Leading Authentically

Join us for Dancing Out Loud — an introductory partnered social dance workshop series for 2SLGBTQ+ community members!

Through a 1-hour dance workshop facilitated by Leading Authentically, followed by a 1-hour dance social, we will be exploring Afro-Indigenous Latine dance styles, specifically salsa and bachata. These are partnered social dances and are community-oriented. No prior experience is required, and you do not need to attend with a dance partner.

📅 Sunday, December 7 @ 5–7 pm: Salsa 101
📅 Sunday, January 4 @ 2–4 pm: Salsa 102
📅 Sunday, February 1 @ 2–4 pm: Salsa 103
📅 Sunday, March 1 @ 2–4 pm: Bachata 101
📅 Sunday, April 5 @ 2–4 pm: Bachata 102
📅 Sunday, May 3 @ 5–7 pm: Bachata 103

While classes are introductory, they build on one another. It is recommended that you attend 101 through 103 of a series.

📍 City of Waterloo Visitor Information Centre
(10 Father David Bauer Drive, beside the Clay & Glass Museum)

🎟️ Pay what you can

RSVP to reserve your spot (link in bio)

We are looking forward to dancing with you!

--------------

These events are made possible thanks to funding from The City of Waterloo

***r

Thank you so much to everyone who attended and participated in our recent event, Dancing around and through harm: Toronto community conversations on gender-based violence in Afro-Latin dance ♥️💃🏽

We are so touched and moved at the response we received from the Toronto Latin dance community for our first public collaborative event. As we discussed on May 31st, the issues that we are facing in our communities are not new by any means, and one event or gathering does not even begin to scratch the surface of what is needed — but we are heartened and optimistic about what we were able to accomplish together and the ways in which our community engaged. Thank you to all those who attended our event, shared with others, participated in the Community Survey and as well as everyone who engaged in thoughtful conversations outside of the event. All of this contributes to more awareness, community-building, and steps towards mitigating gender-based violence in our Toronto Latin dance scene. We are committed to continuing the work of creating safer spaces for all of us, and actualizing the dance community we dream of.

This event wouldn't have been possible without:

Our incredible panelists who generously and bravely shared their knowledge, wisdom and experiences:


dance



Our Active Listeners, who held space for everyone in the room and offered their presence and support:




Our MVP volunteer who helped with everything from set-up & clean up, to front desk, to picking up refreshments for the day

And last but not least, our sponsors:

for providing this beautiful and welcoming location to host our gathering

+ for graciously covering our additional rental and food costs to make the event the best it could be

We appreciate you more than words can say ❤️🙏🏽

Please stay tuned for updates on future events and programming, and in the meantime - we invite you to read Leading Authentically’s Community Report to learn more.

🔗 + support resources in bio

💃🏽🕺🏽 Toronto Latin Dance Community — We want to hear from you! What questions do you have for our panelists? 🗣️

On Sat May 31 | 5–7PM at , we are gathering for an open and honest community conversation on gender-based violence in the Toronto Latin dance scene. 💭💬

✨ We’ve curated a powerful panel of dancers, organizers & gender-based violence prevention professionals to share their knowledge, experience and insights on the systemic and normalized harm that exists in our community and how we can build safer, more supportive spaces both in the present and future.

🎯 Now is your chance to join and help shape this ongoing conversation.

Fill out our anonymous survey (🔗link in bio) to let us know how we can continue to better support the community and submit your questions for our panel:

🎙️, Co-Founder of , Salsa Champion & Coach

🎙️, Founder of , Dance Artist & Facilitator

🎙️, Founder of

🎙️.dance, Dancer, Educator & Co-owner of .dancecorps

🎙️, Founder of & Community Organizer

Moderated by: Lexi Salt, Founder & Director of

💛 Your voice matters

"The function of art is to do more than tell it like it is- it's to imagine what is possible" — bell hooks

_____

Event Details:

⭐Dancing around and through harm: Community conversations on gender-based violence in the Toronto Latin dance community

Presented by in partnership with

🗓️: Saturday May 31st, 5:00-7:00pm
📍: 659 Yonge Street, Toronto
🔗 Link in bio
🎟️ Free event

💃🏽 Dancing around and through harm: Community conversations on gender-based violence in the Toronto Latin dance community (Free event 🎟️)

Presented by in partnership with

🗓️: Saturday May 31st, 5:00-7:00pm
📍: 659 Yonge Street, Toronto

We have curated an amazing panel of instructors, organizers and professionals in the gender-based violence prevention/support field, who will be sharing their professional experience, skills and lived expertise in relation to mitigating gender-based violence in the Toronto Latin dance community.

Panelists:


dance



Moderator: Lexi Salt, Founder & Director of Leading Authentically

Host:

We invite you to participate in community discussion about gender-based violence in Afro-Latin dance and ideate how we may move forward to build safer spaces in our communities. There will be a gentle embodiment exercise offered at the beginning of the event and optional social dancing at the end of the event (from 7-7:30pm).

We will also share ’s newly-published Community Report, which shares the results from Masters research study “Dancing around and through harm: Examining the lived experiences of women of colour with gender-based violence in the Toronto & Kitchener-Waterloo Latin dance communities” by Lexi Salt.

Register for free via link in bio 🎟️🔗 (there are limited tickets available). We look forward to seeing you there!

⭐ Thank you to our sponsors:
for providing the venue space
for providing the financial support to cover additional event costs
We appreciate your support so very much 🙏🏽

👀 Stay tuned for our community survey where you will be able to submit questions for our panelists.

⭐ SAVE THE DATE ‼️

The long-anticipated Toronto Community Roundtable is finally here!

🗓️: Saturday May 31st, 5:00-7:00pm
📍: 659 Yonge Street, Toronto

On Saturday, May 31st, we are hosting a community conversation on gender-based violence in the Toronto Latin dance community. From 5:00-7:00pm, there will be panel discussion with local instructors and organizers, as well as experts in the gender-based violence prevention and support field. From 7:00-7:30pm, there will be the opportunity to ground post-event through social dancing.

This event will also share ’s newly-published Community Report (accessible in our bio).

Mark your calendars: we are looking forward to seeing you there and working to build safer spaces in our scene!

👀 Stay tuned for more details, including our panelist reveal and the community survey next week.

In the past couple of months, there have been numerous disclosures of gender-based violence originating from the Chicago Latin dance community, resulting in increased awareness and calls to action on addressing gender-based violence in our international Afro-Latine dance communities.

As always, we stand firmly in solidarity with survivors. Gendered and sexual violence has been engrained and normalized in many of our Latin dance communities — we are dedicated to mitigating this harm. We recognize that gender-based violence disproportionately impacts Black, Indigenous and people of colour, Q***r folks and people with disabilities. The power dynamics in our scene exacerbate these negative impacts (e.g., between lead and follow, instructor and student).

As an organization that specializes in addressing gender-based violence in partnered social dance communities, we acknowledge the cycles of disclosure, community discussion and collective silencing, which repeat year after year. The work of addressing gender-based violence is long-term and ongoing. We must utilize proactive vs. reactive approaches to prevent and mitigate gender-based violence in our dance communities. We resist performativity and call for meaningful collective accountability.

We all deserve to feel safe in our safe space. Fostering safer, more supportive spaces in our Afro-Latine dance communities is not only necessary, but possible. If you are interested in getting involved or learning more, feel free to email us at [email protected].

*Support resources for those who have experienced gender-based violence, as well as for those who are supporting survivors, are available in our bio. There are regional and national support resources available. Please note that support resources specific to your country or town are often the most effective. If you are experiencing challenges navigating the resources in your community, please feel free to reach out to us.

Thank you to everyone who participated in our event last week, "Dancing around and through harm: Community conversations on gender-based violence in the Kitchener-Waterloo Latin dance community". We had insightful and rich conversations in the panel discussion, over 30 engaged attendees, and the official launch of the Community Report!

As panelists, the women of colour dancers shared their stories, lived experiences and expertise of navigating gender-based violence in the Latin dance scene.

shared “We are in this together, the community is powerful…I think that is why a lot of us are still here. Find the people who put that little light in your heart…be that for other people. And we will continue to do the work”.

Check out our story in the upcoming weeks for more take-aways from the panel! If you attended, we encourage you to share what you learned as well 😊

We are grateful for the valuable contributions of the panel members and the reviewers of the Community Report! .windsor .bhola & Valerie Chong ❤️❤️❤️

Dancing around and through harm: Community conversations on gender-based violence in the Kitchener-Waterloo Latin dance community

Join us for this engaging roundtable event on April 3rd from 7-9pm at Wilfrid Laurier (SB106).

Hear from 4 panelists about their lived experiences as women of colour dancers, participate in community discussion about gender-based violence in the KW Latin dance scene and ideate how we may move forward to build safer spaces in our communities.

This event will also launch the Community Report, which shares the results from trailblazing Masters research study ‘Dancing around and through harm: Examining the lived experiences of women of colour with gender-based violence in the Toronto & Kitchener-Waterloo Latin dance communities’.

Register for free at link in bio!

Thank you to everyone who came out to our 2SLGBTQIA+ Beginner Partner Dance Series with ! It was amazing to see folks express joy through dance, step outside their comfort zone and level up their salsa, bachata and kizomba skills :) Shout-out to assistant instructors, Aashay and Mia, for their valuable contributions

Thank you to everyone who attended our mini dance series with . It was incredible to witness the beautiful turnout and positive reception of these workshops. We are excited to continue to build q***r-centered dance spaces in our communities!
***rdance

As numerous women have come forward sharing their experiences with sexual violence in the New York Latin dance scene, we want to reaffirm our solidarity with survivors. Leading Authentically was founded based on experiences of survivorship and the belief that we all deserve to feel safe in our ‘safe space’.

We want to recognize that the pervasive violence against women being exposed currently is not isolated, but rather is reflective of the systemic gender-based violence within many Latin dance communities and our broader society. We acknowledge that gender-based violence is rooted in patriarchy, misogyny, heteronormativity and colonialism. We further emphasize that the negative cycles of disclosure, to community awareness, then silencing, and finally lack of action, need disrupting in order for meaningful change to occur.

At Leading Authentically, we are dedicated to centering the lived experiences of survivors and building safer spaces in our Latin dance communities. If you have experienced gendered or sexual violence and are interested in accessing support, please check out the resources available in our bio. You deserve solidarity and care ❤️