The history of Santo Rico dates back to 1995. The name of the dance company is derived from the initial members of the group being half from Santo Domingo (Santo) and half from Puerto Rico (Rico), hence the name "Santo Rico." Santo Rico was initially formed by Wilton Beltre, a Dominican native, who expressed his love for dance by displaying his street style of dancing Mambo/Salsa in local nightclubs in New York City. Prior to forming Santo Rico, Wilton received dancing instruction from the well renowned Eddie Torres. This gave him professionalism, grace and ultimately led to the development of a unique style. During his stint with Mr. Torres Wilton excelled and brought his dancing ability to such a high level that he became one of the most outstanding members of The Eddie Torres Dance Company.

After several years with The Eddie Torres Dance Company Wilton decided to start his own dance company called Santo Rico Dance Co. At first there were many difficulties to surmount, due to things like, the dance company not having a place of its own, hence its members having to submit to inconvenient schedules and rules and regulations of people who didn't understand its purpose and its art, and the unstable business environment, making it difficult to establish a sturdy foundation at the time. However, Wilton was not discouraged. For the meantime Wilton held the group's rehearsals on the second floor of a restaurant called "La Pequeña España" _ "Pequeña" meaning very small in Spanish and indeed the space was very small. At times, he would take most of his students on some Sundays to Jones Beach and give them classes out there perhaps either because his Sunday class schedule conflicted with that of the person he was subletting from, or it was just way too hot due to the lack of air conditioning in some of the places where he taught. By this time, despite all the adversity, Wilton's relentlessness persevered because his classes grew at a rapid rate. Once people found out about Wilton's dance school and how much his students were progressing at the art via his tutelage, they flocked to Wilton's classes wanting to learn how to dance, and right before his eyes Wilton's school established itself as one of the best Salsa schools among the Dominican community.

One of the turning points for Santo Rico came when Wilton acquired rehearsal space through a friend in Wilton’s stomping grounds in Washington Heights. This was Wilton's big break because they sold the place to him at an incredibly low price and in pretty good condition. Wilton immediately took advantage of this opportunity and in his short time teaching he had his own school, with his own schedule and the chance to build an even stronger foundation from his aspirations. By 1996 Santo Rico Dance School was officially up and running and in full swing, with space and time available for more rehearsals and more classes.

Santo Rico’s first performance was at a Dominican Festival in Washington Heights called Gozamba, where Santo Rico shared a stage with world renown Merenguero, Fernando Villalona, televised by Univision’s channel 41, the Latin community's most popular channel. Eventually Santo Rico was invited to perform on a program called "Sabado al Medio Dia" on Univision. This performance marked the beginning of something special because it drew an even larger following of students and increased Santo Rico's popularity among other communities as well. Several promoters and organizations, including Channel 41, grew interested in the group. Univision put them in some of their commercials, and from this a lot of other performances and opportunities arose. Wilton’s vision and his dreams were becoming a reality. Thereafter, they were invited to perform at a fund raiser at a club located in downtown Manhattan called "Roxy" hosted by Michael DeLorenzo and Lauren Velez of Fox 5's "New York Undercover," one of the hottest shows on TV at the time.

In 1997 Santo Rico was invited to perform in Madison Square Garden, and at The First Annual World Salsa Congress in Puerto Rico where they were invited to perform one of the hottest routines out at the time, "Soneros de Bailadores" choreographed by Wilton Beltre. It was this particular routine that actually put Santo Rico on the dancing map, during which time many other dancers identified with the Santo Rico style of dancing. Wilton and Santo Rico only got better with every performance, and rapidly became one of the best dance companies at the time.

In 1997 the company was faced with many challenges, both good and bad. The company was at its highest dancing-wise, but adversity on other fronts forced Wilton to relinquish the group. This was Santo Rico’s biggest challenge and disappointment yet. At that point, the group lost all direction without Wilton's leadership and experience. The reality of Wilton's unexpected departure left the group disoriented and unprepared to deal with the daily grind of managing the group's affairs on a full-time basis. Ultimately, the members of the company went their separate ways and did their own thing with their dancing on a part-time basis.

Upon his departure Wilton entrusted Tomas Guerrero with the company's responsibilities. Wilton and Tomas had developed a very close friendship both within and outside of the dance company during their time together. This was a huge challenge for Tomas because of his lack of experience as far as handling a business or maintaining a dance school. However, Tomas felt determined to persevere because of his commitment to his friendship with Wilton. Therefore Tomas decided to continue in Wilton’s footsteps as Wilton pleaded with Tomas to not let the Santo Rico name vanish or be taken away, and vowed to someday return. This led Tomas to proceed with devoting himself to carrying over Wilton’s legacy along with handling Santo Rico Dance Inc. entirely. He officially began giving classes at Wilton's school alongside others who helped out at the time for Wilton's sake. At first, Tomas figured that teaching wouldn't be that hard, but the more he learned the more difficult it became for him so his curiosity for the dance and its roots grew, so he began educating himself by watching videos and reading about its history, and occasionally speaking with Wilton about his knowledge of the dance.

After a few months of teaching Tomas decided that it was time to start fulfilling Wilton’s vision of promoting the school from a show perspective, so he assembled a student group comprised of his most advanced students and named it, "Xibicion Santo Rico” - "Xibicion" meaning "Exhibition" in English. This officially marked the beginning of Tomas' career as a choreographer and the director of Santo Rico. Xibicion Santo Rico was Tomas' personal project and his pride and joy. After about a year of hard work and dedication, due to their maturity as dancers and as people, Tomas decided it was time to take Xibicion to a higher level, so he turned them into his actual professional dance company, and called them "The New Santo Rico."

To date, Santo Rico hasn’t stopped working toward pursuing their current status in the business as the longest-standing performance team in the world. Since launching their first choreography in 1996 Santo Rico has worked relentlessly on its art, spanning 5 continents, over 25 countries and over 40 US cities during this fabulous trajectory. To date, they're recognized for their dazzling choreographies and their world-famous "Santo Rico spinning technique" initiated in 1998 by Tomas Guerrero himself. Santo Rico's training methods have influenced, inspired and trained many dancers all over the world, including dancers from dance companies like Karisma and Yamulee, which were formed from training and dancing under Santo Rico. Santo Rico’s achievements also include performing with many Salsa Superstars such as Gilberto Santo Rosa, Tito Puente, Jose Alberto "El Canario", Marc Anthony, La Sonora Ponceña and Victor Manuelle to name a few.

Santo Rico Dance Inc. is a certified, well-established business registered with the State of New York. Santo Rico consists of several different teams under its adult and children’s dance programs, Santo Rico Dance Co. (pro team), Xibicion Santo Rico (semi-pro), Las Santoriqueñas (female team), Las Santoriquitas (junior female team) and the Santo Rico Kids (children’s team). Santo Rico prides itself on a friendly, but rigorous teaching structure for students of all ages and ethnic backgrounds, with a full teaching schedule at its dance studio in Spanish Harlem (2403 2nd Ave., 2nd Fl.) - See schedule page for all class info.

For more information about the school continue to peruse the site or contact us either via phone at (212) 289-1302, or e-mail at sr2403@santorico.com.

We look forward to making your acquaintance. God bless!