The heads of the “Bailando” coaches tell what it means to make a famous person dance

Cuyo Studios are located in a very quiet street in Martínez; Inside the building, however, activity is abuzz. Beyond the recording itself Dance, the place is filled with technicians, dancers, guests, mothers and fathers of the participants, choreographers, producers and costume designers. They come and go, circulate in the large entrance hall, occupy the bar, pass each other in the corridors and on the stairs. They are waiting for the party on the track.

The program says goodbye this Monday (9.50pm, in America), with the duel between the couples Noelia Marzol and the influencer Tuli Acosta.

The famous cycle was inaugurated by Marcelo Tinelli in 2006, as the main segment of the ShowMatch. Since 2023 it has been recorded in Martínez – before, when I was on El Trece, it was done in Capital. While the photographer and the reporter wait for the interview with the dance coordinators to begin, Eugenia Lopez Frugoni AND Lolo Rossia parade of tattoos, strange hairstyles and eccentric clothing passes before your eyes.

It does not seem, however, that external appearance weighs decisively in the outcome of that race to overcome obstacles which is the Dance.

There are other aspects that matter, as can be seen from the interview with the managers. Eugenia and Lolo are responsible for all participating teams, but their task goes beyond general coordination: choose dancers from auditions; they put together the teams of dancers, celebrities and choreographers and follow artistically. And finally, an additional task, which we can well define as therapeuticaimed at calming the worries, anxieties and conflicts that may arise in each trio.

Lolo and Eugenia: from choreography to emotional containment

Eugenia was born in Mendoza, trained as a classical dancer and joined the National University of Cuyo Ballet. In the summer I went to Buenos Aires to take courses at the Colón Theater Institutebut when he was 20 he decided to settle here, he also began to train in jazz and then tried his hand at musical comedy and television.

She began her collaboration with Marcelo Tinelli as a dancer and choreographercontinued through several programs and arrived at the program, where He formed a team which Lolo joined. After four seasons his two children were born and for ten years he almost completely retired. He returned in 2019 “with my great partner Lolo”, he says, “and it was as if no time had passed”.

Lolo was born in Mar del Plata, he had a good basis in classical dance to which other disciplines were then added, including jazz; From a certain moment on he worked a lot in the musical comedies of the Mar del Plata summer.

One day, a Spanish choreographer auditioned some dancers to put together an international show around the figure of an impersonator. AS Lolo lived in Spain For several months he toured extensively and later decided to return to Argentina. He has worked a lot on television and in the theater. She has always lived off her profession and has never stopped taking dance lessons. When she joined the Dance As a choreographer, the first couple she prepared had Dady Brieva as celebrity guest.

The two say they understand each other very well working together despite their differences. Lolo says: “Eugenia has a lot of character and I am more (smiles) compassionate. She brings order and I hug them. A necessary combination.”

The ABC of the Tinelli classic

-How would you tell what “Bailando” is to someone who didn’t know the show?

Lolo: It’s a competition where a famous person and a professional dancer form a dance couple. This couple, prepared by a coach, must learn one choreography per week, in different styles; It is evaluated by a competent jury and from there they are excluded or continue to compete.

-How are couples formed?

Eugenia: Marcelo chooses the celebrities and we put the trios together; that is, the dance couple plus the choreographer, who end up forming a real family. They tend to become very friendly and sacrifice themselves for the cause. Furthermore, on some occasions, we broke up the teams because they didn’t fully understand each other; But We pride ourselves on being very good at putting them together..

-What kind of difficulties appear, in addition to learning the choreography?

Lolo: Tiredness, for example. Or what to do the famous person with his artist ego doesn’t like to be evaluated; or a jury saying “you did a horrible thing.”

-Do you know famous people who refused to participate?

Lolo: Certainly a lot, but we didn’t find out. Other reasons why someone accepts or does not accept the invitation include the time it takes to participate. AND a three hour day job every day and you have to be available when they call you. The contract runs from March to December and within that period you can be excluded from the first gala or become a finalist.

Eugenia: That is, participation can last the whole year, two months or just a week.

The choice of dancers

Break: crosses the corridor of the Tito Díaz studio (“ciao Tito!”) who in 2019 was national champion at the Festival Malambo de Laborde, playing a ferocious corn on the cob. Juan Manuel de Rosas.

Eugenia: I am very passionate about dancers who come from folklore, especially male ones. They have another stop, another poise, good technique, good hearing and coordination. And, also, great flexibility in learning other styles; Generally the other dancers who come here don’t know how to dance everything; They have one specialty or at most two and they have to learn the rest.

How do you choose the dancers?

Lolo: We ask for an open audition at the beginning of the season, which is always crowded. They then pass through three filters. And on the other side, dancers appear, many of them, who also do auditions, but who we call personally because we know them and we are interested in them being there.

-What styles do you ask in the first round?

Lolo: A simple choreography, but above all we evaluate its flexibility for different styles.

Eugenia: We used to travel around the provinces looking for dancers, but lately we ask you to send us videos. From the interior come a large number of people who arrive very early in Buenos Aires and, having nowhere to spend the night, sleep outside. They leave gratefully even if they didn’t pass the first round because they feel that we welcome them very well; and we do it not only because it is appropriate, but also because we like to host these kids who arrive with so much enthusiasm.

“Ten patients for you, ten patients for me”

-What conditions must the coach have?

Lolo: Not just being a good choreographer, but also a great teacher and a “psychologist”. What happens during rehearsals is much more intimate than teaching and learning choreography.

-And what about the choreographers?

Eugenia: We always joke with Lolo about this “We have divided the teams, ten patients for you, ten patients for me”. The problems are not just artistic; maybe they are overwhelmed or exhausted or They don’t know how to make someone who doesn’t dance dance.

Lolo: Sometimes we get into the choreographic setting, but we always go deeper.

-Do the problems that may arise only concern celebrities?

Eugenia: Ninth. They also appear among professional girls and boys, who have to guide and help their celebrities and also show off; a double and exhausting job.

-What are the main difficulties that celebrities encounter when they arrive without ever having danced?

Eugenia: 70% find dissociation very difficult.

Lolo: Another big fear is not remembering the choreography… for almost everyone he is the great ghost. This happened to Dad, who was otherwise very comfortable with him. On the other hand, there was someone like the boxer La Mole Moli who was like my father, a man who knew nothing about dance. And one day she participates in the competition and he wins with the public vote for his likability and for the character he created.

Eugenia: The most terrible thing is when hearing is lacking.

-And if so, what do choreographers do?

Eugenia: Pray.

Lolo: Professional dancers guide them, explain the lines or help them navigate the lyrics of the song. Sometimes They place a red ribbon on one leg to remind them to start with the corresponding foot..

Eugenia: The worst enemy is the head and this happens to most famous people. Only those who lose the fear of ridicule can begin, only then, to learn. Many don’t overcome that barrier.

The anecdotes

Eugenia: When I started with the project Dance She was a choreographer and head coach; The number of couples increased from year to year, but there were not many choreographers with television experience. I toured the city of Buenos Aires attending seven or eight rehearsals a day and many times putting together the numbers together with the choreographer. Crazy. There were very fun rehearsals, others where I simply sat down, drank mate and applauded them. and others who killed me working.

-Some famous anecdotes?

Lolo: Dad, him again! I danced with my armpits glued together and I told him “What are you? Tyrannosaurus Rex? I opened my armpits!”. He pretended to be angry, but he is a sweetheart and also a very funny guy. With Pampita, for example, a curious thing happened: she is a dancer and it doesn’t cost her anything. However, At the gala I never did the learned choreography, but something completely different, invented on the spotbut with so much charm that you could just say “she is a queen”.

Dance and its consequences

-It is often said that “Bailando” sparked greater interest in dance in general. I agree? Thanks to the program, are there more audiences at the Teatro Colón, at the San Martín or at the dance shows?

Lolo: I don’t think so, but it’s true awakened popular knowledge on the themes and expressions of dance which did not exist before.

Eugenia: And also it gave prestige to the dancer’s task. People understand what this profession means.

Lolo: The great example is Hernán Piquín. It comes from another world: the Teatro Colón, classical ballet. At first she didn’t decide to participate, but he ended up being a two-time champion. Here’s what it is Dance: bringing dance closer to people and what it means to dance. Dance schools multiplied here and everywhere and I think it’s an effect of the program.

Eugenia: Dance changes your relationship with your body and your way of expressing yourself. Many celebrities have left saying, “I never want to stop dancing.”

Lolo: He DanceFurthermore, she formed many love couples: dancer with dancer, famous with famous, dancer with famous. People who met while rehearsing… and then fell in love.