We were lucky to catch up with Cassandra De Mercedes recently and have shared our conversation below.
Cassandra, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I am profoundly blessed in that I knew from a very young age what I was called to do with my life. I can remember being in my favorite Winnie the Pooh dress with a big green bow at the neckline and my favorite shiny blue shoes, seeing my mom come home from a performance with her stage makeup still on and still dressed in her costume, dancing around her bedroom, still high from the energy of a show. For some reason that moment stayed with me through my entire life but I remember that moment specifically because I knew in that one moment what I would do with my life. I wanted to be able to feel the joy that I saw in my mom’s face in that moment, for the rest of my life and that is exactly what I have done. Dance really is life and joy and freedom. I would not change a thing!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am the Co-owner and Artistic Director of Baila con Pasión, the premier Latin dance company in Minneapolis, MN and in the Twin Cities area, previously in Stuart, FL, Charlotte, NC, and Bavaro Dominican Republic. I am the choreographer & artistic director of Las Bellas de Baila con Pasión™, her student performing team as well as the Trainer for my World Team Project Minneapolis Teams. I am extremely proud to be one of the prestigious World Mastery Academies worldwide and am certified in the full curriculum of Multi Time World Champions, Adrian and Anita, Anita’s Ladies Styling Curriculum as well as Fernando Sosa’s curriculum, SOSA Style Salsa.
My husband and I are the only ones in the state of Minnesota that teach authentic Dominican Bachata as well as Bolero and Son and I am a World Team Project Team Trainer, World Mastery Instructor, and a World Mastery Ambassador!! I was the ONLY American Instructor teaching at the 2022 Egypt Sensual Bachata Festival in Hurghada Egypt in March of 2022 and I’ll be teaching again this year, in April. I’ll also be teaching at various events worldwide again this year as well as continuing to build my dance company and community here in Maple Grove and Wayzata, Minnesota.
Cassandra began dancing professionally at the age of 13 and has spent nearly 3 decades in the entertainment industry working as both a professional dancer and a professional singer. She is classically trained in ballet, ballroom, and Latin dance but upon discovering her love and passion for Latin dance, specifically Salsa, Bachata, Bachatango, and Cha-Cha, they became her sole career focus. After having a school in the Dominican Republic and enjoying the opportunity to train with various famous Bachateros, Cassandra and her husband who is from Santo Domingo, bring authentic Bachata to wherever they are teaching, directly from the home of Bachata. They are also the only instructors in the Midwest that also teach Dominican Bolero and Son Dominicana, both dances from the Dominican Republic.
Cassandra has taught hundreds of thousands of students from coast to coast of the United States to the Dominican Republic and back again (and also everywhere in between) and has been a featured instructor at the largest and most prestigious Bachata Congress in the world, The Washington DC Bachata Congress. She is also one of the few International Instructors that has been invited to teach Bachata, in the very home and birthplace of Bachata. In demand to teach at Salsa and Bachata Congresses all over the world, she and her partner were one of few select couples from all over South, Central, and North Americas that were invited to compete in the Americas Bachata Masters competition for an opportunity to represent the USA at the finals in Spain in February of 2013.
A skilled dancer, performer, and choreographer, Cassandra brings a rare joy and insatiable passion to the dance floor along with her elegant and graceful style in Salsa and Bachata. As an instructor, Cassandra has a very strong technical emphasis in her teaching that comes from her many years of Russian Classical Ballet training, which ensures that her students become extremely well-rounded dancers. Her passion for life in general along with her passion specifically for Salsa and Bachata is contagious and it quickly becomes clear that she truly loves what she does!
Always hungry to continue to grow in her own personal journey in dance, Cassandra continues her own training with regular private instruction from World Champion salsa coaches such as Multi-time world champions, Adrian and Anita of Barcelona, Ezgi Zaman, Fernando Sosa, Karen and Ricardo, Abel Pena, and Zulmara Torres, Cristian Oviedo, Liz Lira, and Edie the Salsa Freak so that she can bring all of that training back to her students and she trains weekly with multi-time World Champion Anita Santos Rubin. She is coached for upcoming competitions with World Champion trainers Sonia Rivera and Ezgi Zaman and her ladies performing team will be heading to Egypt with her in April to perform their Authentic Bachata routine.
Cassandra and her husband Pedro also host a twice-yearly Dominican dance and cultural immersion vacation that consists of a small group that we take to different parts of the Dominican Republic to spend that entire week immersed in Dominican culture. We have daily dance training with various world-renowned Dominican Instructors as well as Cassandra and Pedro and then we head out each day to explore different cities and towns, enjoying their food, their music, their people, and of course their dancing! We enjoy everything from formal dance training to dancing Bachata on the beach or a catamaran on our way to La Isla Saona or Cay Arena. This event has been Cassandra’s vision for many years and every year we get to add more amazing things to our lineup. We have just this year gone from doing one trip a year to adding a second trip that will take us to the North Coast of the Dominican Republic to dance and explore. This dynamic couple’s event, BachaTour! with Baila con Pasión, is now shared on GoDominicanRepublic which is a worldwide site that features things to do in the Dominican Republic. It is the only event of its kind worldwide and they are proud to share this life-changing trip with each group that they take to the Dominican Republic.
“We offer group and private lessons as well as dance travel Adventures with our Dance Company. I truly believe that we set ourselves apart by the quality of our instruction, our focus on technique and our love for our students and our community. I am deeply proud of the dance families that I have built, internationally, and that we are still operating after the challenges we have faced these past few years. I don’t quit. I’ll give you that. I have the tenacity if a pitbull when it comes to my dance company and my BachaTour event. I always find a way. Always.
Dance can bring you out of the darkest lows and give you a freedom you don’t find anywhere but the Dance floor. I want people to experience that because it changes lives for the better.”
As you can see, dance is a part of everything Cassandra does, it is a part of her very being and her passion is to share that passion with as many people worldwide, as she can. So, with that…. come dance with us!
Dance company website…
www.Bailaconpasion.com
Dominican Dance and Cultural Vacation website…
www.latindancetours.com
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Coming out of the covid situation sums this up well. During covid lockdowns, my ENTIRE business was shit down from congresses and festivals to weekly group classes, all of it. It sent us all into a dark and scary place that was full of uncertainty and of course fear. This is my entire life and it came to a screeching halt. We are still trying to rebuild from that but I don’t give up. I make it down for a minute or two but nothing keeps me down for long. I know what I am called to do in this life and nothing will keep me from doing it including covid. During the shutdowns we went to online classes, which frankly were hell between all of the technical issues, trying to learn Zoom and distractions that just simply happen when you’re doing classes online but we did it and then moved back to on person classes in various locations outside. Our dance family needed to dance and we needed that outlet to deal with the stress of everything that was happening. We went back to in person classes well before we were supposed to but there is a balance between staying safe from covid vs destroying your mental health and need for connection and creativity. We chose the later and it was the best thing we did! We are still operating and of course dancing every day!
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish I had listened to my own inner guidance and intuition at a much younger age rather than following different paths that others had set forth for me. Many told me that you cant make a living as a dancer and discouraged me from taking this path. That was out of love and wanting nothing but good things for me but it was hard to follow my calling with so much outside chatter. I wish i had been stronger in listening to my heart at a younger age because I knew what my calling was from a very young age. Follow your heart. Your gifts are what you bring to this world that no one else can, like you. Honor that always.❤️
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bailaconpasion.com/
- Instagram: @bailaconpasion
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bailaconpasion?mibextid=ZbWKwL
- Youtube: @BailaconPasion
- Other: www.Latindancetours.com TikTok: @bailaconpasion