My parents are super supportive of me. I didn’t grow up in an affluent family; I have four more siblings, so we became entrepreneurs to help in the house and ourselves at a very young age. And they never said ‘no’ to us. They never stopped me from dancing. I’m very appreciative of that.

It’s like an uphill battle, and although there were people who had worst than me, coming from the residenciales (projects) in Puerto Rico, people tend to label you, pinpoint you, and say that you might become a nobody. I never pay attention to the negative comments and focus on my goal and what makes me happy. Dance has been my number one thing in life and the tool I use to express myself. Comments hurt, but I turned them into something positive to prove them wrong.

I like to switch it up. I can dance salsa, merengue, bachata, hip-hop — which is breaking. So I learned to navigate the essence and basic moves, and then I added my twist. That’s why I look different from the rest.

That is pure inspiration and a boost for me. The support and how they feel when they see me make me feel good. During the Red Bull Dance Your Style 2019, people approached to share their thoughts about me and how my performance made them feel. Right now, I own a studio in Sterling, Virginia, called One Take Studios, where kids can choose between two programs —dance classes or martial arts. So after the competition, I’m flying back home to keep working and sharing all the tools I learned this year. So I would like to invite people to visit my studio located at 22135 Davis Dr. STE 108, Sterling, VA 20164.

It’s pretty funny because my father was a professional musician, and because of that, I grew up to be a musician first; I play the drums, congas, timbales, and that’s where my stage name, Staccato, comes from. However, he didn’t want me to be a musician; he used to say that ‘the entertainment industry is just a life of drug, sex, and money, and you should try to be a doctor or something like that.’ But music is in my blood at the end of the day, and so it is dance. After I graduated from high school, I started to get into dancing, and for a while, it was hard to get my parents to be on board with it, but I want to show them that there’s a right way to go on this path as long as you focus on your goals and here I am today, and my parents couldn’t be prouder.

I think the most important thing first is to create an open mind within the community. A lot of people have a narrow mentality because our ancestors also had it. Personally, coming from a Puerto Rican family, people are very in their ways for a long time, and it is essential to understand that we are a new generation and things are evolving. It is important to adjust, be open-minded and learn about other cultures, accept different cultures. I would like to encourage the Latinx community to be part of the thing you don’t understand.

I think it is so important —especially from someone who was bullied a lot in high school — not to be afraid of people and be yourself, whoever that may be. For a while, I tried to be things that I wasn’t to fit in, which pushed people more and more away from me because people can tell when you are yourself and when you are not. When I started accepting who I am and the things I love, like anime, playing video games, and I’m such a big nerd; I love dancing and talking with my hands, so as people started to realize that I’m comfortable in my skin they gravitate towards that, and I made more connections than ever. So whether you are a boy, girl, or gender non-conforming, just be yourself and don’t worry about what people say.

I’m not going to be competing as much in Florida. I’m going to travel more out of the state and the country for other competitions. I will also be focusing on developing a dance talkshow to interview other dancers and use the platform to highlight the art. I want people to see what my community and I have to offer.

I have so many friends from different circumstances that they had to work in specific jobs that didn’t allow them to express themselves; luckily, I come from a family of artists. My mom is a painter, my sister is a fashion designer, and I’m a visual artist by day. And the dancing was just my way to get out of being the nerd. It is part of our culture, especially being Puerto Rican; it is already in the blood. Although my dad doesn’t understand much of the art, I’m fully supported, and they all are here by my side.

I changed my stage name from ‘Energia’ to ‘Rios’ to honor my last name and roots. Coming back to the arena with a new name shows people that I don’t have a mask and represent where I’m from. After the competition, I want to continue working as a visual artist and expand into dancing and representing other people.

To all the newcomers and kids watching me, please be yourself and don’t worry about judgment. Don’t waste time coming back to the competition after COVID shows us that there’s no time to lose.

My vision is about to hit a glass ceiling. I’m going to start producing bigger things; the scale is getting bigger, and the clients too. I would have a studio.