In 1999 Tommy Belmontez walked into the Arthur Murray Redlands Studio wanting to learn Salsa. Little did this gothic/punk rock kid know, this dance lesson was going to change his life forever. Working as a waiter and a sales associate at a punk retail store, Tommy spent much of his earnings at the studio despite his family's disapproval. He enjoyed the magic that dancing had given him and became very passionate about his new found love.

With the great teaching, his love of dance grew into a desire to teach. After much begging and pleading, Sheila Richardson decided to take a chance and hire him. Within a couple of years, he was top teacher in Redlands teaching 30-40 lessons per week and hitting most contest goals. Within 3.5 years, Tommy was Full Gold Certified and Sliver Mastered.

Since then, Tommy has worked as an Arthur Murray Dance Director in San Diego and eventually settled in Orange County where he became one of the top teachers in the area, before being promoted to being the Area 7 Dance Director.

Tommy has taken pride in becoming one of Arthur Murray's premier Dance Directors and has established certification programs, area formations and many other fun activities to bring the standard of dancing and teaching to a higher standard, as well as creating a new sense of bond between instructors within the area.  In the past 7 years of his competitive career, Tommy has been able to accomplish a Rising Star Title, Area 6&7 DOR Champion, Arthur Murray Finalist and Champion of many One Dance events. He also remains on the list of Top Twenty Supervisors, is a co-franchisee of the Orange studio and is one of the developers of the Zouk Syllabus.