Writers and creatives often get stuck because they’re afraid of looking bad. Rodney Eric Lopez — teacher, salsa leader, and author of I Don’t Speak Spanish, But I Understand Everything When I’m Dancing! — shows how social dance creates a safe space for play, dissolves perfectionism, and reignites creative momentum. He traces his pivot from corporate PR into teaching, movement, and authorship, and explains how dance became a nonverbal doorway into heritage as a Bronx New Yorican who didn’t grow up speaking Spanish.
About Rodney Eric Lopez
Rodney Eric López is an accomplished educator, artist, and non-profit leader. His diverse professional background includes successful tenures in teaching artistry in public schools in New York City and beyond, training, coaching and facilitation, corporate communications and public relations, and executive non-profit leadership.
Rodney served as Executive Director of Dancing Classrooms in New York City, where he was responsible for leading program growth, supporting new business efforts, training and professional development, and serving as the face of the organization in stewardship of its 20 national and international affiliates. His teaching work with Dancing Classrooms is featured in the Paramount Classics hit documentary Mad Hot Ballroom. He is a master instructor of Latin and social dance and has taught children and adults the art of dance both for personal enjoyment and as a powerful tool for team and community building.
Prior to his career in arts education, Rodney was a successful professional in the area of communications and PR, serving in communication leadership roles at North General Hospital, the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone and BSMG Worldwide. He is the creator of the Generosity and Abundance Process online course and author of The Generosity Solution. He founded Currents RI, a giving circle dedicated to engaging men of color in philanthropic purpose. He has served on several boards and is a member of the Rhode Island Foundation’s Equity Leadership Initiative.
He is the author of “I Don’t Speak Spanish, but I Understand Everything When I’m Dancing!“, a social memoir that explores the intersection of language shame, identity, and Salsa.
Rodney holds a B.S. in Communications Studies from New York University where he was a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholar and a Certificate in Spiritual Entrepreneurship from The Glean Network and Columbia Business School.
Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodney-eric-lopez/
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