Some competition results mean more than the number beside your name. For Team Elite Bachata Project, finishing 2nd in the professional division at the 2023 World Salsa Solo competition felt enormous.
Our Gold Coast team entered a division alongside established big-city teams that had been training and competing together at professional level for years. Many of our dancers had comparatively little competition experience, and this was our first year together as a team.
Building Team Elite Bachata Project
The group brought together Lee Jenkins and Catalina Verjan, Dani Ruibal and Chloe Rechichi, Daniel Driver and Naomi Blissett, and Doug Melrose. What made the project work was the combination of attitude, commitment and willingness to keep improving throughout rehearsals.
Team routines demand a different kind of discipline from ordinary social dancing. Every dancer needs to understand their own movement while remaining aware of timing, formation, spacing and the visual effect of the group as a whole. That requires repetition, attention to detail and trust between teammates.
Competition choreography and coaching
Kristi Hall and Kristian Stephan-Martin choreographed and coached the team, developing a Bachata routine designed to hold its own in a demanding division. The dancers committed to the rehearsal process and brought the routine to life on stage.
Finishing 2nd against experienced professional teams was an achievement we were immensely proud of. It validated the work the dancers had put in throughout the year and showed how quickly a committed Gold Coast Latin dance team could develop when everyone worked toward the same goal.
The people behind the result
The best part of the project was the team itself. Rehearsals were full of hard work, friendship and plenty of sessions that ran beyond schedule because everyone was so invested in what we were creating.
Team Elite Bachata Project was a success because of the people in it. Congratulations to every dancer and coach involved in an unforgettable first season together.
This article records Elite Latin Dance Co.’s 2023 competition season and is retained as part of our studio history.
