Nelson Batista is a Cuban salsa dancer.

Early life

Nelson was born in 1962, in the Buena Vista neighbourhood of

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Cuban music The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance, and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European (especially Spanish) music. Due to the syncretic nature of most of its genres, Cuban ...

was a part of Nelson's childhood, and through his life in Cuba,

Latin dance Latin dance is a general label, and a term in partner dance competition jargon. It refers to types of ballroom dance and folk dance that mainly originated in Latin America, though a few styles originated elsewhere. The category of Latin dance ...

became a family tradition, passed from father to son. He trained in dance alongside his regular studies at specialised dance courses in the Casa de Cultura community centre. He studied economics, and studied languages to a high level. After moving to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the 1980s, he did some work for Dunn & Co., before taking up a serious career in

Salsa dance Salsa is the name for Latin American dances that are danced to salsa music. Salsa is one of the most popular types of Latin dance that is practiced worldwide, and is typically danced with a partner, although there are elements of solo footwork a ...

Career

In 1988 Nelson became actively involved in promoting and organising Latin dance and music activities in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Nelson became the first Salsa dance instructor in

, to high acclaim. As a result, he extended his classes to venues all over the country, thus establishing himself as the top Salsa dance teacher in the UK. Many of Nelson's students have since progressed to dance professionally and to teach Salsa themselves. Nelson continues to contribute to the current thriving Salsa scene by teaching it in many venues around London and the Home Counties and by regularly holding intensive workshops all over the country. Nelson is considered to be the leading authority within this sphere, and he is also frequently called upon to act in an advisory role whenever authenticity or expert opinion is required. Most recently, after the official acknowledgement of the Salsa dance as an established dance form by the UKA (United Kingdom Alliance of teachers of dance), Nelson was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the UKA in Salsa, along with Paul Harris and others.

Media credits

In addition to his personal involvement in the Latin dance and music world, Nelson has performed in national theatre, having participated in the Danceworld 94 exposition. In 1992 he was called upon to

choreograph Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer creates choreographies thro ...

and advise on the music for the production of Salsa Celestina at the

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Theatre for which he received rave reviews. Throughout Nelson's career he has appeared in numerous TV programmes demonstrating and promoting Salsa Dance in London and the UK. He also participated in the Nelson Batista 'Just Dance 1998' show. Nelson's TV credits include: Juke Box 1990 (Sky TV); Capital Woman; 6 O’clock Live; Liz Earle's Lifestyle; Rear Window (Salsa Fever); The Great Escape

TV-am TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise ...

;

Esther Rantzen Dame Esther Louise Rantzen (born 22 June 1940) is an English journalist and television presenter who presented the BBC television series ''That's Life!'' for 21 years, from 1973 until 1994. She works with various charitable causes and founded t ...

Nelson has also been acclaimed in the national press, i.e.

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

, etc.; and also contributed to various Salsa and

orientated publications i.e. Latin London.

Awards

* In 1998: Nelson Batista was awarded the title of Fellow of the UKA, for having established and developed Salsa dancing throughout the country since 1989. * In 2003: Nelson received a Salsa Lifetime Achievement Award from the largest Salsa organisation in the country: Salsa UK, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the establishment and growth of Salsa dancing throughout the UK. * In 2005: Nelson received an award from Mambo City organisation in appreciation to his contribution to Salsa in the UK.

References

External links

*
Salsa in Cambridge & Bedfordshire

Danceworks West End Salsa Classes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Batista, Nelson Cuban male dancers Cuban dancers Caribbean ballroom dancers Dance teachers Living people 1962 births