She arrives late for the interview, although she does not use reasons for being a new diva. Simply, a frenetic traffic delayed the trip by remis, from her house in the San Agustín neighborhood, in San Francisco Solano —Buenos Aires suburban area— to Palermo Chico where this note and the photos that illustrate it will be made. And one wonders how the contrast of two such different neighborhoods lives. And shortly after talking to Anabel Sanchez, is perceived as capable of making a synthesis of opposites, with Hegelian rigor, although there is no philosophy involved, but pure intuition and desire to improve. She is “The lioness of two worlds”, the title of an unforgettable film. Although better, she would like to say “The panther of two worlds”, because she is a fan of that feline with whom she identifies because of her powerful image.
This girl who achieved thousands of followers on Tik Tok, of a humble condition willing to settle it, who does not deny her origins and who was encouraged to Vogue Open Casting Sending a home video shot in her backyard, introducing herself in English (she studied the language for phonetics for that purpose), she has just launched an artistic career that is already propelling her to change her life. The incredible thing about her case is that, from the networks and her insatiable curiosity, the young woman created herself by looking at tutorials, Internet pages and some magazines. Alone, although supported by her mother Marcela (37) and, especially by her sister Melina (16), who is a boxer, she became the architect of her own destiny.
News: How do you come to have your booker in an agency?
Anabel Sanchez: It’s that after the press releases, the followers on the networks, everything that happened to me, my cell phone was exploited and I asked my uncle Rubén for help. Especially since there were a lot of cell phones at the door of the house and I didn’t know how to handle myself. From that moment on, he began to answer my cell phone and tell me “give this note, better not this one or wait a bit.” And we come to Valeria Mazza. She recommended Multitalent to us, because the agency calls for multiple talents and I do a lot of things besides modeling.
News: What things?
Sanchez: I design clothes, I love acting and dancing…so this was the place. And here I am, very grateful.
News: Did you study dance?
Sanchez: When I was little I did a lot of contemporary dance because it came hand in hand with figure skating. But it was never formal, with study in an academy, professor and that. I did everything as an autodidact and watching YouTube tutorials, with the little bit of Internet I had. It was asking the neighbor to lend us a little while, and when he had Wifi, he took the opportunity to study what he had available. But I finished high school.
News: How are you preparing for Dancing?
Sanchez: Oops! We are going little by little, working with Tito Díaz and Hernán Alegre the coach, in an experience that for me is beautiful. We move forward calmly, exposing ideas about what we aspire for Dancing. We see the rhythms, we comment on them; but we want it to flow. We have officially started rehearsals.
News: In what sense has your life changed recently, if you feel it has?
Sanchez: There is a change, of course. But it’s not as big as outsiders envision it to be. Obviously I am coming to the city of Buenos Aires all the time. I’m still living in the south zone. And many times I have to travel a lot and several days a week. But it’s what I did before when I was looking for a job. Now it is different. I have work! And I am generating very nice income; I can help my mom to finish the house…
Anabel’s family is also made up of two younger brothers, Dylan (6) and William (3). Her house is on a dirt street and her grandparents live upstairs. Until three years ago they lived with a violent father, who beat his mother and her children. In 2020 they managed to kick him out of the home and never saw him again. “He abused us,” she confessed in some interviews, “because there are many ways to do it. He betrayed everyone who surrounded him and loved him.
News: Always with the idea of moving alone, to the Palermo neighborhood?
Sanchez: Yes always. With my uncle we are already finding out. And I think that when Dancing starts, then my life will officially change and I will have my apartment, my dream house. But up to here, today and now, everything is very calm.
News: Don’t you feel like fame is revving you up with its extra dose of adrenaline?
Sanchez: No, not really. I have my family that supports me a lot and supports me. I get along very well with my mom, she is like my best friend, we were always together. And really fame is not going to make me dizzy, but really not. And why am I saying this? Because before this moment of so much exposure arrived, I spent hours on my art without being seen, anonymously. The truth is that many times he did it as a catharsis, because I downloaded through the photos, videos… I dreamed because the reality of that moment did not give me the possibility that I have today. For example, I couldn’t go to a professional, a psychologist for therapy. I didn’t have the money.
News: And art is very healing.
Sanchez: Clear. I instinctively took refuge in art. And I didn’t think about what is happening to me now. I danced, I produced myself for photos, I modeled… It was my escape from so much chaos. Now I feel like I’m not doing everything alone. That they are real people who are with me guiding me. I also feel that the community that is being created is very healthy and I like to communicate with each one. Even my increasing followers are not just another number for me. Now I have about 230 thousand.
News: Followers who praise and criticize her.
Sanchez: And, the truth, that there is both. At first I was not prepared for the haters and I closed in on myself a lot, he made me a ruthless self-criticism, he compared me and he was very focused on the bad comments. That made me very sad. In the first notes I ended up crying because I had been holding on until I couldn’t take it anymore. Not now, because I’m finding myself again, after these last four months. I look like I shine again. I rule out hurtful criticism and stay with the love of the people.
News: The media, in general, gave him a marked welcome…
Sanchez: oh yeah! Because entering this world of fashion, of television —a world that I dreamed of when I was little but that I saw as far away— gives me more security. It seems to me that the anguish is over, I’m here.
News: He has said that his height is not what is required on haute couture catwalks, for example. But there are other ways. It is very photogenic.
Sanchez: Yes I know. I practiced with a thousand photos, millions of poses, always with my cell phone. Dancing, modeling and posing for photographs are resources that are related and complement each other. I always saw photos and productions, and copied them. But when it was time to paste them, upload them, I would change something to put my stamp on them. I like to mark a lot of strength with my gestures. That’s why I don’t smile. I love black panthers that inspire me for my poses.
Anabel doesn’t have a boyfriend; she says that the boys see her strange “because I have a big nose or I dress strange”. She always invested her time in something useful — like finding locations for videos or clothes that she fixed — and creating new opportunities for herself. With her feet on the ground and a thinking head, she is analytical and cautious in her responses. She handles a fluent vocabulary. When she talks she looks like a woman of 30. When she poses for photos, she transmutes into a forceful character.
News: His mom says he’s “the reincarnation of some free spirit or old soul, or maybe a black panther.” Strong opinion. Match?
Sanchez: (laughs) It must be so. I identify with that animal with such a claw. And I am a warrior who fights for what she wants. She always knew what she wanted. She was always in my soul.
Thanks: Multitalent Agency.
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