We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ray Ryan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ray below.

Ray , appreciate you joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

During the years of 2014-2016, I was stationed in Belgium serving NATO as a U.S. Army Officer. While there, I lived in the area where I first began to learn the dances of Salsa, Bachata, and Kizomba. When the Army relocated me back to home, the small town I lived in only had 1 Salsa teacher. His Name was Antonio Medina. He was about to retire from the military and relocate to the state capital where he could grow as a dance teacher with are larger pool of students.

I already knew I was a good teacher; I used to teach and create curriculums for my Church Childrens ministry. As a Solider both enlisted and as an officer, I was responsible to teach, train and mentor junior Soldiers in the Army throughout my career.

I enjoyed learning about dance and Salsa, in particular, I knew I wanted to grow and dance more. Since there was a vacancy in the small town, I decided to try and fill that vacancy by providing free dance lessons in the area.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up believing I was rhythm handicapped. I was that timid guy at the school dance who would sit against the wall and envy those who could get out there and not care and just dance.

While I was in the military and 34, I served a tour with NATO in Belgium. The first year I was there I was too busy to have any real hobbies. I would ride my motorcycle when I could find time and the weather permitted.

I did take a small vacation to Bucharest Romania to visit a Romanian officer I had met previously in my career. While there, They informed me we were going Salsa dancing that night. I had a vague idea that there was a Dance called Salsa. and that is it.

We linked up with some other people and we all went to this Club in the city where there were over two hundred people dancing on the dance floor. This music was exhilarating, the people were all having fun. I observed three things that intrigued me. 1) Some of the people we came with were romantic partners. yet they would each dance with other people without anger or jealousy. 2) They had an open bar, yet what I saw most were people leaving the dance floor, wiping the sweet from their arms and quickly drink a bottle of water before the next song began. 3) There were twenty +/- beautiful ladies patiently waiting for a man to ask them to dance.

I knew I wanted to be a part of a community that is not prone to jealousy, not surrounded by drunkenness, and where I, as a single guy, might find someone romantically. Bottom line: everyone looked like they were having a blast. except me, who was sitting in my place against the wall observing.

I returned to Belgium and after a few months of my busy schedule, my job title changed. Suddenly I had more free time on my hands. I was walking through the Grand Place of Mons Belgium, and I passed a signed that ready “Sexy Salsa Sundays”. It offered Salsa, and Bachata lessons followed by a dance party. I knew exactly where I would be the next day. This is how my dance Journey began.

I spent the next 2 years learning as much about dance as I could in Mons. Since all of my lessons were in French, I became more fluent in the language and learned more about the Belgian culture.

I returned to the United States in 2016 and I knew I wanted to dance. The little town of Sierra Vista Arizona did not have a Salsa teacher anymore, so I began offering lessons in my home. I quickly realized; I only knew half of the dance. In partner dances, there is a Lead and a Follow. Lead is the traditional male, and the Follow is the traditional female. I only knew what the leads were supposed to do. I ran into another challenge; I didn’t have a process of teaching. I didn’t have enough knowledge about teaching Salsa or Dance in general to offer quality instruction. I had heard of a school in Brussels called Black Belt Salsa. I never took the course. The guy who used to teach Salsa in sierra Vista is a certified Black Belt Salsa teacher. He now lives in Pheonix. After talking with him, he said, each Blackbelt Salsa teacher is required to learn both the lead and follow steps, to include ladies styling. They were also required to learn to dance Salsa on 1 and Salsa on 2. I had little notion of the difference between the two at the time. I knew I needed more structure and knowledge to offer quality classes. He introduced to the creator of the Black Belt Salsa Curriculum Edith Williams, Edie the Salsa Freak (R) in Denver Colorado. I was sold into the idea of learning Salsa without having to learn a pattern of movements to memorize, it is a system that allows the student to create their own patterns of movement based on the movements they have learned how they interprete the music. I began to expand my knowledge and resume as a potential dance teacher.

I moved from Arizona to Oklahoma where I finally retired. during my last few years in the Army, I would continue to try and teach Salsa, Bachata, and Kizomba dance in Lawton. I quickly realized; my military career would not allow me to maintain consistency with classes. One week, I might have to go on a trip to another state or country. I might have to work all night the next night. Or I might have Army training or field training which always took priority to my dance classes.

My solution for that problem was to only teach private lessons until such time as I was able to retire from the Army. Which was within a year or two.
During this time of transition, I would go dancing in Oklahoma City (OKC) as often as possible. I became known to the studio owners in the area and was invited to participate in their events. I was approach by Hazel Lopez, Director of International Dance Studio, in Oklahoma City to help her teach the Salsa and Bachata Classes at her Studio. I agreed and I began to drive from Lawton OK, to OKC twice a week while my military retirement was processing. I decided to relocate to Oklahoma City and make it my home. I am now Co-direct of International Dance Studio. I met my wife there. I proposed to her there and I Married her at International Dance Studio.

One aspect of the Latin Dance community which continues to inspire me, is I do not have to go to a bar or club to dance with people. I can find a dance community Almost every major city in the world, I have danced in Germany, Romania, France, Belgium, Holland, and all over the United States. In these places I have not seen security guards or bouncers because these socials hosted at studios are family friendly. The people to go to these Social dance parties are students who want to socialize and practice their skills.

When people come into my class or take a private lesson from me, I make sure they have little to no stress in the learning process. I will teach them at their level and speed of learning. Practice makes progress. I do not strive for perfection. My moto for dance is “Never perfect, Always beautiful.” I want to teach people the beauty they have within themselves and share it with the world through dance.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When I first returned to the United States, I began taking lessons with Antonio Medina. I have been taking group dance lessons for two years by this time. As I was trying to learn more complex moves, Tony Stopped me and said, “let’s work on your Basic Step.” I was crushed. I already thought I mastered that. He wanted to take me backwards when I wanted to go forward. This really humbled me as I thought I was better than I was. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I realized, a great dancer has to continue to practice the basics and revisit those lessons. I once heard it said, “The basic step is the first this you learn and the last thing you master”. UNK.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I am allowed to be a beginner at something again. It is difficult for someone who has achieved a level of mastery in one area of their life and now they choose to start over and learn something new for the first time. I was 34 years old when I began dancing. I was concerned that I would look like an id*ot in class. I realized I was in the beginner class with other beginners. Everyone in the class would be at the same level and making the same mistakes I would make. I had to allow my pride to take a backseat and let me be a beginner again.

I initially imagined myself in a class with 7- and 8-year-olds who could outperform me. In the case of Adult Salsa classes, there were students off all ages. some were senior citizens; others were successful businesspeople. There and others were young people just beginning their adult lives. I was right where I belonged as a student with others like me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rayraysalsa.com
• Instagram: @rayraysalsa
• Facebook: Ray Ray Salsa LLC
• Youtube: rayraysalsa
• Other: Check out our Podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and Youtube. Search for Ray Ray Salsa and you will find all of our episode.

Image Credits
Annabel Valencia Photography