25% OF 2019, DONE!. I got into dance by accident, but that's another story for another day. A lot of people tend to associate me as a "dancer" so now I'd like to compile a list of people who influence[s/d] my dance journey, making me partly who I am today. ;)
1) Shakira
Her music career was blowing up when I was in high school. So I was like, what's so great about her?. Being teenagers, my innocent question was chided with "she can dance, you can meh?"
I tried. I could. Not as good, but somehow, with no practice, I can do the minimum. We are all equally shocked.
2) The Wade Robson Project
I grew up religious so this was the only thing I could watch on MTV before my parents gets home and I had to pretend to watch more "decent" stuff. The show was an interesting concept to me.
3) Ryan Conferido, from So You Think You Can Dance
Back then, Asian representation weren't big at all on the media. When I first saw him, I liked his cool hair. His story was also very relatable [something about being Asian, dance is frowned upon]. My first dance crush!.
The whole Season 1 of SYTYCD was a joy and an eye-opening experience. Got to know him through Myspace, met him too once when he came down with Victor. To this day, I'm trying to find a good copy of my picture with him to this day. Damn it, Myspace blogs!.
The whole Quest crew came down to Singapore eventually, making my dance spirits all-time high!!
4.1) Moose/Adam Sevani, from Step Up movies
Not a big fan of Step Up movies as a franchise, but I enjoyed watching Moose dance a lot. Also watched and liked a lot of those Antonio Banderas movies and all that.
4.2) Fred Astaire, from his own movies
It just blows my mind that someone can own a genre of movies in his own specialty. He was like the Jackie Chan of dance in film to me. Really liked how he's not the most good-looking, best dancer but he owns it. A true classic.
5) Mike Song and Moon Zhang, from Youtube
From one medium to another, after SYTYCD the only other I could get is from Youtube. I remember liking popping and tutting a lot, and waiting on their new videos due to the time lag. This period, I was also in my school's Hiphop dance club and Latin ballroom dance club.
6) America's Best Dance Crew
As a whole, this show levelled up hip-hop/urban dance scene in my humble opinion. From Jabbawockeez to IaMmE, all the winners were really amazing in their own way. The Champions for Charity opening number helped me a lot when I was in a low period of my life.
When Kinjaz [which includes Mike Song and a lot of other YouTube dancers that I quite follow] performed their Usher piece, it really charmed me. I have never looked back since.
7) Kinjaz
Which leads me to my next point. As if I don't already like them individually, I liked them even more as a whole, enough to become a Kontributor for their first ever Dojo [studio] that was crowdfunded on "Kindiegogo".
Just my luck, sometime after they came to Singapore for events and to teach!! They're still doing so and I'm forever thankful. It's like going full circle and circling it again, but with different pens and brushes and colours.
8) K-pop
Somewhere in between number 4 and till present, I got neck-deep into the Kpop blackhole. No stranger to C-pop and the Japanese culture, it was very easy for me to adopt this new genre. I may not look the part, but I don't think there's any dance style that suits me better.
Although quite cookie-cutter, k-pop has many groups with different-ish styles, and I loved the flexibility of it. I've also discovered that I really liked aggressive choreography such as TAEYANG's Ringa Linga below.
Either that, or womanly/"sexy" routines such as SISTAR's Touch My Body. I'd like to think that the intensity of these dances is what draws me, despite both having very different pulls.
9) Kiel Tutin, previously from Royal Family
Royal Family/Parris Goebel has been making headlines in the scene in the recent years. A few of their dancers caught my eye, so when I found out that Kiel was coming to Singapore, I went for his class!.
At first, I was caught off guard with his English accent ["isn't he from NZ?!"], and to my limited knowledge, I only briefly heard his name in the kpop circle. Turns out, he does a lot of Asian stuff!. Needless to say, he is now in my list of favourite dancers who(m) I look out for.
10) Derek Hough, from Dancing With The Stars
To be honest, I don't remember where I knew about him from. Liked him some time in my mid-dance journey, not sure when exactly. Just putting as number 10 because the rest are more or less in order.
He is now mostly known as one of the judges on World Of Dance. First of all, he's handsome. Second of all, I like his dancing and he does similar genres to what I am interested in. This MV below was stuck in my head for a very long time.
11) DCI/Glitterati, from Dance Central 3
I'm a geek, so dancing [a cool thing thing now], is something I wouldn't think I'd be doing, ever. Sometimes I still feel out of place!. Dance Central by Harmonix has always been my solace.
Yes, I'm one of those who is #TeamDC and think that Just Dance sucks. When adulting happened, I figured I'd have to give up dance and I'm happy to leave my "last stage" as a solo for DC Spotlight. Didn't do well enough, I'm still going to include the video.
12) Honorable Mentions: Zaihar and Sorah Yang
I just remember seeing Zaihar in almost every dance event in Singapore. Dance can be quite intimidating in general so it's nice to see a familiar face around regardless of whether you all actually talk.
Sorah is just the whole package that I admire but will never and won't even try to be. Pretty, nice personality, can dance to lyrical routines and go hard at other choreos. Heard she can sing too. All in all, just a true #smallbutmighty spirit :)
There are still a few left unmentioned, because they aren't public figures, or I just don't feel like I support them enough to declare that they are my idols/inspirations. Such is life~
PS: A "reboot" variety idol Korean program called The Unit also reignited my spirits after a low period of my personal and dance life. It's as though dance is what kills me and keeps me alive at the same time.
On that note about revivals and zombie-ing through life, check out this Ramalamabangbang performance from way back!. One of my favourite dance pieces that really made an impact in my dance life.
Hopefully, you've enjoyed this read of a dedication to my dancers of influence. Maybe you'll find some you like too, or you'd understand me better. Feel free to recommend/comment, I will read everything. Loving that dance is more widely accepted in 2019!! We like to, move it!~ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
This list is in chronological order and is inexhaustive, so I hope to keep this updated. Thank you and enjoy!~ ^^ \m/
EZTS8 <3