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PROFILING DUVAN BOTERO
Today, we talk with the promoter, manager of one of the most respected Salsa clubs
in Utah. Duvan Votero! He has been pushing the salsa scene from the very beggining by bringing
big salsa artists for concerts to the local community, he also contributed the scene creating one
of the most viewed Salsa Competition of the state: THE MAMBO KING AND QUEEN SALSA COMPETITION.
With a passion like no other for the rhythm he tells us a bit about himself and the world that
surrounds him in this business.
First of all, Name, Nationality, Marital Status and Profession?
Alright, here we go... My name is Duvan Votero with a "V"... Nationality would be Colombian, born
in the city of Pereira, that's in the Andes in the "ZONA CAFETERA" (coffee zone), very
beautiful. Profession I would say ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESS... and I am married... Just
recently too!
Do you see this as a hobby or a job?
Well, it started as a hobby, but now I look at it as a business, now I look at it
professionally. The moment that you become in charge of a business like this one,
then everything changes to a different level. You start looking at the professional
level of the music scene.
Do you have any hobbies?
Hobbies,... yes. I have some hobbies... I love FUTBOL (soccer), I have my own team called "FUTBOL
CLUB MAMBO" and we play on the American League here at Salt Lake.
When did you start in this scene?
Hmmmmm... I would say about 18 years ago... I was very young. I started to get addicted to Salsa,
and I started a collection of Salsa from the Radio Stations in my country. I would record the
songs from the stations because back then there wasn't enough money to buy CD's or anything
like that. And I remember that I ended up having a huge collection of Salsa, nothing but Salsa. And
I remember that I had about 800 Cassettes, because at the time people only used Cassettes, well, it
was a very big collection and when I came to this country I changed all my collection to CD's,
I had to transfer all my songs, and what I couldn't transfer I had to recollect once again and
started to do parties here in Salt Lake City, I used to do private events, birthdays, weddings...
well every kind of party. Then I started to do LDS parties with the church, and then it came the
opportunity to open a place, we took it and I remember that the first night we opened with RITMO
CALIENTE, it was a Saturday, it was so big that we decided to stay open. And since then, we've
been here.
What was your first great experience in this scene?
Let's see,..... hmmm.... Here in Utah.... I brought artists and did concerts like FULANITO, the last
one that I did was LOS ENANITOS VERDES. I've done around 8 concerts here, and that goes from Salsa,
Merengue to Rock. But the very first great experience that I've had in this scene really was
in Colombia, and the year was 1987. We had a concert in my city with LA SONORA PONCENA, EL GRAN
COMBO and GILBERTO SANTA ROSA. I had the opportunity to be a part of the production team in that
concert - I wasn't the actual head in that team, but I had the pleasure to work directly under the
head of that project. And there I had the opportunity to know big artists who were my idols
in Salsa, I met them in person. I think that would be the best experience that I've had.
Why did you pick Salt Lake City Utah to do this type of business?
Well, first of all.... Salt Lake City is a very clean city, very beautiful, a lot of variety
of people come here - By that I mean that people from all over the world come to Utah, and
it was a time where the market was very new, even thought there were other clubs like TROPICANA
at the time. Back then I thought that it didn't work completely to the Latin Community, because they
would only focus to certain things, and I'd like to think that we opened the scene to a more variety
of Latin Entertainment/Music since we opened Mambo Club. So I saw the opportunity there, and saw the
necessity in the valley of offering a bit more in the scene. Not so much the difference but give it
a bit more... give the customer a bit more than others.
Do you see yourself as a winner in what you do?
Yes, but I think that there isn't really a limit. There is not a highest point to reach... I think
that there is always where to go in the Music Scene. I think that only a very few people have reached
a point where they can't really go up anymore, like Celia Cruz or Tito Puente, I mean.. they've
reached a place so high where they can't really go any higher. But I think that here in Utah, in our
level we are still very young, very new and we need to get more experience and a lot of their
character to reach such a place.
What do you think you need to get to a higher place?
I think that to get to a higher place on my personal opinion would be that here in Utah we need to
give more to the music. I think that most of the people here in Utah go out dancing, not as much for
the music but more for the social touch. And because of that, we don't really appreciate the music
as much as we should, and I think that if we would have a more extensive knowledge of the music
we would appreciate it like it should.
Do you have a favorite group or artist?
Let's see, a group that I admire...... hmmmm... there are so many, so many genres. When I consider
myself a Salsero, I can't consider myself as such if I only listen to Salsa, because Salsa is such
a rhythm that is so complete, and that is a fusion of other rhythms and if I don't know those
other rhythms I couldn't admire Salsa as much. But if I were to pick an artist, in the Tropical
level, would be the LEBRON BROTHERS, it was a group of brothers (real brothers), who were born
in Brooklyn, N.Y. but were the descendants of Puerto Rico. They lived all their lives
in Brooklyn back in the 1970's, they recorded so many songs that I think started me
into Salsa.
What do you think was your inspiration to get into Salsa?
My inspiration....., my primary one would be the Music. I always was a big fan of this Music since I
was a little boy. It wasn't really the money in the business.
If you had to choose between Salsa, Merengue, Bachata or others what would you chose?
In the Tropical Sense I would definitely say Salsa, no question about it. And I am also a huge
fan of Romantic Music.
What song do you think touches you, and makes you remember special moments?
Wow, so many,...hehehe... I have so many songs that are so special to me. If I had to pick
one, would be this song from Willy Colon... hmmmm... I am trying to remember it... It's
called AUSENCIA. It's from when I was in my puberty, when I was 13 or 14 years old.
If you would NOT be doing this, what do you think you would be doing right now?
I come from a family that is always around business, and I also study business at the University of
Utah. I am actually about to graduate with a Bachelor's degree of International Marketing... and...
well, I think that I would develop my business skills as an entrepreneur.
How do you compare Salsa in Salt Lake City now to four or five years ago?
Well, Salt Lake City changed so much and so fast. It was a very quick and brutal change. From one
moment to another the whole city transformed itself into a Salsa City. It started with people
that were born around Salsa like me, and many people that I know - By that I don't consider
myself the highest point of Salsa in Utah - But I know many people from Venezuela, Panama,
Colombia who grew in the Barrios listening to Salsa.... I think we brought that here to Utah,
we were so few, and that was the reason why it wasn't growing at all. And then at one point
the city picked up a huge number of immigrants, not necessarily Latinos, but from other states
and cities like L.A., Chicago, New York. People that have been dancing Salsa before and I
think that's the reason why the city changed immensely. It was an amazing change, it was a
whole transformation.
Have you had any help to reach this level and to help Salsa grow in Utah?
Oh yeah, definitely... It's not just my work, but more the work of my team, which is a total of
25 persons - from bartenders, promotion, marketing, people that help me with the music. I think that
it is a very beautiful team, of honest people that wanted to push an idea, and wanted to collaborate
the city... and I think that the collaboration that we've done helps us keep a place this big always
full every week. And not just Latinos but a lot of people from different cultures.
Here in Salt Lake City, do you think you have any competition?
Oh yeah,... in my case I think that it is necessary to have competition in this scene. Because when
you fall into a place where you are the only one, then you become a monopoly, and you will be a
victim of a lot of critics, because people will never have anything to compare you with. So I really
think that competition is very necessary - We needed it at the beginning because we didn't really have
competition at one point, but then places here and there opened playing Latin Music, and I think
that the competition helps us get better, it helps us see our weak points, and to show people
who is better.
Do you think that you influenced people into becoming competition?
Yes,... People that are now our competition were at one point clients of Mambo Club, so
from there you can tell that those people came here first and then decided to become the
competition. So I can see ourselves influencing some people.
Do you only promote Salsa or other rhythms as well?
Well, we don't forget all the tropical rhythms here. Colombia, my native country is the cradle
of Cumbia, which has expanded from all over South America: Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina. In
fact if you go to Argentina right now, Cumbia is very popular now. But still in Colombia, Cumbia is
a folkloric Dance, we see it as such and it really helped us to get into this scene. So we also
play Cumbia here, but not just that, we also play Merengue, Bachata and more. Well, there are just
so many types of people here, and we need to play for everyone. But in all, Salsa is the most
requested still.
How long have you been doing Salsa Competitions?
I've been doing Salsa Competitions for around 4 years now.
What do you think about the controversy in this Year's Mambo Competition (2003)?
Well, there is always going to be a controversy in the final results of a competition. There is
never a final result for anyone, especially for the people that compete, because when people loose
they don't end up completely happy sometimes. Still though, we are still doing our best. The way we
scored this year's competition which was the FOURTH ANNUAL COMPETITION was mostly Salsa... I think
that here in Utah, we forgot a bit the roots of Salsa. I think is because of the HUGE WAVE
of L.A. Style Salsa that came here, which is a Salsa that is a very Glamorous Salsa and it has so
many things that were not originally part of Salsa. We've forgot the basic steps of salsa, the
movements of the shoulders and hips. And I think that people, this time, focused too much of the
flips and tricks, and that forgot some more things that we were counting on. We also scored
timing, presentation among others, in which that maybe some people didn't focus as much as
they should have, so they didn't end up winning.
I think that the couple that won gave a good presentation, it was very close, it wasn't easy
to select a winner.
Who selected the judges?
Well, this is a Mambo Club Contest, so I am one of the persons who pick the judges. In past years, we
brought people from other cities and we still had controversies with the results... so for economic
reasons we decided that there was not a necessity of bringing people from outside, that in Utah, there
are people that know about Salsa, and people that represent the Entertainment Media, Communication
Media, Dance Schools, people that have been supporting Salsa for a while now. So we wanted to keep
this year's competition very local, and of course without any preferences.
We've had so many comments in our site saying say that Cubano should have won, any thoughts on that?
It is very hard to give your opinion about a decision that was made already, especially when the final
results were done by five other judges. CUBANO was the champion of the 2001 MAMBO KINGS COMPETITION,
and last year it was PANCHO & DAIYANI's victory on the MAMBO KINGS, when they did an amazing
presentation, and this year it was CARLOS & GLADYS. But to talk about CUBANO, is to talk about
a professional dancer, he is someone that has Salsa inside and was born with it. His company is called
CALLEJEROS (from the street - street people)... and there is no better name that describes
him. Someone that learned to dance in the streets of Cuba, he is a great dancer. I admire him
immensely for being one of the best, if not THE BEST in Utah - And he is one of the best dancers
I've seen in my entire life, and not just in Utah. But I think that his weakness this year was his
choice of partner. I mean, to take points away from him as a dancer and as a person is almost
impossible, it's very hard not to give him a 10. But once again, I think that the weak point
there was the connection between him and his partner, and I am not trying to point anyone out
because SHE is amazing just as well. But I think that Carlos and Gladys had more chemistry
together, and I think that maybe with more time and training, Cubano and Ortensia could have
taken first on that competition.
We know that you support the dancers a lot, what would you suggest to them?
Well guys, keep Salsa alive. Never fight over it. Something that I want to talk about is
how sad it was when you guys were fighting, that's when Salsa first started here in Utah,
to see our salseros fighting each other was very sad. It was very emotional for others to
see the dancers of the state fighting each other, our only representation and fighting
each other. But now it looks like you guys are better and look more as a team than
before... it looks like they took out the black-sheep out of the crowd. There was someone
that was putting the bad feelings in the group, and I think that they discovered who it
was, and they took that person out of the crowd, and now I think that they are a very
wonderful group of friends. Between them, even though they compete against each other,
and are from different dance teams, they respect each other, they love each other, help
each other. I've seen them travel to L.A. to learn more, see competitions over there, they
grow together. I only can tell you guys to keep it up and if you have any suggestions
towards me or the club, please let us know. You guys know that you are part of
the Mambo Club Family, and you know that... and all we do is inspire ourselves
with Salsa.
Have you noticed that now days the dancers are not necessarily from Salsa Native Countries?
I think that here in Utah, we have more dancers from places where they don't listen to salsa as much,
and we have dancers from places where there should be dancers from places where salsa comes from, if
you could say that. In Utah, you have seen a wave from L.A., and remember than in L.A. most of the
Latinos are from Mexicans, or Mexican Descendant, and that because of it here in Utah, you don't
just see Puerto Ricans, Colombians or Venezuelans, but you see great salseros from Ecuador, Bolivia,
Argentina, Mexico and such... I really think is because their youth was lived here in Utah, and it
just happens to be the SALSA ERA, so it's just like growing in Puerto Rico or Colombia. It's just
being at the right place, and the right time.
What would you like to say to the people that follow you?
First of all, I would like to thank them for the support. And because of them we are about to
turn 4 years old here... and that their presence is an honor and we work exclusively for you. It
has always been an honor, we respect them a lot. And we hope that you guys keep supporting us, and
keep coming here, you know this is your house. And of course keep supporting Salsa.
Have you heard of the Mayan Competition, do you think we'll reach there someday?
I think that the level of Competition of the Mayan is so high and so international. I mean, at the
Mayan there is competitors that have been dancing for over 10, 20 years, and with so many
years of training, and competing. I think that in Utah, we are still in "diapers" and we have
very few competitors
that can say that have that much experience in training and competition. But remember that
everything grows, the city is just starting in Salsa... We probably would need something a lot
bigger than Mambo to hold a competition like that. In Utah we don't have a Latin Club bigger than
Mambo at the moment. And if we had the chance to grow like that, we definitely appreciate it and
try our hardest.
What do you think about our site?
Well, very impressed, Congratulations! Great team, I love the editing of the site, the way
you inform people about Salsa events. I love that you can leave your opinion. I really think
that it is the most complete site about salsa in Utah, there is really no competition for you
guys at the moment. Very nicely done!
Any last words, want to say anything to anyone?
Well, a bit "HELLO" to all the salseros, to all Latinos, to everyone that likes Latin Music.
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