Next week I was back at Gordos. This was getting to be a routine, I felt like I had to be there, and begged my friends to go with me again, even offerign to pay the cover for them. I was turnign into an addict. that was the night that I danced for the first time with a complete stranger. A Merengue came up and a woman came up and asked me to dance. I started my shuffle step and she took over the rest, holding onto me and spinning herself around, singing the song. I remember seeing the room spin and her face was the only thing I could focus on. “Algo en tu cara me facina…algo en to cara me da vida” was the song, and in retrospect it was so appropriate (Something in your face fascinates me, something in your face gives me life). The song ended and, for the first time, it felt like it was way too short. She thanked me and walked away to dance with someone else. I went home that night in a complete trance. There was no turning back now, I was hooked. I graduated from FAMU and my grandfather told me that my graduation trip would be a trip anywhere I wanted to go. There was only 1 choice…Puerto Rico!
I landed on La Isla Del Encanto, for the first time in 1999. We spent 2 weeks touring the island, driving everywhere, staying in hotels and listening to Salsa music on the radio. Ending up back in San Juan on the last night, I wandered into a small club that had people dancing inside and I watched them for a while. I told the bartender that I really enjoyed Salsa, and he told me that I was there 2 weeks to early, because at the end of the month, thre was going to be the Puerto Rico Salsa Congress, where thousands of Salsa dancers from around the world would be there. I laughed, telling him I wasn’t quite into it THAT much. Little did I know that for the next 6 years (and running), I would find myself dancing, performing and teaching at that same event. I returned to DC and found the first Salsa club that had lessons. My first partner was my mother, who was the only person willing to go out Salsa dancing with me (Thanks Mom!). Over the years I’ve partnered with some wonderful women, danced and performed from Brazil to Japan, India to Amsterdam, but I’ll never forget the green-eyed waitress that changed my life.