I'm very excited to show you my very first appearance as a dancer in the debut single of Alexa Eden: Welcome to Insanity!!!
I'm the one in green...
Hope you like it as well! Because I'm really relieved it turned out so well. All the hard work payed off. We spent a couple days making and rehearsing the choreography, and then several nights shooting the video, driving to different places and repeating the dance over and over again... It really was hard work. But in the end, it was worth the sore muscles, sleepless nights and exhaustion.
Shaun Evaristo is a professional dancer and choreographer from California. He is only 27 but has already worked with several major artists, such as Omarion and Vanessa Hudgens, and also major Korean popstars like Taeyang, Big Bang, 2NE1 and Se7en. Could you guess? I love precision combined with his musicality.
Edit:
Shaun just wrote down the story of his life as a dancer << click >>. So, I'll update my post from last year (July 2011). There are many things I haven't known before.
He moved to LA in 2006, trying to succeed as a dancer. LA has always been the Mecca of all dancers. If you want to take classes, the probability of finding the best teachers is the highest over there... It only took a month until he started teaching for Millenium Studios (again this is THE place to go). It's also the time around when youtube started to evolve and he became famous... That's how he got to Kpop and to travel internationally to teach all over the world.
He now has his own dance studio Movement Lifestyle << click >> but it's much more than "only" a dance studio... it's a concept - evolving from dance, combining art and artists through dance, choreography, design, filming.
It is because of him and other major dancers that dance is truely a profession nowadays. Something one can really do for a living. Please don't laugh - apparently, that's making him angry when someone doesn't take his job seriously...
We're still far away from that point in Germany but it's a great start...
Quest Crew is a hip hop dancecrew from California (once again California coz that's the mekka of all dancers). They won ABDC Season 3 with a mix of entertainment, musicality, tricks and incredible dance abilities... Not only have they won over America but also Asia, Australia and Europe. They worked with Usher, Far East Movement and had appearances in all the major shows and events (Ellen, Teen Choice Awards, ABDC, SYTYCD, Dancing with the Stars, Emmy Awards, NBA All-Star Game, Disney, ...). It's an incredibly long list, I can tell you.
They have worked with LMFAO lately - making the choreography to "Party Rock Anthem" and "Champagne Showers" and touring with the artists.
♫ Every day I'm shuf-fle-ling... ♫ ♪
Hok, Ryan and D-Trix also participated in SYTYCD prooving they can be more than only b-boys. But more of that in another post...
Physical Funk are a German hip hop dancecrew. They were founded in 2006 and have been successful ever since, winning the German Dance Masters Competition several times as well as the UDO European Championship of 2011. They also competed at Hip Hop International, where they placed 5th in 2009 (watch their performance in this video) but in 2010 and 2011 their chances became lower and lower. I suppose it is because Hip Hop Internationals has become more and more commercial - the direct link to ABDC speaks to itself. It's not a judgement, just a note!
Anyway... Physical Funk just opened a Dance Studio
in Edingen last week, which is between Mannheim and Heidelberg. So if
you're looking for Hip Hop classes, this is the way to go! They are very
nice and humble people and what I've experienced so far, they're great
teachers as well. And if you're young and talented, you might be
interested in the fact that they want to build a junior crew for
competitions. It costs only 20 EUR per month for as many classes as you want
to take until December. Compared to other schools, it's a really good
deal! Especially for the quality they offer...
I hope they will be very successful because I find it really sad that dance is the only artform that doesn't pay off (except if classes are given or a school is opened). Well-known painters, actors and singers earn soooo much more than well-known dancers... but maybe times will change...
The today well-known Gogo Brothers are a duo, actually containing real brothers, called Yuu and Rei. Their father Tony was one of the pioneers in Locking and also one of the cofounders of the original Gogo Brothers. When he moved to Japan, he continued to teach and develop a new style of Locking called "Lock Fusion". Having trained his two greatly talented sons, the name Gogo Brothers continues to live in the second generation, making their Dad proud. They learned from the best not only their father but also from Greg Cambellock jr. and the Electric Boogaloos.
After so many new style artists, I would like to introduce some of the oldschool dancers as well. These wonderful young men are Hilty and Bosch. Jin and Yu are from Japan. They quite look alike, although they are not brothers. But they dance very similar using the same technique because they have been locking together since the age of 15.
In this video, they start of with popping and continue with locking.
Locking is traditionally danced to funk music such as James Brown. The inventor of locking is Don Campbell who did it by accident when pausing during the funky chicken and not performing fluently because he forgot the next steps. Since his audience enjoyed his performance, he started to incorporate it into his further shows. Locking is a comical dance, which is also shown in the names of several moves such as "Scoo B Doo", "Skeeter Rabbit" or "Stomp the Cockroach".
Popping was also created at about the same time (1960-70s). The technique is based on quick muscle contractions and relaxations.
Electric Boogaloo is a fluid leg-oriented style which is closely connected to Popping.
The S**t Kingz are a Japanese dance crew consisting of four male dancers (Shoji, Kazuki, Noppo, Oguri). They are very famous for dancing Hip Hop New Style, especially since winning Body Rock twice in a row (2010 and 2011). Body Rock is a very prestigious hip hop dance competition in San Diego existing since 2000, originally called Bustagroove. The S**t Kingz were actually the first international dance crew to ever win it. I was quite surprised to see them participate because I find it difficult to compare these four dancers with the other crews of 20+ dancers. I think Hip Hop Internationals made a better job, dividing Megacrews (14+ dancers) and normal groups (up to 8 dancers). But still, I love them and their style...
The Jabbawockeez are an all-male hip hop dancecrew from California, founded in 2003. They are the first dancecrew that has ever won America's Best Dance Crew. Not only made they history in 2008, with ABDC on national television they changed the dimension of the dance community. There is so much more awareness for dance as a form of art and entertainment now - thanks to ABDC. The Jabbawockeez also have a show in Las Vegas at the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino.
The white masks are their signature accessory, chosen because one of their members (Gary Kendell) died and by the audience not being able to distinguish between the dancers, they felt his presence on stage. They have their own distinctive style of hip hop dance, great robotic isolations and entertainment. If I were to go to Las Vegas, I would definitely watch their show.
The world-renowned competition Hip Hop International is over now. Although the videos on youtube are still of very low quality, I can't stop watching them... I have been ruling for my favorite all-girl-dancecrew Request. Parris Goebel, their head and choreographer, has proved to be out of this world. She definitely was crowned the queen of the night, leading three different dancecrews - Bubblegum (Junior), Sorority (Varsity) and Royal Family (Megacrew) to gold. If Request placed first at the adult division instead of second, it would have been a perfect strike. But anyway... I love them.
Unfortunately for the Germans, they didn't even make the semi-finals (top 30). I haven't seen their videos but I might talk about them lateron anyway because the Germans have their own particular style.
PS: The winners of the adult division were Plague from the UK.
Edit: I changed the video and the links to better quality.
Kaba Modern is an American hip hop dancecrew from the University of California, Irvine. They were founded in 1992. I have known them from the first season of America's Best Dance Crew in 2008 (Top 3). They are so inspiring to me as a dancer. The following video is from the live auditions of ABDC.
May I introduce to you: Les Twins. As their name already implies, Larry and Laurent Bourgeouis are twins, coming from France. They dance New Style Hip Hop and are absolutely ingenius. Their musicality leaves me speechless. I could watch them all day and wouldn't be bored... but see for yourself:
