¡Vamos a Guatemala! 

We are excited to start our 2025 Abroad trip to Guatemala. Last year, we spent two weeks traveling and connecting with communities in Xela, Antigua, and Lake Atitlán. We are thrilled to revisit these amazing regions and reconnect with local organizations through leading dance workshops and performances. 

Our five student Dance Volunteers are joining us from Boston Conservatory, the University at Buffalo, Florida State University, and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. They’ll be performing ‘MeMeMe Makes 3’, a JUNTOS classic by Owen Scarlett, ‘Murmur’ by Jon Lehrer, as well as ‘Madre’, a brand new piece choreographed by Guest Choreographer Omar Roman de Jesus specifically for this trip! 

Welcome to Guatemala, Bella, Selena, Lucia, Madeline, and Sophie!

The 2025 JUNTOSAbroad journey in Guatemala starts today! We are thrilled to have Hotel Dos Lunas as our home base for arrivals again this year. After landing in Guatemala City and settling in at the hotel, our Dance Volunteers took some time to refuel and mingle with each other over coffee and pizza. We squeezed some hours of rehearsal in before dinnertime, during which we reviewed our exciting and packed itinerary. Our dedicated JUNTOS staff has been working hard to ensure the next two weeks are filled with meaningful cross-cultural exchanges through partnerships with organizations uplifting local communities through arts, education, and human rights advocacy. Their missions inspire us, and it is an honor to work with them during this trip! 

Our Dance Volunteers ended the evening with some journal reflections before heading to bed in anticipation of our early morning travel to Xela tomorrow. 

¡Hasta mañana! 

Day Two of our trip was a big travel day, as we drove all the way to Xela (aka Quetzaltenango)! We broke up the four-hour scenic drive with a quick lunch in Tecpan before arriving at Lunavela, our hotel for the duration of our stay in Xela. We then headed over to Chocoyos Casa de Artistas, where we made some feline friends before diving into our first rehearsal for Omar’s new piece, ‘Madre’! We are so grateful to Omar for embarking on such a fast-paced choreographic process with our Dance Volunteers, and can’t wait to see how it comes together. 

After a long day of travels and rehearsals, we enjoyed dinner at El Pasaje Mediterraneo and started discussing plans for our first workshop tomorrow with ProDanza! We can’t wait to start teaching.

¡Buenas noches!

Day Three started with an idyllic breakfast at Lunavela, during which we savored the breathtaking terrace views over delicious coffee, eggs, and fruit. Then our Dance Volunteers were off to rehearsal to continue building Omar’s new piece, ‘Madre’, before breaking for lunch at Mandarina, a JUNTOS favorite!

In the afternoon, we got to experience an incredible salsa workshop led by Teresa Robles, along with her assistants Benjamin and Pablo from Bishal Swing. We are so grateful to them for breaking down the basics of salsa and helping us practice in partners!

Our Dance Volunteers then had some time to finalize preparations for our first workshop, which we led this evening for ProDanza as well as other community members interested in joining. Throughout the week, we’ll teach multiple open workshops partnering with ProDanza, during which our Dance Volunteers will teach a phrase that the students will perform with us at our culminating performance in Xela. We had so much fun connecting with the students through dance and can’t wait for more workshop opportunities tomorrow!

We ended the day with dinner at La Stampa and a debrief discussion at the hotel before it was time for rest.

Day Five involved another early morning start, as our JUNTOS staff from Xela, Sussan and Christian, planned a beautiful sunrise breakfast in the mountains. We learned about Mayan culture from Gustavo, and Sussan prepared and presented information on each student’s Nahual. 

After regrouping at the hotel, we were off to Los Chocoyos for the rest of the day, where we had final rehearsals for ‘MeMeMe Makes 3’, ‘Madre’, and the self-choreographed solos our Dance Volunteers brought for the trip. We also led our last open workshop with ProDanza, during which we collaboratively added onto and revised the choreography we’d taught the students throughout the trip to create a finalized new piece! 

Our time in Xela culminated in tonight’s performance, during which JUNTOS Dance Volunteers and ProDanza dancers shared the stage! The program included the joint JUNTOS/ProDanza piece we created during the workshops throughout the week, self-choreographed solos by Bella, Lucia, Madeline, and Selena, a trio and solo by ProDanza students, and the premiere of Omar’s piece, ‘Madre’. The show concluded with ‘MeMeMe Makes 3’, which called the audience onstage to dance alongside JUNTOS students. It was an incredibly meaningful and celebratory end to our time in Xela, and we will miss the connections we’ve made here! Thank you to ProDanza for welcoming JUNTOS back this year; we look forward to partnering again in the future!

Day Six took us on a spontaneous trip to Las Fuentes Georginas, beautiful hot springs outside of Xela. We enjoyed relaxing in the natural baths, taking in the incredible scenery, and trying mud masks straight from the rocks! After lunch at the springs, we embarked on our drive to Panajachel, the town by Lake Atitlán that we’ll be staying at for the next few days. 

We arrived at our hotel in the evening and after unloading our things, met on the terrace to exchange Research Presentations. Before the trip, each Dance Volunteer was assigned a different topic on Guatemala – such as the country’s civil war, traditional dances, and current events – and shared what they had learned with the rest of the group. We discussed what the students had researched in advance in relation to what they had observed and experienced after being in Guatemala for several days, noting any parallels and surprises. We also debriefed last night’s performance in Xela, highlighting similarities and differences with the Dance Volunteers’ past performance opportunities. 

After a fruitful discussion and a quick dinner in town, it was off to bed to rest before tomorrow’s workshops. 

¡Hasta mañana!

Day Seven marked our first full day in Panajachel by Lake Atitlán, where JUNTOS is partnering with Centro Educativo Josue and Tejiendo Futuro, two inspiring organizations providing holistic educational support to local children and youth. Our three workshops with students from these organizations today took place at basketball courts with beautiful views of the lake and the mountains, and our Dance Volunteers adapted their class to a small covered courtyard when it began to rain! Our Dance Volunteers had a blast bonding with students aged 4-16, playing dance-based games to share the joy of movement, and teaching an accessible and fun piece of choreography they collaboratively created! 

After lunch and our last workshop, we had a rehearsal to brush up on ‘MeMeMe Makes 3’, ‘Madre’, and a duet that Sophie choreographed on Madeline and Lucia entitled ‘Steady’. With limited space options, we picked a flat, open field right by the water, which ended up being a breathtaking place to rehearse! We had a group dinner and enjoyed exploring Panachajel at night before it was time for bed!

Day Eight, our second full day in Panajachel, was filled with more workshops with students from Centro Educativo Josue and Tejiendo Futuros. Our Dance Volunteers led two workshops in the morning, broke for lunch at JUNTOS favorite, The Little Spoon, and led another in the afternoon. We played more movement-based games, reviewed the dances we taught yesterday, and added on more choreography with the students. It began pouring during our last workshop, so we were grateful to be able to dance under Tejiendo Futuros’ beautiful gazebo, and played with the children for an hour longer to wait out the rain!

Later in the afternoon, Christian organized a boat ride on Lake Atitlán, which took us to a beautiful secluded spot by the coast where hot water straight from the volcano flowed into the lake! We enjoyed the natural hot springs, swam in the lake, and dove off the pier; this was definitely a trip highlight! After showers, dinner, and walking around Panajachel, we ended the night with another debrief session. We reflected on this week’s workshops and our progress towards fulfilling the intentions we set on our first night in Guatemala City, as it’s hard to believe we’re already more than halfway through this incredible experience! It was then time for bed to rest up for tomorrow’s early morning performance – ¡buenas noches!