Meet Sanura Dance: the group bringing people together by the desire to move
BY SANDY CHUCHUCA, IMAGES PROVIDED
Where do queer women and FLINTA people meet these days?
It’s a question asked quietly and constantly across London, whispered in group chats, posted on social media, and shared over coffees between friends who feel adrift. Over the past few years, something remarkable has happened in response: queer women have started building their own spaces.
Speed dating events, walking groups, sober socials, cycling and running meetups, football, rugby, supper clubs, community projects – all created around one shared need: connection with like-minded people. A chance to belong without explanation. A space to breathe.
Sanura Dance is one of those spaces.
Born from a need for freedom and a place to dance
Sanura Dance began nearly three years ago from something simple: a desire to dance in a way that fit my life, values, and identity. I wanted a space where queerness was the norm, where my partner felt safe, where leadership wasn’t gendered, and where dance could feel like liberation rather than performance.
Sanura Dance became the intersection of queerness and feminism. Queerness gave us freedom, expression, and permission to show up as our full selves. Feminism gave us empowerment, agency, and the clarity to design a studio that actively protects FLINTA experiences rather than assuming them.
From the very first class, we removed gender from the dance floor. At Sanura Dance, everyone leads and everyone follows. We teach role rotation as a core skill, not a novelty. Students experience both dance roles each week, in a way that feels fluid, self-directed, and joyful.
What surprised me most wasn’t just how powerful that felt, but how many people had been waiting for it.
From a single class to a movement
What started as a weekly workshop has grown into something much bigger.
Today, Sanura Dance runs a monthly dance-and-mingle event, three annual big events, ad-hoc workshops, and three classes a week across three London locations, all in professional, fully equipped studios. Our teachers bring more than a decade of experience each, shaping a level of technique, musicality, and cultural grounding that matches London’s extremely high dance standards. And yes, London really is one of the best salsa and bachata cities in the world.
This year, we also launched something I never imagined would come so soon: the Salsa Performance Team, which appears to be the only FLINTA salsa performance team in the world. Watching a group of queer women step into choreography, stage presence, and artistic confidence together has been one of the most beautiful milestones of this journey.
And it’s just the beginning. In 2026, Sanura Dance will open its doors for weekly queer salsa and bachata drop-in classes, welcoming anyone who has ever thought, “I wish I could dance, but I’ve never had a space that felt right.” This is their moment to rediscover the joy of movement.
Why queer women need places like this
Again and again, students tell me the same thing: “This is the only place where I feel completely myself.”
Sometimes they come alone, looking for courage. Sometimes they come with a partner, seeking safety. Sometimes they simply want one evening a week where their shoulders drop, their mind clears, and they can laugh freely.
One of the things I cherish most about Sanura Dance is that it’s intergenerational. We have people in their early twenties dancing alongside women in their forties, fifties and beyond. Recent generations can sometimes feel quite separate from one another, and I love fostering a space where those gaps soften. There’s something powerful about seeing different ages learn from each other, laugh together, and share the floor as equals.
Our classes don’t end when the music stops. Every week, we end up at the pub, chatting, swapping stories, building friendships. This ritual has become part of our identity. When I ask people what brings them back, the most common answer isn’t “the moves” or “the music,” but: “I’m coming to see my friends.”
That’s the magic of queer women’s spaces in 2025. They are intentional.
They are community-built.
They are a quiet rebellion against isolation.
Everyone is welcome to experience it
On Saturday 13 December, we’ll be hosting our XMAS Social – an evening of workshops, shows, social dancing, and a room full of new faces. It’s beginner-friendly, warm, and designed for anyone who wants a taste of queer joy on the dance floor.
It also offers a glimpse of what we hope to continue providing week after week in 2026: a place where queer women and FLINTA dancers can move, meet, laugh, grow, and feel safe.
Sanura Dance began as a dream, a small idea shaped by queerness, feminism, and the longing for somewhere to belong. Today, it’s part of a much bigger story: the rise of spaces created by queer women, for queer women, at a time when we need them most.
And if you’ve ever felt that quiet tug, that wish to find your people, you’re not alone. We’ve built a space for you.
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