Last 12 of July Yenifer Zapata, better known as Queen Witch, became the new Dancehall Queen Chile 2025 upon triumphing in the contest that was held in the new Jamming’ Club, which is on the verge of its inauguration.
“I felt like a winner before the result”, said the young woman 29 years, in exclusive dialogue with Reggae Chalice Magazine, who reviewed his beginnings in dance, his approach to the dances of Andean music, the discovery of dancehall, the trainings, a previous participation in the DHQ until now when it became crowned as the “Queen of Dancehall” in Chile in the edition 2025 of this traditional contest.
His beginnings in dancing were 7 years but due to personal and family issues he could not continue until he returned to the 14 years participating in Andean dance carnivals, in dances like tinku or caporales. Then she left the carnivals and participated in a troupe of women linked to the circus where she began to perform acrobatics., that caught her attention since she was a child.
“I noticed how people stood on their heads in the circus, what is called tripod. And at that time there was no information on the internet about this, of girls doing head top and all that, there was no information. Then, very amateur, I started trying to stand on my head., have more flexibility”, Yenifer said about this stage.
Reggae y dancehall “all day”
In that troupe she met colleagues who listened “reggae and dancehall all day”, iban al jammin’ and almost simultaneously when he left the carnivals he began to participate in dancehall workshops of the Municipality of Peñalolén, where he met Girl Polet, whom he considers one of his teachers in dancehall.
“I started there with Polet who was my teacher, She has been my teacher throughout this process., to this day. Even, For my presentation it was still a very important part because I trusted him to show him my presentation before doing it.”, projection.
This is how it began in the world of dancehall in the middle of the last decade, where he took advantage of a mass of dancehall classes in different communities and participated in many of them with different teachers such as Tuty Prettyvybz, Pasjiggle -DHQ 2017-, Sista Tami -DHQ 2024- and also with King Kong Crew.
“Suddenly there was a boom where there were many free classes from municipalities that were taking initiatives to bring teachers. So I was going everywhere, I went to Cerro Navia, to La Florida to cove of sides where there were classes. I was in all, I couldn't stop dancing all day every day”, asserted.
With the pandemic, those workshops ended and in 2023, Yenifer achieved an annual certification at the prestigious Valero dance school, which helped him structure and improve his technique, while in 2024 fulfilled one of his greatest desires: travel to Jamaica. A journey that not only connected her with the roots of dancehall, but it also solidified his love and respect for the culture he has adopted as his own..
“And well, everything already exploded there. I said, 'I really love him, I love him very much'. I knew the technique obviously and I love it and I carry it with me, but I love dancehall a lot. It's what makes me vibrate too much. And that's when I decided that this year 2025 He was not going to travel to Jamaica again and he was going to compete in the DHQ”, a decision that has it as the current DHQ Chile.
Your first experience at DHQ Chile
In the year 2022 It was his first participation in the DHQ Chile, an important experience that meant “infinite learning”, and although she was somewhat frustrated by the result, it was an important step in her achievement in the competition. 2025.
“When I introduced myself it was to dare to show myself in public. I needed to prove to myself that I could do it., but I did it without good preparation and without a clear plan. The costumes were beautiful., but there was no story in my presentation. I left with great frustration because I wanted to show myself and I went unnoticed”, commented.
Nevertheless, It was that participation that laid the foundations of his present, even wondering whether or not to continue in dance and the answer was that “Yeah, that we had to keep giving it, be stubborn and continue”.
“The previous time I presented myself was all the learning of the path that I needed until now. Without that experience I don't know if I would have been where I am now.”, stressed.
DHQ 2025: The crowning of the road
Finally came the competition for which Queen Witch was fully prepared for at least 2 months, defining and detailing the choreography, music, the wardrobe to develop the best possible presentation.
“It was a process of much study. Not just about dancing, but about music. I went to dancehall parties to study how people move, how the music feels. I dedicated myself to investigating the steps, to put together the musical mix, to design my wardrobe. Everything was very well planned”, said the dancer.
He also highlighted the camaraderie between all the participants and that the competition was “very warm”, She congratulated her colleagues who were also awarded and said that this contest was not considered out of competitiveness., because for her the mere fact of participating made her a winner.
And about his presentation in the contest, in which he had to show several choreographies, He stated that he wanted to demonstrate everything he learned in all the years of dancehall that he has in his body, considering also that the juries Tuty Y Sista tamy, and the jury 1Pale, were his teachers.
“I wanted to demonstrate everything I have been studying, but I also wanted them to see that I took every piece of advice they gave me., that I have paid attention to everything they told me in class, because many times one can kill oneself by taking a thousand steps, but in reality what the song asks of you is flow, that you know the riddim, Do you know that it could be this song by this artist or it could be that one by the other artist?”, stressed.
“If I hadn't won I would still be happy”
And regarding how he lived this new experience on stage, He maintained that everything was enjoying, that the result was secondary and that “love, respect, humility, sincerity, study and discipline are the key words in my presentation”, values that are also relevant in other aspects of your life.
“If I hadn't won, I would have left happy anyway, because I showed what I wanted to show, I showed the character change, Now the Witch could eat that little Yeni who showed up the first time. That was all I needed, so I already felt like a winner before the result“, Yenifer emphasized..
—What would you like to say to your followers and people in general??
—That they can always specify everything that is on their mind, it's just a matter of action. Because many people can tell me something like 'I can't wait to dare to do what you do', or 'I really want to make the dream I have come true’ and you can always, really you can always, it's just a matter of daring.
