Quick q & a: Rosero and Jamal.

Choreography team Rosero and Jamal is one of the hottest in Los Angeles right now. They've worked with Usher, Clara, * NSYNC, and Toni Braxton. Step Up, a new dance movie they helped choreograph, was released this summer and they're now hard at work on new projects. Sarah Keough caught up with Rosero on his way to join Jamal on the set of the new Hairspray movie.

Where'd you guys meet?

At an audition in the early '90s. It was between me and this other guy, and Jamal walks in late and gets the job over both of us! And I was like, "Who is this guy?" If I couldn't beat him in auditions, I knew I better start working with him. His story might be a little different, though (laughs).

Then we were in a video together as dancers and the director didn't like what the choreographer was doing so he asked for our input. Almost everything we suggested ended up in the video, so we thought, "Hey, why not?"

What was your dance training?

The club scene in San Francisco. I used to get to the Palladium at 8:30 and just pray that the bouncer would let me in. I entered all the dance contests at City Nights. Everyone would Bring their friends and they'd scream. I didn't have any friends but I'd go flipping off the walls and stuff and I started winning. Jamal was always putting the dance numbers together for school plays and functions.

What video was your big break?

Usher's U Make Me Wanna. This video was such a big hit for him that it really launched us. Our signature moves came together on that video. More than just dance moves, we experimented with elements of performance like when the dancers kick their shoes off at the end.

How much input does the artist have when you're making a video?

Honestly, it depends on how big the artist is. When we first worked with Usher, everything in the video was our idea. He was new and looking to be a hit. The good thing he brought to the table was all the energy and work ethic in the world to really go for it. The best thing you can have is an open artist who wants to work hard--* NSYNC, oh my goodness, those guys were incredible!

So you're working on Hairspray, the movie. Tell me about that process.

Jamal is very into Hairspray--the John Waters movie--he's seen it a million times. He was ecstatic when we got the job. We saw the musical many times for inspiration. Adam Shankman, the director, wanted the dancing to be true to the period but with a little updated flavor. Jamal's aunts and uncles and family friends came to the studio. We put on some music from back in the day and they partnered up and we taped them showing us all their dances--stuff like the Flop and the Mashed Potato.

How is movie work different from music videos?

I love the process of working on movies. The budgets are bigger, so you get more time. On a music video you might only have two rehearsals total, but we've been working on Hairspray for months. You get to bring in a skeleton crew of dancers you know and set pieces on them. You show it to the studio people and they critique. It's good for the dancers because once they do it, there's a good chance they'll get in the piece.

What's next?

Back on the grind. We're working with director Billie Woodruff again. We worked with him on Beauty Shop and now he's doing a movie about burlesque. We shot a teaser this week for the studios with a dancer named Sarah Rosete. She was awesome.