Liz Imperio – Flavored Just Right
Much as a good sofrito (base sauce) enhances Cuban food, so Liz Imperio flavors her choreography. It’s full of texture and color and capable of scorching the senses.
Imperio agrees that her style often has a distinctive Latin sensibility. She says, “I would probably say most people would consider my strengths to be within the Latin realm, between flamenco and tango or salsa, or mambos and cha chas.”
“My mother was in the National Ballet of Cuba with Alicia Alonso.” It was inevitable that Imperio have a classical start to her dance career. “Growing up, I was brought up as a ballet baby.” Ballet movement may have been passed down through the genes, but so was the hot rhythm rippling through the Cuban music.
photo by Denise Truscello
“I’ll be honest. I think most of the time I’m definitely inspired by music. I am inspired by movement. I very rarely ever walk into a room ever pre-choreographed. I get a little nervous because I believe that if you come in preset with something in your mind and you don’t know what dancers you have available to you, it’s hard to see what you’re going to be able to get out of them. Not to mention, you want everybody to look their best. Not to say that every choreographer should bend to a dancer’s ability, but at the same time, it’s also great to be able to pull out the strengths of each dancer’s ability.”
That’s exactly what she’s done in a gorgeous all-male tango for “One Love…Imagining the music of Harold Arlen,” a 45-minute workshop recently presented in Las Vegas. The workshop was a collaborative effort involving six choreographers, each bringing a different voice and feel to the finished product. “When they approached me about doing the tango, I was like, ‘Of course. I love working with men.’ There’s something very powerful, very strengthening, something very beautiful. There’s an internal strength that I think that men can definitely show outside of just the basic external strength that most people are used to seeing.”
“The first day we spent maybe four hours on eight counts of eight because the first few hours was teaching them the basics of how to approach your partner, how to actually step into your basic tango.”
“The reality is that tango was invented in the brothels of Argentina where it was very customary that men danced with men. It was never looked upon or frowned upon but that’s why it was in the brothels, because nobody was there to judge anybody. You know, the women danced with the women, the men danced with the men, but it was originated by all men and that’s kind of what I wanted to bring.”
“It really does show integrity and pride and a sense of honor in the way that they move and a sensuality that’s not grotesque or vulgar but that is enticing and intriguing.” Where a male/female tango would have been nice but unremarkable, this tango succeeded in bringing the focus to the underlying sensuality and strength of the music.
Even Imperio was drawn into the dance. She describes her tango as “yummy. Oh my gosh. I consider this very much like Argentina, where it’s very grilled. It’s juicy and it’s succulent. When you’re looking at a show where there’s so much going on and you’re only a small bit, the last thing you want to do is bring a bit that’s not going to be tasty.”
“I think we’re all in the same frame of mind, that by having the diversification of different choreographers, it brings on different textures to all the movement, whereas sometimes when you do have a choreographer, you are somewhat stuck. Not to say that choreographers aren’t able to open their minds to bring in new movement, but sometimes there is a point where any person – a writer, a choreographer – you hit a wall. So by bringing in other choreography, it brings really a whole bunch of different levels and textures and dynamics to the show.”
It’s not surprising that Imperio is comfortable in a collaborative effort with other choreographers. “My mother has always said that if you trust your talent, if you trust who you are, you’ll get far. You just have to be willing to knock on the door and you have to be willing to walk through the door when the door opens.”
Count on Imperio to tango right through the open door, command the floor and deliver something sizzling and distinctive. Imperio, like a shot of café cubano, is rich, strong and invigorating.
“You want everybody to enjoy the different flavor that’s being presented. I associate dance with food all the time.”
Liz Imperio has worked with and choreographed for:
Al Pacino Tracy Ullman Madonna Selena Cher Gloria Estefan Jennifer Lopez Siegfried & Roy