Yonit Dror

What my show actually looks like

I am 162 centimetres, compact and explosive. I come out, and within thirty seconds the temperature in the room rises. That is not a nice image, it is what happens, and you can watch it land on people’s faces.

My latin work is salsa, samba and Cuban tempo. I am the only one in the gallery working real samba speed — two hundred beats a minute and above. It is fast enough that people who have not seen it do not believe it can be held for five minutes straight.

I work with the room rather than only in front of it. I turn, I look at people, I pull someone in for a moment. It is a show that leaves people talking rather than one they watch in silence.

Who I suit

A big loud stag night. That is home for me — the more people and the more noise, the better I work, which is the reverse of most of the gallery.

Carnival parties, Brazilian evenings, a birthday for someone who likes to dance. A company event too — in the version with nothing crude it reads as a carnival act and can be shown to anyone.

Where I fit less: a quiet evening for two, or a room that wants slow tension. There I break the atmosphere rather than build it.

Where it works

Somewhere I can move. Three metres at least, a hard floor, and a ceiling that is not too low, because the carnival headdress stands sixty centimetres above me.

I work across Florentin, Jaffa, Herzliya and the rest of the metro area, plus cabins and rooftops.

What I do not do

Nobody touches the headdress or the wings. Carnival feathers come out on contact, and a headdress like that is ordered from Brazil with a two month wait.

No filming, and no touching unless I invite it — which matters more with me, because an interactive show confuses people. I pull someone in for a moment, but I decide when and how much.

The show ends when it ends, with no afterwards.

How I got into this

I grew up in latin dance. My mother taught salsa, and even after I stopped taking classes I kept dancing at parties. At nineteen I started teaching myself.

Samba came later and is a separate story. I went to Brazil for three months and stayed eight, and there I understood that what we called samba at home was a slow and polite version of something else entirely.

I am twenty seven, five of those years performing. I still teach salsa twice a week, and without it the legs lose the tempo within a month.

What I bring and what I need from you

Two outfits, the headdress if you asked for carnival, shoes and the music — salsa, samba, reggaeton.

From you: three metres, a hard floor and a speaker that carries. The speaker is critical with me: latin music stands on percussion, and through a weak one you are left with a melody and no rhythm.

And a reasonable ceiling for the carnival set. With the headdress I stand two metres ten, which surprises people every single time.

Mistakes people make when they book me

A weak speaker. The most common with me, and it ruins more than anything else.

Booking a carpeted room. Turns do not happen on carpet and half the movement disappears.

Asking for carnival under a two metre forty ceiling. The headdress simply does not fit. Tell me the height and I will bring a different version.

Expecting me to dance with everyone. I pull one or two people in briefly and that is part of the show. It is not a dance class or a salsa night.

What I ask before I confirm

How many of you. With me it is the opposite of everyone: the more the better. Fewer than four wastes the energy I bring.

What speaker there is. The second question, and it matters more with me than with most.

Floor or carpet, and ceiling height. Two details that decide whether carnival is possible at all.

Whether you want interaction. Some rooms prefer to watch, and I adapt. Say so in advance.

What happens between booking and the door

After we agree you get the hour, a request about the speaker and floor, and a question about ceiling height if you asked for carnival.

On the day I message when I leave. The headdress travels in a large box, so I arrive by car and ask for help on the stairs.

I arrive dressed normally, change in five minutes — carnival takes longer because of the jewellery — and start. At the end I pack, take the payment and go.

What is included and what is not

In the price: the show, the costume including carnival, the music and travel within the metro area. No costume surcharge and no service charge.

Not included: a speaker, lighting and a floor. If the feathers are damaged because somebody pulled them, that does cost, and I say so in advance so it is not a surprise.

Why samba tempo is not simply fast

People hear “two hundred beats a minute” and assume it means quick dancing. It does not.

In samba the legs work at double the speed of the music while the upper body stays relatively calm. That separation is the entire difficulty — it takes years before the legs can run without the shoulders bouncing along. Without it the whole thing looks like jumping, and even people who know nothing about dance can see the difference immediately.

It is also why I do not perform samba for fifteen minutes straight. Five minutes at real tempo is worth twenty of a softened version, and anyone who has danced it knows what it costs the body.

So I build the evening in stages: salsa to open, samba at the peak, reggaeton to close. That way the room gets the strong moment at full strength rather than a diluted version stretched across an hour.

When somebody else suits you better

If the evening is quiet, intimate or for two, not me. I build energy, and in a room looking for slow tension I simply break it.

I would suggest Tamar Gold for something close and slow, Michal Rosen for a measured tempo, or Tala Dorian if you liked the idea of real dance but want something eastern and calmer.

Booking me

Name, hour, address, how many guests, and what speaker there is. I always ask about the speaker.

Standard price, no deposit. The whole gallery is here. If you are unsure whether the room suits carnival, tell me the ceiling height and I will answer within a minute and bring the version that looks best in your space.