Georgia Venetakis testifies
Georgia's love for salsa actually stemmed from her immense interest in world music. The livelier, the better, so Afro and Latin music quickly stood out above all else!
She wanted to do more with the music than just listen to it, and during her student years, she took her first steps into salsa. Over the years, she discovered countless steps, had the opportunity to practice her hobby in several dance schools, and noticed that, with the open mindset of both the instructors and her dance partners, she could be part of the group. With her visual impairment, it was initially a matter of figuring out how to learn the steps correctly. Feeling the steps with her feet, receiving lots of verbal instructions, and being well-guided by dance partners helped her to ultimately build a solid foundation.
She discovered Etage Tropical in 2022, and for her, the lessons at this inclusive school offer the chance to not only learn many new combinations but also work intensively on refinement: body posture, footwork, and styling. These are all aspects that require more individualized explanation when the dancer is fully blind and cannot copy others. It gives her great satisfaction to enjoy salsa dancing and to keep getting better, thanks to the specific techniques developed to continue learning without visual cues.
Georgia is incredibly grateful for the existence of Etage Tropical and the endless dedication provided by Michèle and her team to make it clear that dancers with visual impairments can fully be part of 'the scene'. Ultimately, it all comes down to the right mentality, dialogue, goodwill, and the willingness to explore. And when it comes to awareness-raising, showing that salsa can be accessible to everyone, Georgia is more than happy to contribute her efforts.
Image Description
Photo 1: Color photo. Georgia dances salsa with a woman of African descent.
Photo 2: Black and white photo. A close-up dance photo of Georgia and Manuel.
Photo 3: Georgia dances in closed position. The sighted man is a good dancer and has a similar physical appearance to Georgia, making the entire duo look very symmetrical. In the background, Manuel and Michèle are dancing in the twilight. So, it is two dance couples with a remarkable symbiosis between two sighted and two non-sighted dancers. A perfect dance world according to the inclusive goals of the non-profit organization danceorientation.eu.
Photo 4: Detail photo of Georgia with a man gesturing, what is special is that Georgia extends her arm toward the camera while she stands with her eyes closed in the image, and he looks directly into the camera. Again, a perfect dance photo with aesthetic quality value.
