Meet Latina Ballroom, aka Jon Rodriguez, winner of Drag Wars 2024, and who has worked with megastars Shakira and Ricky Martin. Faye Hatcher caught up with Jon on the balcony at Stroud Brewery and Taproom for the first Chat on Tap interview.
Jon, a professional dancer trained in Latin and Ballroom, was born in Gran Canaria, Spain, and around 30 years ago was selected for a dancing school for Spanish national television: “We used to do a Saturday show and danced alongside guests – the biggest names – like Shakira, Ricky Martin and LaToya Jackson.”
Jon first found drag three years ago: “A person said, ‘I’d like to learn how to dance’. I said, yeah, okay, I can teach you. What is it that you do? ‘I do drag’. So, I thought, should I give it a go?
“I was a bit old – I’m still it’s a bit old, but it doesn’t matter. I thought I’ll give it a go. And you know what? I absolutely love it.”
It takes Jon around three hours to get into costume, and is a regular at Stroud Brewery: “I host and co-produce a cabaret show called Lace and Lashes in, Gloucester, Cheltenham and we got in touch with the guy who manages this place, Loz, and we did it once as a trial and it sold out – we did it twice and it sold out, and the third time sold out.
“We do drag bingo here, cabaret shows, paint pot parties – it’s organised chaos but everyone loves it.”
If you’d like to catch one of Latina’s (18) shows you can catch her at Stroud Brewery and Taproom on Friday, February 20th for a 90s Drag Night. Doors open 7pm, show starts 8pm.
