Ive been dancing and performing for the last 15 years. My goal was to always create original choreographies. I try to follow my heart and passion when I create. Never in my life did I expect people to stand up after this performance. It was a gift straight to heart.

Here’s an insight on how I proceed when I create a new piece. First I have a flash… It could be a song I heard, a costume I imagined, a movie I saw, a discussion I had… this creates the initial idea. If it sticks in my head I know I’m onto something.

For this choreography, on my way out of our studio, I heard the song Correla (Salsa Celtica) that one of our teachers was playing. I said right away: what is that? Irish and salsa music together? It got my attention… but at that time I was intimidated by that song and the idea of learning the basics of Irish dancing. I knew Irish dancing was hard… really hard… so I dropped the idea… Then one day, I was playing the song and my partner turned around and said… you have to do and Irish Salsa choreo on this tune. At that moment, I knew that I had to do it… the stars were aligning 😉

Next step : Presenting the idea to our troupe 😉

You should’ve seen the eyes of our salsa troupe when I told them that we are gonna do a Irish inspired salsa dance performance and that we are going to take Irish dance lessons. Those moments I love … cause it always starts with a feeling of this is impossible and ends with a feeling of we did it 😉

Not only I needed to understand the basics of a dance I didn’t know anything about… I wanted to choreograph something that would blend Salsa and Irish Dancing organically. Those kind of challenges I love !

Finally, I want to thank all our dancers that jumped head first in this project. Audrey, Nathalie, France, Alain and David. You guys are amazing in many ways.

And would like to express my gratitude to the multitalented Audrey Gaussiran and our Irish dance teacher Janice Young. Without their contribution this choreography would not have been possible.

Ilias Benz