A Southwark-based dance company is striving to cultivate a safe community for women where they can be free from harassment.
Sanura Dance is a dynamic dance company with a mission at creating an accepting and inclusive environment for London’s FLINTA (female, lesbian, intersex, trans and agender) community through Salsa and Bachata.
The lively community was founded by Sandy Chuchuca, a software engineer and entrepreneur, in 2023 as a harassment-free dance environment.
Chuchuca said: “One of my motivations for beginning Sanura’s Dance was that I have been openly harassed.
“The way you’re treated in a public event or venue, it’s not okay.
“There are always nice people everywhere, but these wrongdoers are sometimes unavoidable, and that’s why we all have our guard up all the time.
“As a queer woman you could, at any moment and anytime, go out and have a very undesirable interaction.
“My first memory of harassment was when I was 12, and I had faced an incident as recent as this summer… safety has always been at risk throughout my life.”
Students will often ask Chuchuca if they are welcome to participate despite not being part of the FLINTA community.
She said: “I do have a strong opinion about how the FLINTA community needs to be protected, but [here] everyone is welcome.
“My answer is always, this is a space for people that don’t feel like they belong in traditional spaces.
“Participants in our classes simply want us to keep creating our own spaces where they know they will have a great time, and don’t have to worry about anything else.”
Chuchuca believes her most fulfilling achievement with Sanura Dance is transforming the quality of people’s lives.
Seeing that impact creates a sense of pressure for her, but that is outweighed by the feeling of creating something meaningful
Chuchuca said: “I don’t take those feelings for granted.”
“People tell us that they were depressed before starting dancing, and now they’re coming every week. That is definitely something that I didn’t expect.
“It gives me joy and encourages me to carry on because it’s very energising to hear that.”
London, while a vast and international city, can often feel isolating and it can be difficult for people to form lasting friendships.
Chuchucha beamed with a sense of fulfilment when acknowledging she has been able to create an environment where people are building long-lasting friendships.
She said: “Everybody in this community, everybody just needs some connection.
“The FLINTA community is underrepresented everywhere. We shouldn’t really have specific spaces, in my opinion, we should all be able to hang out with each other and remove the barriers and prejudice.
“It’s pretty much ignorance that we need to confront, we need to keep fighting.
“But right now, we need spaces not to necessarily exclude ourselves from straight communities, but to create a space where we can help each other and make sense of ourselves.
“We need more niche spaces where people with different preferences can come together more easily.
“We all belong to the [LGBTQ+] community, but then some of us like dancing, some of us like cycling, some of us are into kink.
“We do need to have our own spaces to enjoy ourselves and explore our lives, so I definitely encourage people and tell them if you need any help, or if I can help you create something that you’re passionate about, go for it.
“There will be a lot of people who are going to be very grateful for that as well.”
Sanura Dance has experienced enormous growth over the two years and foster partnerships with LGBTQ+ hotspots such as She Soho.
Chuchuca said: “It’s just a sign that people are happy with what we’re doing and the space that we’re creating.
“At first it didn’t feel like Sanura Dance was working but at some point I saw potential, and the growth was slow and steady, but we were always growing.
“I’m definitely proud of the achievements.”
For more information about Sanura Dance, visit https://www.sanuradance.com/about-us.
Picture credits: Sandy Chuchuca
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