Laurent Saletto: Thank you for agreeing
to talk with us. Let’s start with a little about your background….. Lorenzo Evans: Thank you for the opportunity. I grew up in a small town called Glenarden, on the outskirts of the US Nation’s Capital (Washington, DC) I still live in the same area. I really enjoyed a great life as a youth, surrounded by a very close immediate and extended family of musicians/performers. My parents were hard working middle-class people. My father was a banker and my mother is a beautician, they always pushed my sister and me to be the best at whatever our hearts desired. Today, I am a college graduate with a Degree in Finance and Spanish, and have enjoyed a rich career as an accountant/fi nance manager for many years until I decided to pursue dance full time. LS: That was a brave move…. Why the passion and how did dance happen in your life? LE: My interest in dance began in my senior year of high school in 1999. I was part of a Dance/Step team in high school that was very focused on the performance elements of the Hip Hop Dance style. As part of our rehearsals, we would watch and learn music and dance instructional videos to enhance our performances. My interest in dance further developed when I was in college. LS: And yet, at the time, you were studying Finance, Accounting…. Dance seems miles away from that world, doesn’t it? LE: Yes, I was! But I wanted to be
able to keep in shape and relax so, I took dance classes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There, my passion for dance as a performing art fl ourished. I began taking classes weekly at two of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s largest dance studios (Koresh Dance and Freedom Theater) and began choreographing for the Temple University Cheer and Dance team. LS: So that is how it all started… LE: Yes, I guess so. From my work
with Temple University, I began choreographing Hip Hop/Funk routines for local competition teams and groups winning many choreography awards and competitions. Upon graduation from college, I relocated to Washington DC to begin my career as an accountant
but still taught dance as a part-time job. I also created my own dance company goLoworld. Since its inception the goLoworld dance company has had some amazing performing opportunities with American TV networks, performance centres, music artists, music videos and stage shows. The crowning achievement of goLoworld Dance Company was the opening of goLo Dance Lab (Dance Studio) on the outskirts of Washington DC. goLo Dance Lab offers classes in Urban Dance Forms (Line Dancing, Zumba, Hip Hop, Jazz and Contemporary)
LS: Wow… a brilliant journey. Tell me, how did Line dance come into it? LE: In 2008 a choreographer friend of mine was asked to choreograph a Line dance for an American music artist, and was having trouble coming up with something, so she invited me to assist her. My friend and I were both Hip Hop choreographers that knew NOTHING about Line dancing AT ALL, aside from the dances done at weddings and parties. She and I worked very very hard to come up with a cool Line dance to the song before our meeting. We were thrilled that the dance we created became a hit here in Washington DC and we were asked to come and teach it all over the state. (The name of the dance is “Bo Roc”)
From there I choreographed
a dance called “Love” and gained a bit of national exposure while establishing me as a solo choreographer. With the success of my two previous dances, I created Soul Food after hearing the song “Collard Greens and Cornbread” and had the idea to create a Line dance to it. LS: Soul Food has really taken off across the world….Why is that? LO: I think Soul Food has really taken off across the world because of the amazing vocal ability of Fantasia Barrino (American Idol winner and eight-time Grammy nominated)and the arrangement of the music. I think people love that the choreography ties in directly with the words, music and soulful essence of the song. Many dancers say that when they do Soul Food they feel like they are “one with the song” LS: I think that is certainly right. And the interesting thing about Soul Food is the
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