Valdez can be seen all over the parquet floor, interviewing players, running halftime contests, and pumping up the crowd throughout the game.
By Khari Thompson, The Boston Globe
Melisa Valdez always dreamed of being in the background, but her talent has put her front and center during these NBA Finals.
As the Celtics’ in-arena host, she is one of the first people fans see on the jumbotron as they file into their seats at TD Garden.
She can be seen all over the parquet floor, interviewing players, running halftime contests, and pumping up the crowd throughout the game.
“Melisa embodies what it means to be a Bostonian,” said Nicole Federico, senior vice president of marketing and content for the Celtics. “She has been instrumental to the Celtics brand by authentically connecting with our fans both locally and globally.”
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It was her love of dancing that set her on this path. When she was younger, she would gather friends in her mother’s living room and pretend to choreograph dance routines to Destiny’s Child songs.
From family parties to dance clubs at school, Valdez always found a way to keep moving.
She moved to the United States at age 5 after being born in the Dominican Republic. She spent her early years in New Jersey and Orlando, Fla.
Most of her extended family lived in Massachusetts, so she moved here after high school. She considers Boston home now.
“After graduating high school, I wanted to be a professional background dancer,” Valdez said. “So when I moved to Massachusetts, I started getting involved in going to auditions in Boston and going to New York with my friends.
“We would get in a car, and if there was an open call, we would be like, ‘Yo, there’s an open call for Beyonce,’ and we’d either drive out there or get on the Fung Wah bus. If you know, you know. We’d hop on the bus, audition, and come back to our regular lives.”
She met a close friend, Lisa Bello, at an audition for the puss*cat Dolls. Bello, who occasionally sings the national anthem at Celtics games, was there to sing and Valdez was there in leggings with a matching crop top with big, bold, curly hair, auditioning to dance.
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“She has a presence that makes her seem larger than life,” Bello said. “Although I am a personality myself, I didn’t know anybody. I just kind of walked towards her anyways because she just has a gravitating presence.
“She started doing her thing of, like, ‘Come on, guys, we should do this, this, and that,’ and it made me be, like, ‘Wow, this girl is dope and I want to be her friend.’ She’s just a light, when you see her walk in the room, you’re like I need to know who she is and I need to be a part of that too.”
Valdez became a dance instructor, teaching hip-hop and Latin dance classes. She later added Zumba courses to her repertoire.
Her hosting career began five years ago, when Celtics DJ Brek One reached out to see if she would be interested in hosting the Red Bull “Dance Your Style” competition.
She did the gig and fell in love with the role. As she posted clips on social media, she got more referrals to host dance events around the city. When the Celtics had an opening, Brek One referred her.
“This was when we were still on [COVID] lockdown, and I think we were planning to go back to the Garden with masks,” said Valdez. “One day he just texted me and was like, ‘I just had a meeting with the Celtics about you.’ I was like ‘Wait, what?’
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“I was very calm about it. I didn’t want to get too hyped. I was like, ‘Hey, let it be God’s will.’ If this is for me, it’s going to come.”
The opportunity did come, and Valdez hosted her first Celtics game with a mask on her face. She felt honored to be chosen by the Celtics. It was one of those “pinch me” moments.
“Living in Boston and being able to work for the Celtics is such an honor,” Valdez said. “I was already a basketball fan, so having the opportunity to represent this organization has been the most fun.”
Earlier this season, a family from Uruguay with a pair of children attended a game at TD Garden. The boy held a sign for Jayson Tatum, and his sister held a sign for Valdez.
It read: “We have traveled + than 6k miles to meet you Melisa Valdez.”
“It brought tears to my eyes,” Valdez said. “It was a really emotional moment for me because I got to speak to her in Spanish. Representation is really important, and to know that a young lady from thousands of miles away is inspired by me is a beautiful feeling.”
Valdez has developed into a unique and familiar TD Garden voice as she continues to carve out her niche with the Celtics.
“If I was talking music, she has an alto voice,” Bello said. ”She and I have very low, raspy voices. She’s able to kind of drum this voice from her belly, especially at the beginning of the game when she yells, ‘Let’s go, Celtics!’
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“I always film her opening and look around, and from what I’ve seen, women specifically are so hyped to hear that come from her voice. She has the voice for it, she has the charisma, and she has the presence. When she says the words, she gets the people going.”
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