For me, dancing has always been much more than moving to the rhythm of a song. For the past eight years, I have led an urban dance group in Puerto Tejada, and through that experience I have seen how dance can become a refuge, an opportunity, and a tool for building a life. For many young people, that space has been a safe haven from the violence affecting their communities, but also a way to earn an income, find emotional support, and imagine different futures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From that experience\u2014and also from what I have lived through while traveling abroad\u2014there is something I cannot ignore: the dream of dancing outside the country is not always what it seems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Colombia, especially in cities and municipalities like Cali, Puerto Tejada, Buenaventura, and Tumaco, dancing can be a way out. It is a way to show that it is possible to move forward, that other paths exist. That is why it is not unusual for many young people to see international opportunities as a real chance to change their lives. Countries like Turkey, for example, have become common destinations for Colombian dancers, with offers promising stability, good pay, and better living conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the problem begins when those promises are not kept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the years, I have heard firsthand stories from dancers who arrive abroad only to find very different conditions: inadequate housing, poor food, no health insurance, and payments that are delayed or never arrive. In many cases, intermediaries or companies operate without clear guarantees, taking advantage of the needs and aspirations of those who are trying to build a better future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is why I believe there is an urgent responsibility in how we are training as artists. Training the body is not enough: we also need the tools to protect ourselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>
And there is something that concerns me even more: the way these situations eventually become normalized. Many young people accept these conditions because they feel that, despite everything, they are still better off than they were back home. That is when injustice becomes part of everyday life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For me, this cannot be understood without talking about class. Most of these dancers come from backgrounds where access to information about contracts, labor rights, or protection mechanisms is very limited. Not everyone travels with the same knowledge or the same ability to demand fair treatment. And something deeply troubling happens as a result: Colombian talent, so highly valued on stage, ends up facing precarious conditions behind the scenes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This also says something about how our creative and cultural industries operate when they move beyond our borders. The energy, the aesthetics, and the \u201cdiversity\u201d of the bodies on stage are celebrated, but decent conditions are not always guaranteed behind the scenes. Talent is exported, but rights are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is why I believe there is an urgent responsibility in how we are training as artists. Training the body is not enough: we also need the tools to protect ourselves. We need to understand contracts, research the people and companies hiring us, demand transparency, and recognize that even when we are outside our country, we still have rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I still believe in the power of dance. I see it every day in Puerto Tejada, in the spaces we have built to resist, care for one another, and grow. I also believe it is possible to travel, discover the world, and make a living through art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there is one question we can no longer avoid: is achieving that dream worth any cost?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dancing far from home, yes. But never at the expense of dignity.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bailar siempre ha sido, para m\u00ed, mucho m\u00e1s que moverse al ritmo de una canci\u00f3n. Durante los \u00faltimos ocho a\u00f1os he dirigido un grupo de danza urbana en Puerto Tejada, y desde ah\u00ed he visto c\u00f3mo la danza se convierte en refugio, en oportunidad y en herramienta de vida. Para muchos j\u00f3venes, ese espacio ha…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1264,"template":"","class_list":["post-1263","altavoz","type-altavoz","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/altavoz\/1263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/altavoz"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/altavoz"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/altavoz\/1263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1266,"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/altavoz\/1263\/revisions\/1266"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextgenc.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}