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A salsa personality so well known he really needs no introduction. Albert Torres has garnered an esteemed reputation within the entertainment industry as a producer of Latin entertainment, including live shows, the Annual West Coast Salsa Congress, numerous Salsa Congresses around the world, the Annual World Salsa Championships, and much more. He was the first promoter to risk controversy by bringing music artists from Cuba such as Salsa sensation group Los Van Van to the United States for their very first show. As a dance historian, Albert has dedicated his life to the celebration and performance of Latin and Afro-Caribbean music and dance. In 1996, he received The City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Certificate of Appreciation for his time and effort in organizing the family cultural arts festival El Baile de Los Ninos. Albert is currently organizing the upcoming 9th Annual West Coast Salsa Congress in Los Angeles, May 24-27 2007, with special musical guest: Papo Lucca Y La Sonora Poncena, plus workshops and performances by top international salsa dance instructors and performers. Visit: alberttorresevents.com
Today, Albert Torres is an internationally known and respected salsa promoter, but everything starts with a hobby, a passion, and a dream. I’d like to know first how you got into Salsa, and second, whether you still remember your original dream. Looking back: are you doing what truly makes you happy - is this the life that you expected to have? It’s an evolving life: sometimes it’s a dream, sometimes it becomes a nightmare, and then it becomes a dream again! My goal was actually to promote Latin Music, but it basically didn’t start that way. It started out with the passion of dancing: my mom was a Palladium dancer; she used to go to the Palladium in New York in the ‘50s and early ‘60s. I was born in ‘56, and five years later, in 1961, she started teaching me how to use my feet. Dancing was always in the household and we loved it, but I later rebelled against Latin Music because I didn’t want to do what my parents were doing; so, I got into disco and hustle instead and rebelled in that way. But when we moved to Puerto Rico (I was actually born and raised in NY but moved to Puerto Rico when I was about 12), I started hearing the music of the Fania All Stars and that changed my life. After hearing that, all I wanted to do was dance. The good thing was that they didn’t have any rules back then, like, you either dance on1 or on2 or Cuban style. Basically, they left the door wide open: you could bring in your disco steps, even your disco dips, whatever. So by doing that, they gave us the freedom to incorporate whatever stuff we wanted. Gradually it went from the word Mambo to what we call Salsa today a mixture of all genres. Being in the middle of that creativeness, listening to Fania and Hector Lavoe, changed my life: I wanted to be Puerto Rican, I wanted to learn about my culture, I wanted to know who I was. And so, eventually, the way it evolved from there is that I danced for a while, then I stopped dancing and moved to the US, and I came back here when I was about 18, 19 years old. I got really into the party life and danced until I was 29, though I didn’t really dance too much Salsa during those years. A little bit later, in 1985, wanting to go back to my roots of dancing or at least of listening to Latin Music, I found a place in L.A. that played it in this club called Miami Spice. So, I was working at a hospital during the day, helping people with addiction issues, and at the same time would go out and dance Salsa. It was during one of those times that the actors Antonio Banderas, Ammand & Assante with Michael Peters, who choreographed for Michael Jackson, walked into the club, saw me dance, and told me that they wanted me to be in the movie, Mambo Kings. That basically started my career in Latin Dancing. It was 1991. Then in 1993 I went to an audition with 800 dancers; Debbie Allen picked four dancers and my partner and I were among the ones that were selected and we got to dance in the Academy Awards. In 1995-1996 I started opening up little clubs. I was still working at the hospital, but by then I knew I wanted to do something else. So basically I started opening up places and managing Johnny Polanco, whom I’ve now managed for 15 years. One thing led to another and in 1997 I brought Los Van Van from Cuba their very first time in the United States. In 1998, I went to Puerto Rico and saw what was the second “Bacardi” Salsa Congress; I got involved with it and then in 1999 I organized the first one here in L.A. In 2000 I decided that I didn't want to work with the Puerto Rico Congress producers because I didn't agree with their philosophy. In 2004 I returned to try it once again and decided this year 2007 to go my separate way and promote our own congress with Tito Ortos and Billy Fajardo, which will be held at the Condado Plaza October 11-14, 2007. I wanted to become independent in my thing and have more respect for the dancers... Okay, hold it right there. This general overview leads nicely into the next question: How would you define yourself today - that is, your role in the international Salsa community? Put slightly differently: a lot of people don't know what to make of the word "promoter", what does a promoter do? I personally don’t like the word “promoter”. A promoter sounds like some sleazy guy in a back corner who’s after the money, right? It sounds like a person who, bottom line, just wants to promote something, whatever it may be, whether he likes it or not. I don’t promote any event if my heart is not in it. If I don’t like it I don’t do it. I like the word producer. I’m a producer of events. You know, people save money for a long time to come these events and they expect to be provided with good entertainment. Let’s get on with the next question. I've noticed a tendency in a few cities now, whereby it seems as though everyone who's a half decent dancer feels automatically entitled to teach. My question to you is: what does it take to be a good instructor? I personally believe that it doesn’t happen in 6 months and it doesn’t happen in a year or two. Someone who’s a good instructor is someone that understands the music, someone that has studied not only the steps, but they know about the musicians and understand what goes into the making of the music. A good instructor is someone that doesn’t only know a basic and a cross-body lead, but understands the difference in the timing of dancing on1 or on2; regardless of whether they teach one style or the other, they should have an understanding of both, as well as Cuban and the “Cali Style” from Colombia that’s up and coming quickly. I also feel that they should get some Jazz and Ballet experience and have that technical background. It’s not so much about street dancing, it’s about knowing the terminologies: what’s a “pirouette” and so on. A lot of people take three lessons and they become instructors. Occasionally, when I go to someone’s class and I ask: “What’s the difference between on1 and on2?” They reply: “What do you mean? What is that?” And I just say: “You know what? That answered my question.” The Annual Salsa Championship in Vegas really helped standardize one aspect of Salsa: competition. Now, what about teaching? Do you see some kind of certification process becoming mandatory or at least necessary in Salsa in the near future, like in Ballroom for example? I would love that, but I don’t know if we’ve crossed that imaginary line. Because there are so many people out there that are doing their own thing, it’s difficult to get around it. I just had a big meeting in New Zealand last week for example. They’ve had a scene for two or three years now, and they are already finding people teaching who’ve been dancing for three weeks. But they’re small enough that we were able to now start the process of having certain criteria for someone to be considered a certified instructor. We have tried many, many times before to convince the instructors to adopt a syllabus, both in the United States and around the World, but it just got out of control; everybody had their own agenda and we weren’t getting anywhere. So I feel that in the States, unfortunately, we may have passed that imaginary line... Let’s move on to the next question. In the past 6 to 7 years, Salsa has really become an international art form. Yet, as with many other trends of globalization, there are those who resent growth. Now, your last name is Torres - clearly a Spanish name. My question to you is: what would you say to those within the international Latin community who view the growing trend of Salsa becoming a global phenomenon with contempt? I urge them to walk out of their fear, because anger and resentment is all based on fear - fear that someone’s taking over something that they think is theirs, but I’m here to let them know that it's not even ours. If anybody should be pissed off it’s the Africans: we are taking their music, their dances, their percussions and, you know, in New Orleans they produced the Blues, in Puerto Rico they produced the Bomba and Plena, in Cuba they produced the Rumba, in Argentina they produced the Tango and so on and so forth. But all those rhythms come from Andalucia and Africa. That’s my opinion. So when I do a course on the history of music, although I am a very proud Puerto Rican and a lot of my people would like to say that Salsa comes from Puerto Rico, the fact is that we commercialized it in the ‘70s, and although the Cubans would like to say that it comes from them, the bottom line is: let’s cut the bullshit, it all comes from Africa. So, regarding your question of Latinos being maybe a little possessive of it, it’s not ours to possess. “This music,” I used to say, “is color-blind”; today I would say it’s color-rich. It’s everyone’s music. I know you're a well-traveled individual and that your company organizes Congresses all around the world? How many Congresses are there and what are the top three fastest-growing salsa Congresses in the world? There are probably over 100 in the world. I’m involved with 32 of them. The ones that I would consider the fastest growing are: San Francisco, Zurich (Switzerland), and Japan. L.A. is still kind of like The Mecca, and Puerto Rico is always going to be the first one; even though there’s larger amounts of people that go to others, Puerto Rico will always have the prestige of having been the first one – and nobody will take that away from them. Let’s move right along to the next question. My understanding is that swing dancing used to be huge in Vancouver throughout the 1990s, but then it slowly died out. By contrast, Salsa has emerged as this powerful force. What accounts in your opinion for such a tremendous growth in Salsa? What does Salsa have that other partner dances don’t, such as Tango or Swing? I listen to Swing music and some of it really makes me want to dance but some doesn’t, whereas Salsa is really walking to the rhythm of the music. Salsa is that simple: it’s putting one foot in front of the other, and if you take the time to learn the basic step, you’ll find that you can do it, no matter how hard you think it is to walk with two feet at the same time. When you walk into a Swing or Tango venue, I don’t know about you, but I get a little bit intimidated because of the way they dress and because I feel that I have to dance a certain way. Or as with Ballroom: if you don’t do it right then don’t do it. Well, in Salsa I feel like we’ve opened up our arms and, for me personally, I don’t care whether you dance on1, on2 or Cuban, for as long as the door is open, you can come in. And the longer you stay, then the more you’re going to find out about the clave; you’re going to find out that the road gets a little narrow; and you’re going to find out about the history of this music, which is so important. But, we have to open up the door and get you invited in first. I think that’s why Salsa is growing. In the places where people open up their arms to other individuals (say, if I had a dance school I would teach you this one style, but if you wanted to learn another style I would say go see this person; if you wanted to learn Cuban style go and see that person), that networking brings more people to the atmosphere and everybody does well. Because then that person sends people to me, or that other Cuban guy, and when he can’t teach somebody, he’ll send them to me. But what happens all over the world is that everybody is full of fear that they say: “don’t dance on1” or “that’s not the correct way” or “forget about that.” You know, people leave their houses and pay money to take a dance class. If they want a drama, they can stay at home and watch CNN or Fox. They are coming to be entertained. They’re coming to let go of their problems. We’re providing a service in that way so that, if they’re happy, they’re going to stay for a very long time. How does the Vancouver salsa scene compare to Montreal, Toronto and other middle-size Salsa scenes around the world? You’ve been here before... I’ve been there like five times. How do you see Vancouver? It’s a touchy question. You know, I just came from Hong Kong and in Hong Kong I feel that there’s a certain dominance by a certain organization there that wants to run everything. By doing that they’re not allowing other people to open up and network, which as I just said, is essential. Because of that, in the past 5 or 6 years the Hong Kong scene has not grown at all. I see the same dynamic happening in Vancouver, unfortunately. It’s one of the cities where I see that, that it’s not really growing, even though it has the potential to grow so much. One time I went out there, I sat down with everybody and we had this meeting, but it was all talk and nobody did anything. I just say it as I see it: if you don’t allow all your different instructors to get in and network amongst each other, things are not gonna go anywhere. Thank you for being so forthcoming. I know it’s a touchy subject, but I feel we can benefit from the constructive criticisms you're giving us. Perhaps it would helpful if you could elaborate a little more in terms of what is needed in Vancouver in order to grow and evolve as a scene. What’s needed is a shake up. First of all, every individual in Vancouver that wants to see Salsa grow needs to look at himself or herself in the mirror and ask themselves: am I being honest? Am I really wanting it to grow or am I just looking after myself? Am I ever going to sit down at this same table with this person who I don’t want to talk with, and work with them, be honest and trust them? You know, to build trust takes a while. But I don’t think there’s any room for trust with a just-for-me attitude. From my place as a producer, I try to create unity through salsa – that’s the slogan of my company - but it’s not easy sometimes. I have to deal with other producers that don’t share the same views. Let’s take Puerto Rico as an example. I have a love/hate relationship with the Puerto Rico Congress: I think it’s one of the best, it’s the first one and I give them credit every single time that I can (I've mentioned their name two or three times in this interview already), but I feel that after 10 years now it should be at a different level: the dance floor should be better for the dancers, they should be treated differently, etc. But, when I’m at a Congress, say, like I was in Sweden a couple of weeks ago, and I step on stage I don’t say “Don’t go to Puerto Rico.” I say “Even though we are not partners anymore, go there in July or go there in October” – I am going to put a Congress there in October. But I didn’t say my Congress; I said other Congresses which were not even mine. The people can feel that. Even the dancers that were there say, “I can’t believe you mentioned the other one.” My answer is: “Yeah, the people have the right to go wherever they want.” Interesting. After hearing you talk, a question that comes to mind is: What’s the role of the dancer in the Salsa community? Is having good dancers important to a community? From a promoter/organizer’s point of view, should the needs of the dancers be observed and addressed, or is the dancer in its very nature a disloyal type of creature, not to be trusted? Every single person is important. Every single grain of sand on the beach is important. Everything counts, and when some people think that one dancer isn’t important enough, and just let’s them go like they weren’t worth anything, that effect goes on to another dancer, and another dancer, and another dancer, and starts a ball rolling that has a negative effect. I believe in positive effects. And what you do is this: even if you don’t agree with people becoming DJs or opening up their own dance school, you tell them, “I wish you the best and if I know of someone who wants to learn that style I’ll send him your way, and I hope you do the same with me.” I guess the best example is that of a mother and a father. I don’t know if you’re a parent, but daddy and mommy may have different views about what they want for their kid, and those views may differ from what the kid will eventually want for himself when he/she grows up. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t love that kid; it just means that you see him/her in a different way. And eventually the kid is going to get what he/she wants anyway (laughs). Now, with the dancers, they are artists, they are talented children deep down inside, and they just want to go out, have fun and express themselves. Talking about going out, having fun and expressing yourself, my question to you is: what is social dancing all about? Is it about having fun, is it about connecting to your partner, is it about interpreting the music, is it about looking good and showing it to the world...? All of those things, every single one of those things! Is there an order or priority? I think it’s a combination of all of that. For me the number one thing is that you should have fun, and if you’re learning to dance a specific style, then work on that style and pick up other styles too. I haven’t taught in many, many years but, when I get to teach a class, I don’t want to look on the dance floor and see twenty of you dancing the way I dance. I want you to take what I’ve taught you and I want you to take your own individualism, your own style, and that’s what I want to see on the floor – I want to see your own individuality! It would be really, really boring to look on the dance floor and see 18 people dancing like Alex Da Silva, or dancing like Francisco Vazquez or myself. So, I want people to go out there and I want them to have fun, but yeah, the beauty is also to show off, and it is the connection with the other person, and it is the musicality and how you’re going to interpret the music. I like to see people laughing and smiling when they see me dance. Dance is a celebration of life. Finally, the biggest Salsa Congress on earth is fast approaching. Would you share a secret with us about the 2007 West Coast Salsa Congress? How will this congress be different from previous years? The way that it’s going to be different - and this is the risk that I was willing to take - is, you know, my Congresses in L.A. have included 6,000 people on a Saturday night. To make the L.A. Congress the biggest Congress in the world is something that I created from my heart, but it was also from an ego standpoint. I wanted it to be the biggest and the best. But I realized it was getting too big. People were getting lost and they wouldn’t see their partners for three days; there was no real connection anymore – that passion that I felt at the beginning. I was also losing money having to create such a big venue. So what I’m doing is taking it back to a hotel that will fit between 2500 and 3000 people, and that will be the maximum capacity. It’s already starting to sell out, so for those who haven’t bought their tickets... The rooms in the hotel are already sold out, so we had to get a second hotel next door. This year they will have the opportunity to see a great band - “Tabaco y Ron” – on Thursday; on Friday it will be "Chino Espinoza", and they're going to get "Papo Lucca Y La Sonora Poncena" from Puerto Rico on Saturday. These bands are not going to stick around forever - they are becoming a rare breed. Then on Sunday they have Johnny Polanco, who has just been accepted into the Playboy Jazz Festival, which is an incredible honour. And there’s other surprises: the new style that is coming up, which was seen at the World Salsa Championship, is the Cali Style. In the first year of the Vegas Competition, a couple from Colombia winning the Cabaret division opened up a lot of eyes to that new style… How would you describe this new Salsa style? It’s all about speed! What they do is they dance to every beat of the music. It is not so much about on1 or on2 – even though they are going to have to add that if they want to keep competing at the Vegas championship - but about dancing to every single beat of the music. It’s incredible to watch how each step corresponds with every single beat of the music. Having been to Cali twice last year, it was incredible to watch the qualifying rounds. Usually it takes three days to do the contest and the qualifier round usually consists of 4 or 5 five couples per country, maybe 10 at the most, with 500 to 2000 people watching the event. But in Colombia they had 15,600 people watching, every single day for three days straight. The rain would come down but people wouldn’t move, cheering and applauding. When they mentioned my name, there was almost a riot because they know what I’ve done to take them to TV and open up Cali as a scene. In Cali I saw a gentleman named Carlos who does great stuff with kids, and they are the future. Anywhere around the world the kids are the future, and so that’s what my goal is: to help them so they don’t have to go through the life that I did when I was younger. Seeing these kids in Cali, I invited them to the L.A. Congress to honour the work of this gentleman. It will be their first time on a plane and up to now we have 50 Cali Colombians coming, and at one point I’m going to put them all on the stage dancing that style. There are kids from 8 years old all the way to about 20, and they’re going to kick butt!
Find out more about Albert Torres, the Annual West Coast Salsa Congress, the Annual World Salsa Championships, and more, at alberttorresevents.com |
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