Tasleem: If you had to put out a job description of what you do, what would it say?

Marlon: In the salsa scene? - Whooh! (laughs). I teach salsa to adults at different studios, and at a couple of universities. I dance and teach with Karisma Dance Company, so work could be rehearsals, teaching at the studio, or performing at various venues. And I manage the semi-pro group for Karisma. I also teach ballroom dancing to kids. And I just started working on promoting the Punta Cana Congress, also collaborating with DJ David of Montreal and Guesly Chery on SalsaGlam, the New Year’s Eve event in Montreal.

Hmm…que mas?

Oh, all the night time stuff involves hosting and promoting weekly events. And I also work with Choco, the Executive Director of the New York International Salsa Congress. I do a lot of traveling, and promoting for the congress structurally as well. I think that’s about it… (laughs)

How did you get so involved in the salsa world? Did you approach someone and tell them you were interested, or did someone approach you?

No, it kind of happened organically. I always wanted to learn to dance salsa. And I just put it out there. And then one day I got invited to a class by a colleague. And you know, one day became two days, two days became three days… (laughs).

And later, Karisma was recommended to me and I really liked it. I started taking regular classes there and later started training with their performance group.

But what happened was the teacher I was filling in for never came back to teach at the studio. And here I am, five or six years later. I’m still teaching, because he never came back. So it was totally, totally unplanned how it all happened. Salsa is the first dance form that I ever took classes for. So it was definitely a whole new world for me. But once I got involved, I got hooked.

And what about promoting salsa venues and the congress? How did all that get started?

As far as promoting and hosting, I was with DJ Dave from Montreal in New York, and we kept saying, “Man, there’s NOTHING going on.” So we ended up going to look for a party. And after, we spoke to the manager about our ideas. And that led to us to planning our first party. And it was very successful, especially for our FIRST event.

But DJ David Montreal and I still work together. I am collaborating with him and Guesley on SalsaGlam-the New Year’s Eve Salsa Party in Montreal now. It’s a great event that I’ve been attending for a couple of years now - a classy affair which includes entertainment, dancing and champagne. It’s an elegant but fun way to end the year on a high note.

What do you look for in a great dancing venue?

The ideal place for me is somewhere that doesn’t feel like a place of work. I mean, even at working events, I still have a good time. I don’t define it as work, because it’s a place I like going to because of its atmosphere.

I like a place where, whether you have NEVER danced before or if you are a super advanced dancer, you’ll still have a good time. A place that attracts a friendly crowd is important. We have a lot of regulars at our venues, but also new people come in. I like a place where people bring their friends, they pass the word on about the place, and word of mouth is the best way to get going, you know?

I’m also a big, big supporter of live music, so if I can find a place where we can have a live band, that’s great.

Every time I talk to you, you’re traveling. That’s a big part of your job, right?

Yes, I’m doing a lot of traveling with Choco and for the New York International Salsa Congress. And that was the same thing - it was very organic the way that happened.

Choco and some other people told me about these things called congresses (smiles). And they asked me if I wanted to be involved. They told me they are full of music, and people dancing and traveling to different places. And I thought, “I can travel AND I can dance? (smiles) …Count me in!”

These people from ALL over the world were dancing, and they were great dancers, and there were great singers and live bands there too. We were in this beautiful hotel, with this big lobby and pool. It was a great time. And there were a lot of people there from New York.

But I didn’t know them well, so I would hang out with Choco and help him out with selling clothes - t shirts and stuff - at his booth. That’s how I started working with Choco.

And then he asked me if I wanted to go to other events, so I said, “Sure, I love to travel so I’m down.” And soon after, he started working with the New York International Salsa Congress, so I’ve been helping him ever since.

There’s also going to be a second room with a mixture of music - bachata, merengue, and so forth. And we will have a bachata band playing there as well.

We are also holding our first major kids event at this year’s congress.

And all the proceeds from the first annual youth mini congress will be donated to cancer care - The I Want to Dance Fund for dance movement therapy.

We are also holding our first major kids event at this year’s congress. There will be an array of different dance workshops specifically for the kids. They will also have their own question and answer period, a dance social for the kids to practise at, and a showcase of kids’ performances.

And all the proceeds from the first annual youth mini congress will be donated to cancer care - The ‘I Want to Dance Fund’ for dance movement therapy.

Wow! That sounds great. And as mentioned earlier, you yourself work with kids. Can you say a little about the program you’re involved with?

Yes, I teach ballroom dance to kids. The program is called Dancing Classrooms, a project of the American Ballroom Theater Company.

It started in one school. And now they are up to I think two hundred and fifty schools - all public schools. They reach about 25,000 kids a year. So they are able to affect a lot of kids and we spend the school year teaching the program.

How did you get involved in the program?

Several years ago, some friends of mine and I were at a café and we met these other dancers. They invited us to an event, but we weren’t able to make it.

But a few years later, I saw the same two people from the café at another event. I was introduced to the director of the Dancing Classrooms program at that time. And though I was just happy being at the event, I was told, “You should audition to be part of the program. It’s great. You get to work with kids.” I had never worked with kids before. So I was a little unsure in regards to that.

What made you still consider it?

The people I met said that they needed more male teachers, as the majority of the teachers were female, and it would be good to have more role models for the boys.

And so I said, “Okay,” and I wrote down the information. I was a little nervous when I read that they would have auditions, but I thought I’d try it anyway.

So that day, I didn’t want to be late. I know I set my alarm. I don’t know if I woke up and turned it off, or if I slept through it. But when I woke up, the time that I was supposed to leave my house was the time that I got up!

But I still decided to take a chance. Worst case scenario - they tell me no. I’ll say fine, it was my fault. I can accept that responsibility. Best case - I’m able to still get in.

Was it a long process to get in, and to audition? Was it hard to get chosen for the program?

The first round, they teach you some steps, and then you have to show them what they taught you. They go around and they do an assessment. There were about forty or fifty people there, something like that.

The second round, they had you do exercises to get a sense of your personality, to make sure you had what it takes to communicate well with the kids. And I made it through that round as well.

That must have been a great feeling.

Yes, but the only thing I wasn’t sure about was that I had never done ballroom dancing before. They said, “Don’t worry. We have a training program that you specifically follow, and it’s very effective.” So all of us who got through the auditions went through that six week training program. And in order to pass, you have to teach a mock class, in addition to showing you know all the dances, steps and routines.

But the mock class was a pretty controlled environment. I mean, if you tell people, “Okay, start with your left foot and then your right foot,” they’re all going to do it because they all know the steps. And they’re going to be the perfect students in that environment.

In the REAL world, when you go to a real classroom, you might not see that. You might say “left” and the kids can’t figure out which is their left foot. And they’ll put their right foot forward instead. So there are certain challenges you encounter. But most of them, you don’t know until you jump right into it.

Specificity of instructions is also so important. Although it’s important with adults, it’s even more important with kids. If you say something and it’s vague, when you go to do it, you’ll see they’ll be lost or confused, because the instructions weren’t specific enough.

Also, managing the kids and getting their attention is different than with adults, though sometimes my adults can be worse than some of my kids (laughs). The kids get a little chatty, a little rambunctious. Getting them back to the lesson can be challenging.

And definitely, salsa has taught me to become MORE outspoken and MORE outgoing. Growing up, I was very shy, very quiet, so when I started teaching the kids, I would project, but it would still be in a softer tone. I learned that you can be soft and still have your personality come out, you know? So those were things that I worked on.

Also, every year, my teaching tools get sharpened. Every year gets better and better.

So it’s been great. I really enjoy it, especially when you see the transformation in the kids from their first class to the last class.

You get to travel, dance, and meet lots of people. It seems like a dream job, especially for someone who loves dancing. Are there any drawbacks to your job?

Well, I don’t see them as drawbacks, because the job is something that I love to do.

But you definitely have to be a people person because you encounter all kinds of people. And I think in the beginning, the toughest thing was trying to please everybody. And that was very stressful, because you just can’t.

When you are dealing with events, you have the requests and expectations from the management of the venue, and then you have the requests and expectations of the dancers. They are not always in line, they are not congruent. The management wants a good crowd, and they want the place to make money. They want a good bar and people drinking. The dancers – their expectations are different. They are not concerned with the bar. They want a nice place, a great dance floor, great music, good sound system, and friendly people to dance with.

So you can’t always please everyone. Once I got to accept that, then it was a lot easier. I want people to have a good time, I WANT the best for people attending the events, but I also want the people running the venue to be successful. I know that they have rents to pay, staff to pay and I want them to do well too.

So I can just do the best I can.

What do you like most about being part of the salsa world?

I love the music, the atmosphere, the people, the dancing, and continuously learning and growing through dance. And I have met so many friends through it. The New York salsa scene includes all classes of people, all races, all nationalities, all age groups. It’s great to see that. Even when you go out to eat after having those late nights of partying, you get a table with all these friends and it’s like the United Nations. Everyone’s different - from a different country and a different background. But they all come together because of salsa. That’s really cool.

How did you get that name?

It came about from my friends, when we were creating Salsa Tuesdays at Link. They were trying to think of a name for me to put on the flyer. With all the traveling that I was doing, it just made sense as I was meeting with a lot of international dancers. Most of the dancers I know now are not from the states. They might be from another city, but the majority of the time they are from another country. They are international.

And it helps that I speak Spanish because I meet a lot of Spanish-speaking people.

You speak a FEW languages, right?

I speak Spanish because I lived in Spain for a few months. I can understand a bit of Italian and French and speak a little too. And from going to different places, you try to learn words to function in that place. People always seem to want to learn the bad words. But I think I have no use for the bad words. I need to know, “Yes”, “Thank you”, and “one-two-three, five-six-seven”.

(Laughs) Good one. So true, so true.

But when you go to a place, you try to pick up a few words. So I can get by in Italian and French. I know a few words in Hebrew, Arabic, Swedish and a few other languages. And that is just from all the traveling and from having friends all over the world.

I have this one friend who will always ask me, “Marlon, where’s that person from?” And I say, “Oh, they’re from such and such a place.” And sometimes, I know because I spoke to them already. But even if I don’t know them, when new people come into town, friends often say, “Let me ask Marlon who they are, or where they’re from, or what their story is.”

So that’s how the whole International thing got started. And then that name - Marlon International - just stuck.

Any goals or aspirations for the next few years?
Well, I do dance performances, as well as all the teaching and performing. I perform with Karisma and I’ve also performed at places like Bryant Park in New York City.

But for the first time, I will be performing with my dance partner, later this month, at the Quebec Salsa Festival. It’s a new venture for me because all my other performances in the past have been with a group.

And I’m teaching a lot here in New York. Ideally, what I would LOVE, since I am traveling so much, is to teach more abroad, at a lot of these events I go to. I truly, truly love to teach. I love to see people learning.

I also teach at the New York International Salsa Congress as well as a couple of universities, such as Columbia University Business School. I try to teach in a way that I would want to be taught - clear, easy to understand, starting with what’s familiar to people. By the time we’re done, the students say, “I’ve got it,” and I truly have a vested interest in people GETTING it and LEARNING it. Some people, they just teach to teach. But I think a true teacher really, really WANTS you to get it, you know?

It’s a great feeling because I remember where my students started, and how they started, and then you see where they are now. And the level of progress is tremendous. And to know I contributed to that is a great feeling.

So being able to go around visiting other countries, to be on the congress circuit, and go around and teach more - that would be awesome. Awesome, you know, to try to spread the dance, and the craze, and the love, and the passion.

Can you put Vancouver on your list of the congress circuit you may follow?

I can put Vancouver on my list. Vancouver actually IS on my list. It really is. There are some places in Canada, in the west, that I haven’t been to that I’d like to - Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton.

Well, you know you’re always welcome. We would love to have you.

To contact Marlon:

Email: marlon.intl@gmail.com
Facebook: Marlon Int'l Salsa
Phone: 917-776-1172

New York International Salsa Congress website: nycsalsacongress.com