A short chubby lady opened the door and said, “I knew you would be out here. Come on in!”
I was 23 years old, a martial artist, a construction worker and a former gang-banger. I had spent my youth growing up in the streets of the Bronx and here I was getting ready to take my first ballet class!
Little did I know that this decision would be one of the greatest defining moments of my life. Redirecting my life to a path that is still to this day an incredible journey.
Three years later I was in New York City dancing professionally! Wow…
This photo was taken when I was about 25 years old. I was in a rehearsal for a Ballet Gala I was doing for the Fort Pierce Ballet Company in Florida with Nataly Najinski. She was yelling at me to “POINT THOSE FEET!!!!” She was the best ballet teacher I ever had. She took a martial artist who worked construction during the day and former gang-banger and turned him a ballet dancer. HELL…. she put me in TOE SHOES…. OUCH!!!!
I always say, it took God putting me in tights for me to become the man that I am.
