Ricardo, or “Ricky” as his students call him, started dancing at the age of 8. As a child he preferred football but one day his mother convinced him to take a dance class. After the first lesson, he was hooked.

Ricky’s passion for knowledge, perfection, and competitive nature drove his love for dance and pushed him towards competing in International Standard and Latin. At the age of 14, Ricky started coaching other young competitive couples and quickly became known as a young leader and ambassador for the sport.

He participated in many South American and Pan-American championships winning several titles and representing Ecuador on the official Ecuadorian Dance Sport team. Ricky moved to the United States in 2017 to further pursue his competitive dance career. He loves getting the opportunity to share his love of dance with students of all levels.

Shely was born in Ecuador where she was introduced to ballroom dancing. She started dancing at the age of 13 in salsa, bachata, and belly dance. Later, she fell in love with International Standard and Latin. She has represented her country in multiple South American and Pan-American championships often being a finalist and winning several titles in her age category. She was also part of the official Ecuadorian dance sport team until she moved to the United States to pursue her dance goals.

She is currently working towards her Bachelor’s degree in Business and Finance. Shely has great passion and motivation for learning and improving herself and loves to develop her skills to help others through dancing.