The Joy, Flavor and Affection of Salsa Dancing: David Schafran's Transformational Journey

So get ready to move , groove and fill the rhythm with David Schaffran . Welcome to Journey with Jake . This is a podcast about adventure and how , through our adventures , we can overcome the challenges of life that come our way . While I expect you will learn some things about different adventures , this show will entertain you .

Each episode will feature different guests or guests as they share experiences and stories from the different adventures they have been on . Not only will you be entertained , but you will also hear the failures and trials each guest faces and what they have done or are doing to overcome the hardships that come their way .

My goal is to take each of us on a journey through the experiences of my guests , with the hope that you'll be entertained and inspired to overcome your day-to-day challenges . After all , it's not all about the destination , as it is about the journey . Hello everybody , and welcome back to the show .

I'm Jake Bushman , the host of Journey with Jake , and I'm so excited you're here . I can't wait for you to hear my conversation with David Schaffran . His passion and love for salsa dancing absolutely energize me and I know it's going to inspire you too .

Even if you feel like you have no rhythm or two left feet which , by the way , david says isn't a real thing Whether you're a seasoned dancer or someone who just appreciates a good story , this episode has something for you . David's journey is powerful , heartfelt and full of joy . Before we dive into that conversation , just a couple of quick things .

First , journey with Jake is proud to be part of the Podmatch Podcast Network . Head over to podmatchcom forward slash network to explore other amazing shows on a wide variety of topics . Want to get to know me and my guests a little better ? Follow me on instagram at journey with jake podcast .

I post clips from past , present and even upcoming episodes , plus some behind the scenes looks at my personal life . And don't forget , journey with jake is also on youtube . Just search for journey with jake podcast and hit that subscribe button and give the videos a like .

One of my favorite parts about recording these episodes is seeing the expressions and emotions of my guests , and I definitely felt that connection with David Schaffran . If you enjoyed this episode , be sure to check out episode 58 with Tigor Lettsam and his acrobatic journey Another inspiring conversation you won't want to miss .

All right , let's get to it my conversation with David Schaffran . I'm excited . Today I've got someone who I've been wanting to talk to . He's got an awesome background , the energy I love the energy that you bring , and this is David Schaffran . David , welcome to Journey with Jake .

I've had a few couple of dancer types , but no one like you . Who's like this gave you life , so to speak , and I want to hear all about that Before we do that , though . David , where are you from ? Where'd you grow up ? That sort of thing , just so we get a background on who you are .

school for a couple of years , just quitting and bearing it . So you know I don't know , it feels like a very just Americana experience I had . You know , we had the jocks , we had the , we had a bit . All these things you Americana experience I had , we had the jocks .

Did you end up going to the Silicon Valley to do a little startup ? Kind of give us the background on what you did entrepreneur-wise

.

He was the founder of Sun Microsystems , and it was an MIT Media Lab project that I spun out with a high-profile professor and a student that had the promise of giving people eye exams just using their cell phone and a really low cost add on . Really cool technology was meant to help a ton of people . Now , how did I end up doing that ?

To be honest with you , I didn't really see myself as an entrepreneur until I was like maybe my early 20s . Before that , I was always just following my inspiration . I always just wanted to learn and experience and live truly . I didn't have this . I wasn't selling lemonade when I was 10 years old . I actually didn't care about business at all .

I was just like I'm interested in art , let me go explore art . I'm interested in physics Let me learn about physics . I'm interested in culture and Latin America Let me go live physics . I'm interested in culture and Latin America . Let me go live abroad there , learn about Latin American culture .

So what ended up happening was , I guess , two things is like my background right Number one when I was 13 years old at summer camp , which a lot of people in Northeast go to .

This is a two-month long sleepaway camp that parents send their kids , often in the Northeast , so they have two months to go actually be a couple and also it's a good experience and we were up in the Adirondacks in upstate New York . We did a lot of sports , we did a lot of outdoor adventures .

One of the trips , called Saranac , which is up in Saranac Lake in upstate New York , was this big , treacherous trip that all the older kids scared the younger kids to be like . When it's your turn to do this seven-day canoe trip , with portaging and all this stuff , you're going to really hurt .

And when it came my time to do this trip as a 12-year-old , I was like I don't want to be the biggest wuss on the trip , I want to go balls to the wall on this .

So I went balls to the wall and there's a story of this big lacrosse player who used to solo , meaning when you portage , when you take a canoe from lake to lake , you need to put it over your head and literally walk it all the way to the other lake .

So I did that as a prepubescent small guy , when you'd heard legends doing it before , and I did it the first time and being like Whoa , I just did that .

That was kind of interesting and I just kept on doing it and even on the most difficult portages , something switched in my brain where I was able to achieve continuing this really difficult effort of putting this big metal canoe on my shoulders and walking a mile and a half up uphill , uphill that I had this sense of empowerment that was really palpable , so much

so that I was like , wow , this is such an amazing feeling . Wouldn't it be amazing if everyone else felt this way ? And I'm just a regular person , so I bet everyone else can feel this way . That's literally what occurred to me as a 12-year-old .

But I also had this really beautiful coming of age experience that also then the trip leader started calling me Mr Hart . I was the top kind of person kid on that trip and I got an honor from the entire camp . I was alpha camper . I was really into it , but that stuck with me forever .

It's like let's go be celebrating , let's be empowered , let's be enlivened . That's always been my vibe , like we should all like let's go be celebrating , let's be empowered , let's be enlivened , right . Like that's always been my vibe .

How do we , how can we all be that way , versus being stuck and afraid and you know , and fearful and closed down of life and everything that's about and particularly ourselves , like no , be yourself , like hello , like it's all good , right . So this has always been my my vibe . And then Then fast forward to college where I was taking this history class .

I was actually a Spanish major , even though I was into physics and calculus in high school I did really well in my SATs I just was curious about learning something different in college . I never approached college as this place to get a job .

I was like I don't want to work for the man , I just want to learn things that are useful for me because I'm interested . Part of that experience was learning in this one class .

I'll never forget it was how the Europeans came to America and kind of just like said , hey , there's some like nice land here , we can kind of cut it and make some nice cities and modernity . And the people that are living here like yeah , we can kind of put them to the side . You know , I'm not .

I'm like frankly , like on a spiritual level , I just think we're all in this together , like I just feel the oneness like you know I really do and not just people , just like all things . And so it just didn't . I just didn't agree with that . Like just something inside was like that's kind of like . I'm not into that .

How do we then live differently , right ? Like how can we coexist together and be mutually uplifting ?

And so I started learning about this idea of social entrepreneurship and other words like sustainable development , or triple bottom line capitalism , and basically the idea that you can use capitalism not just for enriching yourself , but you could actually do something that's good for everybody , like it doesn't need to be a zero sum game , like that's actually just a

mindset good for everybody . It doesn't need to be a zero-sum game , that's actually just a mindset . Once I learned that that was a thing and I read authors like CK Prahalad and Stu Hart these are university admission guys , which is where I went to college it was really motivating because I had at least some sort of framework to think about .

How do I create a world that is more inclusive and mutually uplifting ? That's what started my entrepreneurial journey . I was like I want to go do that , and so that led me to going through the Rockefeller Foundation to India for a year working with an incubator of companies that were helping people in rural areas , and it was an amazing experience .

I got exposed to healthcare on smartphones and I was like , oh , that's amazing , like 2009, . Smartphones are this computer device in in your pocket that we could do some cool things with that .

And it turns out I was right and I just like , ultimately found some research at MIT and somehow convinced people to work with me , as this , a young guy with , you know , a bunch of energy and vision , but like , not , frankly , like not a ton of experience . And that's what happened . And we , you know , we started working together .

We won a bunch of awards we , you know , ranging from , like Vodafone Wild's Innovation Project won

first prize . We won a pitch fest in Silicon Valley at something called DC to BC , run by Morgan Taylor Ventures , and then we got major investment and then we just did the thing , and that's kind of the beginning of the entrepreneurial journey of David Schaffer .

You're not just like I'm going to be an entrepreneur so I can make money for David and you know , you know , be rich or whatever . You kind of had the idea in mind of how can I help others to you know , help themselves or how can I do . You know , to help others was kind of what you were doing , which I think is really unique .

I think some people kind of go into the game thinking it's all about me , but for you it wasn't . It wasn't all about you , it was about others and helping others . And you know you didn't like the way you felt about certain things . You're like let's make this to help others . Kind of tell me about that a little bit and why that was so important to you .

Right , like , am I here just to work for somebody and prioritize like making money as like that's the thing , that's like all I'm doing and it's like , of course I'm not saying that's what most people are doing anyway . Right , like you're doing that as a means towards an end . It gives you freedom .

There's lots of good reasons to do it , but I don't know , just for some reason , I just was like much more in this like big picture societal mindset , which actually ended up biting me in the ass a little bit , which goes to the part of the story of how I got to salsa , because you know , when you're living in the abstract so much and you're talking , you

think about like helping society in the world , you kind of lose sight of just like your own day-to-day experience , and that's something that I think can be difficult for a lot of people who are researchers or entrepreneurs or creatives or people who are just like focused on building this thing , but then forget about , like wait , there's like I have this actual

day-to-day experience of people around me , right like it's easy to get caught up in the story of , like the big impact I'm gonna make for all these people and you , some of the interpersonal like .

Something I like to say is that , you know , sometimes people are very focused on humanity , but they're not so great on the human to human level , and sometimes it's reverse . So people are really , you know , great with humans one-on-one , but they don't care at all about society and other human like humanity on a on a macro scale .

So I was definitely in a former bucket . That was my mindset . I was because I did have a feeling and I , to this day , of course , like I , I that I do feel that on a spiritual level and I think that's that's what motivates me .

I'll just say it Like I think Boston is great for a lot of things , but I was coming from the Bay Area right before that for a year and a half where I was , like you know , in like this community house and we were going to like Burning man events and you know we're exploring ourselves and you know it was very enriching and gave me a lot that I think I

needed on an emotional level . Like I was , I hadn't developed myself emotionally at all not saying at all , but not enough and it was happening in the Bay Area .

I don't know if your listeners can relate to this , but certainly for me , 2010 , around that time , the East Coast was still stuck in an old mindset , whereas the West Coast was a lot more open towards Eastern philosophy and meditation , yoga and psychedelics and things that I think is a lot more common now that we think these things are really helpful in personal

development , right , and so I was just tapping into that in the Bay Area . But then I moved to Boston to do this company because I was passionate about it , but Boston didn't meet me emotionally and also because I was still immature .

I had an outlet for , you know , my creativity , my romantic side , my kind of poetic yin side , we can call it and instead I was , you know , in a very high stress environment with not a lot of support for years . It really screwed with me .

I mean , just being stressed all the time is never good anyway , let alone like not feeling like I had outlets and support by three or four years in , like I was just like I just felt terrible .

I just felt like really gray on the inside , not yeah , just I felt really gray and just like not like isolated , lonely , depressed , just didn't feel good , even though the company was like in my mind . Like I was like this is what you know , this is what it's all about . Like I was so one-dimensional about like the company is everything and yet like my own

day-to-day experience was shit for me , like I felt really bad that's interesting .

I will plug that forever because it is transformational when you'd sit for 10 days quietly and meditate in this Vipassana style , like amazing , amazing learnings happen for me , for example , just learning that I had emotions and they were in my body . I didn't even know that before .

I literally had to sit for many days to be like wait a second , I think this and I feel it here and that , oh , that's my emotions . Holy cow , I didn't even know that . Why are we not teaching everyone that right , like things like that sort ? I took those learnings into Boston .

But one thing that didn't happen in Boston , for example , I was actually my first part of dance was tango was doing in San Francisco . I didn't know if dance was like a thing on some level for me , but when I went to Boston , didn't feel the vibe . Didn't feel the vibe . If you don't feel the vibe , can't do it , not for dance . Dance is all about emotion .

I did not feel the vibes in Boston for me to do that dance . There's something about being in a space where a music and an art form feels alive and juicy . That's important to be able to practice it . Otherwise it's hard to kind of be fully in it .

Right , I didn't feel like on the interpersonal level that I was finding outlets for me to feel enlivened , even though I did have , you know , some basic . I had some . I had some nice foundations with meditation , a little bit of yoga , even plant medicine I didn't do actually I hadn't done plant medicine yet in my life at that point .

But even when they plant medicine , I wasn't feeling good , like it didn't really , it didn't really give me what I needed .

Right , and I think what I found was that these practices meditation , yoga they're very solitary , on the pillow type of work , and I think they're effective for knowing yourself , for clearing issues you have that were deeply seated for many years past . Right , like there's , I'm butchering all the value , because there's a lot of value .

The point is that there's something limited about it , that if you just did that for your wellness , that is going to give you the benefits of a flourishing life , like if you just sat by yourself on a pillow like you're , you're , you're not , you're not in the world , you're actually just , and there's something really profound about being out in the world and

connecting with people as part of your wellness practice , and I found that through dancing salsa .

Salsa , for me , was just one night . A friend of mine who's a dancer was like hey , you want to go to salsa dancing . This is back in 2015 . This is like at the peak of me feeling shit . I was just like , yeah , I was like sure , so we go . And it just struck me so quickly .

I was like , yeah , I was like sure , so we go , and I just it just struck me so quickly .

I was like this makes me feel so happy because it's so joyous and flavorful and like juicy , and I'm like it's like a light bulb went off in my head and I was like whoa , like I need to remember this , like you know those moments where you have this kernel of truth and you're like I can't forget this , like I'm not gonna let this go , like I need to

remember this because it was so real for me , and I was like I'm gonna come back to this and basically what ended up happening was , a few months later , I finally it reached a point where I was like I need to leave the company , like it's at a place where I feel like I can leave and also I need to , but like it was like kind of two things .

So I left , my company , had a breakup and turned 30 all in the same week Wow .

You know , I was like a very like you know , I was like had a like a hot red motorcycle and I was a rock climber like you get the stereotype like I was like a very like this type of person , but I was really just like putting armor on to go to battle all day , every day for years , like this is all I was doing and it's like . It's just like .

At that point , it's like I just felt like I'm like a surrender , almost like I really felt like I had nothing . That's how I felt . I was like I have nothing ,

I have nothing , I have nothing , and so the only thing that's that made sense to me I was like I just got to dance salsa . I don't even know what else to do .

I started dancing salsa in Boston and there was a , you know a great group class that I did like an intro class , you know intro course , and it was like a couple days , a week of group classes and I was like , okay , this is this feels like directionally correct , like I'm not , like oh yeah , but I'm like this is feeling right , you know .

And then , within like three months , I had the opportunity to go to Cuba . This is before it was opened up by Obama . My cousin made a movie there many years ago , so I was able to go out with her and I brought some friends and for a week I played music . I played music too .

I played music and I danced salsa and my soul was on fire , like I was alive in a way that like I hadn't felt in such a long time and I was like holy shit . I was like this is all I needed . Like all I needed was to go really live salsa for a bit .

Like I didn't need all the pillow work , I didn't need the meditation , I need the ayahuasca , I didn't need the all these things . Like it's not what I needed . Like what I needed was to connect with other people in this like flavorful , joyous way , right , which only salsa could have given me , right .

I mean , there's certainly other dances that are also joyous , but like salsa is like . It is about that , like the lyrics and the culture is all about practicing joy . It's like , no matter what happens , we're still going to be , because some of the lyrics are talking about crazy things that happen to people .

You know like I lost all my money betting , my wife left me and hey you know , and it's like that's the vibe , and I'm like , wow , okay , these people know something we should all be learning about mindset , right , that you can choose happiness and you can practice it and you do it through this art form of salsa dancing .

And so it was so clear to me at this point , with you know , in Cuba , I was like this is what I need , and so I was like , okay , I need more of this . I like pretty soon , was like , okay , I'm leaving Boston , looking up you know bookend , that chapter of my experience . I don't know what the hell my future is going to be like .

I just know that I need to get into the salsa thing . I want to get into music . I want to get immersive theater . I want to get into , like , check out virtual reality and that type of stuff . This is 2015 , 16 . So would be , or was this coming up like very into immersive experiences . It's just a world of mine .

That was kind of the goal , and so you know I is just a world of mine . That was kind of the goal . And so you know I went to . I first went to Israel for a couple months just to like there was a whole other thread of delving deep into , like spirituality .

It was in Jerusalem , I was studying at Yeshiva , like it was a beautiful thing , it's cool , and like I need to go to Latin America because I'm feeling like my soul really wants this flavor , this wants this salsa thing . And so I had the opportunity to go to Panama with some friends , people like 150 people and rainforest and workshops and yada , yada , yada .

The point is we were in Latin America and a bunch of us were like , hey , well , let's go to Colombia after , it'd be great .

And we went to Cartagena , colombia , and I was like , okay , well , if I'm going to be in Colombia , I might as well go dance salsa for a month , was like , okay , well , if I'm going to be in columbia , I might as well go dance salsa for a month .

And a buddy of mine was like , well , you know I , he's like I want to go to medellin because you know he heard that medellin was innovative , it was lovely , the climate was very temperate . You know that's where he wanted to go . And I was like , but there's salsa everywhere in columbia . So sure , I mean kind of interested in maybe living in a good place .

I don't want to just be in some podunk , you know , beach town . You know I was like I'm more interested in being in a dynamic , beautiful city . So we're to Medellin and you know , like I said , my goal was to become fluent in salsa , like I wanted to be . I wanted to be part of who I was . I didn't want to be this idea of myself .

I wanted to change my internal state period Like not , oh , I do a little salsa class and now , like I kind of suck at it , like I kind of have it , it's like . No , I didn't want to kind of have it , like I wanted to fully have it and that's just like . That's just how I am .

Like when I'm into something , I just I just go deep , dive into it , like I'm just like , like hyper , like . So it took me about a month to find the right kind of situation . After I found it , I just loved it so much that I just like kept on saying yes to it and I spent five months dancing full time , like three to six hours a day every day .

You know my own program to immerse myself in salsa and then eventually other things like bachata and you know the latin dances , but salsa is the core and it truly was transformational in helping me feel joyous in myself , flavorful in my self and affectionate , and those are the three words that I always use described what salsa is .

For me is joy , flavor and affection . Like . If you want to feel joy and practice joy , if you want to feel flavor sabor is the word in Spanish flavor , flirtation , right . If you want to feel it , if you want to practice it , salsa is the answer .

If you want to feel and practice being affectionate with other people , not like this , like , oh , I can't touch you , like it's weird , right , like , just you know affection . Right , like be human . Affection . Right , like be human , right , salsa is amazing for that .

So I got all that through doing that intensive , day-to-day living salsa experience for myself and it was amazing and it's it's . It literally changed my life . It was so enriching that I was like other people should be doing this , like this is not , like this should not be something that's like in the closet for only lat to do .

It's like like cause we have in our culture . You know like , oh well , you know , of course , the Latinos are doing it Like . They're just like that . You know , they're born like and I'm like what I learned down . There is number one . They actively practice this intention of of being joyous , right , like it's not .

It's not like they're just always joyous because they just happen to be . Their DNA is different . That's insane . Like they literally say like no , I want to be , I want to be happy . It's important to be happy and salsa is kind of your daily practice , or , whenever you do it , to remember it and to practice it and actually live it with other people .

Like you're actually doing the thing right . So it's a way to awaken it in yourself but also perpetuate it right , like any practices , I was like I need to show this to other people . I need to show this to other people like me who are like . They say like oh , you know , you're like , you're a white dude from New Jersey . It's like you can't dance .

That is such like hell , yeah , I can dance . Like we all dance , we're Like it's part of our , it's part , it's part of just being a human being . We have bodies

to move right . There's no one way of doing it . It's just the art form . Is the feeling of it right ? It's not being a performer to show like I'm doing all these moves for you to look , look at me like that is also an art form . That's beautiful , but my whole thing with dance is it's a feeling art first , a visual art second .

So if you feel it , then that is what is important , and salsa is all about having fun . It's not about necessarily , you know , like , being like a professional dancer .

Of course you do that and so , long short , this was something that I needed to birth into the world and that's , you know , what I'm doing today and since , like 2018 , the company I started , called Soma Loco , provides these dance immersions which , basically , are a replica of the experience I created for myself over that five-month period and then years .

I spent three years living in Medellin with the most amazing dancers in Colombia , having the most unique experiences you could have in Medellin , all related and all about having people immerse in this art form of salsa .

And now we do it in bachata , in tango , in hip hop , zook Dances that are native not only to Colombia but just the region , and really authentic in this place where you can really feel the feelings that each one of these dances provide . There's a profound practice .

When you look at these dances , like , okay , so if I want sensuality in artistry in my life , I can do that through sensual bachata . I'm going to live it , I'm going to reprogram myself . If I want sincerity and passion , I can go do that through tango . If I want joy , flavor and affection , I can do that through salsa .

Every dance has something really beautiful to teach us it that way , and you're in an environment that is cultivating the experience , where you can feel free to let go and enjoy , and so that's , that's what we've created and we've had . Now , like thousands of people have come from all over the world .

They come for one to four weeks to immerse themselves in this dance and in this , in this , in this art form , and people I mean like people love it , like it's like that's awesome yeah , okay , I want to .

You think all Columbia you know dangerous or whatever . Tell me about the experience of being in Medellin and what that was like .

But like , right when you go out at the airport , like you're surrounded by these , like beautiful , like soft mountains , everything's so green , it's tropical , they've got beautiful flowers and you know there's birds everywhere , like huge I think it's most biodiverse place for birds and planet , like you've the most beautiful birds everywhere .

So you like have beauty everywhere and the people are so sweet and friendly and and playful and helpful . It's just charming and this is beautiful and that's always been my experience and I went there for some 2016 . It's always been true , Every time I go back , I feel the exact same thing and you know , like the safety part , I've never had an issue there .

We know , obviously , the history of Pablo Escobar , but like the dude died like decades ago , it's just not that place anymore and it hasn't been that place for a couple of decades . So they've done an amazing job at rebuilding the city , at rebuilding trust , and it should be a case study that everyone's looking at like urban renewal .

Like truly , it's great what they've done . So it's just not what it used to be .

You can cool off and get down to like low 70s , upper 60s , but like great , like like pretty much . Weather is amazing . It's in a valley up in the mountains . Um , you can go to the mountains around it and wow , the villages around there are just magical . Familiar with realismo , majico or hundred 100 Years of Solitude is the new Netflix series .

I think it's a Netflix based on the book . Of course there is a magic to Colombia . There just is . I can't explain it , but I swear to God , I did this indigenous trail from village to village and I saw Tinkerbell , I saw this little rainbow fairy . I can't explain it .

I know what I saw and yeah , I'm just saying , like you know , there's something going on over there I love it .

That's because the teachers we have are amazing and we have a bunch of them and we place people with the correct teacher based on their background , based on their level , based on their style they're wanting to learn , based on special requests of what they're trying to learn . So it's very customized to the person from a dance perspective .

And so they each week have 15 hours , which is three hours a day , monday through Friday , of private one-on-one classes with two teachers who are the same teachers throughout the week . And if you spend two weeks with us , three weeks , four weeks , throughout that amount of time .

And they're not just there for the private classes , they're there for social dancing with the students , so you

never feel like you're by yourself for social dancing . They meet you at group classes and other activities .

So we literally take care of everything the airport pick up and drop off to transport in between places , everything is very tight so you people can just come and feel free to let go and really like relax into the experience , because it's so important to feel it , to feel it and to absorb it and to live this life of a dancer right Like .

You can come and live a life of a dancer , right Like . You can come and live the life of a dancer with us in a way that you know you can't . If you just like put your foot into a you know some random class and then pop your foot out and it's like yep , I did some soul music .

It's like nah , like , if you're into dance or you want to be in dance , like this is it ?

What kind of change have you seen , whether it's one week or a four week class ? What kind of change have you seen in some of these folks ?

But like I mean , just after like three days of doing the work with us , like she was social dancing and like feeling good with it , I was like damn girl , like that's like hell . Yeah , you , you know , like obviously everyone's different , so not everyone's gonna have the same experience she did , but she , she just picked it up right , like it was amazing .

And other people , you know the learning they get , I mean it's it's goes well , even beyond just the dance . I mean people , it's it's . We have several people that you know recently . I mean it happens all the time . Actually it was like this was literally life changing for me , like this is what people tell us is life changing for me . Why ?

Because if you come from a place like I came , or , for example , somebody that came out of a bad divorce recently and we have that often actually come out of bad divorce , bad breakup , or a really like challenging job experience , that in betweenbetween jobs , people who come for those reasons versus just like I want to learn , having the space that is really loving

and about you feeling connected to yourself and sharing this experience with a bunch of beautiful people . When I say beautiful people , I mean lovely , affectionate , caring people that we're in this together , we're just having fun , we're're expressing ourselves , we're like supportive .

The healing is really profound and people feel like confident again , radiant , again , enlivened , which is literally the whole point of what we're doing .

I even look I like looked at a journal entry of mine , like in 2015 , like when I was finishing the other company , I was like I want to create , I want to create more enlivenment for people and aliveness in people , and then , like now , I'm like we like we're doing it and it's like , yes , I'm like okay , cool , I'm glad I'm doing it , cause , like that was

that's what I wanted to do and I think we're , I think we're , we're achieving that . I really do .

Right , like it's , it's , it's so not the point , right Like I could be doing a million other things . So why ? This is because of those moments , those that feedback we get from , you know , people come on the trips , the videos they share with us , the experience I have when they share with me . I love it . I love it Like it's .

It's literally the point of all of it .

I mean , there's also an amazing benefit for our teachers , too , of , you know , giving them really amazing work that they wouldn't necessarily have otherwise and exposing them to people from around the world and giving them new opportunities , like as someone who's an artist too , like that's a big part of it too of like helping the dance community .

But I think grateful is really the word , because they didn't have to trust us , they didn't have to take the leap , they didn't have to pay the money , they didn't have to do any of these things , and so I feel grateful that they took the leap of faith to come on this trip with a company called Somo Loco , which means we're crazy , somos .

You know , there's so much stigma about mental health , of being , you know , you're , you're crazy one , right like I'm like we need to destigmatize that and also we're all nuts in our own way and that's a beautiful , fun thing . So what the hell like what's you know ? So ?

So let's celebrate our , our individual crazy and so so my local is a plan words instead of so much locals , which is how you would say it with a plural , like we're crazy in Spanish , so my local means we're all crazy together , like the unity and the crazy . And that goes to my spiritual , spiritual , like oneness thing . You know why not ?

Why not be curious about our own crazy and the crazy of the world , right , like , be curious and through that adventure of like exploring , you know what is unique about all things that's just on this planet , who knows why ?

But there's something beautiful and profound about what we are , what we are for a reason , in my opinion , not like I really know , but that's what I believe let's be exploring through beauty , through humor , through adventure . Like that was what Soma Locos started as , and it was a creative laboratory for me to make art .

I was making music and dance and immersive theater and comedy . All these things and these immersions came out of that kind of laboratory and mindset . Now it's not a creative laboratory , now it's . This is what we do , we do these dance immersions and that's that's the thing .

And like , getting the word out , you know , for something that like , if you're not already a dancer , it's like how do we tell this story to people Like , hey , like you don't need to be a dancer , you know , consider yourself a dancer to go do . This experience pays dividends for your internal state that could stick with you and also it's a beautiful practice .

You could do your whole life . You could do it up until your whatever age . You could do it anywhere in the world . What a gift in this world of materialism and bs and all these things , you have this thing that's interpersonal and beautiful and natural and honest .

You get any personal attention , you have no idea what the hell you're doing . Obviously , you're not going to feel a connection to it . Obviously , and if you self-identify as having two left feet , yeah , you're already self-defeating yourself , right ? The reality is you don't have two left feet , like literally , you actually have a level .

So it's actually factually incorrect that you have two left feet . And and I mean we asked examples . Also , like I now remember there's another guy that came with us and he was the guy .

He was like you , he had two left feet , but he was determined , he wanted to learn and within a week he learned with us and now he was starting to social dance and he was already doing it . And then he came back a second time and did another second one with us recently and he's holy cow , this guy's gotten so much better . It's amazing .

And he was the guy that said he had two left feet .

So I think it's getting past this like this critic , this inner critic narrative that like I have two left feet or I'm a white dude who doesn't move his body , or whatever kind of statement that we make about ourselves , there's , there's just like having the trust that like , maybe that's not right , like maybe , maybe maybe it isn't me Right and I'm saying it

isn't , but you don't have to trust me saying it isn't . You could say like , well , maybe it's not right , maybe it's not true . And then the second piece is finding that environment that is very conducive to meeting you where you're at as a beginner , that can be loving and patient and personalized for you to have , you know , a wonderful experience .

Because without that , you know , I think you are risking like having like this hard , you know , like anonymous experience that can turn people off , and that happens all the time and it's a shame because these people is like , it's like having like a bad teacher , let's say , in math in middle school , and you're turned off for math your rest of your life because

that one teacher , I mean you didn't like math , maybe , maybe not Right , and there's . You can think of that example at everything . I think dance is actually a big example of that , because the model of learning in group classes sporadically in America and Europe too is is not that good for , particularly for people who are beginners .

Like it's hard , it's hard to get it and like . One thing that I knew when I was , when I was starting off , was I was like this isn't like . When I was in Boston , I was like this isn't it Like , this , isn't it for me to learn it ? I don't , this is too like over here , like I'm not intimate enough with salsa to understand through these group classes ,

which is why I wanted to go to Latin America and deep dive . I wanted to do a place where it was authentic and alive and also where I could afford doing the amount of immersion that I needed . I'm not coming from the culture . I don't know what the hell like clave . What's a clave ? I didn't know anything . I literally didn't know anything .

I just knew I felt good with it and I was like I don't know what Kool-Aid they got , I just need to drink that kool-aid . I don't know anything , and so I had . I went and discovered it because I so needed it that I went through the bs to figure it out , and that's kind of the point .

It's like well , I figured out the bs , so hey , you guys can , you guys can drink the kool-aid now too . I figured this out . Like there you go like here's the thing .

You kind of , do you talk to people ahead of time , do they fill out a form , like how is it that you know to like , okay , I'm going to line this person up with jasmine or whatever your dancer's name . You know , how do you know ? Is that how you do it ? How do you ? How do you do this ?

We ask all these questions ahead of time and that helps us match the two teachers and we have one male , one female , which is it doesn't need to be male , female . It's more about a lead and follow , because you get unique perspectives from a lead teaching you and a follow teaching independent .

Whether you're a leader or follow , there's really important lessons that each can give you . Once you're with us on the first day , in the first class , our teachers have done their homework on you . They've read all these , these statements you made in intake form , but then they have a conversation with you about like , let's talk about it .

And also , why don't we just start dancing a little bit and let's see where you're at ? Because they're really good at diagnosing where you're really at , and from there and from what you've told us already , we triangulate what is the best course of action to help you on your journey and it goes from there . It's very , it's bespoke .

It is not cookie cutter at all . There's no , like people say , oh , what's your program ? Like first you do body movements and then you do you know rhythm and basic steps . Like sure , there is like a loose framework about those things , but everyone's coming with something different .

Everyone's coming in with a different body , different connection to themselves , body , different connection to themselves , different connection to the music , different connection to the partner . Depending on what they come with , we provide a solution .

I can see it on your face , so that's why I always tell people if you want to see what people look like when they're talking to me , go to go to the YouTube channel , because you know people light up when they they talk about their passions , and I love that . What does the future hold for David ? What do you think ? Where's this going to go ?

What do you want to have happen ?

I just want to grow it . We have a location now in Barcelona that's nascent , so we've got something , you know , going on there , and there's other places that will probably go to at some point as well , though Medellin will always be our flagship , like it's just we have something amazing there , and so I think it's , you know locations .

It's more trips , more people , collabs , like doing collabs with you know artists , or you know dance schools , or having amazing birthday parties , I don't know just like just doing more of the thing . It's just like the more we do it , the more enriching it is for me .

We're like spreading the impact , right , Like , and I guess , like if I were to say like moonshot , you know , with this type of thing , I think coming from like health care , Right , and as like a non mainstream guy , like as somebody who's trying to innovate on the model dance should be reimbursable insurance Dance you should be able to get a tax write off for

dance , Right ? Like your doctor should be able to prescribe dance if you have depression , because it has been proven . Because it has been proven , there is research . There's been meta-analysis from many research after , if you want to provide the link so people can look at themselves , Don't take my word for it , Look at the research yourself .

But it's there and it's not rocket science . If you've danced , you would know exactly what I'm talking about . Particularly , if you've danced salsa , you'd know exactly what I'm talking about .

So I think we have this narrative in our country , and not just America , that what happens in the clinic with you know medication and trained professionals talking to you that that's the only thing that's permissible and effective in dealing with mental health .

And like we all , like common sense people , it's like , yeah , if you have a good diet , you work out , you sleep well , like this goes pretty long way , right ?

I have another company . The point is it should be something that's mainstream , as something we do together because it's good for us . We lost dance somewhere along the way in the West as something that we do .

We do to connect with each other , we do to connect ourselves , we do it as a wellness practice , we do it for ecstatic , joyous reasons , we do it for grieving reasons . We do , but it's part of who we are . We did it for millennia as humans and we should be bringing it back .

So tell everybody before we wrap up here if people are interested in Soma Loco , where can they find you ? How do they , how do they look this up ?

mean just anything that's unknown .

And , of course , thank you to each and every one of you for tuning in each week . I know I say this a lot , but I truly mean it . This show means the world to me , as do you , and I'm so grateful to have you along for the ride . One of my favorite parts of doing this podcast is hearing from you , so don't be shy .

Let me know who your favorite guest has been , or suggest someone you'd love to hear on the show . You can message me on Instagram at journeywithjakepodcast , or shoot me an email at jake at journeywithjakenet . I'd absolutely love to hear from you . Next week . I've got another fantastic episode coming your way .

I'll be joined by Giovanna Silvestre , a solo traveler , author and the creator of sportswear inspired by healing crystals . Our conversation was insightful and inspiring and I can't wait for you to hear her story . Just remember , it's not always about the destination as it is about the journey . Take care everybody .