About Smile and Connect + Bios
We host events to grow the dancing knowledge of the local community as well as travel to dance events to teach Merengue, Bachata and Semba. We focus on the history of the dance, the importance of music, and respect in partner dance. At events, we collaborate with local community organizations and we mentor emerging artists to enhance their knowledge and skills and to pass it to the next generation.
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José Batista Abikarram was born and raised in the Dominican Republic. He has loved dancing from a very young age and his grandmother taught him merengue. He also enjoys logistics, puzzles and improving processes, which is how he ended up in Rochester earning a BS/MS in Industrial engineering at RIT. José currently works full time in the field. He has been part of the Rochester dance community for over 10 years, and fell in love with Kizomba and Semba which are dances from Angola. He founded Smile And Connect Dance in 2018 in Syracuse, NY to realize the dream of connecting people through dance classes and events that inspire smiles and fun. He mainly teaches Merengue, Bachata, Kizomba and Semba in events throughout the area and the US, and organizes a yearly dance festival in Rochester combining the dances of Merengue, Bachata, Salsa, Kizomba, Semba and Kompa under one place.
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Gretchen Schwarzmueller was born and raised in the Buffalo Niagara region. She enjoys dancing as much as José and in fact that is how they met and ended up marrying each other. She graduated from Niagara University with a BS/MS in Childhood Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. She is passionate about learning languages and narrating literature. She helped José found Smile and Connect Dance and created the logo. She helps José teach Kizomba and Semba in different events in the US, mainly Rochester. She also has experience in sales and tour guiding.