By Melissa Reyes

The love of dance sparked in the heart of a young boy in Puerto Rico many moons ago.  Inspired to live the American Dream, attend college and make a life for himself, the young man came to the U.S. to attend school.  The fire that burned in his heart for dancing was fueled in the last place he would have expected.  Anthony Persaud became passionate about dancing Salsa when he was in college at Iowa State University.  He participated in a Latin Dance Night and being one of the few Puerto Ricans there, his friends came to him to learn how to do the moves. Overnight he became a teacher and his passion for Salsa dance and Latin music was ignited and has been burning for more ever since.  

Anthony Persaud loves dance from his heart and soul to the tips of his fingers and toes.  His heart beats for Salsa.  Being a software engineer, Anthony doesn’t consider himself to be romantic. His love affair with dancing came out of necessity.  He loves technology and he loves people.  He is an innovative salsa dance instructor who is most passionate about bringing the love of Salsa dancing to the world. Addicted2Salsa.com is his website where he helps beginners learn to dance as he blogs about his own experiences and posts step by step videos. Now he brings dance to your fingertips.  You can learn to dance by using your cell phone and Addicted to Salsa’s Pocket Salsa App.  

Anthony’s motto is “Life is too short not to do what you love.”  A man true to his word, he left his full time job to devote himself to his passion of teaching salsa.  Anthony has developed his spicy Pocket Salsa mobile phone app as the perfect way for dancers to refresh their memory on certain steps when they are at a club. According to Persaud, he realized that dancers really needed this when he was mastering his moves, “I'd learn a move in a class, and by the time I arrived at the club, I would have blanked out on it. The app is there to help in reviewing and learning new moves, from the very basics to the very complex, in order for you to use them at the club and prevent 'blanking out.”

Pocket Salsa has been recognized by Apple as an "App Store℠ Essentials - Date Night" and has been featured in the NY Times as one of the "apps that makes you feel like dancing". Persaud says the app is just like a Salsa DVD, “it allows you to play the content on your phone, tablet, TV or a projector.” Learn to dance in your pajamas, barefoot on the beach, anywhere you are anytime you feel like it!  According to Anthony, most people can learn basic steps and combinations, in about an hour, even if they have never done it before. All you need is the desire to learn and an internet connection!

What is ahead for Addicted2Salsa, will Anthony Persaud find new ways to bring
salsa into the lives of more people?  “At Addicted2Salsa, we focus on fusing the “Salsa experience” with technology. As technology changes, we can utilize it to help share Salsa dancing, music and knowledge to places that otherwise would not have access to it. When we first started there was no YouTube. YouTube came and we helped distribute more videos all over the world. Then Facebook came and we were able to build a growing community of Salsa dancers. Now we have an App Store, where we can help people share and learn Salsa wherever they are in the world with our Pocket Salsa app. Salsa is universal and timeless.”

Anthony says, “Salsa is more than just the music and the dance. It is transformative. It changes the way you dress, where you spend your time, the friends you meet, the shape you are in, where you travel, what TV shows you watch, and so on. When an average person thinks of ‘Salsa’, they think of just a dance without realizing all the marvelous cascading effects it creates for a more fruitful life.”  

Persaud’s motivation lies deeper than using technology to teach.  He says that he is fueled “by the salsa addicts all over the world, who email him with their stories on how salsa has changed their life for the better. It is the emotional fuel that keeps Addicted2Salsa.com running. Salsa changed my life even with the limited access I had as a child. I believe that by making it more available with the use of technology, more people can be given a chance to experience Salsa and grow their passion for it.”  Anthony’s desire to share his love of technology and his love of dance with others burns brightly in everything that he does.  His heart is in the right place.

Credits:

http://www.pocketsalsa.com/
"App Store℠ Essentials - Date Night"