…….That moment when you look at the newspaper and find an article about yourself it it….
A BIG SHOUT OUT TO Ryah Cooley, the Arts Editor for the New Times. Ryah and her photographer Dylan Honea-Baumann came out to the SparkLab studio between Christmas and New Years Day to watch me train and to interview me for an article that came out today.
A few years ago, being interviewed for a newspaper article was nerve racking. Now that I have gotten the hang of it, it is really fun. Part of the fun is never knowing what they choose to write about.
I am really happy with how the article turned out. I think that Ms. Cooley did a great job of telling the story that I am just like every other kid – going to school and practicing my sport. In dance, you do not have friday night lights, you have performances that sometimes, if you are lucky, make it to television. Short of that, I love putting videos on YouTube and it is fulfilling to watch my art engage so many people. Last month my videos hit over 1500 hours of viewing! That is just crazy.
Thank you New Times and thank everyone who pays attention to what I am doing. It is great to have so much support.
There was a time when I was 8 or 9 years old when DPAC when to visit our sister studio in LA, Dellos Performing Arts. I met Sean Lew on Instagram for the first time. He is a year older than me and one of the best male dancers in the world. Sean and I were also both privately trained by Mr. Marco Cruz for years. Over time, I ran into Sean a lot at The Pulse on Tour and other conventions. We also often got calls for the same auditions and worked together from time to time, including The Voice. He and I are also teammates on #immaBEAST with Will Adams.
The dance industry is mostly competitive and cutthroat. But, there are a few enlightened kids that understand that is wrong. Sean is one of those. When I would travel by myself to train at conventions, I was alone and surrounded by kids that were there with their studios. Very few kids would go out of their way to make friends. Everywhere I have ever seen Sean, he has always been my friend and looked after me. I don’t have an older brother, but I imagine that if I did, he would be a lot like Sean.
There was a time a few years ago when Sean started choreographing his own solos. People had their opinion about Sean, some believing that he was too big for his britches. They were so wrong. Sean was born to dance and born to be a choreographer. His work is so good that he gave up competition after winning everything. As you will see from the video – his work is epic.
Today, Sean dropped one of the most amazing videos. Sean choreographed this trio with Bill Will Simmons and Josh Price. The three of them are easily in the top 10 dancers in America today and all #immaBEAST team members. These boys are the greatest and this video is sooooo good.
Watch this video and remember, “sharing is caring!” Share it on your social media so the world can see how talented these guys are!
I am in an airport heading to the first Hollywood Vibe in St. Louis. I am so excited to see everyone again and begin the tour as Dancer of the Year. My dad and I had a conversation in the United Club lounge in San Francisco about the differences between this year and the last time I won dancer of the year. It inspired me to write this post because there is no manual for assisting or the other things that you do as a company member or DOTY for a convention. In some small way, you may want to use this as a guide.
First of all, when I won Icon of the Year for Hollywood Connection, I was not really going for it. It was my second year on the competition team and my first year doing solos. My solo, Whatcha Want placed first place in San Jose that year and I won regional Icon of the Year runner up. I really had no expectation to win Dancer of the Year. I just went to Nationals and worked my but off and did the best job I could. I nearly peed my pants at the awards banquet when they called my name. It was a total shock. I was 9 years old at the time, and I toured with Hollywood Connection the next year and assisted in the junior room on stage in about 5 or 6 cities
That same year, I won regional Dancer of the Year for Hollywood Vibe and was invited to join Team Hollywood Vibe. Team Hollywood vibe members assist teachers. It also qualified me for Dancer of the Year. Last year at Nationals, after touring 4 or 5 cities with team Hollywood Vibe, I was fortunate enough to be selected as Dancer of the Year. This was totally different than Hollywood Connection. I wanted it. I knew that I would need to work really hard at home and at convention to elevate my skills to be a contender. It was my goal. Competition was fierce and I fought my emotions and doubt with courage and dedication. In truth, becoming a finalist would have been good enough. I don’t really know how they pick a winner when it is down to a few dancers. I can tell you that the other girls definitely were as good if not better than me in so many ways. It was a toss-up and I am grateful that I got it.
Convention as Dancer of the Year is a totally different experience. I do not compete, but I run my solo in each city. I will also be in the team Hollywood Vibe company dances. All of the company members are sent a video of the dance a week in advance and we learn it on our own. This is a really important skill to pick up. As a professional dancer, I am often sent video footage of a dance to learn in advance of rehearsal. We need to have the skills to learn a dance so that rehearsal is more about cleaning than teaching.
My dad asked me about the pressure I feel as DOTY. He wanted to know if it is harder to dance on stage in front of everyone versus being on the floor learning. The answer is “it depends on the choreographer,” and “it depends on what you are doing.” When you are learning the 8 counts, it is important that you focus on the movement and the timing so the dancers on the floor have a clear understanding of the choreography, especially if the choreographer doesn’t dance it. You need to rely on your body for technique. I try to go more full out when the dance is being taught, and less full out when running groups. Here is the idea. When the dance is being taught, they should be looking at the teacher and assistant on stage going full out. That is how you learn. But when running groups, the class should be going full out and we are there to give them the queues when they need it. I go at about 70 or 80 percent during groups and focus on accenting the details of the dance.
If you are assisting for the first time, feel free to DM me on Instagram with questions. I wish I would had a guide my first time. I was scared and uncertain and it would have helped to learn from someone that has been there before.
Hi fam! I have three super fun things to tell you about my Halloween. First off, I was Flo from Progressive. Perfect, right?
Second, huge thank you to the Clark Center Performing Arts Foundation Board who provided me a scholarship to attend a ballet program this summer. As you might expect, these intensives are expensive.
Third, right after Hollywood Vibe in San Diego, we started work on a special YouTube video for Halloween to the song Animals by Nabiha (https://youtu.be/yT1bW3Cproc). The choreography was done by #immaBEAUTY Janelle Ginestra. We released the video on Halloween Day at noon.
A lot of my YouTube videos have been solo performances. Recently I have been changing that up because it is way more fun to dance with other kids. I cannot thank my friends enough for the hard work and time that they put into the video. There is normally one or two days of learning choreography. If you know Janelle, then you know that each rehearsal is about four hours and you go full out the whole time! If you think that taking a 1 or 1 ½ hour class at Millennium is intense – you have not lived. On top of that, they came back for a full day shoot directed by Helton Brazil Sequeira – or @directorBrazil.
I love every one of these girls and cannot thank them enough for their work #lilBEAST family rocks!
Jadyn Hernandez (@JadynHernandez715)
Jenna Z Alvarez (@JennaZAlvarez)
Savanna Kubat (@Savanna.Kubat)
Sofia Wylie (@Sofia_Dance10)
Tahani Anderson (@Tahani_Anderson) **Second Appearance – love her!
Vivien Lopez (@VivienLopez569)
Here is the video
Ok, wait – there is a fourth thing. 1 Million Views on YouTube – crazy right?
The immaBEAST dancers supported me in the creation of this special dance for my YouTube page. The choreography was created by immaBEAUTY, Janelle Ginestra. @willdaBEAST was not involved in this project, but it is important to acknowledge that none of this stuff would not happen without his vision for supporting and creating opportunities for dancers. Thank you Will!
We are doing a really cool thing to launch the video. Each day between now and Halloween, a different instagram announcement will be dropped.
@jennazalverez
@vivienlopez569
@tahani_anderson
@jadynhernandez715
@savanna.kubat
@sofia_dance10
Thanks to @directorbrazil for all of his hard work producing these videos, and thanks to you for all of the support too.
While all of this was going on, a few other things happened. My work on the Voice put me over the limit on being a non-Union dancer. So at the beginning of the year I was invited to join the Screen Actors Guild. It is a great organization that really does a lot to make sure that professional actors and dancers are paid a minimum living wage of at least $250 per day.
I was signed by BTB Management and am now blessed to be managed by Nelson Diaz. No more momager or dadager! Not that my parents did not do an excellent job….. BTB manages many of the top dancers and actors in America. I am a long way from their experience, talent, and fame – but I am working on it. Nelson and the entire team at BTB are great to work with. He is always looking out for all of us and guiding our growth while he develops opportunities. My parents need the break anyway. They have their own work to do. PS – I now call Nelson’s wife Aunt Mary – that’s what it’s like!
A component of getting a manager was that I switched from Clear Talent to MSA. This had nothing to do with anything related to Clear Talent. They were instrumental to all of my success the past few years and I would highly recommend them as anyone’s agent. @ShaynaBrouillard was fantastic and I love her.
The dance department there is top notch and they represent many of my friends who are super successful. Switching agencies is not like getting a divorce, but it is certainly a change. Everyone at MSA has been great so far and I look forward to being with MSA for a long time.
Somewhere in here I missed that I did a job for Nickelodeon and was featured on the front page of the San Luis Obispo Tribune. Both of these were lifetime firsts for me. I tried to put a lot of stuff on my Youtube page and on Instagram. If you scroll through those, you will see more. I was also selected to be a Sadie Jane ambassador. Along with Divina, they have some of the best dancewear.
I hope I am not forgetting anything. I certainly did not mention everyone that I spent time with this summer. But, I have been writing this post for days and it seems like this series will never end. This is like a short novel.
Stay tuned for some cool releases on my YouTube channel. I was the host for the season the Behind the Scenes shooting of #immaBEAST year three video. We are also shot a new hip hop video for the amazing David Moore. I have been rehearsing with my super talented friends, Tahani Anderson and my semi-twin pal, Kaycee Rice for a VH1 live show choreographed by Janelle Ginestra. We were Barbie dancers! Check it out https://youtu.be/nFVzWHxnbT8
On the home studio front, I have been taking ballet classes at a new studio called Movement Arts Center in San Luis Obispo. Big News is that Dellos Performing Arts Center is moving to a brand new studio! Can’t wait for another great season with my #DPACfam.
If you missed the other posts in this series, you may want to go back and start at the beginning.
The next week, we moved from Burbank down to Long Beach for Dancer Palooza. That is a weeklong intensive that, in my opinion, has the best collection of contemporary teachers you can find anywhere. I took classes from Mandy Moore, Mia Michaels, Sonya Tayeh, Teddy Forance, Stacey Tookey, Travis Wall, Dee Caspary, Benoit-Swan Pouffer, Andrew Winghart, and others. http://www.dancerpalooza.com/thecollective
Girls – dance aside – if you have not been to the expo at Dancer Palooza, you have not lived. It is the most number of booths that I have ever seen – its huge!
I did a haul vide with my loot! Check it out
Our #immaBEAST team also was invited to dance in the Showcase. We were rehearsing during Mini Muse and during Dancer Palooza, so after taking classes every day for two weeks, I also had rehearsals at night. I have never been in better shape in my life – 12 pack abs!
Liz Imperio and her new Fiancé came to the showcase. I love her and the support she gives me as a dancer, a friend and a coach. If you do not know Liz, try your best to meet her. She has a program called Breaking Barriers (http://breakingbarriers.dance/) that has been super helpful at helping me set my goals in life and as a professional dancer. Her coaching, advice, and heartfelt support she gives to dancers makes her a very special person. I can’t wait to get on tour with Hollywood Vibe where she is the creative director. #secondMom
Just to keep the flow going, the next week was the #BuildaBEAST Experience. What a switch from a week of contemporary to a week of hip hop. As an #immaBEAST and #lilBEAST, we were able to help work the event and dance. The entire week was filled with the best hip hop training I have ever had. I was surrounded by the best dancers from all over the world (like 22 countries or something insane like that) and across America. #immaBEAST is so much more than a crew. It’s a dance family like no other. The BuildaBEAST experience finished up with the auditions for #immaBEAST. The competition was so fierce and everyone worked so hard. I have no idea how Willdabeast narrowed down the hundreds of auditions to the team we have now (about 70 strong). The good news is that I was able to dance hard enough keep my spot on the team. I learned that there are no free rides in life. Just because I danced on the team last year was no indicator that I would be on the team this year.
Here is my Solo from the event – it was epic
PS – AirBoard was a sponsor at BuildaBEAST and I got one! Hurray. Super fun #christmaslist for you.
If you are keeping track of the weeks, by this point I have not been home at all since school let out in June, amounting to six straight weeks of being on the road! I should pause here and thank my parents for making this all possible for me. With two weeks left before school started, I stopped dancing 12 hours a day and was limited to #sparkkids rehearsals, auditons, #LASparks games, and rehearsals for the #immaBeAST season three video. We still were driving back and forth to LA multiple times each week and staying a few nights in LA each week, but I did actually get to sleep a few nights in my own bed and see my friends at home.
BuildaBEAST Season 3 Video
If you missed the first posts in this series, go back to the beginning.
Leaving Las Vegas broke up the #teamlarkes tour for a few days. Grandma Anne, my mom, dad, @AustinDoodle and I took a round-about way down to Phoenix. We went up to Bryce Canyon in Utah then drove South down through Nevada along the Grand Canyon and through Sedona. It took us three days and we really were glad that my mom got a new comfy car. If your parents ever ask you if you want to go see one of these places, say YES! I cannot tell you how beautiful it was. Pictures do not do it justice. The size of everything is amazing. I liked Bryce Canyon the best. The Grand Canyon was huge, but it is really a big wide ditch. Definitely something to see, but the upward spires of Bryce Canyon and Sedona are more dramatic to me. We finished the three day tour in Phoenix where #teamlarkles was reunited.
Leah and her family are so nice. We stayed at an amazing 5-Star resort (my parents had free vouchers). We got to see Leah every day since she lives in Scottsdale. One day we worked with a photographer and got new headshots. Another day we took a private lesson with Leah’s favorite choreographer (kayci). Another day we splashed around in the pool. Another day we went to the Roga’s house for her brother’s amazing birthday party. It was a great visit. Phoenix rocks!
After Phoenix, #teamlarkes went back to Los Angeles for a week of training with Jessica Star for the Mini Muse intensive. Mini Muse is an intensive that is hard to get into because of the high standard of dance and the commitment to giving back by supporting anti-bullying. Here is a video highlighting the classes we took with amazing choreographers. Our anti-bullying video releases in October. It was shot on the Santa Monica pier! My favorite class was silks. If you have not taken a silks class, seek one out. Everyone at mini muse was wonderful and I met dancers from all over America. We had a blast and I hope to do it again. Check out the Muse Effect on Facebook or Instagram (MuseDanceCompany) for more information and follow them! Thanks again Jessica for being so flexible with my audition and work schedule. It is hard to do this stuff as a working dancer, but you made it happen!
Check back or subscribe to see post #4 in this summer series – Dancer Palooza and BuildaBeast
If you missed the first posts in this series, go back to the beginning.
If you read my blog regularly, I won Regional Dancer of the Year for Hollywood Vibe. It is a huge honor to be selected by the Hollywood Vibe faculty as the top dancer of the weekend, but moreover it qualified me to compete for the National Dancer of the Year during Hollywood Vibe’s Nationals Competition.
Hollywood Vibe held their week-long Nationals in LA and the talent and competition was fierce. It was not really a drama, but emotions ran high. I loved dancing with so many friends from around the Nation, like one of my besties, Leah Roga from Phoenix. Just for fun, our parents had #TeamLarkles shirts made for us since we plan to spend many weeks together, and #TeamLarkles was born! I tried to work as hard as I could so that I could dance well and show the teachers at the convention that I was deserving of the title National Dancer of the Year. I woke up my mom at 5:30 each morning to help me get ready so I could be there way before our call time 7:00 am. Liz Imperio, creative director of Hollywood Vibe taught me a lesson that I try to live by. She said that if your call time is 7:00 then 6:45 is “on time”. If you want to be early you need to be there at 6:30 am. I do my best to follow this rule whenever I am headed to a rehearsal or audition.
At the end of the week, they called up the top 5 dancers to the stage. Then they announced the top 2 dancers in my Intermediate category to do a dance off. I made the top 2 list and it was very nerve racking, but exciting at the same time. The next morning the two of us got to dance for all of the judges at the event and a large audience. They didn’t tell us who won the award until the awards show that evening.
At the end of the night, I was the last dancer standing and was awarded the Hollywood Vibe National Dancer of the Year! There were so many dancers deserving of the title that it was a shock to win!
This year I am planning to go to as many Hollywood Vibe conventions as possible. It is a great honor to represent them. #TeamLarkles almost doubled up. Leah Roga was a finalist in Teens and won top solo overall. Her competition was REALLY competitive. The Teen Dancer of the Year went to one of my immaBEAST teammates – Trinity Inay. She is a super sweet girl and a great dancer. We got to know each other earlier this year when we worked together on Dancing With The Stars (see video https://youtu.be/xQkAPpxDQB0?list=PLYVO53t5xTKUnxykgAK8wq_Qz88ujzrH6
).
Hollywood Vibe is my second National Championship as a dancer. The first came three years ago at Hollywood Connection; they call their national prize ICON of the Year. Here’s a little known fact for you. Hailee Paine, one of the top 4 finalists on So You Think You Can Dance also won the Senior title of Icon of the Year at the same competition. I absolutely love her! She’s an amazing dancer and one of the nicest people in the world! I was sad that she did not win SYTYCD, but getting to the final two for Team Stage is a huge accomplishment. She really shined as a versatile dancer, often outperforming many of the Team Street dancers in Hip Hop pieces. Amazing, right? I’m so excited to see where her career is going to go from here!
After Hollywood Vibe the #TeamLarkles tour continued at The Pulse on Tour in Las Vegas. We literally left the awards at HV Nationals and drove ALL through the night to get to Vegas. The Stutts family followed with us (shout out to Hannah and Pate). We did not get to perform in the showcase because we missed Friday, but the rest of the weekend was amazing – lots of friends and great training. A bunch of my friends including Leah became Pulse Protégé, which is a huge honor, but not me. Maybe I will win next time. You just never know. I really appreciate winning scholarships that have allowed us to continue going to Pulse in the future. The faculty, staff, and dancers go full out. It is a great place to learn and train. I am always exhausted when I leave. FYI, Bally’s Las Vegas is a dumpy hotel ☹
Be sure to check out the first post in this series
I am really sorry for not blogging in so long. My website was pretty messed up and I had a crazy summer. Now things are back to normal (well sort of) and I am back in school like most 12-year-old kids. The rest of my schedule is anything but normal, but it’s good to be home. Here is a recap of the summer. This will be series of posts that I’ll publish every couple of days as time permits, so hang in there and subscribe to get notified when Summer 2 is released – titled Hollywood Vibe Nationals, Drama and Team Larkles.
In the middle of June, I went with my school drama group to NYC. This was the beginning of a travel schedule that took me away all summer. We had an amazing experience. I have been to New York City once a year with my parents, so I know my way around Midtown and Times Square and have done all of the tourist-y stuff. I can tell you that it is way more fun to travel with your friends. (Sorry Mom and Dad!) We had a blast. I am releasing a video in the next few weeks that shows what we did. I lost the footage but just found it. Be sure and subscribe, or watch my YouTube channel. My favorite part of the trip was attending Broadway shows. At sometime in my life I hope to dance on Broadway (Hint Hint Chelsea Blake from MSA and Nelson Diaz from BTB Management). I also loved visiting the set of Saturday Night Live. I love comedy television and it would be amazing to be on that show! #goals. I guess the point of the trip was to dream big, and I am on it.
All summer long I have been dancing for the LA Sparks women’s professional basketball team as part of the LA Sparkids. The team just made the playoffs, so the season continues. The ability to work with choreographers like Brandee Evans and Jenna Frechette has been exceptional. And, who would not want to be on the court at the Staples Center! It is a legendary place for sports (aka home of the Lakers) and entertainment (Taylor Swift set a record for sold out shows this year). They are picky about posting video of our routines, so I do not have much beyond a few short clips on Instagram that shows the work. I made so many new friends on the #sparkids team and was able to work with a lot of the #sparkids that just made it to the #immaBEAST team too. I’m so excited that Im going to get to spend more time with them!
Be sure to subscribe if you want to hear the rest of the summer story. Next up is the Hollywood Vibe Nationals Drama and the introduction of the ongoing dream team – Team Larkles!
…….That moment when you look at the newspaper and find an article about yourself it it….
