Somatic Sauce is a community engagement platform co-founded by Juan Urbina and Amelia Uzategui Bonilla that offers open-level dance courses with content based in Somatics-based improvisational dance, dance performance, African Diaspora, Native and Latinx social dances. One of their main influences is Salsa, which literally translates to “sauce.” This Salsa, danced with its many accents or flavors throughout the globe is what inspires Juan and Amelia to continue “mixing up the sauce,” researching diverse perspectives of social dance as healing forms of artistic expression and pleasure activism. Also practitioners in the field of dance education and Somatics, they recognize overlapping intentions and potential for a combination of knowledge from both anatomical studies of the body and vernacular dance practices. Juan and Amelia reframe the knowledge in the vernacular as a contribution to Somatics. As dancers-in-resistance, in the face of the aftermath of colonialism, globalization, and in opposition to the violence of assimilation, Somatic Sauce lifts up the traditions and practices of their ancestors as resources from which to develop decolonial contemporary dance practices for today’s political context.
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Amelia Uzategui Bonilla (she/they) creates multi-disciplinary curriculum and dance performances that place into practice ideas from Third World Feminisms, Black feminisms, social ecology, and the Andean cosmovision. Born in Peru and brought to Los Angeles as a child, Amelia attributes accessing the performing arts as part of her mother culture. They completed a BA in dance at the Juilliard School and an MA in contemporary dance education at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. She has worked collaboratively with artists and institutions in Berlin, Croatia, Argentina, throughout Peru and the United States. In 2013, Amelia founded Río Danza Comunitaria in Perú, recognized as an organization that protects water rights through community performance and arts education. Amelia regularly performs and teaches in the United States and Peru. Mentored by Anna Halprin, Amelia is also a certified practitioner in the Tamalpa Life/Art Process®. Amelia has performed for varied artists such as Tino Sehgal, NAKA Dance Theater, Marina Abramović, the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, and Cunamacué, Afro-Peruvian dance theater. They are currently developing collaborative projects highlighting POC artists in San Francisco, CA and Frankfurt, Germany.
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Juan Urbina moves within the fields of contemporary dance, social care, choreography and contemporary dance education. He trained at Escuela Taller de Danza de Caracas, Fundación Ballet Las Américas, Pisorrojo (Universidad Central de Venezuela), among others. Most recently, Juan holds a Masters in Contemporary Dance Education (MA CoDE) at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. As he is also trained in traditional historic dances from his country of origin, Venezuela, he researches and combines the communal elements of these dances into his contemporary dance practice. After moving to Ireland in 2013, he collaborated with artists that include music composer Dorota Konchevska, William Frode (Cork Community Art Link), John Scott (Irish Modern Dance Theatre), and Step Up Dance Project 2014 and 2016. Juan led a community dance group with homeless people living in Dublin city, and choreographed an evening-length piece called Baile Bua: Sounds Like Celebration in 2017. His perspective is to advocate for social justice via the medium of dance.
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Testimonials
"I loved the visuals, and going one by one with the instruments, it let us recognise each of the sounds for the brain. It's like, look. There are all these possibilities!..."
Monica Farbiarz
Dancer and Designer
"I kept getting the feeling of lightness. Everything at the moment is very freaky, and this is my first time taking this class with you guys, it was really great we're connecting. I was just feeling very up and light."
Karley Wasaff
Dance Artist, Elite Personal Trainer, and Fitness/Yoga Instructor
"The classes have shown me more options and freedom to grow my improvisation practice. Amelia said, 'Make it weird,' and that gave me license to try new things with the steps! ... I could then feel the steps more integrated in my body, like when you wear your own dress and it's tailored to your body."
Jessica-Sue
NY City based Performer and Film Maker
"...It's been a blessing to be able to find you and see what you are doing with this. ... I got a lot of great ideas [for my online classes]."
Anonimous
In-school Dance Teacher
It’s like a breath of fresh air
It’s like a breath of fresh air
Little sparks igniting
Warming up
Little by little
A little more and a little more
More and more
Gentle movements stretches , preparing for the movement, for the dance
Some twigs starting
Big pieces
Then a small flame
then medium
Then in between medium and full
Then a giant flame of energy
Burning inside
Fire not smothering
But a fire igniting my fire energy
Feeling full
Feeling whole touching every body part
Then joy
Then playful
Then exuberance
Then FANTABULOUSLY ecstatic
Enlivening me inside and out
Full expression
Fully embodied fire dance
Thank You so much Juan and Amelia-
My new Passion...
drawing and poetry by Paul Wensley
Little sparks igniting
Warming up
Little by little
A little more and a little more
More and more
Gentle movements stretches , preparing for the movement, for the dance
Some twigs starting
Big pieces
Then a small flame
then medium
Then in between medium and full
Then a giant flame of energy
Burning inside
Fire not smothering
But a fire igniting my fire energy
Feeling full
Feeling whole touching every body part
Then joy
Then playful
Then exuberance
Then FANTABULOUSLY ecstatic
Enlivening me inside and out
Full expression
Fully embodied fire dance
Thank You so much Juan and Amelia-
My new Passion...
drawing and poetry by Paul Wensley
