Baila Loca is a professional dance troupe based out of the capital city of India, New Delhi. The name literally translates into 'dance crazy'. To the troupe, it means to dance with freedom. They believe that to dance well, one has to let go of all restraints and let the soul connect, with his/her partner and with the rhythm of the music. What drew the team to dancing bachata and subsequently, kizomba, was the absolute freedom of the dances, the unstructured arrangement, the playfulness and variety of music from all parts of the world, the many, many interpretations of the basic movements to make something new and beautiful. The dance troupe is the brainchild of Vishal Raja and Shalini Sen. Vishal Raja is a traveller and an adventure sports lover. From a complete 'stand-in-the-corner non-dancer' turned ‘can't get me off the floor dancer’, his life was transformed by bachata, which would explain why you may have seen him at a lot of Latin dance parties and festivals, both in India and abroad. He learnt the bachata from some inspiring instructors in India and Europe and has recently been invited to conduct a workshop at the On The Wave 2014 Riga Festival in Latvia, along with some of the greatest celebrities in the social dance world. Shalini Sen is an advertising professional and discovered dance by a crazy twist of fate, way back in 2007. From the day she stepped into my first dance class, nerves and all, she has not looked back. As she learnt a variety of dance styles and then taught for about five years, she eventually found herself drawn irresistibly to bachata and subsequently, kizomba and Brazilian zouk. Trained in the US, Shalini enjoys teaching dance, even as she continues my own training with her mentor and instructors in New York.