La Prensa
Noche Life
Felipe Sanchez
Jesse Rodriguez AKA Recon
Felipe Sanchez begins the interview with break-dancer Jesse Rodriguez by asking about his beginnings.
Jesse recalls the nineties as a rough time when he saw his older siblings getting into trouble, and he didn’t want to follow suit. In his younger years, he was inspired by watching people dance in music videos on television. Later, he went on to pursue it further.
In San Diego, Jesse participated in Freestyle Session, a dancing competition for folks age forty and older, where he placed top eight out of fifty contestants. This was a major milestone in his 26-year dance career. Mr. Rodriguez is highly motivated to participate in the contest again this year and bring back a first place to Austin.
Jesse serves in break dance competitions around Texas. He loves the art of break dancing. From time to time, he also participates as a contestant in dance competitions occasionally winning some. He sees himself as a very competitive person in life and in dancing. Besides his participation in dance competitions, he also has been performing professionally during his 26-year career.
For the past nine years, Mr. Rodriguez has been working with the nonprofit organization Lupe Arte where he helps by motivating and teaching dance to youths in the Austin area. He also provides private dance instruction. One of his younger students from his private dance lessons entered and won first place in a dance competition the previous year.
His upcoming plans include projects that encompass the Austin and Houston areas. He sees himself working with schools aside from the nonprofit organization he currently assists. Another project he is working on is getting a dance team together to hold his own dance competitions. Throughout all these plans, he still holds private lessons dear to his heart and wants to continue with that.
Mr. Jesse Rodriguez ends the interview with a personal message to the audience, “Try to live your life. Live it right. Do right by people. Don’t be a product of your environment. Be better than that.”
