Academia De Baila Con Pasión

All new students to Baila con Pasión must start in our Beginning level I class.  Our classes run in 4 week sessions with 1 class per week for 4 weeks and our classes are and hour and a half, not just an hour. 

We focus on intensive technique, lead and follow, musicality, turns and spins, partner work and patterns within  level that includes the material covered in that session as well as in prior sessions.   Each level is progressive and concentrates on a family of steps and patterns in addition to adding them to what has already been covered in previous levels, creating more retention and continuity in your dancing. No partner necessary.

Due to the level of technique covered in each class, our classes are progressive and build on what was taught the prior week and session. In order to ensure that all of our students are moving forward  and due to the detailed technique that students receive in our classes, we do not allow walk in classes.  All students must register for a complete session. No 'drop in' classes are allowed.

All of our students, no matter what their level of dance prior to training with BCP are required to start from our Beginning level 1 Salsa (or the level 1 of whichever dance you are studying).   In order to move to the next level, your BCP instructor must evaluate your skills at the end of each class session to determine whether you are ready to move to the next level or repeat the same belt level again. At some point, most students are asked to repeat a level during their training in order to solidify what you are working on.  This will only benefit you in the long run and it is our hope that our students would see this as an opportunity to strengthen that particular family of steps and patterns, making you a stronger dancer overall.   With our focus on technique and repetition, we are able to train solid, well rounded dancers that feel ready and excited to move to the next level and shine on the social dance floor.

Cassandra de Mercedes (formerly Parrish) is the Co-owner and Artistic Director of Baila con Pasión, the premier Latin dance company in Minneapolis, MN and in the Twin Cities area, previously in Stuart, FL, Charlotte, NC and Bavaro Dominican Republic. She is the choreographer & artistic director of Salsa con Pasión™,  Bachata con Pasión™ and Las Bellas de Baila con Pasión™, her student & Professional performing teams as well as the Trainer for her World Team Project Minneapolis Teams. She is extremely proud to be a World Mastery Ambassador well as a World Team Project Team Trainer, and World Mastery Instructor.

Cassandra began dancing professionally at the age of 13 with Pacific Northwest Ballet and has spent nearly 3 decades in the entertainment industry working as both a professional dancer and a professional singer. She is classically trained in ballet, ballroom and Latin dance but upon discovering her love and passion for Latin dance specifically Salsa, Bachata, Bachatango and Cha-Cha, they became her sole career focus. 

She has trained with various multi time world Champions such as Cristian Oviedo, Abel Pena, Liz Lira, Alien Ramirez, Adrian and Anita of Barcelona, Fernando Sosa, Daniel and Desiree and Edie the Salsa Freak.  She has also learned specialized training from world renowned Bachateros of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Rodolfo Montono Castro, Carlos Gomez, Carlos Leaonel Paulino and Susan de Beras.  She is one of few academy owners / Directors who specialize in Authentic Dominican Bachata and was one of 3 International instructors to be in invited to teach Bachata in the very home of Bachata, each year, from 2013 to now! She is also the owner / organizer / director of her renowned BachaTour! with Baila con Pasión, where she and her husband take a small group  to Santo Domingo for a dance and cultural immersion vacation that is unlike any other event out there!

https://www.bailaconpasion.com/bachatour--.html

Cassandra has been booked for many years  at the largest and most prestigious Bachata congress in the US, the DCBX which used to be called the DC Bachata Congress.  Her lifts and tricks workshops are always packed as are the ones she does teaching Authentic Dominican Baachata!  She also teaches at the Latin Dance Festival in Barcelona Spain where she is one of few American Directors / Instructors/ Performers featured.

Cassandra has taught tens of thousands of students from Minneapolis, MN to Washington DC to Charlotte, NC to the Dominican Republic, Spain and back again (and also everywhere in between)!  She is also one of the few International Instructors that has been invited to teach Bachata, in the very home and birthplace of Bachata.  In demand to teach at Salsa and Bachata Congresses all over the world, she and her partner were one of few select couples from all over South, Central and North Americas that were invited to compete in the Americas Bachata Masters competition for an opportunity to represent the USA at the finals in Spain in February of 2013.

A skilled dancer, performer and choreographer, Cassandra brings a rare joy and insatiable passion to the dance floor along with her elegant and graceful style in Salsa and Bachata. As an instructor, Cassandra has a very strong technical emphasis in her teaching, which ensures that her students become extremely well rounded dancers. Her passion for life in general along with her passion for Salsa and Bachata is truly contagious! She continues her own training with regular private instruction from various World Champion Salsa coaches and trains regularly in Santo Domingo with various Bachateros (mentioned above) so that she can bring all of that training back to her students.  Not a day goes by that she doesnt have a profound gratitude for what she does for her career.