I am Yonit. Espresso-chestnut hair to the middle of my back with natural lively curls, warm dark brown eyes, caramel skin, a beauty mark on the right of the upper cheek, a small flower tattoo on the left collarbone. Compact but explosive. My territory is Latin: salsa, samba, Cuban tempo. I walk out and within 30 seconds the temperature in the room rises. I am the only one in the catalogue who works at a real samba tempo — 200+ beats per minute. My signature look — carnival samba dancer: a huge red-gold feather headdress, feather wings, a gold rhinestone bikini with hanging crystals. Perfect for carnival parties, Latin events.
My stage: Latin tempo
Some dancers raise the energy in a room; I raise the temperature. My territory is real Latin — salsa, samba, Cuban tempo — and I am the only one in the catalogue working at full samba tempo, two hundred beats per minute and above. It sounds like a technical figure until you see it: feet moving faster than the eye can follow, hips running a rhythm of their own, and a smile that never disappears. Latin is a genre of joy — which is why my evenings end with the whole room dancing, not just me.
What a show with me looks like
A carnival concentrated into an hour: an entrance in an enormous feather headdress — the moment everyone films before I have even moved — and then a full samba set that lifts the room off its chairs within the first minute. Midway I drop the tempo to salsa: this is where the personal moment lands, teaching the guest of honour two steps and turning him in front of all his friends. A finale at full tempo, feathers in the air, and a crowd clapping in rhythm without being asked. The full skeleton of the hour — on the solo page; with me it runs at the tempo of Rio.
My characters
The carnival dancer — the crown character: a red-gold feather headdress, wings, a bikini with hanging crystals; she looks like she stepped out of a parade, and that is exactly the intention. The salsera — the romantic edition: a red dress with a slit, a slower tempo, and plenty of partner work with the guest of honour. The Latin goddess — for outdoor evenings: gold, drums, and the feeling of a Brazilian beach in your yard. The full wardrobe — on the costume page; with me every character arrives with a tempo of its own.
Where I am strongest
Summer is my season: yards, rooftops, pools and big balconies — anywhere with air, where the feathers work and the crowd stands. I am strong in small event halls and at mixed-crowd parties too, because Latin is the most family-friendly of the fast genres — grandmother claps and the friends jump, in the same show. Geographically: the Bat Yam promenade gives me exactly the beach atmosphere I need, and in the yards of Rishon LeZion I feel at home.
One moment from the field
A yard in Rishon, a forty-fifth birthday, thirty guests across three generations. I entered in the full headdress as the drums came in at full volume — the children screamed with excitement, the grandmothers started clapping, and the birthday man simply froze. Ten minutes later I taught him two salsa steps, and after twenty the whole yard was dancing in a line. At the end his son told me he had not seen his father that happy in years. Those are the evenings I haul five kilograms of feathers everywhere for.
How I prepare
Fitness first: samba tempo demands legs that work for an hour without dropping the beat, and I train five days a week so it looks easy. The headdress is checked and reassembled before every show — it travels dismantled, and assembly takes a patient quarter hour. I check the crystal bikini stone by stone, because a missing stone shows in sunlight. And on the way — drums in the speakers, and yes, my feet are already dancing during the drive.
My playlist
Real Brazilian samba, Cuban salsa, reggaeton and a little modern Latin pop everyone knows. I build the set like a parade: an opening at full tempo, a drop to salsa in the middle, and a climb back for the finale. Does the guest of honour have Latin roots or a memory from a trip to South America? Tell me — I have a song for every country, and that surprise works every single time.
Who I am not the right choice for
A quiet, intimate, chamber evening — not my arena; I need space and a crowd ready to move, and the catalogue holds someone who does closeness better than me. A small room with a low ceiling limits me too: my headdress alone is half a metre of feathers above my head. But if you have a yard, a rooftop or a pool and a crowd that wants to dance — no genre fills a space like mine, and I promise the neighbours will ask for an invitation next time.
Five small facts about me
My headdress travels in a hard case of its own and is heavier than it looks — three kilograms on the neck, for a whole hour. I learned samba in Brazil on an intensive course, and it was the most exhausting holiday of my life. I can say "dance with me" in six languages, and it works in all of them. I once counted four hundred crystals on a single costume, and I have not counted since — but I do check every one is in place before each show. And my favourite moment: when the man who said "I do not dance" finds himself in the middle of the yard with all his friends around him — there has not been one evening where it failed to happen.
An evening with me — step by step
18:30 — leg warm-up, twenty minutes. 19:30 — headdress assembly and a crystal check. 21:00 — departure with drums in the speakers. 21:45 — "I am here", a quiet entrance, a change. 22:00 — the drums come in, and your yard becomes Rio. An hour of carnival: full samba, salsa with the guest of honour, and a finale that leaves feathers on the floor. 23:05 — I leave, the music stays, and everyone is still dancing. That is what a proper Latin evening looks like.
Frequently asked
Latin, samba, carnival. Real tempo at two hundred beats per minute — a genre of joy that lifts a whole room.
Very much: Latin is the most family-friendly of the fast genres — grandmother claps and the friends jump, in the same show.
Space and air: a yard, a rooftop, a pool or a hall. A low ceiling limits me — the headdress alone is half a metre of feathers.
Especially then: I teach two salsa steps in under a minute, and most of the "I do not dance" crowd end up in the middle of the yard with everyone around them.
"Yonit" with a date and a city on WhatsApp. Latin roots in the family? Tell me — I have a song for every country.
