Q&A with Derrick Allen

Derrick Allen bears the grace and style of Fred Astaire with the confidence and realness of the streets of New York. Derrick’s strength is his consistency of dance, regardless of the time he has spent out of dancing. Here is a video of Derrick dancing with Donna De Simone for which they won the Pro Open Theatre Arts category at the 2006 NY Hustle Congress.

Here’s the Q&A:

Q - Derrick, how did you become interested in dancing?

Derrick - Actually I was into playing football and my sister was studying dance; I had to take her to dance school everyday and I did. I would sit there at her class watching and basically absorbing; my sister’s dance teacher was the principal dancer of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company at the time. It was incredible exposure for me and eventually, I came to really like the idea of dancing.

Q - So what made you want to dance Hustle?

Derrick - At the time, as a young guy in High School and towards graduation in the mid 70’s, Latin Hustle was a pop dance. You learned cause, that’s where the girls were [laughs], if you didn’t learn it, you were gonna stand around all night [laughs]. So it was do or die, go to clubs, dance; that’s what it was about, people danced. I didn’t choose Hustle, Hustle chose me; and it’s a great dance, plus its a touch dance, a partner dance. I kinda evolved from social dancing to competitive from around that point in my life.

Derrick - Competing was also something I sort of slipped into, I hadn’t thought of competing or set that as a goal. A friend of mine named Keith, he was an attorney; I saw him compete at a small club in Queens called Seconds and later on that night he saw me dance and pushed me to compete.

Q - What year was that Derrick?

Derrick - That was in ‘77, and I didn’t start competing right away but I started dancing more seriously and I started looking for a partner; and the funny thing, the very first person I asked to partner with me was Lisa, Lisa Nunziella. We were at a small club in Queens, right on Queens Boulevard…

Q - Which club was it?

Derrick - Oh, wow, it was in the Woodhaven, Ridgeway section of Queens, a real small club, I don’t remember the name, Lisa probably would. Anyway, She didn’t know who I was, and I didn’t know who she was. She was at a club and I saw her dancing and she was the right height, size and frame, ya know to partner with me me and I saw her dance and I thought ‘Wow, she’s really good’. So I finally walked up and asked her to dance and she said no thank you. I explained to her I was looking for a dance partner, and she politely declined, but it was just a fluke and she probably didn’t even remember that happened. Right behind that was the contest at Cherries and I couldn’t find a partner so I taught my girlfriend at the time some of my moves; I know how put some stuff together from watching my sister and we did it, we danced to and ended up winning Cherries, we won the two cars. That was my first contest and from there I took it more seriously.

Q - So what ever became of you and Lisa Nunziella dancing together?

Derrick - Well, back in the day, when you made a name for yourself dancing, the small clubs would hire you to come out and dance and I remember I used to get hired alot by Philips Dance Studio and I would see Lisa’s mother there a lot and she would often comment that Lisa and I would make such a good team together. I remember her so fondly and to this day, Lisa tells me her mother still remembers me; But yeah, we never ending up partnering together, even though we are so fond of each other to this day. Eventually she asked me to fill in and partner with her, but I couldn’t because of my partner, but we love each other and she’s a dynamite person.

Q - Derrick, you were telling me one day you decided to hang up your shoes and you did just that, you decided to stop dancing and did not resume for nearly 25 years. Tell me how you came back.

Derrick - Well, first of all 20 years is a long time and I had not thought of getting back into it except for two, no three people. My wife, Diane Nardone and Donna De Simone. I don’t know how the subject got opened up but Diane had been trying to get in touch with me regarding dancing at her event, World Hustle Dance Championships, and finally she and I got on the phone and she really wanted me to come out that particular year and I truly considered, but I remember it exactly because it was my wife and I’s 15th Anniversary and I knew I couldn’t do that because we would be Tahiti, so I promised Diane I would make it the following year and I did, and it all kinda started from there.

Editor - Here is what Diane Nardone said about the first dance at the big night Saturday when Derrick finally came back in to Hustle at her event:

“I’ll never forget, it was the big opening night dance and Derrick and I opened the night with the first dance, no one else was on the floor, just Derrick and I. The lights were dimmed and the spotlight was on and the music started and we just took flight and everyone was in awe. After the dance people were coming up to me going, ‘Wow, who is that?’ ‘That was incredible’ etc., a lot of the younger dancers didn’t know Derrick and they were just mesmerized. They had never seen his incredible unique style. It was a memorable re-entry into the dance”.
Diane Nardone

Editor - Here’s what Donna De Simone said about getting back into the dance:

“Taking a 25 year break from competitions had it’s challenges but we had a great time choreographing our come back routine “Last Dance” which we performed and won at the ” New York Hustle Congress” in 2006. I know Derrick would agree that without the support we received from our families & fellow Veteran Pros such as: Bonnie Herbert Diaz, DonaMarie Portelli & Chuck Fetta who’s input served in our vision to deliver our best performance, our sincere thanks to all”.
Donna De Simone

Q - This question isn’t meant to alienate anyone or be territorial or controversial but for posterity reasons, why is Hustle so unique, and particularly Hustle in New York?

Derrick - I think there are a couple reasons for that, this is the birthplace of it and you have the original old school dancers that contributed to it. Not that there is any one person, that could say they created it, but there is definitely a class of dancers that contributed to it, who lived this dance, I’m talking about the Lisas, Billys, the Maria Torres’, myself, Lee, Ricky Quintana, George Velasquez and all these people were outta New York, and we laid a good foundation for this dance. We took this dance and gave it a certain look and feel.

Every dance has it own character and look, Hustle has a definite rhythm, a definite step pattern and characterization and New York gets that. And we borrow a lot of it from the Salsa world. Essentially, the Hustle basic is half of a Salsa basic. I think that New York is unique in that that fundamental deep-rooted understanding of the dance is here because it started here.

Q - There are so many misconceptions of where Latin Hustle started. I mean I refer to it as Latin Hustle here to make a point, because when I was growing up in New York, it was always called Latin Hustle. I don’t even know where this description of NY Hustle began and proliferated for that matter, and I personally never refer to Hustle as NY Hustle. I have a very interesting Q&A coming up with Billy Fajardo on the relationship between Salsa and Hustle, also the Caribbean connection with New York that identifies Hustle so strongly with the Latin essence. Derrick, if you can touch on your experiences with people misunderstanding the roots of Latin Hustle.

Derrick - Okay, I remember one of the young male dancers from that huge dance show on TV, (that I won’t name) was out here for an appearance and they had a Q&A afterwards and they asked him about the origins of Hustle and he said ‘You know where the Hustle started, the Hustle is derived from West Coast Swing’. That is totally incorrect, he made that statement and I said ‘No you’re wrong, period. You’re wrong’. Hustle was created here in New York, and Hustle IS unique to New York because of that fundamental true flavor of the dance and the understanding of the dance and the roots of the dance is inherently New York.

Q - That’s not to say that other’s can’t do a brilliant Hustle because obviously some of the winning-est Pros currently are outside of New York, nor am I dismissing new movement ideas and inspirations, but I make this point so as to publicly acknowledge the importance of the foundation and roots of the dance, the patterns, the rhythms; can you talk more about this Derrick?

Derrick - The original dancers, the enduring Pros, the Lisas (Nunziella), Billys (Fajardo), Arte Phillips, we know and understand the dance and timing, the patterns. Now what we, the community has got to do is get some of these younger dancers into the fold. Hustle started here and there really is a basic fundamental understanding of the dance by New York that goes beyond what people try to say otherwise.

And I don’t want to get too winded on this next statement but… I know there is this discussion here and there about ‘the music is too fast or not fast enough’, ‘we need this type of new sounding music, or this type of classic sounding music’ and my feeling is ‘Hey this is the count…&123, the count doesn’t change’, people can enjoy that count and dance at 135 bpm, or 110 bpm, who knows, but the dance is still the dance. How well you are able to move, how fast you are able to transfer your weight, is a matter of your conditioning, but the dance is the dance, if you change the count, you are not doing Hustle.

Q - I really want to give clarity to this thought because I sense a very, very small group of dancers who are New York haters, not in the literal sense to New York but disdainful of the roots, who may, through the subject of music and beats per minute as the sacrificial lamb, want to subvert the essence of the dance. To give clarity, at the end of the day what you are saying is, it’s &123 and that’s all there is to it.

Derrick - That’s all there is to it, period. Okay, whether it’s And123, or Uh123, it’s still a half beat followed by two steps, that is all there is to it, period. And the music, for me would dictate how I deal with that rhythm and how I do my footwork with that, given the speed of the music, how much melody it has through it or whatever the case might be, that basic, basic count, doesn’t change. That is The Hustle. If I change that count, it ain’t Hustle anymore, it’s something else.

To me when you have people saying ‘Oh you gotta change this and that’ it’s because either they can’t do it or they don’t understand it. You gotta go back to that fundamental understanding of partner dancing in general. There’s a technique to partner dancing to get two people to dance as one and there’s a timing, there’s a connection all those things go together and that’s what makes this dance happen. If you change that character, if you change that rhythm, you got a different dance, not the Hustle, period, end of story.

Q - Do you see Hustle evolving and growing of late?

Derrick - There is a resurgence and an interest in the dance, but we gotta get beyond the borders that we have and get the young people involved and show them how cool a dance this is; and one of the coolest things about this dance is that it’s the only touch/partner dance that can be done to pop music.

Q - What would you tell people who want to do this dance who are struggling, whether they are just social dancing like myself or even Pros who are struggling with evolving and growing. Because lots of people compete in the amateur categories, and people do take this dance seriously sometimes getting down on themselves.

Derrick - It’s like anything else, you get the fundamentals down and everything will come, if you understand movement and moving through your center; through your core, all those things, everything will come. Get good coaching; when I came back out after 25 years, I knew the dance, but I needed that third eye to tell me I wasn’t standing up straight, work on my line or work on the choreography, whatever it may be. You can’t be afraid to seek help, but you have to get someone who is willing to help you achieve your vision, not just do it for the money. You gotta be willing to take constructive criticism, but more importantly keep a strong mental attitude. And whatever you do, you gotta remember everybody started somewhere.

Q - Speaking of partnering, tell me about some of your favorite follows to partner with?

Derrick - Wow, that’s a tough question…oh wow, [laughs] is that a trick question?

Q - It’s not a trick question, but; coming from a strong lead, I’m interested in what makes a great follow too.

Derrick - Wow, the ideal partner to me, a great partner is some one who is not selfish, someone who is all about the we on the floor, the two of us, we’re going for a ride together. When you can tell that the dance is nothing more than both of us having a good time, that is an ideal situation for me. For me it’s not about how I can make myself look good, it’s about how good I can make you look; doing that we both will have fun together.

Q - As far a dance partners?

Derrick - I gotta a shout to my best buddy Denise, Denise Dema, she and I have a lot of fun on the floor, we’re constantly busting each other’s chops. And then of course, there’s Lisa, I love dancing with Lisa Nunziella, Debbie Farrow, oh and Donna De Simone of course; oh and my wife! I have fun with them, it’s not about egos it’s about the love of the dance and having a good time with together. Those are the names that come to mind right now, but ya know, you always forget someone…

Q - Having said that, who are some of the Male Leads you enjoy watching or who’s style you like?

Derrick - Lemme see, uh there are a handful that I do like watching, I like watching Hector Berrios, I find Hector a lot of fun to watch, I love his energy, I love his turns. He’s got more turns than I think he knows he has. John Merisier I like to watch, I don’t know how he dances in his boots [laughs]; but the thing is you could tell he’s having fun out there, I enjoy watching him. Umm, I like watching Raul (Santiago), cause again, he’s giving on the floor.

Q - Thank you Derrick for sharing with us, it’s been great talking to you. Hope to see more of your dancing soon…

See Derrick Allen’s bio and photos on his Hustle Pros page here.

Contributing photos: Donna De Simone
Contributing video: Lori Brizzi, NY Hustle Congress