Carlos Neto: Dance Like You Don't Care

Dubai - Renowned choreographer Carlos Neto shares his top tips for setting the dance floor on fire

We all think we can dance. But when we hit the dance floor and look around, suddenly we become very aware of how uncoordinated our joints move and that, guess what? We don't actually have any rhythm. This is probably one of the reasons why most people, no matter their background or ethnicity, can't help but watch dancers on television live on stage and feel inspired.
If, in the words of Gloria Estefan, you want the rhythm to get you, make sure you sign up for Carlos Neto's dance classes at the BNF Dance Academy. The New York based choreographer is ridiculously talented as a dancer as well as a teacher and has choreographed and directed for Warner Brothers, SyCo Music, Sony BMG, Atlantic Records, Brooklyn Nets, Britain's Got Talent, Matchbox Twenty, Melanie Martinez . . . we could go on but we have a word limit. If you can't make it to his classes then make sure you check out his performance at the Ocacti Mexican House and Cocktail Bar in Pier 7 tonight.
Put aside his accolades and achievements, Carlos is simply passionate about dancing and teaching people how to dance while learning himself. He sat with us to talk about his dancing journey, influences and how social media is changing the face of the dancing world.
Dubai on his mind
I love everything about it. Most of the people are very polite. That's everything to me. I'm based in New York, I'm Portuguese. I lived in London for 10 years since and then I moved to New York three years ago. But I want to come to Dubai more often.
Why Dancing?
My martial arts instructor was a dancer and I always loved his flow and loved his dance classes. So when I was 17, I started taking his classes and then I immediately started to feel like I was getting good at it and when that happens, you get addicted to it and you can't stop.
Dance Influences
When I started watching more YouTube, I found a guy called Marty Kudelka. He's Justin Timberlake's chorographer. Right away I fell in love with his dance style. It's so smooth, he's so light on his feet. Then I have other influences like Nick Bass, Misha Gabriel. Those are my main influences. Even though you don't take steps from them, you take the way they dance and get inspired.
Contemporary Dancers
I love some of the new kids on YouTube to be honest. Some of them have really good choreography. I love Justin Timberlake and the work that he does because I feel like his dancing is clean. It's done in a very artistic way. You can look at him and know he's just not a singer, he can possibly choreograph his own stuff. Chris Brown has amazing dancers, Madonna has amazing dancers. For me those are the main artists that I like to watch. I love Jamiroquai, he's a good mover.
The Importance of Dance
I think the same way that music inspires people, whether you call yourself a dancer or not, if music is playing, people tend to move. Nobody just stands still. So, I feel like trying to improve what will help you to express more and more of that joy that you have when you listen to music. I feel like connecting music and dance together is perfect to get away from the problems you might have in life. For me I know it helps me. For example, when I'm on vacation and I don't dance for a few days, I feel a bit trapped. I think it's because you're so used to moving. I think dance can help in many ways.
Music that Inspires
I listen to new music but it doesn't inspire me to create. If I want to be inspired, I'll listen to Michael Jackson. That always helps. I like Ashanti, Alicia Keys, Ja Rule, Mariah Carey, Aaliyah, TLC, all these artists as well as artists from before. I think music now is a little bit more track-based. I love to listen to it but it doesn't inspire me to move as much.
Biggest Obstacles
The obstacle has never been not making enough money. The obstacle is the opposite, it's when to have a day off. I feel like a lot of us in New York, we get so much work and so much opportunity, which is a good thing but then we never stop. For me, it's a bit stressful working and never stopping. I started to realise now that if you say no in the right way, people will understand and the opportunity will come around again and you will get to do it in a different time.
Dancing Advice
I feel like we all feel shy whether you're a dancer or not. I feel shy sometimes. It's like doing a monologue when you're acting, you have to get in the zone and just do it. For someone who is just starting, maybe try not to care too much. Don't care if you make a few mistakes, laugh and do it again. It's really all in the mind. Nothing bad is going to happen.
Benefits of Dancing
The first thing is that you're being active like you would if you were doing sports. You'll feel more positive and less negative and that helps a lot. Second thing is confidence. I had people who were in my beginners class and they developed and I see how they walk and stand and it helped them a lot in life. The third thing is it's always good to do something different from what you do.
Social Media Dance
For self-promotion I think it's really good. For artists and dancers I think it's terrible. Before YouTube, people would go to Spain, they'd have to travel and everyone would be dancing in a different way. After YouTube unfortunately, you see someone you like and you follow that person. The problem is that someone who is famous on YouTube and has a lot of followers, which is good for them but for the followers themselves they won't have diversity. They would just dance like that one person. So, what's happening now is that you have hundreds of little kids dancing really well but they are all dancing the same. Which is not good I think.
Dance Movies
I definitely get more inspired by the old school movies something with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers . . . They never had any cuts. They would do a complete seven minute scene in one take and it shows the whole body so you know that it's them that's doing it.
I love the new movies we see now cause the editing makes it look cool. But when it comes to dancing with the quick cuts and sharp angles, it's tricking the eyes and cuts a lot of cool stuff.
Michael Jackson
When I started dancing I was a fan of Michael Jackson but it wasn't his dancing that inspired me. But the more I study of him now and the more of my friends who are fans of him show me stuff, the more I tend to respect a lot of his dancing skills. I see his artistry and for me that's what makes me think he's not just a dancer or a singer he was just everything.
Highlight of Carlos's career
So far it was working with Simon Cowell and Nigel in Britain's Got Talent there was a project that they didn't have a choreographer for. I was very young so I don't think I fully appreciated it. One of the winners of Britain's Got Talent, George Sampson was coming back a year after and they asked me to do everything, the idea, the choreography, everything. I sat down and took different ideas and put them all together and put a twist to it. It came out really well. Simon Cowell was happy with it and that gave me a lot of confidence.