Born and raised in a small village in Guatemala, Sergio Fuentes happened to be the son of a great Latin dancer. Since boys and girls were schooled in separate classes, when he was 12, he and a friend thought up an idea to help them meet some of the area's young ladies. They decided to organize "dancing afternoons" each Sunday to bring the village's youth together. There was just one problem; neither of them knew how to dance. The two friends then set out to learn the steps of salsa, merengue and cha cha and soon began getting practise during their Sunday events.
At age 15, Sergio began taking serious classes and quickly fell in love. Not long after his 18th birthday, he tried his luck in the village's salsa competition and won first place. It was clear he'd followed in his father's footsteps.
In 1982, in search of a better life, he relocated to Canada with his daughter. He found work as an alarm system technician after completing a course, but friends kept nudging him to teach dance. "I was shy and too afraid to be up there in front of a group," says Sergio. "But in 1987 I finally gave in. I decided I'd give courses as a way to conquer my shyness." Académie de Salsa de Montréal opened on a stretch of St. Laurent Blvd. as the very first school to teach salsa in Montreal.
