Saint Lucia’s Salsa Queen
One, two, three…five, six, seven. It’s an oft repeated sequence for Avellina Stacy Nelson. One that has become etched in her memory bank over the past twenty five years. It has been used to instruct numerous students in the intricacies and nuances of salsa at Exposé (St. Lucia) Latin Dance Academy. It is also a lasting memory of her first encounter with the art form.
“You know normally persons say they have two left feet? That was me.
Literally,” she laughed. “I loved zouk. I got introduced to zouk by two friends. Loved it. But that was it. Don’t give me anything else.
Because it was easy. One, two, one, two. A group of us ended up going to Shamrock. When I entered we heard this Englishman counting, 1,2,3, 5,6,7. We went to play pool but we were wondering about it and we realized it was a class going on. I met a school friend who was helping out with registration so I went to ask her what is this. She said it was salsa, a latin dance and started giving me the whole history of salsa. She said try. I said, “No.Can’t dance.”
However Nelson found herself back at Shamrock week after week; her friend sweetening the pot with a free class. By the third week she was intrigued and gave it a shot, but found herself struggling out of the gate.
“It took six classes to get the basic steps. I really couldn’t get it.
After I got that it was a breeze.”
Nelson had become a regular fixture at classes when she realized a disparity that still exists today. There was a lopsided ratio in the number of women to men. This prompted her to take up the challenge of learning to dance as a lead. When her instructor invited her to work at his studio, assisting his non-english speaking staff, she was able to gain even more practice in her unconventional choice. When she has exhausted the ladies’ knowledge, she gleaned what she could from the instructor himself. She soaked up the information with one goal in mind.
“My dream at that time was to perform at the hotels. Because the two ladies were performing at the hotel and he was choosing all kinds of students to perform. But I was not able to go because you know, two left feet, no rhythm, whatever it is. I was this full figured woman and in my eyes at the time the slim people were the ones being looked at to go and perform. So I decided I have to perform at a hotel one day. And I worked at it. I pushed and pushed. But I hate to follow, I like to lead so that was a challenge. I got used to leading so following was a difficult thing for me to do. That made it harder for me to perform at a hotel.”
Nelson got her big break when an entertainment manager from a leading hotel saw her dancing at Shamrock. He found her style refreshing and asked her to put together a simple program to perform for his guests.
Although hesitant at first, she enlisted the help of her friends and seized the long-awaited opportunity.
“I spent 12 years at Le Sport performing at the hotel as a lead.
