¡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 Los 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 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!

Day Nine began with us waking up bright and early for our culminating performance in Panajachel, which brought together students, teachers, and families from Centro Educativo Josue and Tejiendo Futuros. A picturesque basketball court right by the water served as our stage, and we performed a full program featuring Omar’s piece and the pieces our Dance Volunteers choreographed for the trip. Josue and Tejiendo students performed the choreography they learned from JUNTOS over the week, and joined in during the end section of ‘MeMeMe Makes 3’, which closed the show. Saying goodbye to these students was hard to say the least!

We then packed up and drove to Antigua, and immediately jumped into teaching two workshops after arriving! We were thrilled to return to CEMUNART and Dance House, two dance schools in Antigua we’ve partnered with before, to teach contemporary and jazz workshops to youth and teens. Our Dance Volunteers taught an excerpt of Selena’s contemporary solo to the CEMUNART students, and taught both groups a portion of the jazz combination they shared with ProDanza students in Xela. We had dinner at Los Tres Tiempos, a restaurant serving Guatemalan cuisine right across from where we’re staying, the beautiful Hotel Posada San Vicente.

¡Hasta mañana!

Day Ten began after breakfast, with our first full day in Antigua at Aldea el Hato, a public school where we performed a full program of pieces! The school’s open-air playground served as our stage, with a stunning mountainous backdrop and view of the volcano. It was a joy to perform for and socialize with over 100 elementary and middle schoolers.

Enjoy these beautiful photos taken by Aldea el Hato staff!

Day Eleven started with our last rehearsal for tomorrow’s final performance! We spent the first few hours of the day rehearsing at CEMUNART before breaking for a quick lunch. In the afternoon, we led our last workshop with CEMUNART students! Our Dance Volunteers made the most of this last opportunity to lead warmups, improvisational exercises, and teach phrasework. We also did a run-through of ‘Murmur’ for the students at the end of class to practice for tomorrow’s final performance.

We continued to bond with and get to know the CEMUNART students over a light dinner after class, during which we chatted and practiced language skills by playing telephone in both English and Spanish! “Camarón caramelo caramelo camarón” was a hilarious favorite. After showers and some time to rest at the hotel, we went to the delicious Restaurante Fridas for a more substantial meal later in the night to end the day, accompanied by some lovely live music.

Day Twelve is our final performance day! Our Dance Volunteers had some much-deserved free time this morning to rest, eat a hearty breakfast, and explore Antigua. In the early afternoon, we headed over to Cerro de la Cruz, a small mountain just outside the center of the city, offering beautiful views of Antigua. Its outdoor amphitheatre served as our incredible last performance venue, for a mixed program showcasing JUNTOS, CEMUNART, and Dance House pieces! Many thanks to Azucena Santos, our International Liaison for programming in Antigua, for putting together this beautiful performance opportunity.

It started to rain heavily soon after our Dance Volunteers finished doing some spacing, so we were originally unsure if the performance would have to be postponed. But luckily, it let up and we were able to go ahead with the show as planned, with friends, family, and community members filling the audience! While all of our performance venues during this trip have had breathtaking views, this was truly an unparalleled experience to perform in front of one of Guatemala’s largest volcanoes, at such an iconic vista point in Antigua. It was an unforgettable and emotional last performance, to say the least!

After the show, our Dance Volunteers were understandably very tired, so some stayed back to rest at the hotel while others took advantage of our last night in Antigua to explore and celebrate. ¡Hasta mañana!

Day Thirteen, we took a short morning trip outside of Antigua to visit the Valhalla Macadamia Farm! Azucena and some CEMUNART students joined our Dance Volunteers and JUNTOS staff to explore this beautiful area and enjoy a delicious farm-to-table breakfast at their restaurant, the Valhalla Oxygen Lounge. We then packed up our things at the hotel and had a bit more free time for last-minute souvenir shopping before driving back to Guatemala City. ¡Hasta el próximo año, Antigua!

Once we arrived back in the city, we said goodbye to Chris and our amazing bus driver, Miguel, and settled in at Dos Lunas for a bittersweet last evening with our remaining JUNTOS staff and Dance Volunteers. We had a relaxing night in, watching some light TV together, and enjoying a takeout dinner from Pollo Campero! We ended our last night together with one final debrief. After taking some time for individual journaling, we had an in-depth conversation reflecting on our last performance, how this trip has changed the way we think about the world and our place in it, and how we’ll be integrating new perspectives and lessons learned from this experience into our daily lives back home. It was an intense and emotional but full-of-gratitude discussion; there is no doubt that this 2025 JUNTOSAbroad trip has had a profound impact on each and every one of us. 

We cannot believe we’ve already made it to Day Fourteen and come to the end of our time together! The two weeks have gone by so fast, and at the same time, it feels like the first day the group met was so long ago, as the connections we’ve built have been so strong and meaningful.

After one last delicious breakfast at Dos Lunas, we said our tough goodbyes as we peeled away to the airport to catch flights home. Safe travels back JUNTOSAbroad 2025, thank you for an incredible trip that has left an indelible mark on us as dancers, performers, teachers, and people!