Oakland-based Queer, Trans and Allied Latin Dance Company in Lak’ech is Giving us Life in 2019.

There is beauty in movement. There is power in movement. And when you coordinate your movement with another body to a single rhythm, there is solidarity.

Magic, even.

It’s a magic that Jahaira Fajardo and Angelica Medina, founders of In Lak’ech Dance Academy, the first and only queer, trans, and allied Salsa/Bachata Dance company in the US (that happens to be based right here Oakland, CA), want to share with the East Bay community.

“We want In Lak’ech to be a healing space for folx to express their gender identity and dance where their corazon is,” says Angelica.

World Latin Dance Cup champions Jahaira and Angelica know firsthand how freeing movement can be for queer and trans folx, but felt that the Latin dance scene overall was not the most inclusive.

“One of the things we’ve always noticed is how incredibly heteronormative [Latin dance] is and how it didn’t feel very affirming to queer, trans and non-binary folx,” reflected Jahaira. “We always said if we ever opened a dance company, that we would do it for our community.”

And with a mission to create a community of queer and trans dancers to celebrate resilience and heal from oppression, so far they are doing it up. Big.

In Lak’ech’s bachata and salsa performance teams travel to Latin dance competitions around the US. A refreshing sight in an otherwise normative space, they take up space for the East Bay queer and trans community.

One of their performance teams, BachaterX Leaders, is composed of all queer, trans and non binary folx – a beautiful declaration that gender expression is a thing to be fully embraced.

“Latin dance can sometimes be very rigid in its ways,” says Jahaira, the first ever female bachata leader to win the Latin Dance World Championship. “You can see this with the tradition of only men asking women to dance or women typically following.”

“But part of our mission,” says Angelica, “is to make the Latin dance community more inclusive, and the way you do that is to go and be seen. We are reclaiming our space.”

Despite traditions rooted in gender rigidity, Jahaira and Angelica have felt an undercurrent of warmth from festival attendees and other teams outside of In Lak’ech.

“We feel very fortunate that the Latin dance community has embraced us – we call them allies,” says Jahaira. “We really haven’t experienced anything other than love and support for what we are doing.”

In fact, we caught up the pair as they were gearing up to take the In Lak’ech performance teams to one of their favorite competitions, the Reno Latin Dance Festival.

“We love that festival,” says Jahaira. “The promoters of that event are extremely supportive and even mentored us when we were putting together the Queer Latin Dance Festival.”

Organized by In Lak’ech, the first annual Queer Latin Dance Festival debuted in Oakland in 2018 as the first festival of its kind in the US. And this year on June 7th and 8th, it’s set to be even bigger and better with queer and trans dancers coming in from around the US and Mexico, special workshops, choreography challenges, performances and the best after parties.

As amazing as it is to get on a stage, In Lak’ech also offers something for folx who aren’t looking to perform in that way.

“We know that everyone has different goals,” says, Jahaira. “Some people just want to learn how to dance for when they go to the club. So we have something for them.”

On January 16 and 17, In Lak’ech will open its doors to a brand new cohort of bachata and salsa dancers.

“On January 16, we’re having open calls. It’s not an audition – all who come will be welcomed into the In Lak’ech community,” says Angelica.

The 10-week series is a great opportunity for queer, trans and allied folx to learn the fundamentals of bachata and salsa at a slower pace with the goal of improving social dancing, timing and partner work.

“We really break down the technique,” says Jaihira, “We also talk about the history of the music. And, it’s a queer space!”

Those with a bit more experience can come to In Lak’ech’s performance team auditions on January 17.

More About In Lak’ech

Learn more about In Lak’ech Dance Academy on their website.

Learn about the 2019 Queer Latin Dance Festival – pre-sale tickets available soon!

In Lak’ech open call and auditions held at the Orange Room
2885 Ettie Street, Oakland, Ca

January 16th, 2019 10-week series Open Call

Bachata open call: 8:00pm
Salsa open call: 9:00pm

January 17, 2019 Performance Auditions

Bachata auditions: 8:00pm
Salsa auditions: 9:00pm

Contact In Lak’ech with questions: inlakechdance@gmail.com

Keep up with their latest news by following In Lak’ech on Instagram and Facebook.