26. DANCE INDUSTRY MASTERY ft. Rudy Lopez
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Welcome to Episode 26 of the Salsa Kings LIVE podcast!
This episode features a guest who has done everything. He’s been a DJ, dancer, instructor, investor, you name it. Rudy Lopez has been working his own dance studio for over ten years, been a DJ for over eight years, as well as an instructor performer, and arranging events. Join him and Andres as they talk about the upcoming dance events and what it takes to reach the top in this industry.
Rudy discusses his history with dance. Born in Rochester, New York, he moved to Tampa at twelve and now lives in Orlando. He gained his passion from his musician family members and his mother who would take him to Latin clubs with plenty of dance. Later on in his life, after leaving a relationship he started looking into salsa dancing and asked a girl to dance, and then, upon failing to impress her, asked a man who was much proficient in dancing to teach him. After a business of his went down, they decided to start a new dance studio.
Rudi talks about his goals and the ways the business worked as well as the division of labor. He also talks about their utilization of Youtube and other parts of social media and how key it was in the success of his endeavors and how it gave them exposure outside of Tampa. He also talks about the development of their pro team and their backdrops. He also talks about the choices that led him to choose the styles of teaching, with his Dominican background as a heavy influence. In addition, he also talks about his history with DJing, starting as humbly as uploading mix tapes on SoundCloud.
From then on, Rudy talks about his experiences in the industry and what is needed to succeed, as well as the mindsets you have to have with the art as well as the business. He talks about you need to separate the music and the dance, as well as the different types of dancers. A balance between these is important and can be a bit of a challenge.
Lopez provides a valuable insight into the industry of dance, the art, and the music and how all of those intersect with each other. Those who want to see dance work and all of its different facets and how they come together will want to listen to this episode.
“Sometimes we have to take a festival away and that’s a lesson you have as a business owner. Sometimes you’re doing too much, spreading yourself too thin. Have that work/life balance. Mental health is extremely important, a lot of people don’t realize that. Sometimes you work too hard and that can affect your relationships, can affect your own mental states. So definitely definitely definitely take those things into consideration.”