After six months, 181 performances, Off-Broadway and over two years and just under 1000 performances on Broadway, Latin Assistant Choreographer and ensemble member Luis Salgado will play his final performance of In the Heights at 7pm on July 25th.
Tony Award Winning Choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler brought Salgado on board in 2007 to assist in the creation of the choreography and the development of the show. Together they spent countless hours in the studio drawing a blueprint and discovering the movement that would create the physical world that would best bring the creative team's vision to life. Throughout the last three years Salgado has shined on stage as José, and off stage as a coach for both the National Tour and Broadway productions of In the Heights (working one on one with stars such as Will Wingfield, "So You Think You Can Dance," and Corbin Blue, "High School Musical").
In the Heights has been a true blessing for Luis Salgado, opening doors for him as a performer, choreographer, and philanthropist. The birth of Salgado's non-profit organization, R.Evolución Latina, coincided with the Off-Broadway run of In the Heights and the entire cast, crew, musicians, and creative team have been invaluable supporters of the growth and development of this young organization. R.Evolución Latina's motto and thus Salgado's own motto, dare to go beyond, has been embraced and adapted by the In the Heights family. These empowering words are what challenged Salgado to dare himself to explore new possibilities as an artist and an emerging choreographer.
Saying goodbye to In the Heights will be bitter sweet for Salgado, who truly feels at home on the stage of the Richard Rodgers, dancing to the clave, basking in the inspiring energy of his family. Many new projects are on the horizon for Salgado including The Capeman, which performs at The Delacorte August 14th-16th, and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown which will play the Belasco Theatre this October. He has choreographed the musicals I'll Be Damned, Serenade (HOLA Award), Shafrika the White Girl, and Salsa Gorda, as well as the animated feature "Dora's Explorer Girls" and is now choreographing Romeo and Juliet for the NY City Acting School. Salgado is also in development of the new musical Children of Salt, by composer Jaime Lozano, and is set to direct and choreograph this project in 2011.
"As a performer, he is exceptional in his passion and ability. As an assistant, he is an unending well of inventiveness and reliability. As a choreographer, his impressive accomplishments to date, pale in comparison to the kind of work he is bound to create," says choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler in reference to Luis Salgado.
In the Heights will continue to shape Salgado's career as an artist as he moves from his home on 46th Street to the Delacorte and then on to 44th Street. It has been his motivation and his inspiration, as well as his springboard to success.
www.luissalgado.com
