Juan Mendez Jr.: From Football to Dancesport
Blood, sweat, and tears forged the spectacular performance given by Juan Mendez Jr. and Ashton Hartman at the U.S. National Amateur Dancesport Championships, where they took second place representing Alaska. This event was held last March in Provo, Utah. It took seven months to practice their dance routine, which ultimately earned them a standing ovation. The instructor who trains them is Kayci Treu.
At 25, Juan—who was born in Fairbanks—shines with a talent he discovered through a twist of fate. He recounts that when he first participated in Dancesport four years ago in Utah, no one could have imagined he would be capable of dancing the way he did at the Provo championship. “I was terrible at dancing. When I was a child, my family tried to get me to dance, and I hated the idea. I was playing football in Cleveland, Ohio, then went to Utah as a student at Brigham Young University in Provo. I tried to play football for BYU, but it didn’t work out. When I got to BYU, there were some dance classes available, and I had a little prior experience from my time in Fairbanks. So, I chose dancing,” he said. For Mendez, Dancesport is more than just technique and art. “I love Dancesport because you can watch American football and basketball, and anyone can play those sports; but how many people do you get to see dance at a high level—and be truly good at it? For some people, it means something more than just dancing; some even come up to congratulate my partner and me after our shows—sometimes with tears in their eyes—because of just how beautiful this sport truly is.” His father is Juan Mendez and hails from Cordova, Mexico. His mother, Michelle Mendez, is from North Pole, Alaska. He has three sisters: Sindy, Tayde, and Isabella. He notes that he has not seen significant Mexican representation within the world of Dancesport. “There’s no reason I can’t be better than everyone else—that I can’t execute moves better—because I carry that Mexican blood within me. I can pave the way for more Mexicans to get involved in Dancesport, and I am so happy to be able to represent Alaska, as well as all the Mexicans in the world, through Dancesport.” A BYU graduate in science five years ago, Juan’s life revolves around dancing as a hobby and engaging in door-to-door sales. “I do sales of pest control from May through August, and I am at home training reps and developing leaders from September through April.” |