FOOD | ARTS | COMMUNITY | STYLE + LEISURE
THE ENTERTAINER
IT ’ S ALWAYS SHOWTIME WITH NATALIE ALVARADO
By Tim Moloney | Photography by Carl Fehres
Though she may be small in stature , everything about Houston Rockets Entertainment Director NATALIE ALVARADO is REALLY BIG : big personality , big energy , big voice and big ideas .
She ’ s also a big talent . She ’ d have to be , as she plans and executes every entertainment aspect of every Rockets game at the Toyota Center , including the music selection , choreography and staging for each “ act ” – the Rockets Launch Crew , Little Dippers , Space City Seniors , the Rockets dunk team Anti-Gravity , the Rockets drumline Sonic Boom and Clutch the Bear ( who is played by two different people , she reveals ).
“ As I make the music mixes and edits , I start to see ‘ movement ’ in my head , and the music moves me . I like to tell a story , so when people come to a game , I like to start soft , hit them really hard in the middle and end on a big bang !”
In addition , she ’ s also the coach and choreographer for the Rockets Power Dancers , a group she herself danced with for seven years . “ They are my queens ,” she says , “ so I also have rehearsals with them during the week in addition to everything else . It ’ s more than a full-time job , but I couldn ’ t be a luckier girl .”
A Clear Lake native , Alvarado got into dance at age 12 because “ my mother made me ,” she says . “ I was a tomboy ; my sister and I were the only girls on the baseball team . I even wanted to play basketball , but my mom decided to put me in “ little league ” drill team and I absolutely hated it . She said I cried ; I didn ’ t want to go to practice . It was hard ! Dancers are athletes . But we went to a competition and we won first place . I felt like what it was like to succeed as a performer and as a dancer , and I fell in love with it .”
And speaking of her big voice , Alvarado is also a charted recording artist , having toured the nation as a singer / songwriter with Universal Records . Her self-titled debut album , “ Natalie ,” premiered at No . 16 on the Billboard Top-200 Charts , and her lead single , “ Goin ’ Crazy ,” was a gold-selling # 1 hit .
“ Singing is still an interest of mine . I still write songs , but I haven ’ t performed in public in a while , except for karaoke . I ’ m really good at that !” No big surprise . march 17 | LOCAL 59