Beatriz Luengo: “I am the 'celebrity' of my neighborhood and that fills me with pride. I have a double life between Miami and Hortaleza” | EUROtoday

Beatriz Luengo (Madrid, 1982) was a star very early, when 'A step ahead' made Spanish adolescence dance and their relationship with Yotuel Romero, then main Orishas, ​​was journal fodder. Later, she needed to be a younger lady of her era and search for a life exterior of it. France, Argentina, Mexico and, lastly, Miami, the place he has lived for 11 years and is as soon as once more a star – three Grammys included – though many individuals in his nation have no idea it. “It's likely, but I'm not a victim, the only thing that matters to me is that I don't stop,” he places it into perspective, through video name, and confirms it with the publication of his first novel, 'Until the songs run out' [Planeta].

Although it’s a romantic plot, it has an necessary social part. Especially relating to racism, because it stars an interracial couple like yours.

Yes. It is one thing that I’ve at all times skilled and much more so now that I stay within the United States, the place this downside is multiplying. My youngsters are blended race, my daughter has her afro hair and the reality is that I at all times do issues from a really private universe. I really feel that it’s the finest option to method initiatives and it’s a novel that I dedicate to my youngsters. It is my grain of sand on this struggle, a present of affection for being mestizo. I empower them on a regular basis with the difficulty of race and cultural combine. You ask my daughter what she is and she or he solutions: “Spanish, Cuban and flamenco.” I like that they really feel that makes them very particular.

Have you seen way more racism within the US than in Spain?

I at all times speak about racism from the attitude of my boy, who’s the one that experiences it. He left Cuba when he was 18, went to France, lived within the subway, suffered very sturdy racism, arrived in Spain and, in his personal phrases, that’s the place he has lived finest as a black citizen. He felt that he was very unique, however by no means disagreeable. It can also be true that Yotuel arrived in Spain because the chief of a bunch and showing on tv; his state of affairs was already very totally different and his experiences as a black individual in Spain usually are not similar to these of the bulk. In any case, he says that, besides in visitors discussions the place the racial insult at all times comes first, he has felt higher in Spain than within the United States, in France and in his personal nation, as a result of in Cuba the racial distinction can also be very marked. .

More 'Chimpún' interviews

How have you ever dealt with being the emigrant your self?

It's what I needed to do. To conquer something in your life you must transfer and know methods to deal with it. I’ve been within the United States for 11 years and I believe it is crucial for Spanish artists to open borders. In Spain the expertise there may be in all sectors is spectacular, however we dare rather less to take the leap than in different nations. I’m very fortunate to have obtained an ideal training from my mother and father, who’ve taught me to drag myself out of the woods, and I’m at all times making ready to do new issues and undertake new issues. I don't watch for anybody to present me worth, I merely do issues as a result of I really feel that they add worth to me. Since I turned well-known with 'One Step Forward' I’ve obtained a recurring query: “Do you feel that after the series it has been difficult for you?”

And has it been?

No! I refuse to victimize myself. On the opposite: I really feel tremendous fortunate, I’ve had many alternatives and when the telephone stopped ringing in Spain, I merely went overseas and opened new horizons. I’ve 13 Grammy nominations and I’ve composed for crucial artists, I made the documentary 'Patria y vida' that has triumphed in the perfect festivals, my earlier e-book, 'The awakening of the muses', offered very nicely… I'm not a kind of who waits for somebody to name, I maintain my very own life. That's why I like music greater than appearing, as a result of ready for others to resolve doesn't go well with me. I am going out and do my issues, dependency makes me very nervous. I'm only a lady from the neighborhood who can't stand relying on anybody or ready for a chance. I am going in search of them and I at all times discover them. The fact is that individuals who know me make jokes and memes with me.

Because?

Because I at all times say: “There is no 'no', there is 'not now'.” That motto has been with me for 15 years and it has labored for me. When I obtain a 'no' I by no means suppose that it’s one thing closed and I begin engaged on the 'sure' of the longer term. That has helped me not get annoyed, I at all times suppose that now shouldn’t be the time, however it would come.

You talked in regards to the neighborhood. How do you preserve class consciousness in a Miami mansion?

I’m very a lot from my neighborhood [Hortaleza, en Madrid] and that doesn't go away from me. All the cash I earned from the collection I invested in a dance faculty in my neighborhood as a result of it was a dream I had with my mom. Since I used to be a toddler I needed to do musicals, a self-discipline that was not very regular in Spain within the 80s and 90s, and to take action I wanted to behave, sing and dance, however there have been no colleges that taught all of it collectively. I needed to take two buses to Diego de León for dance courses, then go to Ópera for singing and Ventas for appearing. At that point my neighborhood nonetheless didn't have a subway, I used to be dropping my life on the buses and at some point I made a decision with my mom that, if we may ever afford it, we might open a college within the neighborhood for different women who felt like me. And we did it.

Did you see it as your doable future job?

Yes in fact. When I went to France I had nothing and I believed that, if that didn't work out, I might return house to show and go overseas. I’m very grateful to my mother and father for encouraging me to put money into the neighborhood, even when it isn’t one thing that may make me a millionaire, and never in anything extra worthwhile. It has been very gratifying to see how the neighborhood additionally grew round this faculty, which isn’t as a result of it’s mine, however it’s lovely. When I return to Madrid I nonetheless stay within the neighborhood. When I turned impartial, I stayed there and it’s my place. Every day I stand up at six within the morning and the very first thing I do is log in to handle faculty issues and I’ve calls with the scholars' moms. I’ve a double life between Miami and Hortaleza, between Beatriz Luengo and Bea. I adore it. Also, I stroll there and everybody is aware of me from a really younger age, as a result of I began showing on TV after I was 9 years outdated. I’m the superstar from the neighborhood [risas]. My brother at all times will get enthusiastic about that: “You're the star of Hortaleza.” And I snort, nevertheless it truly fills me with satisfaction.

Are you continue to fascinated with coming again?

I at all times need to come again. I've solely been residing there for 3 months and every part may be very messy, however right here it's virtually worse. Furthermore, within the United States there may be worry as a result of it’s the focus of many issues, of many enemies and you might be at all times apprehensive that the state of affairs will escalate. It is true that I’ve quite a lot of work right here and in these 11 years we’ve planted loads, however I by no means really feel like I absolutely stay right here. Yes, I want I may return.

How did you settle for the exaggerated reputation of 'One Step Forward'?

I used to be the youngest within the collection, I used to be 17 years outdated and I believe that labored very a lot in my favor as a result of my mother and father have been those who signed the contract and have been advising me your entire time. In this world, and particularly at these ages, what makes the distinction is your atmosphere. I’ve seen colleagues who have been advised: “You are the best, you are a star, you were born for this, the world is yours.” They made them consider that the glass ceiling that at all times finally ends up falling would by no means fall. My mother and father made every part very relative and made the choice to not discuss to one another about what was taking place to me. It was surreal as a result of we have been going to a restaurant, individuals have been getting as much as take images of me and we have been nonetheless speaking in regards to the climate as if it have been nothing. When I met Yotuel, he was very stunned by this, we pretended that my reputation didn’t exist, and I believe it was superb for me to not be dragged down by any of the unfavorable points of fame.

Were you at all times a very good lady?

Place. How boring I’m! [risas]. I haven't gone out a lot, I've by no means been into alcohol or medication and my solely companion has been Yotuel, who I met after I was 18, I believed we have been going to final two days and we've been collectively for 20 years. In that sense, I believe that my expertise has been very totally different from different colleagues within the collection who had extra experiences. I had no temptations or golf equipment or something. On the opposite, since I'm a geek and I at all times push myself too laborious, I didn't benefit from the expertise of 'One Step Forward' as a lot as I ought to have as a result of the entire time I used to be placing stress on myself to bounce higher and do every part higher, higher, higher. .. For some time I felt like I had no life. I'm sorry I can't inform you one thing juicier in regards to the lifetime of a younger TV star. [risas].

Well, you break the cliché that that life is stuffed with damaged toys.

There are, however it might probably work out nicely. In truth, I believe most of us turned out positive. Look, all this about fame and expectations brings me to a different of the principle themes I needed to handle within the novel.

Which?

One of the themes that I’ve developed the strongest is the demand that everybody be the best way they need to be. We are in a second the place I get the sensation that all of us stay with the everlasting stress of getting to fulfill a social expectation, with a sample, to suit into the grid that’s purported to have an effect on us by age, by gender, by career… That hurts us loads as a result of it typically doesn't allow us to be at liberty to decide on how we need to be and stay. Especially if you’re a girl. I used to be studying a tweet from Ana Morgade that represented loads to me, she stated that we’ve to work as if we didn't have youngsters and be moms as if we didn't work. We are more and more pressured to be good, as an alternative of letting ourselves movement and being freer when making choices.

Do you’re feeling very pressured by exterior expectations?

I haven't let that occur to me, however I’ve needed to do quite a lot of psychological work to realize it. Imagine, 11 years in the past, after I was signed by Sony within the United States, which at the moment didn’t take Spanish artists as a result of the neighborhood within the United States may be very small, and I arrived in Miami. The stress was great as a result of, moreover, now we’re continuously combating towards the stress of the algorithms. It may be very troublesome to handle all this for an artist, however I don't suppose it’s unique to this career, it’s a common downside. Breaking with what’s established and making choices in line with your conscience and never what is predicted of you may be very difficult, nevertheless it at all times finally ends up paying off.

Do you suppose an excessive amount of about issues?

[Risas] It may be very possible. I don't know, I like to speak about necessary matters, I stay on this world. I studied Social Sciences and I’ve at all times thought, as a sort of debt of karma, that if I had the chance to achieve this and have a voice, I ought to attempt to give again to this excellent society for every part it has given me. We are very fortunate to dedicate ourselves to this and I’ve at all times been very reasonable, however much more so now. I’ve loads to present again to individuals and meaning taking a stand on causes that matter to me and I consider are simply. I’ve had this dialog with different public individuals who really feel they like to not speak about social or political points since you are getting right into a backyard, however I don't see it that means. If I speak about feminism I at all times method it in a optimistic means, what pursuits me is to generate a debate from which one thing can come out. I by no means really feel like a professor and I don't even attempt to impose my opinion on others. Beyond residing, we’ve to attempt to go away a mark and never a scar. If all of us made it a degree to depart footprints, small or giant, the world can be a greater place.

---