Dancing through the rows of students, punching his chest, breathing harder and harder, Krenly Guzman wanders around the Ventura College classroom dancing and explaining the history of post-modern dance. He believes that his students need to know the history of the time as well as the subject they are learning about.

The students stand and join him as he teaches. As the students dance, Guzman defines every moment they make. A certain touch can change everything between the two people, and he embraces the finest details.

The students like the interaction.

“[It] explains dance a lot better,” says Cody Huffman, dance major at Ventura College, about how Guzman fares against the other teachers. “I will be taking another class with him.”

This is Guzman‘s first year at Ventura College and he has become the first full time dance teacher there. He teaches Ballet, Modern Dance, Hip Hop, and Dance Appreciation.

With his experience in dance, he has seen every type of body dance and knows what can make or break their steps. Watching him teach his Modern Dance class, anyone can see the passion he brings to the students.

He helps the students remain at ease to create relaxation before and while they’re performing their dance.

Guzman knew he wanted to dance since he was six years old. Being a native from Chicago and living in Puerto Rico for many years, Guzman grew up knowing that dancing was in his blood.

He is the only person in his family to be a dancer and being in Puerto Rico helped him like it more because of the culture around it.

Due to insufficient funds for dance classes as a child, he waited until he entered college to try to accomplish his dream.

He applied for Columbia College out of high school and got accepted as a dance major. Since he couldn’t afford going to the school, he applied and received many scholarships based on his academic achievements, race, and gender.

“Not that many Latin men were applying for dance, and that gave me a wider range of scholarship money,” said Guzman.

Without any prior experience, Guzman started to take his dancing in stride. Slowly but surely, the passion of dance took over Guzman in his freshman year when his teacher started to notice his talents.

After a year and a half went by, he started to dance professionally for Columbia College. He then left Columbia College for a while to join the Bryant Ballet. This is where he met his mentor and colleague, Homer Bryant.

“This is where I learned about gender roles and how certain structures weren’t allowed in dance,” says Guzman about what he was taught under Homer Bryant. “I wanted to leave Columbia for a while so I could understand what dance was like outside of the college settings.”

Guzman came back to graduate from Columbia and then he started to teach there in 1994 and taught dance for 12 years. During that span he also helped teach dance at Northwestern University, DePaul University, and Fairbanks University.

After leaving Columbia College, he came to California to attend University of California, Los Angeles. He then graduated with an MFA in dance from their World Arts and Culture department.

“I chose this program just in case dance doesn’t work out for me later on in life,” says Guzman about the choice of going back to school.

Looking for a job, Guzman came to Ventura having heard they were looking for a dance teacher. Guzman is now the only full time dance teacher Ventura College has.

“Krenly Guzman, the first full-time dance instructor VC has ever had, is an excellent addition to the VC faculty,” says Judy Garey, department chair of the Theatre Arts and Dance. “He was hired for the experience he brings as a professional and a teacher in the field of Dance.”

Guzman appreciates everything that has come in his life. He accomplished his dream and is inspiring people to fulfill their dreams as well.

He may not have received millions of dollars or fans for what he does, but it’s what he wanted to do since he could remember. Dance is everything to him and he hopes that whoever has the same passion for something like he does with dance, just keep going at it, no matter what.

“Life is a choreography,” says Guzman.