Afro-Latin dance teacher Castlemaine’s Camila Serrano is among country-dwelling Victorians set to feature on new ABC TV series Movin’ to the Country.
Originally from Colombia, Camila moved to Australia in 2009 and lived in Melbourne before three years later making her treechange to Castlemaine where her dance and fitness classes have since taken off.
Camila’s decision to make Castlemaine her home and start offering dance classes including Cuban salsa, West African dance with live drumming, and Afro-Colombian dance, has significantly enhanced the palette of cultural and fitness offerings available for local residents.
It’s also made the Colombian expat well suited for inclusion in the new television series that’s set to start Friday, July 2 at 7.30pm on ABC TV and ABC iview.
The ABC’s publicity for the program states that Movin’ to the Country “celebrates the entrepreneurs, innovators and dreamers who are transforming the look and feel of Australia’s beautiful regional areas in surprising new ways”.
The six-part series introduces inspiring people who’ve lived in regional Australia their whole lives, returned to the country, or made the decision to pack up their city lives to make a difference in regional towns.
“It was an opportunity to start a dance school,” Camila says of her Castlemaine treechange about nine years ago.
Camila learnt to dance and perform in public as a child in Colombia, before moving to New York and then Australia and ultimately settling in Castlemaine.
“I’m very thankful to have created my dance school in Castlemaine,” she told the Express.
“Sometimes when you are in a small town it’s easier to start a business.”
ABC’s Movin’ to the Country sets out to showcase the beauty and livability that regional Australia has to offer, with hosts Craig Quartermaine, Kristy O’Brien and Halina Baczkowski travelling to a different region every week to tell the stories of folk looking to make a good living from their little patch of paradise.
Each episode will explore three stories within one region to discover how people are creating new lifestyles for themselves and how their success has cascading effects in their community. The episode featuring Camila is scheduled for July 16.
