Hello! Please help me raise money for kids who want to salsa dance in San Diego but cannot afford to. Salsa can improve the lives of children, teens, and young adults in so many meaningful ways!
My goal is to raise $5,000 and I’m going to personally match all donations, dollar for dollar, up to $5,000.
WHY SUPPORT
- Salsa is a skill that helps build confidence.
- Salsa is a dance and skill you can use your entire life.
- Salsa dancing is healthy. You burn some serious calories on the dance floor!
- Salsa is a fun, safe, and clean activity.
- Tall/short/black/white/gay/straight...salsa is an inclusive community and all are welcome.
- Salsa teaches boys how to lead girls with presence, respect, and grace.
- Salsa empowers girls to be selective (as they should be) and expect proper treatment (as they deserve).
- And lets be honest, girls appreciate boys with some moves :)
WHAT YOUR MONEY WILL GO TOWARDS
- Help pay for dance classes.
- Purchase dance shoes and costumes for those who want to join a team.
- Help kids fly out to salsa congresses to improve their skills. Airfare and hotels.
- Help kids attend social dances.
WHY I'M DOING THIS
As far back as I can remember, I’ve struggled with dance. I always enjoyed music but when it came to moving to it, I had two left feet and zero rhythm. I was the guy at weddings who would stand on the sidelines, trying to bop around to the beat of the music, looking terribly uncomfortable and out of sync.
I’ve always been embarrassed by my lack of dancing abilities.
So last year I decided to do something about it.
I started out by taking hip hop classes. Complete disaster.
I discovered salsa in mid 2017 and started taking beginners classes at night. It was hell for me at first but I slowly started to get more and more comfortable with the basic steps.
I went out social dancing for the first time a month later, scared out of my mind. I parked my car outside the venue and sat inside, engine idling, for a good 10 minutes. I wanted to throw up!
I went inside and worked up the courage to ask a girl to dance.
I spent the entire dance doing the same simple pattern I had learned, over and over again. Wasn't pretty, but it was good enough.
Emboldened by just a shred of confidence (like .000001%), I asked another girl to dance. And then a third.
That night, I made a promise to myself that I’d get better and committed to going salsa dancing at least twice a week.
Week after week, I’d force myself to go out dancing.
I humiliated myself on the dance floor. Stepping on countless toes. Inadvertently swinging these poor girls into other dancers. Dancing terribly off beat. Apologizing hundreds and hundreds of times.
But then, bit by bit, I started improving. And after a couple of months, I noticed I was no longer struggling to hear the beat and dance to it. I was able to do more than just, like, three moves over and over again.
And then one night, I got a compliment from a girl. She asked me how long I had been dancing. I told her just a few months and she didn't believe it. “You’re good!” she told me (probably embellishing a bit).
Her compliment made my night.
And that’s when I was hooked. And I was determined, more than ever before, to improve.
Fast forward a few months…
I still suck.
But I can keep a beat, dance, and have a fun time!
I’m super, super grateful for the salsa community and how its improved my life. Its given me a new skill set and renewed identity.
And, at least here in San Diego, I don't want money to prevent a kid from participating, which is why I’m doing this fundraiser. I don't know that I’ll be able to raise enough to help everyone who needs help, but I’m hoping to be able to help a handful at the very least.
Thanks for reading, and thank you for your support!
CONTACT ME
If you go out salsa dancing, come find me and say hi! I’m the goofy dancing white guy with a colgate smile and a red bandana in my back pocket.
Or reach out and say hello online: