“I don’t know if I’m a star, but it feels like it’s meant to be…Because there is a mission to be accomplished, people like me can find their own self and can find whatever it is they can be inspired with. That’s DARING TO GO BEYOND.”
We interviewed Luis Salgado about being on Broadway and starting a national awareness campaign about inspiration. He therefore inspired us in the process. For the premiere gendance issue and for the launch of our first Behind the Scenes With… we are more than grateful to begin with one of the dance icons of the NEXT GENERATION, as he brings us to reality and reminds us to keep dreaming….
1. Are you living your dream? Yes! This is everything I could have ever wanted and more in the sense that I only want this. I want to be able to live to my capacity; being able to perform on the Broadway stage, while giving back through Revolucion Latina.
2. How does it feel to be a Tony award-winning Broadway star starting a nationwide campaign that will positively affect our country’s youth? I feel blessed. God has put me in the right path. I’ve been listening to the signs. Everything is in order. I’ve always wanted to be successful in what I love to do.
3. Your campaign slogan is “Dare to Go Beyond”. How do you Dare to Go Beyond in your daily life? First of all, making 48 hours out of every 24 hours is where a lot of people will say, ‘I don’t have time for this’. The first thing is to go beyond making it happen with my time frame. Giving my 100% every night when I’m on the stage or while I’m walking the streets, it’s the best way that I get inspired to go beyond. Always giving that 100% even when I feel like I can’t.
4. What was your most memorable performance moment? When I first performed at the age of 10 in a community center in my home town in Puerto Rico. The strong satisfaction that I felt cannot compare to Broadway or anything. …if I can go back to age 10, it would fulfill all of my needs and desires, it’s where it really came to me.
5. What do you enjoy most about choreographing and teaching? Discovering. It’s the ‘process’. I learn every time I teach. With what looks like a mistake, sometimes I find the best moves. At the moment, I’m working on Shafrika and I’m telling stories through dance. I’ve been making so many so many stories through this production itself. I’m not really making the steps but more so, I’m finding the world.
5. What’s your best piece of advice for the young dancer? Dare to go beyond. Go and discover your own path. Be individual. Life is full of blank spots, that only the “beyond dancer” will be able to fill. By daring to go beyond, and doing your best and discovering your own path, it will be ready to come to you.
7. What outfit or type of clothing do you like to perform in? I like to be comfortable…I’m not a fan of fashion that much…anything that feels comfy, or a messy look will do. My stylist hates it….so she balances my urban disheveled fashion decisions to what she thinks looks good on me.
8. How do you prepare for a big performance? Any special rituals? Depends on the performance. For In the Heights, we have a prayer. During our ritual I touch the floor in a certain way, I walk to the counter, I push the scenery out, I do certain things every night in the same way. If I don’t, I’m out of ritual and out of the process…that’s on daily basis. For a special ritual, when I was on chorus line, I looked at pics of my growth. It depends on the show.
Luis Salgado is currently starring in In the Heights and choreographing a new show, Shafrika, The White Girl.
Please visit his website at www.luissalgado.com. Most importantly, he’s launched, R.Evolucion Latina, DARE TO GO BEYOND; a new-age awareness campaign. Please visit www.revolucionlatina.org, www.myspace.com/revolucionlatina. Contact Luis today to learn more about his iconic breakthrough this year.
