He's known all over the world as 'Mambo G' but who is the real Graeme Haney? Let's find out as we chat to him in this edition of After Hours.
Who is Graeme Haney?
Son, brother, father, dancer, teacher, DJ, promoter, aerodynamic brother and all-round old-fashioned regular guy who thinks he's hilarious!!
Tell us about your Salsa story from the early days…
Well it all started back in England in the early 1990’s when my girlfriend at the time wanted to dance Salsa. I didn’t want to - she moved away. So I learned for her :)
This was.. OMG OVER 20 years ago as I’ve been teaching for 20 years lol…!
I learned back in the UK under Mauricio Rayes (Latin Motion UK). He was my first inspiration and mentor where I learned Cuban, Columbian and On 1. Also, Mauricio trained me as a teacher to work within his company which I did for ten years. He also taught me the ropes and the “do’s and don’ts” of being a Salsa DJ and gave me my first opportunity to DJ in the Salsa community.
Then I travelled regularly to London to learn On2 from (in my opinion) one of the best social dancers and teachers ever seen - “Special Tee” and his sister Roukey for over five years.
My time learning took me to all of the Congresses in the UK and Europe where I learned from some some of the finest exponents of Salsa and Mambo including Nelson Flores, Eddie Torres, Mario B, Frankie Martinez, the Cobo brothers and Masacote to name a few.
So when did your Australian story begin?
I would often take trips back to Australia to visit my mum who lived in Maroubra in Sydney and it only occurred to me after a few years teaching, to search for Salsa in Sydney - this was before Facebook, iPhones and the internet was still in its infancy – yes I’m very old!!
I stumbled across La Campana on Liverpool Street and went there one Saturday night. I asked ladies to dance for over an hour with no takers - (I had long hair then…!) My frustration poured over and I asked one the guys “what do you have to do here to get a dance???”.
He looked at me and said “Do you dance?”
I said “Yes”
He said “Where are you from?”
I said “UK”
He said “London??”
I said “Birmingham”
He said “LONDON!!” and ran off and told all of the girls he knew.
I never stopped dancing for the rest of the night.
What do you enjoy most about Latin dance?
All of it.... learning, the dance, the music, the history, the social, losing yourself in the song with your partner..:)
What is your current favourite Salsa song?
Current.. PHEW that's a biggie...I'd say I've been listening to a lot of Ray Perez recently.. so take a pick from his back catalogue..:)
Do you wear dance shoes and if so what type?
Throughout my life, I've never worn dance shoes as they're always daggy, or uncomfortable. Only started to wear them when I saw the OzDance Ballo range.. they look like regular sneakers and feel like jazz shoes, v-light easy to spin in too.. Now that's all I wear when I dance..:)
How important is it for you to be wearing dance shoes when you dance?
Before I used the Ballo shoes from OzDance, I wasn't that bothered.. but the difference is so huge that now I don't go anywhere without one of my pairs...