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Spins, shimmies and shines: Tempo takes over City Hall

Showcasing their work: Sage Robinson and Shadae Steede, centre, are to put salsa and bachata on show with the help of Tempo dancers at City Hall tomorrow night (Photograph supplied)

If you like Latin music and dance, City Hall is where you need to be tomorrow night.

The dancers of Tempo will perform salsa and bachata. And for anyone who’s interested, social dancing will follow.

The event is the brainchild of Shadae Steede and Sage Robinson, co-directors of a programme that improves dancers’ shoulder shimmies, footwork, spins and shines.

“We have six teams in total of adult salsa and bachata dancers who have trained over the last three months and will showcase their routines and talents,” Ms Steede said.

“It will be a night of Latin entertainment, Latin dance, Latin music, social dancing and all that good stuff.”

Most of the dancers were already experienced, having been introduced to salsa through Clave Dance Bermuda, a group that hosts weekly socials at Docksider Pub & Restaurant.

“Our teams include dancers that want to work on their practice a little bit more. We help them with technique and ways to improve their dancing while also teaching that routine, which prepares them for our showcase at the end of the season.”

Ms Steede started dancing when she was “really young”. In high school she joined “a high kick team”, a mixture of modern and jazz.

And then she met salsa. “I was introduced to Clave’s social dance night at Docksiders and that's how I found out about salsa. And I decided to train for salsa with Derek, who is one of the co-owners of Clave, and Sage, who is now my dance partner and business partner.

“I improved my practice, I travelled and became a teacher and we started our Tempo programme.”

The idea came from Mr Robinson, who started salsa dancing more than a decade ago and had travelled the world performing.

“He had that professional experience with salsa dancing; people are very familiar with him and he has also had dance teams in the past in Bermuda,” she said.

In 2022, a person looking for performers reached out to Mr Robinson. At the time he wasn’t working with anyone and reached out to Ms Steede with a plan to create a routine and do it themselves.

“However, we decided to invite Derek Musson from Clave and another one of our Tempo members named Charlene. We invited them to perform this routine with us at our very first gig.”

Tempo grew from there. It fuelled Ms Steede’s love for performing.

“That's what I enjoy most. I was able to foster my passion for my creativity and then combine it all and create routines,” she said.

Saturday offers a chance for people to witness “the best salsa and bachata talent on island”. Nadanja Bailey, the popular actor and comedian, will serve as host.

“Tempo is Bermuda’s premiere Latin team and the students have worked hard over the last four months and are finally ready and excited to showcase their talents at City Hall,” Ms Steede said.

“This is a night where you can come out, you can enjoy Latin entertainment – mainly salsa and bachata. We have also invited Jackson School of Dance, their girls will be doing a salsa routine.

“We've also invited another local dance team called The Steppers, which is not Latin, however they're going to bring a little surprise, a little spice to the show to add variety.

“And then we also have another special performance by a father and son who have been involved in salsa for years, they’re part of the [original gangstas] of salsa in Bermuda.”

At the end of “the elegant evening”, there is the chance for longtime salsa dancers and beginners to practice their moves upstairs, at the Bermuda Society of Arts.

Said Ms Steede: “The social night after the showcase is open to all levels of dancers; if you've never done it before you are still welcome to come. If you're only a beginner, you're still welcome to come as well.”

• Tempo Showcase & Social takes place on Saturday at 7pm at Earl Cameron Theatre. Social dancing follows in the Bermuda Society of Arts gallery. Tickets are available at www.ptix.bm. VIP tickets include catered food, one beverage, and favoured seat selection. Follow @clavedancebermuda on Instagram

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Published April 26, 2024 at 8:00 am (Updated April 25, 2024 at 7:57 pm)

Spins, shimmies and shines: Tempo takes over City Hall

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