How a Miami Salsa Dancer is Making Line Dancing Cool Again
By Angelica Wells and Carolina Alvarez
Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media
As Nicole Castro stepped onto the dance floor at Pub 52 in South Miami this past November, the 2010 Flo Rida classic “Club Can’t Handle Me” blared from the speakers. She was alone, surrounded by a mesmerized crowd of 150 people.
Slowly, others followed her lead. About 20 people learned her choreography on the spot.
When she posted this moment to TikTok the next day, it instantly went viral. Since then, the video has amassed 2.8 million views. Throughout the past year of posting line dancing videos on TikTok, she has accumulated 6.4 million likes on her profile.
Nicole Castro, 19, is a Cuban-American influencer from Miami with 161,000 followers on TikTok and 33,000 on Instagram. She danced salsa for six years in her childhood. Today, she line dances because she loves choreographing or finding a new, trendy dance to learn.
Line dances are stereotyped as a country music phenomenon, but have recently grown in popularity with routines for pop hit songs. The hashtag #linedancing has been used in over 200,000 videos on TikTok.
Castro joined the salsa dance studio Baila Con Micho when she was 12. At Mater Academy Charter High School, she joined the salsa club and became president. Eventually, though, the steps became mundane.
“There's only so much in salsa you can learn,” Castro says. “So there wasn't that kind of sense of challenge, and I kind of missed that from dancing.”
Then her friends convinced her to line dance at a place called Copper Blues in Doral last July. The scene was nothing like she thought it would be.
“It was a lot less country than I expected,” said Castro. “I went the next week, and I just felt at home. There’s always something else to learn, it’s not like how salsa was at all.”
She bought a pair of $70 *cowboy* boots on Amazon immediately after her first time line dancing. She loved the challenge of learning a completely different dance style, following new routines on TikTok and choreographing her own.
Castro began uploading videos of herself on TikTok here and there. However, she noticed that her line dancing posts would receive the most engagement.
Then last fall, Castro choreographed her first line dance to “Club Can’t Handle Me” by Flo Rida.
She was at Pub 52 in South Miami, where Chris Taad, 46 – also known as DJ Illmanik – insisted on playing the song for Castro. But she put him off. She was nervous. But then one day he introduced Castro to the audience over the microphone, and she danced the choreography to the Flo Rida song alone.
“She was nervous the whole night,” says Taad. “I dropped the song, and I said ‘Well, you’ll never be ready be if you don’t do it.’”
Of course, she videoed the performance and uploaded it to TikTok. In the video, bystanders stare because nobody knows the choreography. One by one, though, about 20 bystanders get onto the dance floor alongside her and learn the steps.
“You know I know how to make 'em stop and stare as I zone out,” goes the chorus.
The video went viral.
“The next week, more people learned my choreography,” says Castro. “Then the week after, even more people learned it. It was so surreal to see people from all over doing the dance I created. I can’t believe I reached that audience.”
Taad has been a DJ since he was 16 and performed country mixes for seven years. He met Castro at Southern Soul, a dance instruction business. If it were not for his gentle push, she would have never had her viral moment.
“Everybody loves watching her dance,” says Taad. “She’s just so energetic, all her steps are on point. She incorporates salsa into her line dancing 100 percent.”
Castro teaches line dancing at various events in Miami.They take place not only at suburban y venues like the Round Up in Davie, but at more rural venues like The Berry Farm in the Redland. She even teaches at birthday parties and choreographs quinceañeras.
“When I look back and I see the dance floor, everyone just learned the dance that I taught them and we're all having a good time,” Castro says. “And I know I'm providing that for them. It's very fulfilling.”
Being approachable and an excellent communicator have always been natural skills for Castro. When she is not wearing her cowboy boots, she is a fifth-grade lead teacher assistant in Miami and a public relations student at Florida International University.
“You have to learn how to read your crowd,” says Castro. “On the spot, you have to dictate what you’re going to do with them.”
Natalie Lahera, 25, met Castro while creating social media content for Copper Blues country nights.
“Nicole’s energy is so contagious and everyone naturally gravitates to her when we’re out dancing,” says Lahera. “She stands out in a crowd.”
What started as trying something new with her friends has become a passion and career. In the future, Castro hopes to build her personal brand, create a business as a dance line instructor and grow her social media following.
Castro’s line dancing journey has just begun. It started with the click of the “upload” button.
“I just so happened to post a TikTok one day,” Castro says. “And it did well, and I stuck with it.”
