Ghent Bachata Beat Festival
EXPERIENCE THE RHYTHM OF BACHATA
May 30 - June 1, 2025 | Ghent, Belgium
The Ghent Bachata Beat Festival is Ghent city’s annual Bachata festival, curated by Alex. Immerse yourself in a weekend full of vibrant rhythms, dynamic workshops, and an electrifying dance community, all dedicated to the captivating world of Bachata.
8 Diverse Workshops covering styles like Bachata Fusion, Bachata Dominicana, and Lady Styling—designed for dancers of all levels to enhance their technique and explore new styles.
1 Grand Social Party where you can dance the night away, connect with fellow Bachata enthusiasts, and celebrate the festival’s vibrant atmosphere.
1 Guided Practice Session to help you solidify what you’ve learned! Refine your techniques, gain valuable feedback, and deepen your understanding—all with your teachers present to guide you.
Flexible Partner Dynamics with two class circles: one for fixed partners and one for rotating couples, allowing you to choose the learning style that suits you best.
Organized at Shoonya Dance Centre in Ghent, Belgium, the Ghent Bachata Beat Festival creates an inclusive space where dancers from all backgrounds come together to learn, connect, and celebrate the joy of Bachata.
Don’t miss out on this unforgettable weekend of dance, connection, and pure Bachata energy.
Solo registrations are welcome, but partner availability is not guaranteed.
Choose your preferred class circle: stay with your partner or rotate to meet new dancers.
Artist Line-up
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Artist Line-up 〰️
XI & ALINA
RICKY & NANDA
ALEX & LENKA
IOANNA
PROGRAM
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PROGRAM 〰️
Saturday 31 May
11:00 - 12:00
Lady Styling for Beginners - Ioanna
12:15 - 13:15
Bachata Fusion - Alex & Lenka
13:15 - 14:30
Lunch Break
14:30 - 15:30
Dominican Bachata - Ricky & Nanda
15:45 - 16:45
Bachata Movement Fundamentals - Alex
17:00 - 18:00
Dominican Bachata - Ricky & Nanda
18:15 - 19:15
Bachata Fusion - Xi & Alina
20:00 - 01:00
Grand Social Party
Sunday 1 June
11:00 - 12:00
Advanced Lady Styling - Alina
12:15 - 13:15
Bachata Fusion - Xi & Alina
13:30 - 15:00
Guided Practice
PRICING
-
FULL PASS
Includes all 8 workshops, guided practice and the party on Saturday
€65 for the first 30 participants
€75 for the next 30 participants
€85 thereafter -
SATURDAY PASS
Includes 6 Workshops on Saturday + Party
€65 -
SUNDAY PASS
Includes 2 workshops on Sunday & the guided practice session
€30
-
SATURDAY PARTY PASS
€15 per person
XI & ALINA
Xi began his dance journey in Ballroom and Latin American styles. He has been teaching these forms since he was 18 at the Dresen Dance School in Cologne. After eight years of competitive dancing, he found a new passion in social dances. His expertise includes Salsa, Bachata, Kizomba, Zouk, and West Coast Swing, where he proudly holds the title of the first German All-Star.
Every weekend, Xi and his dance partner Alina travel the globe, enchanting audiences with the beauty of dance. Throughout the week, he has successfully led the tanzraum dance schools in Cologne and its surroundings since 2012, now boasting seven branches.
Alina, a certified Bachata instructor, brings extensive international experience to her teaching. She is certified by Korke and Judith, the founders of Bachata Sensual, and Felipe and Tiago for Role Rotation. Working alongside Xi, she has created a unique dance style known as Bachata Fusion, which incorporates sensual Bachata with elements from various other styles. Alina conducts regular classes in Cologne and travels internationally, sharing her passion for Bachata at workshops and events. Her teaching focuses on technique, musicality, and the joy of movement.
NANDA & RICKY
With over 20 years of experience, Ricky and Nanda are pioneering instructors in Bachata. They travel to the best festivals around the world to share their passion for music and Dominican culture.
Ricky Manuel, an expert in musicality and a renowned Requinto player from the Dominican Republic, has taught at the prestigious Bachata Academy. A talented musician, author, composer, and singer, he plays more than five instruments.
Nanda, the first Bachata teacher in Belgium, is also highly regarded in the field, leading conferences on music and Dominican culture. Together, they are offering exclusive musicality classes for all levels, accompanied by live instruments.
ALEX
Alex, from Bucharest in Romania; started dancing ballroom & other latin dances in 1993 and over the years has achieved numerous awards, both national and international in his career as a competition dancer and as a teacher. As a dancer he was part of the Romanian National Team in ballroom and latin, and a finalist and semi-finalist at the Romanian National Championships and Cups. As a dancer his biggest achievement is wining the European and World Champion title in Rueda de Casino in 2007 and 2008. In 2009 he became the Vice World Champion in Salsa in the competitions organised by the International Dance Organisation (IDO).
His teaching career both for social and competition dancing started in 2005. The couples who trained under Alex, became World and European Champions in Salsa, Bachata and Latino Show. For 3 years Alex lived in Turkey, and his students represented Turkey in the World Championships organised by the World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF) and became national champions.
Alex has a dance experience of over 30 years and a teaching experience of over 10 years. Even though he teaches Bachata, his favorite dance is still the Tango.
Alex loves the expression of passion and other feelings that you can express through dance and his favorite quote about dance has to be: “Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in high heels”.
LENKA BADRIYAH
Badriyah is a professional Raqs Sharqi dancer (bellydancer), devoted mainly to Egyptian classical and folkloric styles, modern fusion and the Golden Age of belly dance. Badriyah has won several important awards - she was awarded as silver Belly Dancer of the Universe 2012 (California, USA), Vice Miss Bellydancer of Europe 2011 (Germany) and bronze Bellydancer of the Universe 2011 (California, USA).
The biggest achievement of her dance career is performing for 6 years with Bellydance Evolution, led by the famous Jillina. She has performed in Japan, Hong Kong, USA, Taiwan, Australia, Morocco, Greece and other countries.
Her biggest passion is the history of Raqs Sharqi. She is a collector of vintage items depicting Egyptian dancers, and she is the organizer of Kan Zaman - The Golden Era Music & Dance Festival. She runs an online Raqs Sharqi Museum, and she plans to turn it into a physical museum based in Ghent.
Personally, the most wonderful thing for her is to see her students grow and fall in love with dance, no matter which forms the dance has.
IOANNA
Ioanna is qualified in international latin and ballroom dances by authorised professional dance academies in Greece. Besides, she has attended ballet and contemporary dance classes for 9 years. During her dance training years, she participated in national and international performances and competitions. She has experience as a dance instructor of latin and ballroom classes both in Greece and in Belgium