Edwin Rivera has one of the more interesting stories of all the superstars in the world of Latin dance. He was just 15 years old when his mother gave him an ultimatum, start going to dance school or join the military. She was at her wits end with his delinquent behaviour and gave him this choice. He chose to dance and started lessons at Starlight Dance Studio where he met his first mentor, David Melendez. David took him under his wing, giving him firm guidelines for behaviour and then started raising money for Rivera to go to the Los Angeles Salsa Congress.



“I threw the gun in the garbage, and it was history after that,” says Rivera, now aged 28 and an international salsa star.



Before he arrived there, Rivera says he didn’t know what the Los Angeles Congress was or what to expect. But he does know that after he took that first step onto the stage, his life was turned around. He was presented with opportunites he could not have imagined before that. He taught Ben Stiller to dance the cha-cha-cha for the movie “Along Came Polly” and eventually was able to play the role of Roberto Roena in “El Cantante” with Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez.



He says it was performing at the LA Salsa Congress that made him realize he wanted to be an entertainer for life.