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Dances by Thomas Bauwens

@thomas__bailes

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🇨🇺 Casinero de Bélgica 🇧🇪
Sony A7Cii, Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8

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Casineros invictos en el escenario 🔥

🕺 Thomas @thomas__bailes
💃 Alana @alanapaesmans
🎶 Pupy - La Cuenta Decisiva
📍 Tropical Night by @salsaflashleuven 🇧🇪
📆 2026-05-09
📸 My buddy Kamal (using my rig), because he knows how to capture the rotation of casino.

I've been dancing for 1 year and 7 months now (Alana for over 2), and yet, I enjoy dancing with my favourite casineras more than ever. You would think it gets boring like so many things, but I guess the human brain has a reward system made for dance.

I've not spoken much about boredom, but fear of boring my followers has actually been my strongest push-motivator for learning. There used to be a time -- but at this point, it may be a year ago -- that I was insecure about not knowing enough variety to get through all the marchas and mambos of one song without repeating myself. (It is also exactly for this reason that I un-taught myself to guapea outside of ruedas.)

That insecurity was of course justified, and I eventually did reach the point of having more in my repertoire than I could put into a single dance. But even now, I am driven by not wanting to repeat myself across dances with the same follower. Every dance should be unique.

A good leader develops a sense of what he has done so far in the dance. A sort of "recency tracker". And, as this sense develops more, he'll come home after a social and be able to say which figures he never did across hours of dancing. Nobody teaches this, but we all converge on it.

#dance #bailar #timba #casinocubano #salsa #musicacubana #casino #nudoscasino #ruedadecasino #casineando #salsacasino #salsacubana #cubansalsa #salsadancing #socialdance #latindance #cubandance #dancevideo #dancevideography taken in STUKcafé by @thomas__bailes

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4 months ago

Nunca salsa, siempre casino. 🎺

🕺 Ramsés @ramsessariol
💃 Sandra @sandracuencamunoz
🎶 César Pupy Pedroso - Seis Semanas (Fruta Prohibida, 1995)
📍 Evening social at @cubaintunisia
📆 2026-06-01/02
🎧 DJ @kasanoba__ & @assane_kane_dj, who was kind enough to share the mp3 from his collection with us 🙏
𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙤

This is a full-circle moment. @avanzadance has been an inspiration to me for over half of my dancing journey, both as a dancer and as a dance videographer, and Ramsés & Sandra are genuinely two of my favourite casino dancers in the world (and they are also cool people outside of dance). Grateful for every chance to learn from them. Hasta la proxima, maestros 🇨🇺

#dance #bailar #timba #casinocubano #salsa taken in Festival Cuba in Tunisia by @thomas__bailes

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2 months ago

¡Mami, camina, que yo voy! 🔥

🕺 Francesco @francesco.pagliuca.fp 🇮🇹
💃 Lola @loladle 🇧🇪
🎶 Suave Tumbao - La Distancia
📍 @pura_cuba_brussels 🇧🇪
📆 2026-06-13
🎧 DJ @joel_elsalsa & DJ @jackelcalvo

#dance #bailar #casinocubano #timba #salsa taken in Complexe Sportif Avenue Des Anciens Combattants Evere by @thomas__bailes

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6 days ago

Si se va la luz, prendemos una vela 🕯️

🕺 Wim El Guapo @dj_el_guapo1906
💃 Marine @marinechnly
🎶 Tirso Duarte - Pa' Cali
📍 @pura_cuba_brussels 🇧🇪
📆 2026-06-13
🎧 DJ @joel_elsalsa & DJ @jackelcalvo

#dance #bailar #timba #casinocubano #salsa taken in Complexe Sportif Avenue Des Anciens Combattants Evere by @thomas__bailes

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13 days ago

Casino debajo de la aurora boreal 🇪🇪

🕺 Thomas @thomas__bailes
💃 Annely @annelypalm
🎶 Eduardo Moreno - Lo Mas Bello
📍 Russalka Beach social by @casa.de.baile in Tallinn, Estonia 🇪🇪
📆 2026-08-18
📸 My little brother @arne_bauwens on our duo trip

This social was by the beach, and very unexpectedly, after it got dark, we got to see the northern lights above the horizon. "Come to our social, we have northern lights" is kind of difficult to top.

It never ceases to amaze me how widespread Cuban culture is. Annely is Estonian, but she has been to Cuba seven times, and of course, she dances authentic casino. I doubt anyone in Estonia has been to my own country seven times. Name me any other island that has generated so much culture, I'll wait.

#dance #bailar #casinocubano #musicacubana #salsa taken in Russalka Memorial by @thomas__bailes

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17 days ago

La timba no conoce fronteras 🇩🇰

🕺 Thomas @thomas__bailes
💃 Hanna @hannagold24
🎶 Alexander Abreu - Qué Sorpresa
📍 @salsa.social.aarhus at Folkehuset Trøjborg in Aarhus 🇩🇰
📆 2026-08-07
📸 Ronja (@ronja_mrasmussen) with my setup
🎧 The amazing @dj_annapananana (best timba/son I've heard on my travels)

This was really an unexpectedly amazing night. Festival-quality music and followers in a small community center on the outskirts of a Danish city barely twice the size of my home town. Absolutely worth the 2-hour-round-trip commute from the nearby town I was vacationing in.

Fashion choice of untucking the shirt courtesy of @dj_el_guapo1906 because he insisted (but I am still not convinced!).

#dance #bailar #timba #casinocubano #salsa taken in Salsa Social Aarhus by @thomas__bailes

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a month ago

Las lunetas de Maykel en Hamburgo 🇩🇪

🕺 Thomas @thomas__bailes
💃 Julia @julii.mrt
🎶 Maykel Blanco - Ya Tu No Coronas
📍 Stephansplatz open-air in Hamburg 🇩🇪
📆 2026-08-05
📸 Vicky (@viktoria_mahrt), who sacrificed a dance to film this and is just an amazing human in general
🎧 DJ @alli_no_mas

This open-air was so much fun. A DJ who knows his timba and dancers who know their casino, all provided for free, for six hours. First time I really got into my groove since Cuba in Tunisia.

As always, all visible improvement in my dancing courtesy of @francesco.pagliuca.fp, who taught me rumba, and who told me one night at Cuba in Tunisia that my accents would look better if I hit them with more isolation, hence the shoulders. (And yes, @dj_el_guapo1906 already saw it long ago, as he always does.) We listen and we learn!

#dance #bailar #timba #casinocubano #salsa taken in Stephansplatz (Hamburg) by @thomas__bailes

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a month ago

Un torbellino de casino en Türkiye 🇹🇷

🕺 Thomas @thomas__bailes
💃 Erkil @erkilkaraca
🎶 Juan Carlos Alfonso - Torbellino de Amor
📍 @grandperalatinnights in Istanbul 🇹🇷
📆 2026-06-20
🎧 @djdiezdeistanbul

Shortly after I attended Cuba in Tunisia, I visited Istanbul, which is about 2000 km removed from both my home and from Monastir. Of course, I found me a dance social (at the most expensive-looking venue I've ever been to), and -- I swear this really happened -- I was greeted on the sidelines by a man who asked me "Hey, didn't I see you in Tunisia? I believe you danced with my sister!"... All that distance travelled, just to meet the same humans. The world is very small by plane.

Anyway, a few hours into the social, Erkil (unrelated to the man or his sister) showed up. I've written many times about how much difference a follower's frame makes to us leaders and how sensitive we are to feeling it. Well, it took me under 10 seconds of dancing with her to guess correctly that she was in the league of casineras who attend festivals (I think I even let out a little "wow!" when it clicked). Isn't that so miraculous? Your brain can extract so much information from somebody's frame to the point that it can signal to you "hey she has something in common with the hundreds of women I danced with a month ago". It's all frame.

You can see how this affects the dance in the video. I can lock in with full concentration. My leading is very delicate. We flow smoothly through space, without jarring, jagged changes of direction. I sort of have RBF because I'm so relaxed, but on the inside all of this makes me very happy.

(And yes, I should not have accepted the gum I was offered, my apologies to the viewer.)

#dance #bailar #casinocubano #timba #salsa taken in Grand Pera by @thomas__bailes

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a month ago

La última 👑

🕺 Thomas @thomas__bailes
💃 Marzena @marziiik_
🎶 Juan Carlos Alfonso - ¿Y Lo Tuyo Qué?
📍 Neon party at @cubaintunisia
📆 2026-06-03/04
📸 il padre Francesco (@francesco.pagliuca.fp), with my rig
🎧 @assane_kane_dj & DJ @yaneldiablito
𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙤

I usually write about concepts, not people. But this will be another exception.

Any experienced leader will eventually develop a sense for quickly mapping out how a new follower's frame works. It takes less than 10 seconds to put the follower in a general category, and soon after, you understand how to lead this follower (or not) in each of the fundamental casino movements.

Well, Marzena's frame is out of this world. It is so effortless to lead her that I was ecstatic during and after every dance. I don't think followers like this fully realise just how much they excel above others, and (as she will confirm) I was adamant about making her aware of how rare this is and how it affects us leaders. Like I've written before, we are not just mechanical roles; we are human beings. We don't just execute moves well or not; we also feel some type of way about it emotionally. You may think I am exaggerating, but if you were in my shoes, you would understand just how differently this hits.

You can see in this video (and her other videos, I checked) that it is almost like she is ice skating. Gliding in a smooth path. Whether this is the cause of the frame or the consequence of the frame, I don't know. What I feel as the leader is almost no noise. No excess tension due to jagged movement. No excess distance. Clear, minimalistic communication. I can transmit very subtle signals, and they will all arrive correctly and immediately. I can even make slight mistakes and she still knows exactly what to do. And the result is peace in my brain and maximal bandwidth for creativity.

Once again, Vuk was right: dance is walking -- in the frame, on the rhythm. The better your frame, and the better you walk, the better the dance. Take notes everyone.

#dance #bailar #timba #casinocubano #salsa taken in Festival Cuba in Tunisia by @thomas__bailes

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2 months ago

La batería de Van Van ✌️✌️

🕺 Thomas @thomas__bailes
💃 Ekaterina @artkulakova
🎶 Los Van Van - Somos Diferentes
📍 Evening social at @cubaintunisia
📆 2026-06-01/02
📸 Nadya (@nadya_reznik007) with my rig, edited by me as usual
🎧 DJ @kasanoba__ & @assane_kane_dj
𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙤

Ekaterina told me she technically isn't even a casino dancer, since she dances NY at home. And yet, she went through all the trouble (more than most of us!) to come to a timba festival all the way in Tunisia, and she fit right in. I wouldn't have known if she hadn't told me after the festival. Besides, if she walks like a casinera and holds frame like a casinera... she's a casinera.

#dance #bailar #timba #casinocubano #salsa taken in Festival Cuba in Tunisia by @thomas__bailes

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3 months ago

Descubierto en la multitud 🔭

🕺 Xavi @xavihg
💃 Chaima @chaima_cubana
🎶 Jowar Saidi - El Necio
📍 Evening social at @cubaintunisia
📆 2026-06-01/02
🎧 DJ @kasanoba__ & @assane_kane_dj
𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙤

Special thanks to DJ @kasanoba__ for helping me find this song when none of my tools were able to!

#dance #bailar #timba #casinocubano #salsa taken in Festival Cuba in Tunisia by @thomas__bailes

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3 months ago

En el medio del monte 🏞️

🕺 Thomas @thomas__bailes
💃 Julie @laroche_julie
🎶 Suave Tumbao - Palo de Monte (2019)
📍 Evening social at @cubaintunisia
📆 2026-06-01/02
📸 Ekaterina (@artkulakova), who handled my rig like a boss. So happy with the result.
🎧 DJ Kasanoba & Assane Kane
𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙖 𝙨𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙤

Another challenging song on first listen. From the surprise ñongo to the multiple fake endings, you can see me (Thomas) put on my computing face as the video progresses. Needless to say... I've listened to it 50 times since this video was made. I love it! Without good DJs, I would never discover gems like this song, since it's not even on Spotify or Shazam. (It was actually DJ El Guapo who identified Mandy Cantero's voice for me.)

Francesco told me (Thomas) that sometimes, musical ignorance is bliss: the more you learn about Afro-Cuban rhythms, the more you get in your head about "Did I just hear this rhythm? Or was it that one? Damn, I missed it, I could've done that step..." and I think that's correct considering I interpreted the ñongo beat with guaguancó and it only clicked to do an Eleguá step in the end.

But I must say, I prefer being challenged to always listening to the same set of easily digestible songs. Would you rather solve one sudoku 100 times, or 100 sudokus once? Long ago, I would have taken the one, now the other. In fact, I used to avoid dancing or even listening to songs that started with a long marcha abajo with no campana, because I couldn't hear the conga and güiro. Now I love it, because I can interpret it with son and dance contratiempo. The musicality treadmill never stops.

#dance #bailar #timba #casinocubano #salsa taken in Festival Cuba in Tunisia by @thomas__bailes

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3 months ago