Growing Up "Rena"  (Yep, that's Mini-Me!)

I was born in Spanish Harlem in New York City’s Upper East Side.  My parents, like many other immigrants, came to the U.S. from their country - the Dominican Republic – in search of “a better life”.  They married at a turbulent time in America:  President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and later, Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  They both worked very hard to provide a loving home as well as good living conditions for me and my younger sister.  Within a relatively short period of time, my Dad saved enough money and immediately moved us out of our apartment in Manhattan to a nice house and neighborhood in Queens (at the time).  My father was on a mission to make sure we would have a backyard where we could play and my Mom would have a spacious kitchen where she could work her magic!  He felt it would be better in the long run to own a home rather than pay rent, besides his peace of mind knowing that his family would be safe and comfortable.

Growing up in Queens, my sister and I were very blessed to have had many things that other children could not have.  Every Christmas, my sister and I received tons of gifts, every birthday, we celebrated like a Hollywood party and every summer, we visited family in the Dominican Republic or went to Disney World.  We were never rich, just blessed with a hard-working father.  Often times, my Dad worked 3 jobs just to put food on the table.  He came from a very humble background so he wanted us to enjoy things he could not as a child.  He also held on to the Latino ‘old school’ values of being the breadwinner while Mom was at home with us.  Dad didn’t want her to work, but she was also happy staying home taking care of us, picking us up from school or helping with our homework.

My parents are both practicing Protestant Christians so we were raised in a very religious home:  attending church services regularly, studying the Bible and getting involved in church social activities, including the choir.  That was my first exposure to music (besides a few piano lessons).  It was then that I realized I enjoyed singing and no longer wanted to play the piano.  I quit the piano immediately after a recital my music school did at New York’s Carnegie Hall.  I felt bad I was spending my father’s hard-earned money on lessons and was just not giving it my all.  I wanted to sing, but was very shy and the thought of singing in front of people terrified me.  Imagine that!  Who knew that 20 years later I’d be hamming it up on stage!

I am very fortunate to have had parents that had always been amazing Latin dancers.  I used to watch them at family house parties as I was growing up and quickly picked up their moves, especially my Dad’s.  Because it’s in our blood, usually Latin dancing comes very easy to a Hispanic and if you don’t already know this about our culture, we LOVE to dance!  In fact, I think appreciating Latin dancing and music is probably a pre-requisite to being friends with a Latino!  I’ve always enjoyed all types of music, but as I got older, I actually began to love and appreciate it even more.

In high school, I took Music Appreciation class and sang in the choir.  I also participated in school/church plays and musical productions.  As my talent developed and I began to lose the shyness, I longed to be in the spotlight.  I discovered I really enjoyed being on stage performing, whether it was singing, acting or dancing.  I loved fashion and experimenting with trendy outfits and often times pretended to be a model, but I didn’t like the way I looked, so I ruled out modeling – at least at that particular time!  In school, I was never the girl who had guys’ heads whirling a la “Exorcist”!!  Truthfully, I was just a “nice” girl so guys wanted to hang around me to get to my girlfriends!

Because of my interest in fashion at an early age, I dreamed of being a model, but felt I wasn’t pretty enough to get noticed.  I was always a ‘skinny Minnie’ so the kids in school and at church would call me every name in the book:  totem pole, pogo stick, needle thread, spaghetti string – you name it, I heard it!  This greatly contributed to my years of very low self-esteem.  Then, in college, I began to fill out (finally!) and started getting more attention, more dates and a little more confidence.  People started to tell me I should be a model because I had ‘a look’.  Years of hearing negative comments about my looks didn’t exactly convince me that I was model material, but because I loved fashion and was mesmerized watching models strut on the catwalk, I thought, ‘I still really want to do this!’

After graduating from college, I held different jobs in the corporate world, mostly working on Fifth Ave. in NYC.  I was able to land prestigious jobs for the head offices of Estee Lauder, Revlon and Calvin Klein – which was as close to the modeling industry as I could get at the time – but I was not happy.  Sure I was making money, going to parties and meeting everyone from Cindy Crawford to Paulina Porizkova (supermodels back then), but it just wasn’t my thing.  One day, I saw an ad in the NY Times that read “Models/Actors Needed - All Types, No Exp.”  I did my first photo shoot, which of course, cost me an arm and a leg!  It was so much fun to have a real makeup artist and stylist and I was told repeatedly “You seem very comfortable in front of the camera.”  Indeed I was.  I never went to a modeling or acting school, yet I would later audition for certain castings and get callbacks 85% of the time. 

After a few years of bouncing back and forth between jobs, I ended up moving to Miami – where my parents had already decided to retire – and that’s where I began to do more modeling.  Besides bikini contests, promos, trade shows and commercials, I was also cast as an extra on CSI: Miami, did a voiceover for Grand Theft Auto Vice City and modeled in several fashion shows.  I find it rather interesting and even humorous that I’ve gotten more work and exposure in my 30’s than I did in my 20’s – go figure!  I also worked in musical theatre including shows such as Evita and West Side Story, the latter which has been my most challenging endeavor to date.  Shortly thereafter, I had an opportunity to record a demo with a producer in L.A. who had worked with artists such as Toni Braxton, Dr. Dre and Outkast.  I jumped at the chance of getting into a recording studio and finally put my voice on the "mike", something I’ve wanted to do for years.

When I lived in Miami, I began studying Middle Eastern Dance, quickly learning the technique as well as appreciating its culture.  I became interested in it for the health benefits associated with it, but eventually 'got hooked' on it enough to to want to be a professional belly dancer.  After I moved to Philly in June 2004, I immediately surfed the internet to continue taking classes, which is when I came across the fabulous Azhia.  Her website caught my attention and I contacted her at once to register for her class.  Meeting her was wonderful in so many ways, not just because she is an all-around dance artist and instructor, but also because she allowed me to network with so many people, places and events in the belly dance community.  This was a great contributing factor in my getting acclimated to a new city, new surroundings and a new job.

Well, fast forward to the present:  Between belly dancing, singing, modeling and acting, I’ve pretty much touched every aspect of the entertainment industry that I've wanted to be a part of.  Although I do not have a record deal, am not an A-list celebrity, or even a well-known belly dancer (yet!), I don’t count this as a failure.  In fact, having been exposed to a little bit of everything I enjoy doing brings a greater sense of accomplishment than anything I could have ever imagined.  Those who are in the limelight often wish they did not need a bodyguard just to go shopping, go for a jog or simply walk down their own street.  I feel I have my own version of being "in the limelight" minus the paparazzi!  The goals I’ve accomplished thus far are proof that my tenacity continues to pay off everyday and that God has truly blessed me.  I'm still not where I would like to be, but I'm not going to stop until I am.  Even when I do get there, I probably will NEVER stop!  Let's face it, life is too short and I want to live it to the fullest while I still have the chance.  It will be rewarding to look back on these years one day and be able to say “I had a chance to do something I loved and I did it.”