The Call of Adventure: Dancers Choosing a New Beginning
It is a theme we have seen popping up everywhere lately: people giving up their familiar lives in the Netherlands to chase a dream somewhere else. Whether it concerns a retreat center in Ibiza or a campsite in France, the urge for freedom and a life centered around passion instead of the clock is greater than ever. In the 30 years that I have been moving within the dance world, I have often seen this process up close. Dancers are dreamers by nature, but also hard workers. This combination makes the step abroad often feel smaller than for someone with an office job.
In the popular SBS6 program Changing Course (Het Roer Om), we recently saw the story of Amsterdammers Mano and Manon. They left for Ibiza to organize sensual retreats there. Although their focus is on tantra, yoga, and meditation, the link to the dance world is crystal clear. In tantra, everything revolves around movement, touch, and daring to take up space with your own body. That is exactly what we also do in salsa and bachata: making a connection with yourself and your partner through movement.
The Reality Behind the Dream in Ibiza
However, Mano and Manon faced a major challenge in Ibiza. According to an article from TVgids.nl, the estate they had their eye on suddenly turned out to be no longer available. In the dance world, we call this 'improvising on stage'. You have thought out a choreography, but the music skips or your partner makes a different turn. Then you have to switch gears. For Mano and Manon, this meant a feverish search for a new property at sky-high prices. It shows that 'changing course' isn't just about becoming zen, but mainly about resilience.
This aligns with the story of Merel and Bas from Zwaag, who tried to make their dream abroad come true. In an interview with the Noordhollands Dagblad, they stated that giving up simply does not exist in their dictionary. That is the mentality you also find in the dance studio. You fall, you get up, and you practice that turn until you master it. Merel and Bas emphasize that you have to stand firm in your shoes to realize a dream abroad. That applies to a business, but certainly also to those who want to bring their passion for dance abroad professionally.
The Internal Struggle: Ballet versus Hip-hop
The 'changing course' doesn't always have to be a physical move to another country. Sometimes the biggest change takes place in how we express ourselves. On TV, we recently saw Save the Last Dance 2. The character Sara struggles there with a classic dilemma: does she choose the prestigious ballet school Juilliard or does she follow her heart to the hip-hop scene? This is a form of changing course that I often see in young talents. The pressure of tradition versus the call of the street and one's own identity.
From my experience at Miss Salsa, I see that the modern dancer can no longer be pigeonholed. We see ballet dancers seeking the sensuality of bachata, and salsa dancers integrating the technique of modern jazz. Changing course in this context means: daring to choose what makes you happy at this moment, regardless of what your environment expects of you.
What Can We Learn From This?
When you look at the candidates of Changing Course, a few things stand out that are also crucial for dancers. Firstly: preparation is everything, but flexibility is even more important. You may have broken in your dance shoes perfectly, but the floor in a foreign club can be slippery as ice. That is the reality of life.
Specifically, this means for everyone who dreams of a life where dance or movement is central:
- Know your basics: Whether you start a retreat or learn a new dance style, make sure your technique and your plan are solid.
- Be prepared for setbacks: Just like Mano and Manon in Ibiza, you will encounter bumps. It's about how you handle them without losing your rhythm.
- Stay authentic: The reason people go to Ibiza for tantra or to a dance school for salsa is the need for real connection. Stay true to your own style.
The Trend of the 'Sensual Retreat'
What we see happening now is that dance is no longer seen only as sport or entertainment, but as part of a larger 'wellness' movement. The retreats that are now popping up like mushrooms everywhere often combine movement with personal growth. This is a logical step. After years of focusing on the outside – what does the dance look like? – the attention is now shifting to the inside: how does the movement feel?
Mano and Manon are responding to this need. Despite the stress of rental prices and lost locations, their mission remains: bringing people back in touch with their feelings. In the dance world, we have actually been doing that for decades. A good salsa night is in fact also a mini-retreat; you leave the daily worries at the door and are fully in the now.
My Vision After 30 Years in the Profession
I have seen many people leave. Some came back with their tails between their legs after a year, others built a beautiful life in Spain, Curaçao, or Portugal. What distinguishes the success stories from the rest is not the starting capital or the location, but the passion that runs deeper than just the desire to 'sit in the sun'.
If you change course to start a dance school abroad, or like Claudia in Austria (known from Winter Full of Love) set up a retreat center in a village of 800 inhabitants, you must be prepared to embrace the loneliness and the hard lessons of entrepreneurship. It is not always 'zen' and it is not always applause. But for those who have the discipline of a dancer, the chance of success is many times greater. We know what it's like to keep going when your feet hurt.
The trend of 'changing course' will continue for a while. We live in a time where we have the freedom to reinvent ourselves. Whether that is on a dance floor in Amsterdam or on an estate in Ibiza, the most important thing is that you take control of your own choreography. And if the music changes? Then you simply change your steps along with it.