Carmen Saucedo-Cotto (Jesus del Carmen Saucedo), age 55, passed away Wednesday, August 8, 2018 after valiantly battling cancer for 5 months. She was born July 13, 1963 in Lima, Peru to Edmundo and Emilia Saucedo. She is survived by husband Elliot Cotto, son Ricardo Guerra (Alexandra) and daughter Barbra Guerra. Carmen moved to Murfreesboro in 2002 with her children and was welcomed into the community, especially from the loving faces at Saint Rose of Lima, Murfreesboro. She was an avid member of the Murfreesboro, Nashville, and national dance community, becoming an instructor at Dance Murfreesboro in 2014. Carmen and Elliot embraced life wholeheartedly after wedding in 2016, pushing each other to follow their dreams, and showing all of us what extravagant love can look like. They found their church home at The Experience Community Church, where a memorial service will be held.

She danced into our lives and taught us about dance, life, love, joy, hope, forgiveness and faith. She could walk into a room and light it up in an instant. She would greet every person she met with a joy and enthusiasm that was life changing. She battled cancer for almost 5 months and during that time she smiled every single day no matter how difficult the circumstance. With unflappable faith she would just say cast your worries to God and I know she is in heaven today telling us all to do that very same thing: Cast your worries to God. Carmen, you will always be in our hearts and we will dance with your lovely spirit every day until we are dancing again together in heaven.

Services will be held on Sunday August 12 at 4:00 at The Experience Community Church, 521 Old Salem Rd,
Murfreesboro, TN 37129. A Celebration of Life Dance will be held immediately afterwards at Dance Murfreesboro. Please join us for a Carmen Style celebration full of life and color. It will be a potluck dinner so feel free to bring your favorite dishes or desserts. Everyone is welcome to attend.