I was born in the Dominican Republic in 1995, in a village called Moca, twenty-seven years ago. Moca was rife with drug crimes and gangs making it totally unsuitable for a small child to develop in a healthy environment.

Eventually, at the age of fifteen, I entered the USA to dance at the Harkness Dance Center in New York City for a summer dance program. It was thrilling, and I did not want to leave. So, against all odds for a foreign teenager, I stayed.

You might wonder how a fifteen-year-old boy was able to leave his family and move to a new country. The short answer is that I did not have the support of my family to pursue my dream of being a dancer and choreographer. They hated me for wanting this profession. But my passion guided me. I was forced to hitchhike car rides 30 miles from home to the ballet school because my parents wouldn’t help me. One day coming back at night from ballet school, I was picked up by a man who sexually abused me, a trauma that lives with me today. And I told no one because no one would care. Such was life in the Dominican Republic. My family did not accept that I wanted to be a professional dancer. I was bullied at school because ballet was only for girls and not for boys. My journey of healing from these early experiences continues.

I knew that to thrive, I had to leave my abusive home to follow my passion for dance. I had to find a way to support myself as a dancer. It wasn’t easy for a fifteen-year-old to find the money for food. But I did! I was forced to grow up quickly to survive in the big city of New York. I lived with my aunt and young cousins and was treated like a servant. It was difficult, but it was better than staying in a painful experience with my parents.

At seventeen, I received a full scholarship with the Boston Ballet in the professional program. Subsequently, I got hired as a professional dancer with the Jose Mateo Ballet Theater in Boston. My dream was coming true. Lately, I have been teaching and performing in Hawaii.

Now I need to continue to pursue my dream, which is why I am reaching out to you.

My goal is to travel for one year throughout Latin America and explore different dance companies in several countries. While there, I will be experiencing the many historical and emerging dance vocabularies, allowing me to bring more consciousness to the world through my choreography.

A very good friend of mine lives in Argentina and has a school of dance where I can teach and create new works. We met in Boston and did a summer program with the Boston ballet together. I will begin my journey in Argentina with my friend. Your donations will help me provide free dance lessons for the children of impoverished communities. Other expenses will be hiring dancers, videographers/photographers, and securing performing space/rehearsal studios.

The Ballet classes will be an outlet for the children that will become an inspiration for them to learn something beautiful and constructive and not feel pressure to do anything else destructive that some children are forced to do. I will create a positive environment for the children to feel free to be themselves, sharing kindness and compassion and unconditional love for each other.

Your generosity will allow me to create conscious choreography and express myself in a way that I can feel free without being afraid to show who I am as a dancer and to give the children the same opportunity to find freedom in self-expression through dance.

I’m grateful to have this opportunity to give to others since I have received so much love and care from different teachers. I appreciate any support for my mission to dance!

‘’Life is a dance, which we need to learn."