Antonio Moran is an optometrist by day and a salsa instructor by night.
He helps patients with poor vision and turns dancers with two left feet into salsa experts.
On Saturday, Moran brought his two loves together during a salsa celebration and fund-raiser held at the Finley Community Center in Santa Rosa. The event supports the Buena Vista Children?s Foundation, a Sonoma County nonprofit that offers free eye exams and glasses for low-income children.
About 85 salsa beginners and intermediate dancers, mainly from Sonoma County and the Bay Area, participated in the third annual salsa celebration.
?I like salsa music, so I wanted to come here to dance the steps,? said Colleen Gibbons of Healdsburg. ?What I?m finding is that it?s really up to the guys.?
Gibbons moved to the Latin sounds blaring from a radio in the auditorium.
?So, guys,? she said. ?Go out there and learn so women can have more dance partners.?
The all-day event included dance lessons, professional salsa performances and a party late into the evening.
Since starting the foundation in 2007, Moran and his wife, Irene Silva, have raised enough money to provide between 50 and 60 eye exams and glasses to low-income children.
Moran said if a child can?t see the chalkboard, the impact can affect long-term eye development, self-esteem, academics and behavior.
?Some of these kids get written off as troublemakers,? Moran said.
His goal is to offer between 100 and 120 eye exams and glasses next year.
?Sometimes it?s as easy as a pair of glasses,? he said. ?It?s part of why I went to school, to be able to impact the life of someone that age.?
During Saturday?s session, Don Keller of Castro Valley practiced his footwork, moving through a variety of dance lessons.
Keller, who has danced salsa for three years and even lost 100 pounds dancing his first year, said he has learned some professional level techniques.
?That?s what gives the sauce in the salsa flavor,? he said.
You can reach Staff Writer Tracie Morales at 521-5274 or tracie.morales@pressdemocrat
.com.
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