The couple bachata beginner’s course teaches the basic steps of couple bachata, rhythm, a few simple basic patterns, and leading and following techniques – and above all, it gets you excited about the wonderful world of bachata!
This course starts from the very beginning, so you do not need to have any previous dance experience to join.
You can register either alone or with a partner. The beginner’s course includes a voluntary partner swap, where you change partners during the hour. If you wish, you can also dance with your own partner for the entire hour.
Anyone can participate in all Flama´s partner classes as a leader or follower, regardless of gender identity.
Couple Bachata Course for Begginners
Time: Thursday 2.7. 19:15–21:15
Level: beginners
Place: Flama Linnankatu (Linnankatu 84, Turku)
Teacher: Pinja Simola
Price: 27 €/person
What do I need to bring?
For the class, it is recommended to wear clothes that are comfortable to move around in. You can dance with indoor sneakers, dance shoes, or socks. Also take a water bottle with you and remember to drink enough after class.
Bachata is a sensual and emotional dance and music style that originally comes from the Dominican Republic. Bachata is now a highly popular dance with various styles: traditional Dominican style, sensual bachata, bachata moderna, and bachata fusion, which combines different styles.
Couple bachata is a social dance, which means that it is danced freely with different partners without any pre-arranged choreography. In class, you will learn the skills of leading and following, i.e., how dancers communicate through movement: the leader guides the dance with small body movements and hand signals, and the follower responds to them naturally. This allows for improvisation, living in the moment, and dancing with anyone – even if you’ve never practiced together before.
The sensual bachata style taught in this beginner’s course originated in Cadiz, Spain, and its developers can be considered to be Korke Escalona and Judith Cordero. Sensual bachata emphasizes sensuality, undulating body movements, and an intimate connection with your partner. Characteristic movements include body rolls, head rolls, and various dips.
Pinja has danced various dance styles since she was little, but in the end, bachata stole her heart. She has devoted herself to studying bachata and developing her skills by actively visiting the world’s top bachata dancers abroad.
Since 2015, Pinja has been working as a freelance dance and group exercise instructor throughout Finland and has visited several events and festivals abroad to teach. Pinja currently teaches dance regularly in Helsinki, Turku, and Kouvola.
In her classes, Pinja emphasises the importance of learning the technique and safety of the movements, without forgetting to have a good time and a happy atmosphere. As a trained physiotherapist, Pinja also wants to focus her teaching on healthy movement specific to the body.
Her love for bachata and the music itself has led Pinja to also work as a bachata DJ both in Finland and sometimes outside Finland. Over the years, Pinja has organised several dance events in the Helsinki region, the most famous of which is the Helsinki Bachata Blast.
More information about the workshop: info@flama.fi
Registration for Flama’s summer courses is now open! Take advantage of the early bird offer with the code TANSSIKESÄ and get a 5% discount on all summer courses this week. The most popular courses fill up quickly, so be sure to sign up early!
Forecast for the coming summer: lots of dancing and sunshine! ☀️ Flama’s summer schedule has now been released. The summer season will be danced from June 1 to August 23, 2026. This summer, there will be a whole range of different short courses, drop-in classes, and of course, the popular park classes!
