About Christel

Music and dance surrounded me at an early age. I came from a mixed family – a French mother and an African (Ivory Coast) father. My mixed African heritage turned out to be a true gift. My father passed on to me his love for music and dance. There was always music at home and Latin music was a great part of it – Tito Puente, Johnny Pacheco, Celia Cruz and Cachao –  just to name a few.

I remember watching my father dance. He was really feeling the music – even closing his eyes while singing. My father seemed so alive and happy. Sometimes, my mother joined him and they improvised a dance together. My parents were not professional Dancers but they could dance. I was a little girl at the time but I watched quietly. I began to understand how powerful music and dance could be.

Eventually I began my dancing experience with Ballet when I was 6 years old. However, my first great passion, tap dancing, did not find me until I was a teenager. It happened when I was watching a documentary on TV showing a man with one wooden leg. He was tap dancing. I was touched by this incredible feeling of freedom that emerged from him. Nothing around him really matter – he was just dancing. I wanted to feel free just like him after that experience.

So learned to play music while I’m dancing and used my body as my instrument. Tap dancing taught me a lot about rhythm and musicality. I wanted to be creative and really express myself. The improvisation side of dancing allowed me to speak my own language. It really influenced the way I dance salsa today.