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It was the Puerto Rican singer
Marc Anthony himself
who introduced him to the multifaceted Jennifer Lopez in Los Angeles when she was still his wife.
This has been more than 15 years and, since then, the Colombian choreographer seven times salsa world champion Luis Eduardo Hernández, better known as
El Mulato,
has not stopped working with
the Bronx all
over the world.
He and his dancers, who for something is the owner, founder and dedicated soul of the best salsa school on the planet,
Swing Latino,
created in 1991 in Cali,
Colombia's third largest city.
in number of inhabitants (it has 2.5 million) after Bogotá and Medellín, in addition to the capital of the department of Valle del Cauca and salsa internationally.
The latter, since the djs of the city's discos gave a twist to the rhythms that came from
New York, Cuba, Panama or Puerto Rico
by accelerating to 45 the revolutions per minute (instead of 33) of those acetates that lit up the discos.
It happened in the 60s, when a
new type of salsa was born,
much more accelerated and complicated, the caleña.
Performances in 130 countries
Jennifer Lopez
is just one of the
thousands of fans
of this type that Hernández knows so much about, considered the best salsa dancer in all of America.
His boys have accompanied the New York actress and singer not only on her tours around the globe or in her
best video clips
, but 24 of them also escorted her dressed from top to bottom as Versace (her and
Shakira
) in the latest edition of the
final of the Super Bowl,
the American football championship that has more than 100 million viewers on television around the planet, being the most watched broadcast in the United States.
Luis Eduardo Hernández, better known as El Mulato.
"It was incredible, so we can not be more proud, although my boys already participated in the
Grammy awards
with her in 2019 and in the
dance
reality show
World of Dance
in 2017, when they came in third place," says Hernández, who He has traveled 130 countries with his art,
from Spain to Cuba or Japan,
passing through the Maldives, where he arrived "after a 24-hour trip for a two-minute performance, a real madness."
He tells it in the
El Mulato Cabaret
show room
, which he has also run since 2017 in the
El Cedro
neighborhood
,
south of Cali, where he shares facilities with the aforementioned Swing Latino academy.
The spectacular venue, decorated in shades that alternate gold with
passion red
in the purest style of
Broadway theaters
, was created as a tribute to Cali salsa and pays tribute to the great stars of dance, whose photographs dot the walls next to other shows that are held in the place.
Jennifer Lopez at the Super Bowl with the guys from Swing Latino.
It has two floors, a
stage 14 meters long
by seven
meters
wide, floors like a checkerboard, a liquor bar, tablecloths with tropical airs and a total capacity for
650 people.
80 dancers work in the room, belonging to the
artistic company El Mulato
, which holds the highest number of recognitions and world titles related to dance and
salsa caleña
.
With her, Hernández has completed his
powerful musical emporium,
which is joined by both the cabaret and the school and which extends to Las Vegas, where he works as a choreographer for the main
Latin presentations.
Partying at the salsodromo
The cabaret is part of the list of the 140 bars, discos or dance
halls in Cali
, to which must be added 127 dance schools and 115 official orchestras (the number of those that are not is incalculable).
In this salsa route that already functions as one of the main
tourist attractions in
the country, we must not forget the
Cali Fair,
which is held every December with a
salsodrome
and a superconcert of the greats of the genre included, and the
World Festival of la Salsa
, which reaches more than 12,000 spectators with representatives from half the world.
The last edition, however, had to be held virtually due to the pandemic, which did not diminish its success one iota.
Moment of the show 'Swing Nights'.
It would be necessary to add the more than
5,000 dancers
who live in the Colombian city for and for music.
Since its inception,
Hernández's school
has recruited more than 2,000 throughout its history, mostly from marginal neighborhoods, so music has been his golden opportunity to get out of poverty.
To do this, the choreographer created the
Swing Latino foundation
in 1995
,
whose objective is "to link art and culture so that they serve as engines of socioeconomic development in the region."
The academy students range from four to 80 years old, as
Diego Molano,
one of the teachers,
comments
during one of the classes.
"The common nexus is that they all have the same illusion," he says in the middle of the
dance hall
.
What's more, in his opinion, only one thing is necessary to succeed on the track:
"to have desire",
something that the Caleño does not lack, "who has breakfast, lunch and salsa for dinner."
A group of students from the dance academy.
Now is the time to "whip tiles", so the first lesson about the steps to take comes.
"
Forward, back, to the sides ... again
. It's very simple, guys," he explains while correcting the movements of a group of
foreign tourists
who have been encouraged to participate in the experience.
"I'm not bad at samba, but salsa is another world", Brazilian Rafael Goettems comments between steps.
Different night shows
These same travelers will go that same day to
Swing Nights,
one of the
different
"tasty" shows by El Mulato Cabaret, whose price ranges from $ 20 to $ 70 depending on the location and whether or not they include food and drink. .
In the case
of
Nights Swing
orchestras, trios, soloists involved
, big bands
, quartets and other
experimental formats
.
Interior of El Mulato Cabaret, in the Cali neighborhood of El Cedro.
Between one and the other, the spectators jump onto the track to give it their all, while also serving a
snack
accompanied by generous doses of rum at each table or box, overlooking the main stage.
The
tropical party
lasts
from 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m.
and takes place on Fridays and Saturdays.
The nightlife is
still room to
tell me if I'm Latino
, mixing different genres such as Afro, the
Latin pop,
the
electronic music
and
hip hop;
the
Restaurant Show,
which combines a
gastronomic experience
with musical numbers;
or on
Social Sunday
from 4:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m., where "how to party with style" is shown, says Molano.
How should you attend?
"Style and a good look are part of the experience."
Of course, they do not allow entry with "sportswear, flip flops, shorts and caps".
Said it remains.
|
More information at
El Mulato Cabaret
.
Ctra. 32 # 7-43, El Cedro (Cali, Colombia).
Webs: www.elmulatocabaret.com and www.colombia.travel
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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