Ismael Otero, Part 1 Inspiration, originality and basics By Tasleem Rajwani

 

Tasleem: Many people look for inspiration in dancers like you. Who were your role models in the salsa/dance world? Why?

Ismael: I never really had a role model. I just danced to dance, and did it for me and for fun.

Who inspires you?

My inspiration comes from other people. When I hear people say that they can’t wait to see what I come up with next, I don’t want to disappoint them. I can be inspired by anyone, from a professional to a total beginner. I just need that spark, or something to get me thinking.

What got you into salsa, and what motivated you to take it to the level that you have gotten so far?

My mother always tried to get me into salsa, but I was too much into hip hop and breakdancing.

Your mother trying to push you into salsa - was that more of a cultural thing, or was there something more to it than that? What made your mother so interested in getting her son to dance?

Salsa is part of our culture. So even when I wasn’t into it, I heard salsa in my house a lot. My mother always used to tell me that in Puerto Rico, people danced at a very young age. She would offer to take me to the concerts at Madison Square Garden, but I would never go. Stupid me (laughs).

But it was a combination of things that got me into salsa. At first, I didn’t like to be taught to dance. I was too proud. But I would wait for my mother to go to the store so I could play her salsa tapes, and then turn them off when she came back, fearing that she would tease me and say that she knew I would like the music. I didn’t want to admit it, but the music had started to take me over.

I also went to a company party and all the non-Latinos were dancing and told me that they couldn’t believe that I didn’t dance to my “own” music. My mother finally convinced me to go to a local club in Jersey and see a dance contest. And that’s when I first saw Julio La Salsa. After seeing his crazy moves, I decided to give it a try, and that was my first interest in salsa dancing.

During my short time in New York, I felt inspired to pursue many or my artistic interests. It just feels like you can’t help but to be encouraged by that city. Do you think that your environment and location has helped to support your choice in becoming a dancer?

Well, I live in New Jersey (laughs), I know I know. It’s so close to New York and I’m in New York a lot. But I think it’s a combination of my family and the city. Everyone in my family dances or plays some kind of instrument or DJs. But I can also say that New York is so full of culture and art that it’s almost impossible not to get inspired. There are so many on, and off, Broadway plays, free shows in the parks and streets, and music and singing in the subways. So I guess I would say yes.

I didn't make it to the New York Congress this fall, but I did have the pleasure of taking a couple of your classes just a few weeks later. As a school teacher myself, I really appreciate a good instructor. But sometimes, the best dancers are not the best teachers of dance, and vice versa. You seem to have a talent for both. What do you think makes a good instructor? Do you have any tips for those wanting to improve as instructors?

It’s just practice and understanding and learning how to teach people to understand and want to practice. If you understand what you are doing, then you are more confident, and confidence is a big part of learning and dancing. Most instructors like to give off a god like vibe, but I just tell my students that if I can do it, anyone can. You just have to put the time and energy into what you want to do.

Okay, you twisted my arm, so I will tell you my secret: I know that to be a good dancer you just have to perfect the basic steps and fundamentals and techniques behind the dance. So I just take a simple yet important move like… let’s say, a right turn. And I make my students perfect it. Then I show them the millions of different moves I can do with it. When done in its basic form it looks just basic, but if you decorate it with arm movement or a cool style, maybe some pretzel arm turn patterns, then people think it’s something amazing. But if you look at the technique behind it, and take away the flash, it’s still just a right turn. When you understand things like this then you can do, and create, a million moves.

I understand your performance group is called Caribbean Soul. Can you tell us a little about the group?

A little? Do you have a year? (laughs). There is sooooooo much to say, but I will try my best to keep it short. Caribbean Soul Dancers are born, not made. That is our motto. We all have our own styles but still look alike when we perform on stage. We were known to be one of the first ghetto groups because we're loud, rowdy and always ready to fight (laughs).

We basically did whatever we wanted, but after a while, as we were becoming more famous, we realized that we had to act more professional. At the time when New York groups were doing routines that were very sharp and stylish, we would have a lot of body shaking, head whippin’, crazy moves. We loved to do stunts and flips, even though some people felt that it was not good to put that into salsa. They thought salsa should be traditional, but we just did what we thought was cool and we were just being ourselves.

Caribbean Soul is mainly known for its originality. We’re always changing the norm in salsa routines. Ninety percent of the moves were created by us, or at least that’s what we thought! (laughs). The best inspiration was when people said, “I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.” We always took chances on trying to come up with innovative routines that most groups wouldn’t take a chance on. We knew that people would either like it or wouldn’t, but we always challenged ourselves creatively. We love to have fun and party everywhere we go, but what people have to realize is that we are naturally like that. We don’t try to be something that we’re not, like many groups today.

My advice: Just be yourself. I’m proud to say that some of the best dancers came out of Caribbean Soul and that we never look like anyone else. Everyone in the group has their own unique style, but it’s still a Caribbean Soul Style.

Have you always been an entertainer/ performer, comfortable expressing yourself in front of other people?

I would have to say yes and no. I’m really a quiet person, but for some reason, back in the days, people would invite me to parties just to liven things up. Most of my friends would say that I’m naturally funny. I’m funnier when I don’t even try to be and when I am just myself. My dancers were all very funny and witty, like Danny, Guillermo and Jay. They are sooo funny, and then we met Al Espinoza, who will make a joke about anything. That was the icing on the cake. Whenever we were at events together, we would just act a fool in the lobby and do things that were just funny to us; at least I thought they were. And one day, at the first Toronto congress, David Melendez was telling Al that he wanted us to do on stage what we do in the lobby, to a cha cha cha song. We really didn’t know what to do, but, you know, that’s David Melendez. So we just put together a little skit or comedy slapstick type of routine. It was supposed to be one minute, but the DJ didn’t stop the music. So we just kept it going and it was like we had rehearsed it for a long time.

Soon after that, we started to recreate other people’s routines to the point that it was so funny that people would request a skit all the time. I still don’t know how we do it, but I just go with the flow with Jay and Al, and everything seems to turn out funny. One thing I want to point out is that when Jay knows that there are certain things that I don’t like him doing to me, we will do them anyway, on stage. And when I get upset and hit him, it’s all real; everything we do is real, even though I know we are performing. I still get scared when promoters ask for a funny skit, but Jay or Al just say “Don’t worry, something will happen.” These days, a lot of people do the same kind of skits - some funny, some not so funny - but I just want to point out that it was DAVID MELENDEZ who started it all.

How would you compare social dancing to performing? Do you prefer one to the other?

Social dancing and performing are two totally different things (laughs). In social dancing, you don’t have to think or remember or impress. You can social dance all night and still have energy. But with performing, you do one show and you feel like you’re having a heart attack (laughs).

I’m more known for my social dancing and my choreographies, but my performance needs a little work. That’s due to my body - I’m all broken (laughs). I was a very active kid and always got hurt - fell off a train and hit a big rock and almost got hit by trains and things like that. It’s a miracle I can even walk (laughs). But the level of performances has got to such a high level that now I have to learn to stretch and practice more to be able to perform to my full potential. So watch out, because one thing I’m known for is surprising people (laughs). I enjoy doing both (performing and social dancing). But like I said before, to me, they are two different things.

 

Click here to continue reading Part 2 of Tasleem's interview with Ismael

 

 

For more information about Ismael Otero, check him out on myspace or visit ismaelotero.com or sohodancestudio.com