So DanceSport competitors from all over follow their road maps and dreams of golden trophies to visit the wizard of Latin dancing in San Diego. If the dancers are lucky enough to garner an appointment, the Champion Ballroom Academy on Fifth Avenue is where they generally meet Montez. After weeks of telephone tag, I am the fortunate one who is granted an early April sixty-minute interview at the champion s home. Montez promises to squeeze me into his schedule on a lunch break away from his duties as judge at the Southwestern Regional Dance Championships held at the Holiday Inn San Diego-On The Bay. Blooming hydrangeas, foxgloves and other botanical delights spring forth from meticulously manicured gardens.
Houses stand proud and pretty with coats of freshly painted pastel pinks, yellows and blues.
The sky is filled with puffy white clouds. Arriving at the address on my post-it, I cut an amicable deal with the cabbie. I knock on the door of the picture postcard house and am greeted by Karla Montez, a former Jazz dancer. Her form-fitting black top and pants accentuates her trim figure. She is a mother of three and still looks fit as a fiddle.