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 EDDIE
TORRES....."The Mambo King"
The Internet’s First Exclusive
Interview
(1999)
by Angel Ortiz ***www.angelortiz.com***
Quotes from the Eddie Torres interview
"I am not the message, I am the messenger".
"It became an obsession, a driven obsession".
"I was always on "2" but didn’t know it".
"Our dance needs to be recognized, to be developed to a professional level"
On February 16, 1999, I met with Eddie Torres at Jimmy’s Bronx Cafe where the
following interview was conducted. Mr. Torres is considered a pioneer and it is
through his teaching and natural dance abilities that many dancers can proudly
say, "I’ve learned from Eddie Torres". I should know. I’m one of them. For the
past nine years, I have been involved in the New York mambo scene. For six of
those years, I was a principle dancer with the Eddie Torres Dance Company. Since
departing his company, I’ve traveled around the world imparting and sharing with
others the "Eddie Torres Technique" mixed with my own style. It has been a
winning combination. The Eddie Torres technique is recognized around the world.
So it is with great pride that I share with you this exclusive interview.
Exclusive in that it is the first time Mr. Torres is interviewed for the
Internet. In addition, you will read facts about his life not revealed in other
interviews...For Eddie Torres, it started when he was 16 years of age and attracted to a
particular young lady. She knew how to dance and he did not. Compelled to prove
to himself and probably to her that he could learn and dance well, Eddie Torres
embarked on dance mission that has now spanned over 30 years.
Recognized as "The Mambo King", Mr. Torres recently received a Lifetime
Achievement Award at the 1st Annual Salsaweb Convention held in Washington, D.C.
April 28 – May 2nd 1999. From performing at Ford Theatre for the president of
the United States (George Bush) to touring with the legendary Tito Puente, his
credits read like a who’s who list. Mr. Torres has shown his commitment and love
to the dance. His natural talent for choreography and his perseverance over the
years has catapulted him to be acknowledged as the undisputed " Mambo King".
When no one else believed in promoting the Mambo, when most believed it was just
a fad, Mr. Torres planted his dancing feet and stood his ground. He has
positively touched many lives through the art of dance. For all his
achievements, and many more to come, the Lifetime Achievement Award is well
deserved.
INTERVIEW
Angel: How long have you been involved in dancing and what was the
catalyst?
ET: I started dancing at the age of 16. I now have over 30 years involved
in dancing. It all started because I was attracted to this young lady but I
didn’t know how to dance and she did. I was somewhat heartbroken because she
would not pay that much attention to me but did to this other fellow who
happened to know how to dance. So one day I made up my mind to learn how to
dance so that this wouldn’t happen to me ever again. I was actually 15 years old
but was dancing by the age of 16. In fact, it was my sister who helped me to
learn how to dance because she was already a dancer. She didn’t have much
patience for me but she helped me get started with the basics. Her nickname was
"Shorty" but her real name was Elia Torres. She was the"dancer" of the family.
I remember always asking her to take me to the clubs. It’s funny because she
would answer me by saying, "You’re crazy!" "I don’t want to be seen in a
nightclub with you looking like that".(Eddie laughs) Then after about 7 years of
dancing and becoming better at it, she used to beg me to go dancing with her!
Then she would ask me, "Eddie, would you go to clubs with me?" Then I would
answer, "No, not with you looking like that". I turned it around on her and I
used to tell her, "Hey, those are old moves, I’ve got new moves!!!" So we used
to joke with each other like that.
Angel: While in your youth, which types of music did you listen to
what were your favorites at the time?
ET: Right at the top, I’d have to say Tito Puente because you know that’s
been the biggest inspiration for me and the work that I’ve done in choreography
has been to Tito’s music. I have practically dedicated my whole life to working
with his music. I almost feel like my whole life was to come down (from heaven)
and work as a choreographer. I used to tell Tito that his music is a
choreographer's dream. The top names when I was growing up was Tito Puente,
Eddie Palmieri, Ricardo Ray, Ray Barretto, Larry Harlow, Pacheco, Machito, and
Tito Rodriguez (which by the way I managed to see one time and danced in the
same venue). There were others as well. Eddie Palmieri was really happening at
the time.
Angel: Was music something that called your attention or were there
other hobbies?
ET: I started out with the interest in music and I always, always liked
to play the piano, Angel. My mother bought me an organ. I would sit there for
hours just playing and making up melodies. The piano was something that I
thought one day, well, I would grow up to be a pianist. (THIS IS AN
EXCLUSIVE!!). A lot of people don’t realize the connection I have with Tito
Puente. When you look at it, we’re both born in the same hospital (Harlem
Hospital), both raised in Spanish Harlem (El Barrio). My mother said the other
day that we were probably born in the same hospital room. I told her that I
never really thought about that before.
I believe Tito was destined to be a musician. I believe I was destined to be
dancer. But when I was young, I really wanted to pursue the music and become a
musician – just like Tito wanted to become a professional dancer!!!! When he was
growing up he had an act with his sister. He was fascinated with dancing and I
was fascinated with music!!! It so happened that somewhere in his youth, he
suffered a fractured ankle. I heard it was pretty bad. That was the turning
point for him. Then he committed himself totally to the music. I did the same
thing. You see this finger here (Eddie shows me his right hand pinky), I broke
this finger playing dodge ball. So I remember trying to play the piano with the
damaged pinky and every time I’d had to play with the pinky, it would collapse.
My teacher used to tell me that if I wanted to pursue piano playing, I would
have to correct the broken finger. So I started to think that maybe piano
playing was not something meant for me.
These kinds of things happen in life and kind of put you on a track to where
you really might belong. I did not want to go through the operation so I got
into dancing at a very young age. So when Tito told me about his bicycle
accident and how his ankle got stuck in the spokes and broke his ankle, well,
the rest is history. Someone once told me that somehow because of the
circumstances, Tito and I were destined to work together. I remember going to
the Corso (a club formerly located on E. 86 St. in Manhattan) in the 1970’s and
listening to Tito play and then complimenting him on his music. Tito then told
me that I really should be doing more with my dancing. He said, "instead of
hanging out here at the Corso every Sunday and dancing for fun, you’re talented
and should be doing something on a professional level". That’s how the working
relationship with Tito started.
Angel: As a youth, did you have an opportunity to take any dance
classes? Maybe at the local boys club or any facilities such as that? Was that
available to you back then?
ET: I was actually more into sports like competitive swimming. I swam for
about 11 years for the Boys Club of America. I liked baseball, skating. But
dancing didn’t happen for me until the accident with my finger. So I didn’t take
any dance classes. However, when I did become interested, something upset me.
One day I was looking through the yellow pages to see if there was a school
where I could go to learn this dance. Back in the 1960’s there were no schools
listed. The only place that I think offered any Latin dancing was Arthur Murray
and Fred Astaire. I remembering one time going to see what these classes were
about and I was so upset. I said, "What is that?" "Who wants to dance like
that?" It was different. I remember telling my mother that there was nothing in
the yellow pages for this kind of dancing. Everything was there i.e. ballet,
tap, modern, African, everything but Latin dance? Where’s the Mambo? She told me
that it’s not popular, it’s not mainstream and that it’s not going to happen. I
said that it wasn’t fair. I wanted to study but had nowhere to go. So I did what
everyone did at that time. I went out dancing and I learned as I went along. I
watched, and watched, and kept on watching. I picked up visually and if you knew
someone who danced well, you would ask for tips.
There was a guy named George Vascones. He was probably the first teacher that
I know of that was doing on-site, on-location teaching. A lot of credit goes to
George for being one of the first to do this. We were at the Hunts Point Palace
(Bronx, NY) and every Sunday, while the dance was going on, George had a group
of people in the corner and would give instruction right there on the spot. I
would say, "George, start me off:" He was very helpful to everyone. I think that
was the only instruction at that time. Back then since I was too young to go to
the clubs, I would go to house parties and I remember seeing many the youth
dancing whatever was in fashion at the time. Their parents who at the time used
to go to The Palladium influenced the teenagers. Dancing Mambo was a hip thing
to do because of the Palladium Era.
Angel: What were some of your thoughts about dance in the early years
and did you have a visualization of what and where you wanted to be?
ET: This is the strange thing. Once I got into this and I realized I
found something that I felt I could be good at, well, for some reason I knew it.
After I got the hang of it, I started picking up really quickly. I also saw that
I had an instinct to put stuff together (choreography). I remember the guys used
to call me and invite me to the center (Robert Wagner Junior High School) and
asked me to put stuff together so that I could show them. The High School had a
center for adults to visit in the evenings from 7pm to about 11pm. They had the
swimming pool, ping pong room, and the gym. I would go in there and ask them to
borrow the record player and grab a little corner. The guys would meet me there
and we’d start jamming (dancing). One guy would show one step, another would
show a step and I’d come along and share whatever I was working on. We were
teaching each other. I remember the guys asking me what did I pick up (learn)
because I was always inventing something new. I would try and invent something
new to bring to the center.
There were good dancers at the time. There was competition then, but not so
much malice. We liked each other. We knew how to have a good time together.
Today it is questionable what motive people have for dancing. However, I think
Angel, I had a vision. I started to think about the incident with the young lady
that I mentioned earlier, that I did not just want to be good, I wanted to be
the best. That was the spark that drove me. Everyone else was doing normal hours
of rehearsal-- maybe two hours. But I was doing five or more. They would call it
quits at the center but I would go home and practice some more. It became an
obsession, a driven obsession, like something was taking me there. And then,
along the same lines, I had this dream Angel that seemed so real; it was such a
real dream. I remember being in a huge stadium. Tito Puente’s band was there, a
lot of lights, a lot of people and a lot of excitement and I was there
performing. The voice that I heard was telling me that I was going to be known
internationally. My goal was to be a professional dancer. I had this vision of
what could be with this dance.
And so now I understand that everyone whose purpose in life is to be a
pioneer in any form of dance, at some point every dance had a beginning and had
it’s pioneers. Our dance needs to be recognized, to be developed to a
professional level. So I see now that my purpose is to help make that happen.
I’m not the message, but I’m the messenger.
Angel: Most people remember their first endeavor whether it’s their
first dance class or performance. Could you tell us when and where your first
performance was?
ET: In junior high school there was a dance contest and I remember
rehearsing for this and I shocked everybody because I put something together and
it blew everybody away. Not too many people at that time knew how to work with
music and structure their routine but I felt I did. I won the contest and after
that I went to the Hunts Point Palace and every Sunday they had a dance contest
and afterwards they had a pie eating contest!! I won the dance contest 11 weeks
straight, Angel. Every week I would choreograph a routine and I always had
outfits and there was a theme. Dora and I would work week to week to prepare the
routine with an outfit. The people loved it and we had a fan club. Every time we
would get on the floor people would scream. At that time, I think the audience
was the one that chose the winners. So junior high school was my first dance
contest. I remember I won a trophy. I was so happy because I beat this guy named
Louie George; I beat this guy named Louie Colon. I caught the Salsa fever and I
wanted to dance more and compete.
Angel: Here’s a question a lot of people wanted me to ask you: When
you first started dancing, did you start on the "1", "2" or anything else?
ET: The first time I heard about this dancing on "2" was when someone
from one of the studios asked me. June LaBerta was responsible for "educating"
me in this dance. June was responsible for advising me that if I wanted to
teach, or choreograph, I would have to learn how to read music. She said I would
only limit myself if I didn’t know how to read. She compared it to a gifted
piano player where the individual plays the piano but does not know how to read.
As a dancer, June told me, that I have to know clave. You have to know about
phrasing, you have to know terminology. She drove me crazy, Angel, for two
years.
Somewhere along the line, I went to a studio and someone asked me, "Eddie, do
you dance on "2"?". I was about 18 years old. I said, "Dance on "2"?" You mean
my two feet? I said what do you mean by "2"? Before then, I never knew what that
was. June would purposely take me to all these different ballrooms and parties
to dance and show me off. Everybody would watch and ask who I was. Eddie Dorfer
was her previous partner. June was about 56 years old when I met her. Then
people were coming up to me asking all these technical questions. So after
awhile, and since I didn’t know the answers, I decided to learn it. So June sat
me down and began teaching me how to read music. At first it was a nightmare. So
to answer your question, I was always on "2" but didn’t know it.
Angel: What is the controversy today regarding the different methods
of counting i.e., 1-2-3-5-6-7 or the 2-3-4-6-7-8? The public has heard about
dancing on the "1" and so forth. Can you describe to us your point of view on
this?
ET: It’s hard for me to answer that but I think the 2nd generation of
Palladium dancers, well, we somehow adapted and it became our natural way of
dancing Mambo, 1-2-3. It was our generation. There was the Palladium 2-3-4
method and even the Cuban 2. A lot of the dancers in the Palladium days evolved
from the Rumba, which is 2-3-4 timing.
Angel: Then what do you attribute the popularity of the 1-2-3-5-6-7 if
all this time the studios have been teaching the 2-3-4?
ET: The studios which were teaching at the time when I was growing up. No
one from the street world went to a studio. Our gravitation to the 1-2-3 was
already happening without us knowing that it was the 1-2-3. We are still
breaking on 2 but it wasn’t the 2-3-4. So I would have to say that the reason
1-2-3 became so popular is because I was one of the first from the street form,
to bring it to the public. I started putting names to the steps and started
promoting it that way because June explained that I was dancing on that timing.
So we started to call the 1-2-3 the street version and the 2-3-4 the studio
version. So I introduced this 1-2-3 before this whole thing with "Salsa’ came
out. "Salsa" as we know it today came afterwards. I’ve been teaching for many
years now. I remember way back when I had only three or four students. Then
people began to recognize and acknowledge my timing and wanted to learn from me.
They said that what Eddie teaches fits in the clubs.
To Contact Eddie Torres and see his schedule of classes in New York City, please
visit........www.Eddietorres.com
!!!
THE END
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