Teaching celebrities is quite different from teaching his regular students, because he has to make them look like a dance star within three or four days.

Thankfully, A Duo, the Chinese female singer he coached during the show was as talented as he could hope for.

Although she only danced ballet and Latin before, she shone on stage thanks to Geronimo's coaching.

"A special connection between the dance couple is important. It is something coming in straight. If you don't see chemistry, it's not Latin dance," he says. "It is a great experience. We were joking and playing during the rehearsals and she is a very easy-going girl."

Currently, Geronimo is teaching dance at Changning District Culture Palace. He has almost 30 group students and 15 private students. Geronimo does little advertising.

Most of his pupils come through networking. He believes one has to open the door of friendship first before doing business.

"The dancing scene in Shanghai is huge due to this culture's acceptance of this performing art, especially since the 1970s when Bruce Lee used to love to dance the cha-cha," Geronimo says. "When I arrived here there were four studios and there are now around 20 to 25.

"There is a big potential now and for the future for sure to make all China dance."

A graduate of the University Autonomous of Guadalajara in Mexico, Geronimo has a bachelor's degree in business administration along with a major in arts.

He began the study of traditional Latin folk dance as a child and continued with years of study and training in modern, jazz and ballroom dancing, specializing in various competitive Latin dances including the rumba, mambo, tango, cha-cha, paso doble, salsa, samba, bolero and jive.

Having been teaching in Shanghai for the past two years, he feels it a shame that dance studios in Shanghai haven't formed a league yet.

"The difficulty lies in that many studio owners take each other as rivals rather than peers," he says. "Unlike Los Angeles, where amateurs from different studios are organized to enjoy parties, competitions and lectures, many events cannot be organized in Shanghai without such a league as a platform."

Geronimo hopes there will be one in the city in the future.

He is going to expand his teaching to Hong Kong in the middle of September. Geronimo will then probably spend three days a week in Shanghai and four days in Hong Kong.