tennessee. During this time, she also trained with Rodrigo and Wendy (RW Latin Dance Company) as a member of one of their satellite teams. Holly moved to Gainesville in 2020 to begin her PhD in ethnomusicology at the University of Florida. She joined the Salsa Mundial team as a salsa and bachata instructor in the summer of 2022.
Holly is not just a practitioner and teacher of bachata, but also a researcher. Her master’s thesis focused on bachata music and dance and gender, and her current dissertation project centers on the use of bachata within community as an expression of identity, namely at dance congresses (don’t worry, she doesn’t conduct research with Salsa Mundial community members). Due to her personal and academic experiences, she values incorporating the socio-cultural history of both salsa and bachata as a part of her teaching style and focuses especially on musicality in her dance instruction.
Most of all, Holly loves the joy, support, and friendship that comes from being a part of the Salsa Mundial dance community and believes that you will too!