Today we’d like to introduce you to Araceli Cervantes.
Araceli Angelica Cervantes is a 28-year-old actress and dancer. Her love for the arts has been apparent from a young age and brings a smile to her face each and every time she immerses herself in her craft. She began her acting training at the University of California, San Diego in 2009, where she immersed herself in effective acting methods and stage movement. She had the amazing opportunity to study abroad in Greece in 2011 to study classical text and greek dance! She also was the female protagonist for a short film, Broceando por Lucero, which was an official selection at the XIV CINE POBRE FILM FESTIVAL 2016!
She began her dance training at age ten by studying the Mexican traditional dance style of Ballet Folklorico. She then continued her training in tap, jazz, hip hop, and lyrical dance at Sweetwater High School in National City, California on the advanced dance team, where she performed in school assemblies, dance concerts and Disneyland. She then continued her dance training at the University of California, San Diego, where she focused on training in contemporary and Latin dance. Her college dance performance credits include Pedestrian Politics Performance Project (2011) and Winterworks (2012).
Her Latin dance training began in 2011 with Salsa Inferno Dance Company, where she focused on salsa, bachata, cha-cha, and merengue. She then joined the ladies styling team, bachata couples team, and salsa couples team at Deseo Studios, where she has performed at the Las Vegas Salsa Congress, San Diego Salsa Congress, Palm Springs Salsa Congress and the Aventura Dance Cruise. She is currently dancing with Studio K Dance and Fitness and has performed at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park and Balboa Park.
She also competed in the World Salsa Summit in 2018, 2019 and 2020. At the World Salsa Summit in 2020, she became a world champion Latin dancer by winning 1st and 2nd place titles in the salsa improvisation categories and 3rd place titles in the merengue and cha cha improvisation categories!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My recent focus has been being a competitive Latin dancer. Being a competitive Latin dancer comes with ups and downs. At the World Salsa Summit competition in both 2018 and 2019, my goal was to place in the top three. Unfortunately, that goal was not accomplished in either year. I would get close by being .12 and .18 of a point away from placing. Seeing these scores two years in a row did start to feel a bit discouraging. However, I had to put everything back into perspective and learned lessons from both years. I started training in the areas that needed improvement and focused more on the connection with my dance partners.
I knew that I had to continue working hard because I was so close and I was determined to make this goal a reality. 2020 would be my third year competing and I made it my goal to make the “third time a charm.” I trained harder and made sure to keep my motivation going by taking a yoga class to improve my flexibility and made sure to remain healthy and strong. With my determination and focus, I was able to place 1st and 2nd in the salsa improvisation categories and place 3rd in the merengue and cha cha improvisation categories! I had finally accomplished this goal and it was one of the most amazing feelings in the world! I am excited to continue to the journey and set more goals for myself in the competitive dance world 🙂
My advice would be to never give up on your goals and allow yourself to do what it takes to get there. Surround yourself with mentors and people that will help you accomplish these goals and provide guidance, support, and motivation along the way.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
My determination to accomplish my goals in the world of competitive Latin dance and being able to accomplish these goals with hard work and dedication has allowed me to motivate and inspire others to follow their dreams. I am always humble about my accomplishments and use my knowledge to help others reach their goals. I often get asked how I got to the place I am now.
I always let people know that they need to find those people who will help them get to where they want to be. It is important to have support along the way and have someone believe in you. It is also important to believe in yourself and allow yourself to be in a place where you can focus on the goals you have in order to make them a reality.
Do you feel like there was something about the experiences you had growing up that played an outsized role in setting you up for success later in life?
From a very young age, I have been a self-sufficient and organized individual that has high expectations about what I accomplish in life. I approach every day as efficiently as possible and make sure I accomplish what needs to be done. I was the salutatorian of my high school class and went on study at the University of California, San Diego, where I got my Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and minored in Theater and Dance.
My focused mindset has always allowed me to see a task or goal at hand and do what it takes to get myself to accomplish the goal or task. I know that if I set my mind to something and know what it takes to get there, I can make it happen if I work hard and remain focused.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aracelicervantes.com
- Instagram: aacervan
Image Credit:
Mike Menegus, Viridiana Silva (photos in black costume)
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