All about that Ginga

What is it? Ginga is your flavour, your swagger, the spice, the unique sauce you bring to your dance. It is your individual expression through movement and musicality.

Ginga is so much more than booty movements, it's about our presence, our walk and our confidence, our individuality.  

It’s the way we express ourselves and our body. Ginga is a tool we can use to reconnect to our body.

What I love about Ginga is you can not fake it. It's authentic to you. It's your personality, your execution of movements, your voice, your confidence. It is your secret sauce and in some ways a superpower. It is not just about doing movements in your dance or adding “styling” it’s about how you execute the movements with your unique stamp. Its not being perfect either, but more a feeling of connection. Connection to your body, yourself and your partner. 

I remember when I started my Kizomba journey 7 years ago, watching videos of Kizomba on youtube for the first time. This dance was so beautiful in its simplicity and the connection between two humans. I was mesmerized by the female dancers. I remember seeing their body movement and falling in love. I saw women who looked like me. They had the same body shape as me. I witnessed their curves and lines enhance their dance. I had been dancing all my life in various styles like Jazz, Ballet, Contemporary, Hip Hop. And when I was 18 I started Salsa, Bachata and Zouk. My body type was just not celebrated. I never had seen bodies like mine at that time to be celebrated and be ideal for a dance style. Like most women, my body has changed taking many different forms and shapes. I have been told I am too curvy or too big and at times not curvy enough. And at this time when I first met Kizomba my shape was very different to what it is now. I felt too big and very unhappy in my body and in my own skin. I dreamt of being on stage all the time, being a professional dancer but felt deep down my body did not fit the mould. At the time, slim was in. A dancer's body must be slim, toned, lean and strong. And just like that Kizomba freed me, It liberated me. Through Kizomba I started to heal my relationship with my body. I also found when I moved in this way with Ginga I felt freedom. My body was born to move and express in this way. It felt like coming home, coming home to my body and coming home to myself. Something I was longing for and craving deep down.  My journey to love and accept my body is something I work on and it constantly evolves and changes . But Kizomba was the catalyst, the start of making peace with my body, to see it as my home and start loving it, appreciating it.

When I am teaching Ginga classes it always lifts me up and lifts up the students around me. With my Ginga Goddess performance team projects, I watch these women change through the course of weeks and months. They moved through life differently. They were empowered, inspired and more confident. Not only does it enhance their lives but create a ripple effect and filters into their family life, relationships, and their communities. This is the power of dance. To enrich the life of one individual and then create positive change in their life and the people around them. 

This dance has been a powerful tool to create positive change in my life. This is my personal experience and just some of the ways Ginga and Kizomba have enriched and radically changed my life. It's changed the relationship I have with myself, others and my body. So sharing it with the world feels liberating, uplifting and on purpose. And the opportunity to teach is something I treasure and constantly inspires me. 

“Dance to inspire, dance to freedom, life is about experiences so dance and let yourself become free.”

― Shah Asad Rizvi

~ Words, Hannah Melder ~

www.hannahmelder.com

FB & Instagram ~ @hannahmelderdancer