25. Karel Flores. Mexico City to New York.
Immigration Stories: We The Aliens Podcast
English - December 14, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 84.3 MBSociety & Culture Business citizenship ice npr visa greencard illegalalien immigrant immigration newyorktimes podsaveamerica Homepage Download Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
This week on the podcast - Karel Flores - one of the most beloved salsa dancers and in-demand salsa teachers out there.
Some of you know that I’m slightly obsessed with salsa and bachata dancing but this conversation is not just about dance, because besides being a stellar salsera, Karel is also an activist.
Karel is a force. She was born and raised in Mexico City. For years she was part of the famous NYC Yamulee dance company and now she is running her own Karel Flores army of salsa teams all over the world. And she doesn’t shy away from putting her activist messages into her choreography. And I personally love it. I never thought that art should stay away from politics and activism. To me, there’s nothing controversial about it. Art is the expression of the person’s passion - and if done right activism doesn’t take away from the art - on the contrary, it gives art a focus point.
We talk about growing up in a family of artists, impostor syndrome and fear of college, the isolation of immigration, dance career and business, influencer responsibility, and the value of therapy, we also talk about activism, feminism, environmentalism, fight for equality, and yes, Trump.
In the PSA part of the conversation, Karel shares her story of being affected by a mold infestation. And how that almost forced her to retire from dancing.
I loved Karel’s fiery Mexican-Newyorker energy. I felt a kindred spirit.
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Find Karel:
https://www.karelflores.com/ and on Instagram @karelflores
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Music: "My country" courtesy of Ben Bostick www.benbostick.com