Rick's Story...

Hello again Edie!

Just a few lines to write my story and to tell you how much I’ve
enjoyed your website. My name is Rick J. Pagan; I live in
Hallandale FL. (just north of Miami and just south of Hollywood).
I’ve enjoyed salsa ever since my 9th birthday (1971) when I
started to take piano lessons and Fania was becoming very
famous. Unfortunately, due to a very strict religious upbringing
in Puerto Rico, I did not enjoy dancing salsa as much as I have
in the last 6 months (thank you Edie for your enlightening
website about dance and the scriptures). I was going through a
very painful divorce and needed something by which I could
expand my vision of life. That’s when Salsa became a very big
part it. A friend I met over the Internet had told me about Luz
Pinto’s Latin-Heat dance studios and kept inviting me to go to
class with her (thanks Bonnie). I finally worked up the courage
to go to the studio and when I first stepped unto the floor at
Luz’s studio; I became an even bigger salsaholic!
My ex-wife and I had danced salsa before, but I never learned
steps other than basic and maybe one or two other steps and
not very well.

I started taking lessons from Luz and quickly moved through
intermediate and into advanced. A few months after starting my
dance lessons, David, one of Luz’s co-instructors and I had gone
out on a Friday night and ended up at Gemini, a salsa club in
Hollywood, FL. It was there that I met a wonderful woman that,
although not Latin (she’s German), danced salsa so well that I
nearly felt ashamed to be Latin and not know as much as she
did. David had told me that her and her best friend Katja had
taken lessons from Luz until approximately three months before
that date, which was July 2, 1999. Kirsten and I have been
together ever since and not only have I met my soulmate, but
also gained a wonderful dance partner from whom I’ve learned
quite a bit. We’ve been going to Luz’s studio together and have
advanced even more due to Luz’s magnificent teaching and style.
Due to my experience as a flight instructor, I’ve been able to
appreciate the way I’ve been thought Salsa becaus it’s the same
way I used to teach my flight students, with patience,
perseverance, and dedication. I’ve always said that my loyalty
will always be to my very first dance instructor and, because we
have her blessing, we’re going to start venturing to other
studios, as well as continuing with Luz, in order to learn even
more, and to make our moves crisper and more perfect. There
have even been talks between Jacira Castro and us about
helping her teach at her studio.

Re-discovering Salsa and learning how to dance it well has been one of the most uplifting and fun experiences of my life. My ex-wife always said I had two left feet; I dare her to dance with me now. Thank you Luz!

Sincerely,
Rick