Marco y Sara, 6-Time Spanish Champions of Bachata Sensual

Who Are Marco y Sara?

Marco Espejo and Sara Panero are 6-time Spanish bachata champions and one of the most technically refined couples in sensual bachata. Based in Madrid, they run the professional dance company "Esencia" and organize the Madrid Esencia Festival.

What sets Marco y Sara apart is their precision. Every movement is intentional, every transition is seamless, and their musicality, especially on dramatic pauses and tempo changes, is world-class.

Origin Story

Marco was born in Trujillo, Peru. He moved to Huelva, Spain at 18, where he discovered Latin dance. Sara, from Salamanca, started dancing at age 7, training in ballet, contemporary, modern dance, and hip-hop before focusing on Latin at 16.

They formed their partnership in September 2012 in Madrid. Within months, they won two national bachata competitions. In 2013, they won four more national titles. They separated in mid-2014 but reunited in late 2016 with a clear mission: become one of the most recognized couples in sensual bachata globally.

Their Style

• Fluid connection, seamless lead-follow throughout
• Sharp timing, precise hits on every musical accent
• Expressive musicality, they dance the melody, not just the beat
• Ballet and contemporary influences, from Sara's extensive training
• Technical precision, every detail is polished

Esencia & Madrid Festival

Marco y Sara founded Esencia, their professional dance company and brand, in 2012. They teach online through their own training platform and organize the Madrid Esencia Festival, an annual event that brings Esencia groups together for classes, shows, and parties.

Watch & Follow

Before They Met

Marco’s first steps in dance came in Peru, where he learned Peruvian folk dance and played the saxophone. Once he was living in Madrid, he started competing in bachata at 21 with his first official partner, winning regional contests before moving up to national competitions.

Sara’s path was more classical. After finishing secondary school in Salamanca, she passed the entrance exams for the Fortea dance conservatory in Madrid to specialize in classical ballet, and studied there for three years while working and still training in Latin dance. In 2012 she competed with her first partner, Ronald Jara, representing Madrid at Africadançar in Lisbon, and then joined Bachatea Dance Company to compete nationally.

The Years Apart

Both dancers kept growing after the split in 2014. Marco began working internationally with Italian dancer Marzia Licciardello, and in November 2014 the pair took first place at the World Bachatart Fusion competition.

Sara was chosen at an audition to join Imperio Azteca, the professional company of salsa star Johnny Vázquez, and moved to Milan for six months. Back in Spain in 2015, she danced solo choreographies, worked again with Esencia, and spent about a year and a half dancing kizomba with Albir Rojas before reuniting with Marco.

Esencia Today and How to Learn From Them

Esencia has grown into Grupo Esencia, a network of choreography teams known for their style and musicality. Their teams and workshop weekends have reached cities such as Frankfurt, Zurich, Amsterdam, Cologne, and Gothenburg, and local Marco y Sara teams have held auditions as far away as Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The yearly meeting point is the Madrid Esencia Festival, which brings the Esencia groups together for classes, shows, parties, and the Esencia World Social Competition. The 2026 edition was set for October 16 to 18 in Aranjuez, in the Madrid region, and Sara offered an in-person bootcamp where students learned her ‘Lokita x Mi’ choreography so they could perform it with her at the festival.

Between events, their online training platform offers courses in musicality, partnerwork, Sara’s lady styling, Marco’s men styling, and Grupo Esencia choreographies. Their YouTube channel, Marco y Sara Bachata, shares workshop demos and team shows.