"I’m onstage pretending to fight Mariah Carey!"
This may come as a shock, but Loverboy is all kinds of obsessed with Mariah Carey. You need only look at our name, dahhhhling. And although we didn’t manage to meet her on her recent Caution Tour, instead we did the next best thing and spoke to her dancer Julio Marcelino who gets to play her alter ego, Bianca, onstage every night and even beat her up onstage….before switching back to butch and being one of her dancers. Julio has also danced in videos for Taylor Swift, Janelle Monae and also for Eve as part of The Kissboyz. Loverboy catches up with him to discuss all this…and more!
Now, Julio, I know you have been playing Bianca every night on the Caution tour. But Bianca has also been making some extra appearances on your Instagram! She looks like a serious bad gyal. How much are you allowed to post?
I can put as much as I want. I mean Bianca is definitely Mariah, that’s her alter ego. But now we share her. Haha…
Do you need to be careful in general about what you post on your Instagram, when touring with major artists?
I’ve never been afraid of expressing myself. Before hiring me, I know they went through my Instagram and were ok with it. So I feel free to continue being myself. We should still be free to express who we are and not be judged by it.
You recreate the Heartbreaker video and “fight” Mariah onstage. You ever had any near misses with her? Bitch, you better be insured!!!!
Each time we performed the fight scene, it was a close call, because we wanted to make sure it looked real! At the same time I was never worried about us hitting each other because I trusted my body not to. But of course I was a little nervous…I’m on stage with Mariah Carey pretending to fight her. Lol!
How have the audiences differed from city to city?
Yeah, definitely. Denmark was really quiet. But we didn’t take it personally, it’s just different countries and different audiences. I think at the Denmark show, people just wanted to take it all in. I mean Mariah is sounding so incredible, so I understand wanting to just watch.
Now I know you visited Paris. I’m going in a few weeks. Is there anything you recommend doing?
Go to the Crazy Horse. It was insane! I like dancing really sensual and slow, I’m all about control and power. Sometimes I worry I move too slow! But the dancers at Crazy Horse did it beautifully. I’m very inspired by women and sex, so watching it was like a confirmation that I’m on the right path. I couldn’t stop crying.
You dance both more femme but also masculine. Femme dancing is having a real moment right now. Do you think it will be a fad?
I think it will last forever because it’s part of us! We all have masculine and feminine energy and for a lot of us, the feminine energy really rules us and I don’t think that need for expression will ever go away. I mean so far I’ve danced in Taylor’s ‘Look What You Made Me Do’ video, Janelle’s ‘Crazy, classic life’ and also for Eve. Being yourself and sharing that with the world definitely pays off.
How has the dancing developed for you?
Well, at the beginning, my family didn’t want me dancing, they wanted me to go to college. But when I was eighteen, my Mum came back from the army and got sick with MS. So I stayed with her in North Carolina for one year. But by that time I really wanted to dance so I went to New Orleans to audition.
While I was there I met this guy and we started dating, but he was really insecure and didn’t want me dancing. There was always this issue of me pursuing my dreams. One time he hit me and so I moved back to Florida and started go-go dancing at Pulse. I saved some money, started taking dance classes, then in 2011, moved to New York and within six months I got on this amazing course with an incredible mentor, Rhapsody James.
I wanted to dance like her but she told me I would still need to dance masculine if I wanted to get gigs. So, I would do classes, like hip hop or street jazz and do the whole thing in heels! I was being really bold because back then it wasn’t as popular. There weren’t really any ‘heels’ stars. I think Jonté was the only one. I feel like I was really part of a group of dancers that helped pave the way for ‘heels’ dancers. I am very proud of that.
And now you’re part of The Kissboyz, right?
Right! I had been living in New York but it felt like for every job I wanted, they were just hiring dancers in LA and flying them in New York. I was so mad. Especially because the dancers they were hiring were originally in New York but moved to LA because they knew that was how the game worked! So I did the same and moved to LA. Two or three months later I got hired for the Jolin Cai tour, she’s a Korean singer. They were looking for guys who could dance in heels. Johnny and Anthony had already formed The Kissboyz and they got hired for the job too. From there we went on to tour in Asia for a year and a half and became really close. Then when we came back to LA, the connection just stayed there. From there they asked me to join them and be part of The Kissboyz. It’s been incredible. I would like the three of us to start working on music as a trio. Now that I have expressed myself for so long through movement, it’s time to use my voice and my writing. I am not the greatest singer, but I have a message.
What messages are important to you?
LGBT rights. Gay people get killed for just being themselves or people kill themselves because they feel there is no escape from them being who they are. So if I have the freedom to be myself in this space onstage, I’m going to do it 100%. I’m here to inspire. I want people to feel free to express themselves.
You were saying you performed in China for Jolin, who has a lot of LGBT fans. Was it weird performing in such an anti-LGBT country?
It was really interesting, because a lot of Jolin’s songs mention LGBT themes and she just wasn’t allowed to sing them in some cities. So for those shows I was just extra gay, extra sexual. I am Pro-Rights so the whole political thing gets me fired up to perform! If I have to show my gay ass over there then I will!
Your ass features a lot when you dance. And we always enjoy it! Whose videos did you grow up watching, that inspired this kind of dancing?
Britney and Janet. They were so hyper-sensual and sexy. They were almost moaning onstage. And let’s not forget Madonna. And of course Christina. Bionic was way ahead of its time.
Like Glitter!
I loved that movie!! The story was as inspiring as fuck. For a woman to be found because of her voice…
Coming back to Mariah, as Loverboy is named after the ‘flop’ anthem. What is your favourite Mariah song?
‘We Belong Together’ when she’s throwing her hair in slow motion. She’s really going for it. I just want to keep rewinding that part. Not only does she look sexy but she has emotion with it.
My favourite song though is probably ‘My All.’ it has a special place in my heart because I am a hopeless romantic. All her songs are so meaningful and powerful. They are like blessings to people. They save lives.
You can follow Julio on Instagram. You can also follow The Kissboyz on Instagram too.
