 Her mother, Gloria Cestero, was the daughter of a politically active Puerto Rican family and subsequently became a leader in the Puerto Rican immigrant community in New York City.Ramirez moved to New York City at the age of six or seven.As a young dance student, at a time when the worlds of ballet, modern dance, and ethnic dance were largely separate, she trained rigorously in all three, studying Spanish dance with Lola Bravo and Luisa Pericet, classical ballet with Chester Hale and Alexandra Danilova, and modern dance with Anna Sokolow.