Delano Native Winning Fans on Reality TV
By Louis Medina, The Bakersfield Californian
May 14–The Department of Homeland Security could learn a lot about secrecy and eavesdropping from Bravo television, whose representative listened in on a phone interview last week with Miguel Zarate, a 24-year-old Delano native.
Zarate, a professional dancer and choreographer, is a contestant on the reality show "Step It Up & Dance" — "Oh, I’m the show and you can quote me on that" — which, along with such other Bravo favorites as "Top Chef" and "Project Runway," is a competition where contestants get eliminated each week while vying for the top title and a small $100,000 fortune.
A reporter couldn’t possibly be allowed to spoil the suspense, as it, combined with plenty of diva cattiness and gossip among the contestants — oh, and don’t forget the kitschy "Last Dance" that everyone voted off by the judges has to do before leaving the show — provides the "drah-mah" that keeps viewers tuning in and blogging.
One of six dancers still in the running out of an original 12, Zarate is a graduate of UC Irvine who makes his home in Los Angeles and counts choreography gigs with Hannah Montana and the Pussycat Dolls as notches on his calling card case.
He is full of both swaggering confidence and hard-working humility, as will be evident from our interview, which has been edited for space.
The Californian: Were you raised bilingually?
Zarate: Yes. My first language was Spanish. I learned English in kindergarten. In fact, when I go home I still speak Spanish with my parents. They communicate better in Spanish: their house, their rules.
Q: Has your biculturalism helped you in your career as a dancer?
A: Oh, God, I think it’s helped me a lot tremendously. I indulge in the fact that I’m different. When I was really little I wanted to be Filipino from around the time I was in second grade to fourth grade. I thought they were way cooler.
Q: What was the hardest thing about adapting to life in a big city like L.A., coming from Delano?
A: I’ve always been a big-city kid. I knew I wasn’t supposed to stay in Delano from the time I was 7 years old. I would ask my mom, ‘What am I doing here?’ I always found it hard to express myself in Delano.
Q: What advice do you have, then, for the next Miguel Zarate in Delano or Arvin or Lamont who wants to make it big?
A: Don’t second-guess yourself. I do believe in education. The way out of a small town is to go to university. I come from a humble beginning. The way out for me was through college.
Q: What would you say to people who don’t know the Central Valley but have stereotypes about it, like that it’s a cultural backwater?
A: Delano is a melting pot of a lot of things. Look, there’s hicks everywhere: Every race has their bad people, every city has their bad people. My small town was very culturally rich. It’s cool. Who still has parades? I was a fan of that. I do feel like we lack support in the arts and that has to be changed.
Q: How long does it take to film an episode of "Step It Up & Dance," particularly when you’re standing on stage waiting to find out who’s getting voted off? On TV it’s just a few minutes with a commercial break in between, but how long is the actual agony?
A: It’s a process. In between from when the judges give the feedback and what they’re thinking, sometimes I waited on stage for half an hour. It’s obviously not done weekly. It’s a dance boot camp. It’s one to two days an episode and back to back to back. It’s a lot harder than what it looks. There were days when I couldn’t move my body.
Q: What keeps you going in the midst of a challenge?
A: There are cameras everywhere. I’m a perfectionist and you can’t stop. You’re in a game: It’s like Monopoly human. You’ve got to keep going. Every week people get eliminated. And as you get closer to the end, you think ‘This is real.’ (When people get eliminated, Zarate said, it’s like a firing and all their belongings are removed from their room right away.)
Q: What is worth more to you about the show: the fame and exposure or the money?
A: Both equally. But what I really like about the show is that the audience can really get to know what the contestants are like.
Q: What can a dancer do, realistically, with the $100,000 prize money?
A: After taxes it’s in the high 60′s but that’s not a lot. When I win — and I will! — I will invest in a black Toyota Prius. And the rest I’ll invest in whatever. But I won’t buy a house and tell my mom to stop working.
Q: You are one of those contestants that stand out among the others, kind of like Christian Siriano on the last season of "Project Runway" or like Dale or Spike now on "Top Chef." What makes a contestant stand out above the rest?
A: The people who stand out when you watch the show are allowing themselves to be 100 percent real on camera. These people go into this experience with no wall up and you’re allowing America to see 100 percent and that’s what America loves. I’m allowing the cameras to pick up 100 percent of me: 100 percent raw Miguel.
Q: Describe your dream job or gig.
A: My dream job will be when I release my album. A music album. I’m the next male Madonna. I want to be an entertainer. I will be an actor and a singer. I am all those things but right now I’m coming to America as a dancer and a choreographer.
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