Rauw Alejandro put on a spectacular show at the Forum on April 16. During the sold out concert, the Puerto Rican reggaetonero sang and danced his heart out for nearly two hours, cementing his position as the next big Latin pop star. At the show, LATINA also had an exclusive interview with Alejandro’s choreographer FeFe Burgos to get the full story behind his incredible moves.
With the release of last year’s “Vice Versa” album, Alejandro showed his talents go beyond the reggaeton and Latin trap genres. Adding an electronic edge to his songs, he had more of an opportunity on tour to flex his skills as a talented dancer. Alejandro’s unique, refreshing contributions to the Latin music scene have led to him becoming the second Puerto Rican reggaetonero to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone (Bad Bunny was featured in 2020). Through his Vice Versa Tour, Alejandro is making himself known to the world and revealing the incredible showman that he is. Burgos, who has worked with Chris Brown and Justin Bieber, choreographed the tour with his wife Denise Yuri-Disla.
View this post on Instagram
“In the American market, you have people like Chris Brown, Usher, Michael Jackson, Elvis, and James Brown, who came along and made a huge impact on the culture,” Burgos says. “I think in the Spanish market, we never had that because artists are kind of pressured to be ‘tough for the streets.’ For Rauw, he was like, ‘I want to dance!’ There were people that were really against it. I really appreciate that he didn’t let that stop him. He was like, ‘Even if people are against it, I’m going to go for it 100 percent.’ And here we are. With Rauw, there’s never a dull moment onstage.”
Dancing is an integral part to the way Alejandro presents himself as a visual artist in his music videos and his performances. During the first part of his concert, he brought to life the iconic moves from videos like the smooth pop-and-locking from “Enchule“ and his cool swagger in “Caprichoso.” Alejandro co-wrote the latter song with his girlfriend, Spanish singer Rosalía. He made a cute nod to her with his MOTOPAPI sweater. Burgos has choreographed Alejandro’s career since the beginning, including his videos.
“Choreography is really important to Rauw and the concert because it’s one of the pieces of the puzzle, one of the pieces of the show,” Burgos says. “From the lights to the sound, Rauw sees the importance of every part of his performances. I think that’s why the show is so great. He puts the same time and dedication that he puts into one thing towards everything else [in the concert].”
View this post on Instagram
For the second act, Alejandro celebrated his Puerto Rican roots and turned his concert into a full-on perreo moment. Panties and bras flew onto the stage as he grinded to his reggaeton hits like “Perreo Pesau,” “La Old Skul,” and his Alvaro Diaz collaboration “Problemón.” For those who have been to an Alejandro show before, his fans get the most excited for one of the sexiest songs in his repertoire, “2/Catorce.” Towards the end of the track, he usually leaps to the ground and simulates making love to the stage. The phones in the audience flew up to capture the steamy moment.
“He is always very eager to learn the choreography,” Burgos says. “After all these years, that hasn’t changed. There’s times that I’ve done choreography that’s really hard and he’s like, ‘Yo, teach me that! Let’s go! Let’s do it!’ He still wants to get better. That’s very dope for me and Denise as choreographers that we can have an artist that’s eager to learn.”
View this post on Instagram
Toward the end of the concert, Alejandro took a seat at the center of the stage to serenade the audience with his slow songs. His voice floated across the arena as he sang his irresistible love songs like “Museo“ and “Aquel Nap ZzZz.” Alejandro also performed a stripped-down version of his Marc Seguí and Pol Granch collaboration “Tiroteo.” To remind people of the electronic touch he’s putting on Latin music, he closed out the concert with his global smash “Todo De Ti.” A disco ball floated on the colorful screen behind him as he turned the Forum into a dance party. Rauw is raising the bar for Latin music concerts with his song-and-dance extravaganza.
“[Rauw] is going to be a legend,” Burgos says. “He’s what this industry needed. He’s going to be one of the people that time and time and time again they’re going to be talking about and they’re going to try to imitate him. He’s been a trendsetter for a few years musically, in his live performances, and in fashion. We haven’t reached the peak yet. I think we still have quite a bit of journey left, quite a few stages to grace, and quite a few things to do to keep innovating this whole thing.”
