My life started out in a rough place. I was put into the foster care system when I was four, after my birth mother could not take care of me and my three blood related sisters. After a few homes where we experienced abuse and mistreatment we landed together in a wonderful home with my parents Rudy and Gayle Rascon. They adopted us as soon as they could – when I was 7 years and three days old. That day will always be the happiest day of my life.
A few months later I took my first dance class.
my sisters were in ballet class while my brothers and I were in karate, but I couldn’t stop jumping around so they put me in a ballet class where at least I could jump around to music. Ever since then I’ve been dancing. After my first performance I got scared but my mom urged me to try it again and I fell in love with being in front of people. Now I can’t get enough of performing, I believe that’s what I was put on earth to do….. bring my love for art of ballet to as many people as I can and to show that great things can happen to anyone, no matter how their life started out.
I come from a family of 12 kids ,all but two adopted. Having that many kids to support, funding for my incessant need to go out and train in dance was hard to find. So I’ve always needed scholarships and I’ve been fortunate the so many organizations have been willing to help me.
All of my regular dance lessons were on scholarship from various dance studios here in Santa Fe New Mexico. I was only able to get where I am through grants and funding from the various programs that I have attended such as BB the rock school ABT, SAB and UNCSA.
Starting from the age of 14 I was away from home a lot in these programs. The transition from being a teenager into a young man was especially hard given that I was away from my parent’s guidance. I made some un-wise decisions because of the crowd I surrounded myself with. I made some mistakes. I have since learned from those errors in judgment and they have made me into a stronger, more mature person who is willing to stop at nothing to live my life as a professional dancer. These speed bumps I encountered have helped me understand how special the art of dance is and how it deserves respect in every way possible
