An athlete since childhood, dance did not come naturally to David. In March 2014, at age 31, he decided he wanted to learn how to dance and so he began his dance journey! Football, volleyball, & jujitsu were his athletic pursuits throughout his childhood & early adulthood. He retired from football in 2011 as the team captain of the Outlaws, a semi-pro team in Philadelphia, after leading them into championship for 4 years. He was also captain of his high school volleyball team and, prior to that, he competed in jujitsu. David has had many coaches who introduced him to different teaching styles that he later used in his approach to dance. As a competitive athlete, he learned to break down complicated concepts into simple steps which turned out to be a helpful skill during his dance training and as a dance teacher. 

 

When he started taking dance classes, he just wanted to see how far he could push himself and, with a lot of hard work, focus and dedication, he was able to achieve more than he could have ever imagined. Most recently, in Winter of 2022, he won 1 place in The Pro-Am Team Bachata at the World Global Summit several other awards as part of the AIM team. 

 

David has always taken his training serious, so dance made no exception. Only 5 months after taking his first dance class, he started training under Darlin Garcia & Sharonne Vinokurov for pro-am competitions. He traveled to Guatemala and Columbia to deepen his training and, in the US, he worked on is technique with masters like Kiri Chapman, Anya Katsevman, Eli Torres, Billy Fajardo, & others. He worked hard and progressed quickly. His work ethic and humble nature were noticed by everyone and, after only 18 months of dancing, he was invited to be part of the AIM semi-pro team and later the AIM pro team. 

 

David has gathered many awards as an amateur, on his own and as part of the AIM teams, but the one dearest to his heart is the AIM Most Valuable Performer at the Spring 2015 AIM showcase as he was the first to receive this award along with his amateur partner, Ioan McCartney.

 

As a teacher, he genuinely enjoys his students and is invested in their growth. He likes to challenge them, just like he challenges himself, because he believes anyone is capable of anything with a little bit of sweat and perseverance.