Brigitte Aucoin

Brigitte is interested in places where common people express themselves and have fun through improvised dance. She is also interested in the similarities one can find between different traditional dances and their cultures. Dancing as a couple or as a group in lines or circles exists in many cultures, including the Acadians and the Latin cultures. These forms of dancing are not about impressing a public, but about sharing, having fun and creating a sense of community and belonging. These dances have become an expression of a culture, but their reason for existing stems from the need to express one’s self and create a group identity. During her travels she studied salsa, creative dance, swing, flamenco, and Tango, but fell in love with salsa and its expression of the Cuban culture. She then studied many of the traditional Cuban and Latin dances, like Rueda de Casino, Son, Merengue, Bachata, Cha-Cha-Cha, and Yambu. Through studying these dances with various teachers and Latin Americans, she started reconnecting with her own Acadian roots and finding similarities between the two styles of dance. She then decided to re-immerse herself in her own culture and re-learn all the traditional dances she used to dance as a child. For Brigitte, dance is magic. Yes, it is fun, it is good exercise, but most of all it gives self-confidence and teaches many life lessons; respect, courtesy, helping each other… As a teacher, the transformative power of dance is always rewarding.

Brigitte is teaching Acadian, Salsa, Jazz, Ballet, Afro House, Afro Cuban, Choreography, General Dance in Halifax area in English and in French!