8 minute read
FUSION
FUSION People. News. Information.
VOLUME 17, ISSUE 4 2020
NINA PEREZ
Group Publisher Sanjay Agnihotri
Editor Ramya Ramanathan rramanathan@metroland.com
Editorial Design Safi Nomani
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ISSN 1910-4146
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By Ramya Ramanathan
Nina Perez is founder and director of Baila! Dance Today and a social dancer and Latin dance instructor in Vancouver. Perez is also a connection coach and helps people enhance their relationships through the lenses of dance and other modalities.
Born and raised in Argentina, Perez started dancing ballet, flamenco and national folklore from a very young age. She now has over 37 years of dancing experience and has been teaching for the last 20 years.
Perez discovered Argentine tango in her teens and performed for the likes of Nestor Marconi at the Vancouver Orpheum Theatre with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. At the age of 19, she was introduced to Salsa and her instructor asked her to become part of his dance team. This is when Perez fell in love with teaching and embarked on a journey of personal development. Her focus was on accelerating learning and removing the blocks to connection with others and enhancing the communication in relationships. Perez has taught many workshops and trainings, from somatic disciplines to designed conversations and has merged her dance expertise and personal development to a brandnew way of looking at dance, relating and connection.
Tell us about your journey to Canada.
I was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, until the age of seven when we immigrated to Vancouver. I was young enough for it to be a smooth transition, I learned English and made new friends quickly. During the recession of ‘91 we actually moved back to Buenos Aires because my father was laid off. This was a very eye-opening time for me. I was a young teen and we were there until I was 15 which allowed me to see how different life was between the two countries. When we returned to Vancouver in 1995, I decided that I wanted to stay in Canada. I still visit my homeland but my life, my present and my future are in Canada.
Tell us about your work.
I have had the pleasure of sharing my Latin heritage by opening a dance school over 20 years ago, called Dance Today! We specialize in Latin partner dancing: salsa, bachata and Argentine tango. We hold indoor, outdoor and online lessons for singles and couples, and provide group and private instruction. Our slogan is No Partner! No Rhythm! No Problem!
When a person has done something for a long time, I believe it ultimately evolves into something deeper and the desire for expansion is part of the growing and evolution of your passion. This is how Thrive Today! was born. We hold interactive workshops that involve dancing and teach the deeper skill of connection.
Our newest expansion to our business has been Give Today! which was launched during COVID where we give back to the community in different ways, with free dance classes, wellbeing workshops and an impact club, where we partner with our students and donate part of our sales to a charity to be launched in 2021.
Tell us more about the relationship between dance, relating and connection.
Connection is something we all crave and are wired for, but often people don’t know how to obtain, maintain, enjoy and grow it in ourselves, in our relationships, and in our lives. When we feel connected to ourselves, to others, and to our community at large we feel we belong. We feel less loneliness and isolation. Our sense of confidence grows and with that, our happiness.
People can learn so much from dance because they are sometimes bypassing the intellectual mind and are entering into feeling. Which is a much faster teacher.
There is a great Zen Budhism saying that goes “how you do one thing is how you do all things.” Dance is a great vehicle that can quickly teach us the principles needed in everyday life when relating to others. In dance, when something is not working you will feel it and, vice versa, when something is working you will feel it and then be able to replicate that feeling. The same principle applies in conversations and relating to other people.
What inspires you?
What inspires me through my work is giving people new experiences that provide an opportunity for them to transform from the inside out. Dance is a fun way to learn so much about yourself and how you relate to others. Dance is very generous in the rewards it gives. It is great for your life, your immune system, your confidence, your social life, but best of all it’s fantastic for teaching lessons that spill into other areas of your life and improve all your relationships, conversations, and moments.
What is your advice to other immigrants?
I would encourage immigrants to embrace their roots, bring their culture with them and combine it with all the new things that they have learned in their lives and share it with the world. This is why Vancouver, and Canada at large, is such a beautiful melting pot of diversity. Learn more at ninaperez.ca
news Building connections through innovative virtual offerings during COVID-19
With more than one million immigrants scheduled to come to Canada in the next three years, and many more arriving as students and temporary workers, Canadian Immigrant is continuing to provide support through a range of innovative virtual offerings during COVID-19.
A Web Conference Series – free, live industry-specific virtual events, sponsored by Windmill Microlending – was launched in July 2020 to assist newcomers and immigrants with information and inspiration in their specific professions.
Events have been held for internationally educated or trained nurses, lawyers and IT professionals. Upcoming events in the series are Web Conferences for accountants and engineering professionals. These conversations will provide an overview of options available and a roadmap of how to get there.
In addition, as we put our large-scale signature fairs across Canada on hold until Spring 2021, Canadian Immigrant has gone virtual – bringing together a dynamic career fair, tradeshow and speakers’ series all under one roof.
On November 20, skilled immigrants, newcomers, temporary students and other new Canadians who need help looking for jobs, going to school and settling into their new home are invited to attend the Ultimate Career Fair sponsored by Bank of Montreal.
This interactive and informative opportunity will connect you with employers, recruiters, immigrant service providers, educational institutions and government services that can help in your journey to
success in Canada. More information about pre-registering for the event, and for sponsors, exhibitors and recruiters interested in participating, is available at canadianimmigrant.ca.
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news Study compares the mental health of immigrants and refugees with Canadian-born population
Studies have shown that overall, immigrants are found to be healthier upon their arrival to Canada than the Canadian-born population – a phenomenon referred to as the healthy immigrant effect. However, due to the stress and integration challenges, often, this initial health advantage seems to disappear.
A study released by Statistics Canada and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), in August 2020, examines the mental health outcomes of Canadian-born individuals on a national scale compared with immigrants by admission category.
The report titled, The mental health of immigrants and refugees: Canadian evidence from a nationally linked database, looks at the self-reported mental health of immigrants by admission category and other immigration dimensions (e.g., region of origin and duration since landing) and makes comparisons with Canadian-born respondents.
According to the study, the self-reported mental health status among immigrants varies based on their origin and time spent in Canada. Immigrants who arrived within 10 years of the survey, for example, were more likely to report high levels of self-reported mental health, while those who had been in Canada for 10 years or more reported lower levels of mental health, similar to their Canadian-born counterparts. These results support the healthy immigrant effect and its loss over time in the area of mental health.
The full study and findings can be accessed on the Statistics Canada website.
