Wow. I knew Magna Gopal was special before I started working on this article. I knew she’s famous for her smooth style, magical spins and seemingly unlimited energy. I knew she pretty much started like a normal person, with no childhood background in Latin dance and ballet. In short, she’s inspirational, partly because she’s one of us - only a lot more talented.
Courtesy Magna Gopal(Pending Permission)
But what I learned about Gopal after I began researching her blew me away. To me she may be to dance what Rubén Blades is to la musica. More about that shortly.
The Gypsies originated in India, Gopal’s homeland. Perhaps that explains her wanderlust and innate talent for musicality. Like a Latin gypsy, she might be thought of as salsa’s ultimate free spirit, wowing people with her moves as she tirelessly dances around the world - Singapore, Portugal, Brazil and on and on. And if you like her website, it’s a good bet that’s her artistic creation, too: she’s a web designer and consultant.
So could anything trump Gopal’s passion for dance, and is there even time in her busy life for anything else? In fact, she claims her greatest passion is politics! I added the exclamation point, because NOBODY in salsadom cares about politics...or so it often seems.
Background
Magna Gopal was born in New Delhi, India and moved to Toronto, Canada at the age of six. In 2006, she moved to the United States, currently residing in New Jersey - very close to New York.
In an interview, Gopal said, “NY is my current location but definitely not my final. I’m still exploring the world and you never know what part will steal my heart.”
Dance
Most salsa superstars boast frightening credentials - ballet lessons since age six and a childhood immersed in Latin culture and dance. But Magna Gopal was a virtual blank slate when she entered the salsa arena. She says she liked hip hop, reggae and calypso but had no formal dance training.
The movie Dance With Me inspired her to learn salsa in late 1999. While taking cumbia lessons, she became frustrated with the slow pace. The solution was simple: She started going out dancing every night, soliciting dances with the best leads.
Once she had a solid foundation - with an emphasis on spinning - she began exploring musicality. Today the self-taught dynamo ranks as one of the world’s top salsa instructors and performers, renowned for her grace, fludity and creativity - have I mentioned spinning?
From her website...
"Her creative interpretation of the music, ability to effortlessly follow any lead, spin with speed and accuracy and be able to break all of this down to all demographics has made her extremely popular in places such as [see her website for the full list of forty-one countries listed here!] across the US and many other countries. . . .
"One of her strengths as an instructor is credited to the fact that she is self taught and her method of teaching and breaking down the dance and movement comes from her own understanding and awareness of the body and natural movement."
Gopal’s dance slogan is borrowed from one of her heroes, Bruce Lee...
Discovery
In his article Magna Gopal, Jareau Almeyda, of iMambo.tv, writes,
“Magna Gopal’s Professional dance career began when my business partner, Shaka G. Brown, spotted Magna’s incredible salsa dance ability while at a Salsa Dance event. He was impressed by Magna’s ability, technique and effervescent personality.
“Shaka watched Magna for some time, communicated online with her, and determined she had the personality type to move forward with us in the Salsa Industry. Since simply having talent does not mean a person can be successful, my partner and I took on the challenge of building Magna’s dance career from the ground up.”
According to Almeyda, their marketing efforts propelled Gopal to "the number 1 female spot in the Salsa Dance industry."
Magna Gopal is no longer associated with iMambo.tv's marketing team, and I'm not even sure if Almeyda is still with iMambo.tv. However, their mutual interests in salsa and web design kept Gopal and Almeyda together; they married after Almeyda proposed at the 2006 Washington, D.C. Salsa Congress.
World Tour
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Movie Star
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Beyond Dance
Magna Gopal Trivia
Greatest number of spins: Perhaps as many as 70Favorite Songs*
“Hustler” (Willie Colon), “Mambo de la Luz” (Orquesta de la Luz), “Hacha y Machete” (Alfredo de la Fe)
Favorite Artists*
Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe
Most Intriguing Statement
“I’d also like to eventually take my dancing network and knowledge and pursue something more humanitarian.” (Magna Gopal - the crazy little Indian girl)
Most Memorable Moment
“The most memorable moment in salsa would have to be June 10, 2006 at the Washington, DC Salsa Congress where my husband, Jareau Almeyda (iMambo.tv) proposed to me.” (Salsa-Cenral Interview with Magna Gopal)
First Passion
Foreign affairs
Some salsa stars have amazingly dreary websites, but not Magna Gopal, who’s very web savvy. In fact, she worked for nearly two years as a web consultant.
Politics
This is where Gopal leaves the competition behind...her Linkedin profile lists her interests as "politics, international relations, military affairs, web consulting, website design, dance instruction, performance, public speaking, travel." And she backed it up with a degree in Economics & International Relations from the University of Toronto (2003).
More than an interest, she cites foreign affairs as her first passion, trumping even salsa.
But what side of the fence is she on? I’ve found virtually no information about Ms. Gopal’s political views or relationships - which isn’t surprising, especially considering the times.
If Magna Gopal is a Chavsita (a supporter of the socialist revolution that’s transforming South America into the world’s best hope), then she’s one of my biggest heroes. If she’s working for the other side, then she still deserves credit for helping debunk the idea that politics and salsa don’t mix. ;)
At any rate, Magna Gopal is a uniquely talented individual. If she can accomplish in the political arena what she’s done for salsa, then the world could suddenly appear a little brighter.
Links
• MagnaGopal.com• Magna Gopal - the crazy little Indian girl
• Interview with Magna Gopal (Salsa-Central)
• Magna Gopal (Jareau Almeyda)
• Video Interview (Nuevotec)
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