My Shanghai

Latin dance teacher and performer Jorge Geronimo tells us about his experience on China’s ‘Dancing With the Stars’, the surprising prowess of his playboy bunny dance partner, and where to get the best Mexican in town (it’s not where you’d think).

How did you find out about dancing with Chinese stars?

In 2005, I was in Los Angeles , and I had a Taiwanese girlfriend who told me to watch Wu Lin Da Hui ( China ’s Dancing with the Stars). I said, “I want to be on that show!” Then, three to four years later, I danced with a singer named A Duo on the show and she won second place. She’s from Hunan , but lives in Beijing . That was last year. When you have 40 million people watching you on TV, it feels good. Three weeks ago, they called me again to choreograph 18 dancers for the opening show.

Who do you think will win this year?

Last season, the girls were all actresses and this time, they’re all radio and TV hosts, and there are a lot of guys. I think it’s going to be a guy.

How did you get into dancing?

I started back in Mexico when I was 10 or 11 with some traditional folk dancing. When I went to America , I did modern dance, like jazz and hip hop. Then, I did salsa and tried to get formal training for Latin and ballroom dancing in Los Angeles .

And now the pupil has become the master. Who have been your favourite students?

I had one really good student, Barbara Moore, who was a playmate. At the beginning, people believed she couldn’t dance, but she was pretty talented. She would take 10 classes a week. Together, we won many national Pro-Am competitions.

Apart from whether they’ve been surgically enhanced, what can you tell about people by dancing with them?

You can tell a lot: emotional, psychological, and physical issues. You can hear it like a truck, especially if you dance tango.

What’s your favourite dance invention?

We call it the Latin Cross. You cross the girl, lift her from the waist, while she does a flip and lands in a split. When she puts her legs together, I grab the other hand and I slide her under my legs, throw her, and she does a backbend, gets up, turns, then we turn and spin, and I dance towards her and we start up again.

When you’re not dancing, where do you like to cut loose?

Believe it or not, I actually don’t party too much. I did a lot of partying back in the day in LA, mid 1990s. I was going to the Roxy, where I was producing music. There was also an outstanding Mayan Club. It’s a huge old 1920s theatre. Everybody was just spinning on the floor, flipping girls, dipping, dropping, quite insane. Now, maybe on the weekend I’ll study Chinese or go to some nice dinner, but I don’t do much partying. I don’t drink alcohol or smoke.

When did you decide to lose the booze?

I think it’s been already six, seven years. I don’t miss it. If someone invites me for dinner, a little sip of wine is enough. I like to feel awake, like this. If you drink alcohol, you start feeling drowsy.

What do you do with all that extra health and energy?

I like sightseeing in little towns in Shanghai . I like to go to old towns like Xitang and Tongli and try the authentic food, sit and drink tea with the people, watch the locals, go to the art galleries, stuff like that. I also want to go to Chengdu , and I haven’t been to Jiangsu or Sichuan yet. Tibet is definitely one of my goals. I practice Buddhism and like its philosophy.

When did you get into Buddhism?

Since 1991 in the US , I started reading Buddhist philosophy. I read a little bit of different religions. I grew up Catholic, but to me, it was too strict. I knew deep inside I was spiritual, but not so much of a religious person. I like to eat some chicken, fish, but some Buddhists don’t eat any meat at all.

A lot of Mexican restaurants have sprung up in the past year. Which is the most authentic?

The most authentic I tried is actually Zapata’s. I like the fajitas, the chicken mole, the corn tortillas – delicious. The margaritas are good too. I’ve been to Maya too. It’s not really pure Mexican food, but a combination. The food and service are excellent. At Cantina Agave I hated the food. The margarita tasted like all kinds of things, and it gave me a headache and a weird feeling for six to seven hours.

If you weren’t teaching dance, what would you be doing?

I would do international trade. That’s another passion of mine: import, export, with the commodities. Before, I was doing steel scraps. I was about to make seven million dollars in one deal selling 370,000 metric tonnes of steel scrap from Africa to India, but everything went down in one shot.

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