We recently connected with Katia Diamond and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Katia, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

When I was a teenager, I had the opportunity to see the famous Broadway show “Forever Tango.” It was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen and it was then that I knew I wanted to be a professional dancer and perform on stage. I was already dancing many styles of dance but never considered a career of becoming a professional dancer. Seeing the dancers move so gracefully on stage in stunning costumes under the bright lights with the audience cheering had me convinced that this is what I wanted to do.

Katia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

When I started teaching tango I quickly realized that one of the biggest challenges as a woman instructor and natural follower was to teach leaders how to dance without actually dancing the leader role. As most women teachers do, I became somewhat dependent on a leader (traditionally male) to partner with me so I was able to teach and demonstrate in my classes. But partnerships can be difficult and it is very common to change partners often because of personality conflicts and different visions. To overcome this very large hurdle and become a truly independent female teacher, about 5 years ago I decided to learn how to lead tango. At that time, very few women were leading and it wasn’t always accepted. Regardless, I continued learning how to lead and I was improving everyday. Fast forward to 2024, one of my accomplishments that I am the most proud of is becoming the 1st woman leader to make it to the finals in the 2024 ATUSA USA National Championships.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

When I was 10 years old I came to the USA from Bolivia to live with my uncle. Unfortunately this situation was much different than I expected and varied from stressful to abusive. When I was alone in the house, I would often play all types of music and just dance and be free. Then one day I went to see the Broadway Show Forever Tango and everything changed. I was so mesmerized by the show that I forgot all about my problems. At that moment, I decided I wanted to be a professional dancer so I could be on stage and perform for people and hopefully inspire others the same way I was inspired. To this day, whenever I perform I really don’t get nervous because I never think it’s about me – it’s about the amazing people in the audience that I hope to inspire or just make happy for the few minutes we are all sharing together so I try to do the best job I can to hopefully put a smile on everyone’s face.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding thing for me is to see my students achieve their goals and dreams. So many students that start dancing tell me that they have 2 left feet and don’t believe they will ever be able to dance. But with lots of patience, encouragement and practice, anyone can dance and dance beautifully. I have students that have become dance teachers, students that are competing and students that are performing on stage. To see their faces when they dance now is absolutely priceless to me. They have surpassed their own goals and are now chasing dreams they didn’t think they could ever actually do. As a teacher, there is literally nothing more rewarding than this.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://katiadiamond.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiadiamond
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katia.diamond.77
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/katiadiamond

Image Credits

Alex R. Castro, Daniel Roffo, Martin Almiron