Interview with Luis Vazquez (31 y.) at „Hot Salsaweekend Stockholm 2003“ in Hotel Utsikten

Salsa4all.com: Hi Luis, thank you for taking some minutes for us? How are you tonight?
Luis Vazquez: Luis: Great, thanks!

Salsa4all.com: Tell us a little bit about you! Where are you from?
Luis Vazquez: I’m mexican, but I’m living in L.A..

Salsa4all.com: When and why did you begin to dance salsa? What was the reason?
Luis Vazquez: My brother took me with him to a club, where was a competition that night. That was 1990.

Salsa4all.com: What inspired you to start dancing?
Luis Vazquez: That night I saw a dancer from Netherlands dancing, his name was... Uhm... Damn, what was his name? (laughs) I will tell you later, okay? Salsa changed my whole life. It means everything to me. Salsa influenced my whole family’s life in a positive way. In our family everybody’s dancing... (laughs) Even my mother was dancing while cooking. Oh, by the way, Marlon was his name.

Salsa4all.com: Marlon???
Luis Vazquez: The dancer I saw in the club.

Salsa4all.com: Aha, it’s Marlon’s fault. (laughter) But now please tell us when and why you had the idea to start „Salsa Brava“!
Luis Vazquez: During this time there was no organized salsa movement in L.A., no teachers as well, but a lot of people asked for classes, and so they asked us. Francisco and me, we began to give classes. Similar to Eddie Torres in New York, we founded „Salsa Brava“ nine years ago in L.A.! Next year we are going to have a biiiiiiiig party because of the 10th anniversary. We are going to invite as well all our ex dancers, which must be more or less around 45 persons.

Salsa4all.com: Yeah, and we are coming as well to shoot some nice pictures... (laughter)
Luis Vazquez: Of course! Why not?

Salsa4all.com: Yesterday night at the show we have been convinced that you could have been a great comedian as well. What would be your profession if not dancer?
Luis Vazquez: I don’t know, really, I don’t know. If not a dancer... I have five brothers and seven sisters, and all of them, they are dancing. That’s my family! (laughs) Why I am always smiling? Well, I tried to explain that yesterday... Life is too short. I learned from my mother, that it’s on me to be in a good or bad mood. There are enough sad people in the world. You won’t see me sad, because I don’t like to be sad. I think positive and prefer laughing.

Salsa4all.com: What do you want to express with your dancing?
Luis Vazquez: We want to express ourselves. We always want to do different things compared to the others. This futuristic show from tonight i.e. was from the year 2000. In that time we were the first ones who did this. It’s like our personal signature. You wouldn’t see Frankie Martinez dancing „on 1“, would you? (laughs)

Salsa4all.com: Where did you meet your wife Joby for the first time? Come on, tell us a romantic love story...
Luis Vazquez: We met each other on a friend’s party. She was almost the only woman there. Normally I’m not the type of man she likes, she prefer taller ones. Six months we were just good friends, then we became a couple. Shall I tell you a secret? "Warner Bros" is interested in publishing our story...

Salsa4all.com: Are we allowed to write that?
Luis Vazquez: (laughs) Sure. It’s not official now, but I just spoke from interest…

Salsa4all.com: Would you be so kind to give an advice to our users and dancers?
Luis Vazquez: Always dance with your heart, enjoy it, and never forget, that you also have been a beginner once! I will never forget the night when a woman left me alone in the middle of the dancefloor saying to me „You are just not able to dance!“. I hate behaviour like this, because you can make people to give up dancing. Like influencing a life positively, you can also do that in a negative way. For that reason I would never say no” to a lady who begs for a dance. Keep salsa alive, and teach the kids, our new generation!!!

Salsa4all.com: Thank you for the interview!
Luis Vazquez: No, I thank you!