Today we’d like to introduce you to Geishy Castillo.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Geishy. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela. I started dancing since I was six or seven years old, my first dance school was Imagen Latina dance company where we also took classes of different styles and rhythms, but their main genre is salsa, there I trained at the different levels that they handled, at the age of 16, I joined the professional company and I started traveling through different places in Venezuela and around the world representing my country, I had the opportunity to work whit different artists such as:
El gran combo
Victor Manuelle
Gilberto Santa Rosa
Oscar de León
Los adolescentes
El canario
And many others.
In 2007, I started dance with the professional dance company Casino Stars of which I am still part of as a dancer and instructor of different dance rhythms and levels, I have worked with them around 12 years, and we have had the opportunity to represent Venezuela and win different national and international dance championships, traveling around the world.
A representado a su país en diferentes lugares del mundo, entre ellos: Puerto Rico, curacao, Italia, Noruega, africa y alrededor de los Estados Unidos.
Six years ago, due to the situation in Venezuela, we made the decision to stay in Houston and today, I am here in this beautiful city, providing my talent and knowledge to the whole community, now not only do I represent Venezuela but also Houston who opened the doors to us and has given us great opportunities.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I have had to be away from my family for six years being able to only see them through a camera and I think that has been one of the hardest things that I have had to live in order to be who I am and achieve what I want, but I have faith and the conviction that if I keep working the way I am, that will soon change, and they are the reason I keep going stronger and stronger.
The road to reach our goals is never easy, you will always find difficulties, people who tell you that you cannot or that you are not good at this or that, but you will also find people who support you and trust your work, lean on those people and always keep going, if you fall you get back up ten times stronger, always trust yourself and your work, with clear goals of who you want to be and where you want to go, always work with your heart and never give up.
That is the key to achieve what you set out to.
PERSEVERANCE!!!
What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of? What sets you apart from others?
I work in professional dancing, and a dance coach specifically Latin rhythms in the city of Houston and in the different places where I travel.
I can tell you a lot of reasons because I love my job and everything I’ve done so far but, see how people came to my class just because they wanted to learn some steps and then they know more about the world of dance and then they become great dancers and some of them are really good instructors, so that I can show them the love I feel for dancing in such a way that they also begin to feel it and want to improve every day.
When I finish a class, I love it when the students tell me how grateful they are to take care of them and for the knowledge that I share.
I really love it when I finish a show and people stand up because they can feel my energy and the love for what I do.
For me, that is the most important and most valuable part of my work.
What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership, in your industry or generally?
There are still people who think that way and have their own opinion, I have never been affected by that, since I know that this is not the case with myself and I am sure of who I am and I think that as long as us women are sure of who we are, nobody is going to be able to affect us with their thoughts or their words, we should not change anything about who we are, what we do or what we feel for what others think, on the contrary, they are the ones who must understand and change their way of thinking. Let’s remain strong and convinced of who we are and what we are worth.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thecasinostars.net
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geishycastillo/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/?_rdr
Image Credit:
Jorge Melo
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