RAMON REYNOSO:
DANCER, CHOREOGRAPHER, INSTRUCTOR EXTRA ORDINAIRE

By Leslie Odelberg for The Times-Standard
Article Launched: 10/03/2008 01:21:18 AM PDT

Link to original article: http://www.times-standard.com/ci_10627100?IADID=Search-www.times-standard.com-www.times-standard.com

The Latin rhythmic sound of the Mexican band Mana pulses from the large gym at Healthsport. Inside 30 women of all ages pivot, kick and leap to the music, following dance instructor Ramon Reynoso. Ramon, a powerhouse of energy and enthusiasm leads the dancers as they are swept into the sensual, dynamic movement.

Each week Ramon creates original choreography that combines steps from the Latin rhythms, salsa, meringue, mambo and cha cha, along with steps from jazz, ballet and tap. His dances are often fast paced and Ramon has high expectations for his students. They rise to the occasion and often learn a complex three minute routine in an hour.

”The technical focus of learning the steps to build a routine, which changes each week if not each class, is good exercise for the mind as well as the body,” dancer Beth Shipley. “Ramon's personality is fun and magnetic...no matter the mood I arrive in, I know his class will lift my spirits.”

Watching him dance is inspiring; and he makes the movement look effortless. It is not only the love of dance that is contagious in Ramon's class; Ramon has a vitality and zest for life that is a joy to be around.

Says dancer, Ellen Weiss of Ramone's class, “Now my schedule revolves around dance class and everyone at work knows I am unavailable until 10:30 on dance days. I have not studied much dance in the past, but Ramon has always made me feel welcome. He encourages everyone to come and to put
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their hearts and souls into the routines. If he is ever critical, it is because we are not 'showing the passion.' He has endless energy and a unique ability to share it with others.”

Ramon grew up in Mexico City in the neighborhood of Ecatepec.

”In Mexico everyone learns to dance, it is a talent you grow up with, dancing all the time with your parents and at parties,” Ramon said.

One of six children, Ramon comes from a family of performing and visual artists. His grandfather played guitar, his father is a painter and Ramon's mother sang in a band in the Sonora style of Cumbia and Boleros. Ramon credits his interest in dance to his cousins Dario Hernandez and Enrique Lugo who were dancers. As a young child Ramon watched them dance and copied what he saw. He loved to entertain at family gatherings and remembers the warm feeling of applause.

At age 10 he and his brothers formed a band inspired by the group Kiss and entertained for children's birthday parties and community events. Ramon played the guitar dressed in a red cape, and their father painted their faces black and white similar to the Kiss band members.

Ramon began formally studying dance at age 17 with the Ballet Academy of Guadalajara and the Tevevisa Academy, which trains movie and theater artists. He studied jazz, tap, ballet and the Latin rhythms and earned a degree in dance.

After finishing school Ramon began dancing in musicals including Grease, Jesus Christ Super Star and the Wizard of Oz. He was given an award for dancing in 250 performances of the Wizard of Oz in Guadulajara. He also worked as a back up dancer for Mexican musical groups such as Acapulco 91. He eventually became a dance teacher for Televisa, a national television Company in Mexico and taught dance in Guadulajara, Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta.

Ramone moved to the United States in 1995 and began teaching dance at Healthsport in Arcata and working as a waiter in a local restaurant. In 1997 Ramon opened a dance studio in Arcata called Inter Dance. One of his favorite memories is of a very popular show he performed with his studio dancers called Cinema Dancers. Under his direction they danced to a variety of movie soundtracks and wore costumes inspired by the movies.

Ramon continued to develop his dance expertise by studying with the New York City Dance Alliance in 1998 and with the Imagine Dance Company in Las Vegas in 1999. In 2002 Ramon had the opportunity to travel and teach salsa, mambo and cha cha in Italy, Spain and France with a San Francisco company, Latinos which promotes Latin Dance.

For the past 14 years Ramon has taught dance to all ages of the Humboldt community including pre-school students at the HSU's Children's Center, elementary students at Jacoby Creek and Morris schools in the Spanish immersion program. He has also taught Latin style dance through Humboldt State University Extension.

Salsa student Beth Shipley recalls, “One of my best memories is from an evening salsa class with Ramon. I didn't have a partner in the class, so he danced with me for a few songs. It was like being in heaven.. being lead so expertly. A rare experience of the real thing!”

Some of Ramon's students grew up dancing with him. Danielle Chien, now 18 and a sophomore and dance team member at the University of California, Berkeley, remembers taking jazz class from him with her mom Heidi when she was 7 years old.

”Ramon taught me to connect and intertwine the music to the movement... to feel the accents and bring them out with my body. In third grade Ramon choreographed a dance for my girlfriend and I for a school talent show. We brought down the house! When I was in sixth grade at Pacific Union, Ramon was commissioned to teach the entire sixth grade class. 80 sixth graders, a dance to the music Thriller, which we performed in the bus barn. This was the first experience in synchronized movement and dance for lots of kids. We were dressed as zombies and we came out of graves. We had so much fun! Everyone got into it, including the boys, who were hesitant at first,” remembers Chien.

Ramon also sings with Nueve Illusion, a nine member band that plays Cumbia, Norteno, Romantica and other traditional Mexican music. Ramon's two sons sing, are interested in movie making and inherited his musical performance talent, Jonathan age 15, plays the drums and Christopher age 9, plays piano, trumpet and guitar.

Ramon teaches Dance Mix at Healthsport on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays at 9 a.m. and Sundays at 10:30 a.m.. As Ramon's class come to an end, the dancers line up hand in hand in front of the mirror for a bow. Ramon thanks everyone for coming, and especially the new students for staying. There is a round of applause from all and with sweaty and flushed faces the dancers emerge smiling, ready to start the day.