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Mambo Gallego Repertory Work Interview

Featuring Ana Masacote
By Maria Camacho; Dallas, TX, USA
May 2007

1. What influenced you to do this dance piece?

This was the first dance piece Joel and I ever choreographed and performed together. It was originally choreographed for a competition in January of 2003. We liked the music, but had to cut it down to 2 minutes due to the time limit. We weren’t all that happy with the way the piece turned out. It didn’t stand out the way we wanted it to, so we performed it a couple times before we phased it out and moved on to other choreographies.

In 2004, we needed to come up with a new piece but didn’t have the time to choreograph a new one, so we decided to bring back Mambo Gallego, which few people had seen. We changed up the old choreography, added another minute, and redesigned the costumes to create the look we have today. I definitely think the changes and the new look gave it a totally different feel, so we decided to keep the choreography that time.

In 2005, we decided to make it our first company piece, so we extended the choreography another minute for the final choreography. We’re finally happy with the way it is today, so we won’t be making any more choreography changes or additions.

2. Can you explain to me the storyline/theme of the dance piece? I believe the name has a Spanish background. Where did you reference your background information to make the dance piece?

The choreography was named after the song itself, entitled “Mambo Gallego”, a name with Spanish origins, so you’re right on the money. The reason why we chose this particular song was because of the build and dramatic feel of the music.

When starting the piece, we researched the meaning of “Gallego” online but couldn’t find much information. So we chose just to play off of what we felt from the music. We listened to it day and night and tried to play upon the different instruments within it.

The purpose of the piece was to see how much we could stay within traditional salsa while adding influences from other dance styles along the way (Tango, Flamenco, Jazz). The idea was also to create a strong choreography without having to do any flashy tricks or dips. Moreover, we wanted it to look classy and sophisticated by designing the costumes longer than usual in order to show that you don’t need to show skin in order to maintain an audience’s attention.

3. There are several different dance moves integrated in “Mambo Gallego” (Jazz, Tango, Ballet that I think I observed in the piece). Can you tell me what are the exact dance genres you integrated in “Mambo Gallego” and how you came up with the creativity of putting all the movements together?

Well, we incorporated many elements of Tango and some of Flamenco. Joel and I don’t have experience in these other dances, but we love the look and felt that the music was asking for it, so we studied videos of these dance styles. We would look at them for hours to see what elements seemed to define a style more that we could add into the choreography.

For example, Tango is defined by more leg kicks, or ganchos, extensions, and counteraction between the leader and follower. What stood out to us with Flamenco was the play on hands and the strong, uplifted posture.

Then, we would figure out where we felt the music was asking for a particular style, and we would choreograph our own interpretation of these other styles. I guess more of a Salsa version of Tango and Flamenco.

The way Joel and I dance, our style, already has influences of Jazz and Modern Ballet from inspiration we get from those styles, so that is why you see that integration of the latter two.

4. The song “Mambo Gallego” originated from Tito Puente, according to my research. I have not actually heard the song until I viewed your video. How did you decide to use your background music?

Well, I came across the music in 2002 and thought it was very fitting for another piece I wanted to choreograph (with a different theme). When we had to choreograph for the competition, we decided to use this song for that piece instead since we felt it would be great for that purpose. It’s funny because we’ve heard the song used in a few different commercials since then. There’s actually a few different versions of “Mambo Gallego”, but this is the version we’ve preferred the most.

5. Before one of his performance around the 80’s, Tito Puente stated that “Eddie & Maria Torres are the last of the Mohicans and if this couple retires tomorrow, we may never see professional Latin dancing again. How do you feel you have contributed to keep Latin dancing active, specifically “on2” since it had its struggles to keep alive between the first and second generation of mambo history?

Wow, that’s a hard question to answer. It’s probably better answered by the general public who has seen us perform or believes in what we do.

Within the past decade, the dance community has become more and more separated from the music community. Dancers prefer to dance to DJs, and bands have trouble performing for dancers due to the length of their songs in sets. Sometimes bands get upset that dancers aren’t there in the front of the stage listening to their music more. Bands like to feed off of that energy.

When Joel and I started our company, we wanted to bridge the growing disconnect between music and dance. We wanted dancers to want to learn and understand more about the music while finding more avenues for bands to play for the dance community. Even more, our goal is to take this dance towards a mainstream avenue. The music can progress more if we can take it to a broader audience, but in order to do so, we’ve got to create a deeper respect for the dance. So, Joel and I are trying to get this dance to be appreciated on a more artistic and sophisticated level.

As far as timing, Joel and I can dance and teach both “on 1” and “on 2”. However, we perform “on 2” and dance and teach predominantly “on 2” as well. It’s just a matter of feeling, not so much that we think one is better than the other.
As recently as 5 years ago, people had this aversion towards dancing “on 2”, which was danced predominantly in NY and Puerto Rico. As it started to spread outside of those areas, I knew of instructors who had students walk out of their classes if they knew they were not learning how to dance “on 1”. They felt that “on 2” dancers were snobs or thought they were better than others, which was definitely not the case. It was just a matter of many “on 2” dancers not knowing how to dance “on 1” and vice versa…which created confusion and misinterpretations.

When Joel and I met, he lived on the opposite coast, so I still taught and performed with another partner “on 1”. Since we started performing and teaching together, Joel and I decided to focus on the style we felt the most, which just so happens to be “on 2”. We’ve always been big on people understanding how to dance both styles though so they don’t limit their partners. Our main purpose has been to grow the general dance community and unite the dancers, no matter what style they dance. We believe this creates more understanding between both styles and ultimately more growth of the dance community.

What we’ve noticed is that there has been a strong worldwide expansion of “on 2” dancing in the past couple years, and we hope that we’re a part of this respect and understanding of the style.

6. How do you describe your dance company as uniquely from others, as far as dance quality and other factors? What is the best asset of your company? What makes it strong?

Joel and I concentrate heavily on musicality and artistry. Musically, we focus on the relation of movements to rhythms. After listening to the music for weeks and months, we choreograph by breaking down specific rhythms in the music to counts and placing steps to those counts.

Artistically, we look at the dance as a form of self-expression, the same as ballet, modern, jazz. So, we have an idea of where we want to go with the music, and we try to express that vision through dance, using elements of other dance styles.

Performance-wise, we love to play with the stage. Whether it’s one couple or three, we are constantly moving around the space. As a company, we play with a lot of formations to keep the performance visually entertaining.

Our best asset I would say is the balance Joel and I have with each other. We both have our strong points and talents, and we learn a lot from each other. We have a vision we try to accomplish together. As they say, two heads are better than one.

As far as what makes us strong as a company, I would have to say it’s not only our precision with our choreographies but also the strength of our company members themselves. We try to explain the choreographies and style as much as possible to the members and spend a lot of time on cleaning them so that we stand out together as a group. We make sure everyone knows it’s a team effort, and not any one individual showing off.

We also focus on our company members being well-rounded dancers…Just as good performers as they are social dancers, and just as good students as they are teachers.

The members in the company also have their own individual strengths. Many have training in other dance styles (ballet, modern, capoeira, etc.). Quite a few even have musical training in various instruments. We have a great mix of cultures within the company, so it’s a great experience relating with each other and being able to learn from one another.

7. When, why, how did you decide to do more that just social dancing? Do you consider your professional dancing as a career?

I never thought I would end up being a salsa instructor. As a matter of fact, I went to school for electrical engineering and computer science before I switched to business after a year and a half. I was asked to teach shortly after I arrived in Boston in 2000, and after much encouragement, finally decided to teach, although I only started with beginner classes. I in turn encouraged Joel to teach when I met him because I thought he would be a great instructor.
We started discussing goals and formulating the idea of the company since we first met, but we decided to start it officially while we were living in Japan in 2003. As mentioned before, we wanted to bridge the growing disconnect between music and dance, and we wanted to spread our love for this dance and our artistic vision on a more international scope.

However, due to the complexity of our full vision of Masacote Entertainment, we have had to start it small and expand little by little. We started the company as a couple, and have slowly expanded the dance company over time as well as integrated the band. With time, we get closer and closer to the final stages of the company.

Today, we focus solely on our entertainment company, so I would consider the entertainment industry as my career. Since I finished school, this is what Joel and I do full time now. Joel is also a musician on the side, which he would actually always consider his first career, as well as a photographer. I do a little web design & graphic work on the side as well. But everything eventually all comes back to the company, Masacote.

8. “On 2”dancing has become very popular and global, bringing economic advantages to dancing companies. What have been the economic advantages of your company?

I don’t think I would say our company has had any economic advantages due to the recent popularity of “on 2”. I think if we did everything we now do “on 1”, we could offer the same quality we do now and would have the same amount of work we now do.

What I think our advantage of the company has stemmed from is more the branding that Joel and I established for the company from the beginning. We started as a couple in order to build our brand and get the company name out there. Our goal was to make Masacote synonymous with professionalism, quality, and artistry so that it would carry over to the group when we were able to expand. When we expanded to the full dance company in 2004, we spent a year and a half training the members until we finally debuted in 2006.

We knew that if we could establish Masacote as a couple first, that it would be easier to get the company bookings once we expanded to a group, since people would already know about Masacote and the quality we bring to the stage and classes. Nevertheless, we are still surprised at how fast the recognition of the company has begun to grow. It’s been a little over a year since we first debuted the group, and it’s rare for a company to get so many bookings within the first year alone. We feel very fortunate for this, and we’re thankful to our supporters out there who believe in what we do and the quality that we strive to bring to whatever we do or wherever we go.

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