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Willdabeast Archives - Sparkles Lund

Jul 28 2017
2

Buildabeast Re-Cap 2017

By | Convention, Dance, Work | No Comments

Buildabeast was a huge success this year! For those who are new here, Buildabeast is an animal convention……lol…..annual convention put on by the owners and co-founders of ImmaBeast: Willdabeast Adams and Janelle Ginestra, aka: Mama and Papa Beast. I have been training under this newly engaged couple for going-on 4 years and I have learned so much. They ask us to bring improvement to every class. One thing for sure, they brought enormous improvement. Will and Janelle have probably improved more in the past year than any dancer or choreographer that I know. It’s a blessing to witness and completely inspiring to work with immaBeast.

With that being said, let’s get into the recap.

with Mallory Jul

Our whole team began rehearsals weeks ago, to ensure a phenomenal show. On the Friday before the event started, our crew arrived at the venue in Pomona to block the show and smooth out traditions. We rehearsed from Friday until Monday, and then on Tuesday, the event that we had all been looking forward to finally began! The first class was taught by Laura Edwards, followed by Noelle Marsh, etc.  That night, we had show rehearsal once again.

The next day, class, etc. After a long day of classes, we had rehearsal for a very special concert that I will get to later…. The next day, same schedule, except now it is the night of the concert for none other than Jordan Fisher! I met Jordan the first time I auditioned for immaBEAST back in 2014, and we’ve kept in touch ever since. He is killing the music game right now so make sure you check him out. The next day, we had a super early rehearsal before class even started and after that rehearsal I took a real good nap. I mean a girl’s gotta rest right? After my “recharge” I assisted Allison Holker which was so life changing! We ended the day with the spectacular Sean Lew’s class. Then it was finally the night of our much-anticipated immaBeast showcase!

Our show opened with the world renowned Chapkis Dance Company. Their set was absolutely insane and set the bar very high for the rest of us. Seeing their greatness just motivated the rest of us to dance our best, which we sure did! The show went great and we finished off the night with a fun after party DJ’d by the one and only DJ Marv.

The final day consisted of the heart and soul of Buildabeast: AUDITIONS FOR 2018 IMMABEAST! We had to audition Will’s combo from earlier in the week so everyone had a chance to practice before-hand, but the extra time also raised the standard because everyone rehearsed the combo to perfection. The audition was stressful, but overall a great experience. The last part of the day were the immaBeast awards, where I received “On the Rise” which means I show “constant improvement and really on the way to greatness” – once I got a “Girl On Fire” award – feels the same.

with Jordan Fisher

This week was so very inspiring and I can’t wait for next year. – To see the faculty members – click to check out this post –

Next Up……..

DPAC has their annual summer show at the Clark Center called Eat, Sleep, Dance, Repeat. That is a must see event for locals! Tickets at the door – 6 PM Curtain Up.

I am looking forward to working with #teamcapezio at DancerPalooza! Watch @capezio on instagram for the live streaming all weekend during Beat Street. I will be interviewing Tate McRae, Melinda Sullivan, Emma HellenKamp, Kalani Hilliker, and photographer Jordan Matter. You will also be able to watch behind the scenes of my photoshoot with Jordan! Of course, I will also be doing spot interviews with my other favorite dancers and choreographers – some special guests guaranteed!

 

Jun 23 2017
1
Buildabeast 2017

Road to Buildabeast 2017 – inside scoop

By | Convention, Dance | 2 Comments

Now on its third year, Buildabeast 2017 #babe17 is set up to the the biggest and best hip hop convention on the planet.

If you follow my blog, I have written about the first two Buildabeasts here. The short recap is that the first event was held at the Marriott Burbank, a popular dance convention hotel. It’s one of the largest convention spaces in all of Los Angeles and Buildabeast sold out the first year. Last year, they moved the event to the Los Angeles Fairgrounds facility – Sheraton Fairplex and convention center. The place is massive. Last year, they sold out half of the building. This year, they are taking over the whole building and will be running two stages!

Here is a little inside scoop – the theme for Buildabeast this year is School.

You will see all of the immaBEAST  company members following a costume plan. Wednesday is Rubix Cube day. All of us will be wearing colors from the Rubix Cube. Thursday is Black and White with immaBEAST turquoise flair. Friday is sports day, and if you know Willdabeast – you can imagine that there will be a lot of Golden State Warriors gear!

immaBEAST Tricia MirandaIf you have not already purchased you ticket, be sure to do so now! They are not sold out yet, but it looks like they are on track to sell out soon. Buy Buildabeast tickets here. BTW – the Convention hotel at the Sheraton Fairplex is sold out. Reach out to the Buildabeast staff to get information on the secondary hotels. There are lots nearby. Don’t camp – its too hot in Pamona.

Eight of the faculty members have been announced. But here is a quick list : Brian Friedman, Tricia Miranda, Twitch, Allison Holker, Hollywood, Andye J, Laurie Courtellemount, FrankieJ, Amanda Grind, Robert Green, Andrew Winghart, Willadabeast, Janelle Ginestra, Taiwan, Jade Chynoweth, Noah Tratree. It is an excellent blend of the top working choreographers and teachers along with some of the greatest dancers in the world who are now teaching – Jade – Noah….. and you can be sure that Taylor Hatala and Sean Lew will both be teaching too.

Oh – and another inside note – the Friday night gala is amazing and will be full of celebrities. Bring your fancy clothes. Aside from hundreds of the top choreographers in the game – there will be some superstars. For example, Usher showed up last year.

The entire immaBEAST team has already started rehearsals for different pieces. I will be in a ladies piece choreographed by Janelle Ginestra. I have never danced with such extraordinary dancers in my life. Love Love Love. Gorgeousness

Of course, when Buildabeast is over, the immaBEAST auditions begin. Every year, Will and Janelle rebuild their team from scratch. No current team member is guaranteed to be retained for next year’s team. I have loved being on the team as a lilbeast, and now teenbeast. The training, friendships, and career development have been extraordinary. I will be busting my butt to make the cut.

Help Teen Beasts Get Dinner At Mastros!

Our company video this year is awesome – the teenbeasts and lilbeasts each have their own. Will told us that he will buy dinner at Mastros for the team that has the most views. Please watch our video.

First ImmaBEAST audition

 

 

Jun 19 2017
1
JANELLE_GINESTRA Sparkles Lund

Janelle Ginestra Choreo to Marian Hill Down

By | Dance, Stuff I Like, Uncategorized, Work | No Comments

Janelle Ginestra Crushes This Choreo to Marian Hill – Down

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I was training last week in Los Angeles. Every Monday we have IMMABEAST company class, and the rest of the week I took class at Millennium and IMMASPACE. IMMASPACE has really begun to attract some of the hottest choreographers on the planet that are innovating in dance. (download IMMASPACE app here to see class schedule). It has become a special place to train, not only because of the great choreographers, but the IMMASPACE itself has developed a special character. Most of all, the general dance public does not know about IMMASPACE yet – so the dancers that it attracts for training are typically a combination of IMMABEAST dancers and that choreographers’ biggest fans. The room caps out at 60 dancers, so there is lots of room to move.

Of course, when you think of IMMABEAST, you think of Willdabeast. But when you dig in, you see that IMMABEAST is as much about Will Adam’s fiancé Janelle Ginestra as it is Will. They are truly partners in everything. Like yin and yang. It is outstanding to witness. Each of them make powerful contributions to the dance industry in so many ways, but most importantly – they help dancers like me to get better and to focus on the things that will help drive success both personally and professionally.

Stylistically, I think that my style of dance is closer to Janelle’s than it is to Will’s. Ginestra blends the hard-hitting style of hip-hop with contemporary movements of powerful female bodies. You feel like a strong woman when you dance to Janelle’s choreography. Some hip-hop is so strong that it drops the femininity that women bring to dance. Janelle’s style lets girls be girls, and lets boys be boys. I love it.

About Marian Hill

Marian Hill is actually two people: Jeremy Lloyd and vocalist Samantha Gongol. The two hale from Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania – outside of Philadelphia. They met in junior high, and really became relevant artists in 2015 when the release of their single “One Time,” leading up to their debut album; Once Act in 2016. Apple gave them a big boost when they debuted their iPhone 7 + AirPods to this song, “Down” during the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks playoff game. The commercial featured Lil Buck gravity dancing to “Down.” The combination of Samantha’s iconic voice with the creativity of Jeremy’s electronic musicality makes for excellent dance music. (If you need some good solo music – check this out. If you have not seen the YouTube video for “Down,” you gotta check it out .

The director for the video was Jack Begert of Psycho Films  – produced by Sam Canter and Tyler Sobel-Mason. What they did with the elevator was truly outstanding. Awesome work in post production too! Graphics editing was WOW!

Janelle Ginestra did an outstanding job developing choreography for the song. Its quirky, artistic, and both hard and soft at times. There is a lot of intricate movement with hands, and great opportunities to play with the choreography as a dancer. I loved the class and am so excited that Janelle featured our group in her class video.

Check it out here – I come in at about the 2:44 min mark – Front Row, Far right – yellow shirt.

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Jun 17 2017
2

Summer Has Started With a Roar

By | Dance, Stuff I Like, Travel | No Comments

The last day of school was Friday, June 9th. We celebrated the graduation of seniors from A.G. High School that I have danced with my whole life. It is astonishing to see them move on to the next chapter of their lives. As for me, it was a 6 a.m. departure to Los Angeles for a……long…..one day music video shoot for Dylan Diamond. We were on location for most of the day on location of “Pimp My Ride,” at West Coast Customs – will share when the video comes out. It was great to work with so many immaBEAST dancers. Our small group was Jordyn Jones, Natalie Bebko , Phoenix, and Jason Hancock. It was fun to meet celebrity YouTuber Logan Paul.

After driving home on Sunday, I returned to LA again on Monday for immaBEAST company class with Cat Cogliandro. It was transformative. I cried a lot. THANK YOU! After a busy school year, I needed that therapeutic release. I was so stoked by her combination of movement and message that I took her class again at Millennium on Wednesday – ahhhhhh – so good.

I am falling in love with Ventura Boulevard – the amazing restaurants and my favorite shops. Last night after immaBEAST class I was able to reconnect with my good friend Kennadi Boese and her mom for dinner at Granville. The angel hair pasta with chicken is soooooo good. It really hit the spot. Of course, YogurtLand near Laurel Canyon is the best way to finish a long day. I absolutely love where I live and all of my friends in AG, but it is especially wonderful to have more friends and my special places in Los Angeles.

For the first time, I will be presenting my original choreography at Hollywood Vibe Nationals competing for Teen Dancer of the Year. It’s the next step on my journey as a dancer to gain skills and confidence creating choreography and collaborating with so many amazing people who influence me. Through the process of finding your own style, you realize that you are a product of the great dancers and teachers that you work with. Dance is truly a craft that is passed from generation to generation. Thank you to all of my mentors, especially Brooke Lipton, Heidi Asefvaziri, and Janelle Ginestra. You are all goddesses and you shine a light on my path.

Sorry School of Rock. I would have been great to work with you today. Wish it would have worked out. Many thanks to MSA for the effort. But when one door closes, another opens –

Hat By Burton on MelroseThis month is Pride month in Los Angeles. Instagram worked with luxury designer Paul Smith to convert their famous pink wall into a rainbow to celebrate Pride. It made a perfect backdrop for my monthly Capezio photo shoot, and I found the most fantastic hat at the Burton store.

I will be on location at DancerPalooza this summer as a spokesperson for Capezio. I will be webcasting live interviews with the world’s greatest dancers – can’t wait! Be sure to follow Capezio’s channels on Instagram and Facebook if you want to see what that is all about. I will be around their booth whenever possible.

Jun 04 2016
3
The Beast Netowrk

The Beast Network Officially Announced

By | Dance, modeling, Stuff I Like, Work | No Comments

The Beast Network was announced today! All of us at immaBEAST are so excited to follow and support Will Willdabeast Adams, Janelle Ginestra, BTB Creative Agency (John, Brazil, Nelson) on this new journey. If it grows like immaBEAST has grown the past three years, who knows how big it will be.

Will and Janelle had a BBQ for the team at their house this week to share the news with the team. Looking around at the team, my friends, I could not help but to feel grateful for the opportunity to work and train with so many talented, hardworking friends. The immaBEASTS are strong at every level – adults, teens, juniors, and minis. My manager Nelson Diaz posted on Facebook this week that if you want to be a lion, you must train with lions – surround yourself with people on the same mission as you. So true!

Will gave an inspiring speech to announce The Beast Network. He started by putting his hand on Janelle’s belly like they were announcing that they were having a baby – PSYCH! Then he told us about how he and John Hyland went to Toronto to discuss a TV deal. I guess a lot of networks – Disney, Nickelodeon, and others expressed interest in making a documentary about Buildabeast 2016 – the hip hop intensive that immaBEAST is having this summer (I have discount codes :-).  Apparently that meeting was inspirational because it resulted in the launch of The Beast Network.

The Beast Network will be a bit different. Will grew up with TRL, 106 and Park, Freestyle Friday – I am part of the DanceOn Network (until The Beast Network goes live!). The Beast Network will produce and publish videos about Lifestyle, Music, Dance, Fashion, Health/Fitness, and Reality. So many members of the immaBEAST team have talents far beyond dance. The Beast Network will deliver a place for us to collaborate and continue to grow together.

COMING THIS SUMMER

#TheBeastNetowrk #TBN #immaBEASTdancers @immabeastco

Check out the new website were you can sign up for ongoing notifications

Http://www.thebeastnetwork.com

Here is Will’s announcement video

Jun 01 2016
3

BuildaBeast 2016 Choreographers Announced

By | Convention, Dance | One Comment

I am so excited for the 2016 BuildaBeast Experience!

Last year’s event was epic. Here is my post from a year ago. This year’s is going to be even better.

Here is the promotional video that was just released with the teachers lined up for this year. This is probably one of the best intensives in hip-hop you could ever attend – not only because of the great teachers, but also because of the great dancers. It is such a privilege to train with Will and Janelle and the immaBEAST family of dancers. Every single one is a working professional dancer and the top 10 minis, teens, and immas are among the top dancers in the world. Look at any job and you see them. I was at an audition last week with 200 dancers. At the end of the audition, there were 15 people who went to video. 11 of them are #immaBEASTS.

If you want a career as a professional dancer, come to #buildaBEAST2016. I have discount codes available if you message me. I am only able to give out so many, so first come, first serve.

Remember, the #buildaBEAST2016 event is also the warm up to audition for the team. The team changes every year as Will and Janelle only pick the best. Everyone auditions, including current team members. They do not play favorites – just pick the best dancers.

2016-2017 will be an amazing year of growth for #immaBEAST. Every year the team gets more and more opportunities. What began as a popular YouTube group has grown to booking jobs on TV (Ellen, SYTYCD, Voice, DWTS, BET and other Award Shows), Movies (Straight out of Compton and others), and Commercials (too many to mention). #Immabeast is represented by BTB Management, and BBR Agency.

Get Your Tickets NOW athttp://immabeast.co/buildab…
BuildaBEAST is a 5 day long dance camp event in Los Angeles, California taking place on July 18th- July 22nd 2016. Come take Master Classes from WilldaBEAST, Janelle Ginestra, Tony Tzar, Kinjaz, Kay Kay, Twitch, Hollywood, Andrew Winghart, Frankie J, Laure Courtellemont, Codie Wiggins, BDash & Konkrete, and MORE.

Get your tickets NOW before they sell out! http://immabeast.co/buildab…

Here is the promo for the event – you must be sure to come!

Mar 30 2016
0
#YouTubeLA

Google Creator Day #YouTubeLA

By | Uncategorized | No Comments

As you may know, I have been really publishing a lot of videos on YouTube the past year. It is something that became part of my career development strategy when I became a professional dancer. A lot of it was inspired by Will Willdabeast Adams, and his creative director, Brazil.  When I started my channel, Willdabeast had about 500,000 subscribers. Today he has 1.5 million. When I started I had about 25, and recently I got the attention of YouTube when my subscribers neared 10k. I was the only kid invited to Creator Day at #YouTubeLA, so my dad had to go with me.

First Observation – 10K is a magic number

Because I am in the entertainment industry, I personally know at least 20 dancers that have more than 10k subscribers. Many, like Jordyn Jones have over 500k. Because their subscriber numbers are so launched, I really did not see my 10K as a big deal. However, I learned from YouTube that it is a big deal. It puts me in the top tier of YouTube creators in the world.

To encourage YouTube creators, YouTube has developed 8 film studios with legit equipment in major cities around the world including Los Angeles, London, Tokyo, New York, Sao Paulo, Berlin, Paris, and Mumbai. When you hit 10K, you can unlock the YouTube space and use their film studios for FREE!

IMG_3032Best Practices

At YouTube Creator day, I was joined by about 70 other YouTubers to learn about best practices, discuss collaborations with other creators, tour the studio, and layout content plans.

There are 10 Keys to Great Content

  1. Discoverable – Will the content be found through search or related videos
  2. Accessible – can every episode be fully appreciated by a new viewer?
  3. Sharable – will viewers want to share these videos?
  4. Collaborative – Is the channel working with other talents?
  5. Targeted – is the channel targeting a specific audience?
  6. Conversational – Is there an element of speaking directly to the audience?
  7. Interactive – is there a way to involve the audience?
  8. Consistent – are there strong recurring elements?
  9. Sustainable – If the fans love it, can you make more of it?
  10. Inspiration – Is the content coming from a genuine place of passion?

If you are a YouTuber, or a video creator of any kind – consider your video content against these 10 content fundamentals.

What is the Persona of your channel viewers?

For me, I started publishing my dance to YouTube primarily to market my skills to choreographers who I was likely to see at an audition. Video has also become a popular way of submitting for dance jobs.  I direct book some of my work with choreographers who know me, or select me from my video. I am pretty sure that it was a combination of knowing the choreographer and my video submission that helped me book the Justin Bieber Purpose tour.

As my audience grew, I began to realize that my target was being reached by my videos, but the true personas of my viewers are kids like me; mostly other dancers. 81% are female and 19% are male.

YouTube has a hard time tracking kids (see Terms of Use).  So I think that my age range statistics are off. 16% are under age 17, 58% are 18-24, 15% are 25-35, and it’s all downhill from there.

One think I try to do is answer every comment on all of my videos. There, I see that most of the audience that comments are girls my age and dancers.

Content Planning

YouTube suggests that channel owners manage their content creation into three categories. The first is called Hero Content. If you are a fan of my channel, you may know that I have been doing this once a quarter for about a year, sometimes more often. For me, Hero Content is when I work with a choreographer and a professional camera crew on a set location to build a concept video. If you look at my videos with the most views, those are the Hero pieces.

The second type of content is Hub content. For me, these are videos that were either from conventions or stuff shot in my studio. It is published once a week and typically on Thursday if I am not too busy.

The third type of content is Help Content. This content is aimed at inspiring your page viewers, answering questions and stuff like that. I have a series of dance training videos on stretching, some Q&A videos and stuff like that. These are also known as special video that occur every once in a while on your channel.

Collaboration StrategiesCollaboration

One of lessons from Creator Day is to Collaborate with other YouTubers. By working with other channel owners with similar or different fans, I can build my channel viewers and subscribers. I had the opportunity to meet a bunch of musicians and we know that they always need dancers. I have also done some collaboration with other dancers. They are super fun.  If you have a channel and you want to collaborate – let me know!

Oct 02 2015
1

Summer 5 – Summer Ends School Begins and Some Big News

By | Competition, Convention, Dance, Friends | No Comments

If you missed the other posts in this series, you may want to go back and start at the beginning.

Summer 1 – LA Sparks and Trip To New York

Summer 2-  Hollywood Vibe DOTY and Team Larkles

Summer 3 – Leaving Las Vegas

Summer 4 – Dancer Palooza and BuildaBEAST Experience

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.

BTB Management GroupI 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!

 

 

MSA AgencyA 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.

Skrillex_Scary_Monsters_-_David_Moore_Choreography_Mix___Sparkles_Lund___Friends_-_YouTubeStay 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

Brand_New_Sound___Barbie_Soundtrack___Janelle_Ginestra_Dance_Choreography_-_YouTube

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.

Summer 1 – LA Sparks and Trip To New York

Summer 2-  Hollywood Vibe DOTY and Team Larkles

Summer 3 – Leaving Las Vegas

Summer 4 – Dancer Palooza and BuildaBEAST Experience

This is my first 5 post series. I hope you liked it! Stay tuned for more.

Sep 30 2015
1

Summer 4 – Dancer Palooza and BuildaBEAST Experience

By | Convention, Dance, Friends | 2 Comments

If you missed the first posts in this series, go back to the beginning.

Summer 1 – LA Sparks and Trip To New York

Summer 2-  Hollywood Vibe DOTY and Team Larkles

Summer 3 – Leaving Las Vegas

Dancer PaloozaThe 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_ImperioLiz 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.

.

Summer 1 – LA Sparks and Trip To New York

Summer 2-  Hollywood Vibe DOTY and Team Larkles

Summer 3 – Leaving Las Vegas

Next up is the Summer Series Finale – Summer Ends, School Begins, and Big Announcement

Mar 28 2015
1

buildaBEAST by immaBEAST Workshop Announced

By | Dance, Friends | 4 Comments

BuildaIf you follow me on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, or Facebook (links at the top of the page)  you probably already know that I am blessed to be on a team called immaBEAST. Well, specifically the “imma”s are the older kids and young adults. Part of the immaBEAST team are the lilBEASTS (15 and under), and that’s me. The good news is that there will be a workshop that starts July 28th. On the final day, August 1st, everyone gets to audition for a spot on the immaBEAST team! You can get discounted tickets for the buildaBEAST workshop and immaBEAST auditon now if you buy them before they sell out! $400 earlybird special http://www.immabeast.co/buildabeast

Over the past year, training with the immaBEAST team has been really fun and amazingly rewarding. I have had the opportunity to train on a team that is 100% professional dancers. Everyone is freakishly talented.

My #lilBEAST Story

In 2013-14 I took some classes with Will WilldaBEAST Adams at Millennium, The Pulse, and 24-7 Dance. He called me out to do a duet at 24-7 which my dad recorded. It is really poor quality video (https://youtu.be/11b11nbtd88) but you can see that I was super inspired by the choreography. At the time, I felt really confident with my skills in Jazz and Musical Theater, but understood that I needed a lot more work on other styles including Hip-Hop. There is something about WilldaBEAST’s style of sharp footwork and hard hits blended with moments of smooth swag that I truly love. Anyways, after the class he told me about the audition to try out for his team. I was so excited that I almost peed my pants.

The Audition

I had been a professional dancer for a couple of years before the WilldaBEAST audition. I was used to going to big auditions with hundreds of people and young superstars. Don’t get me wrong. When I show up to these things and see dancers like Leah Roga, Boogie Tinay, Sophia Jahadhmy, Kaycee Rice, Jordyn Jones, Larsen Thompson, Soni Bringas, and so on, I know that I gotta bring it! But the WilldaBEAST audition was a whole new level. The talent level was so deep that even a great dancer could easily drown. WilldaBEAST says that 2400 people auditioned! Here is a video that recaps last year’s audtion https://youtu.be/z1dwkFL0EbY

Season 2 immaBEAST teamOn June 11th, WilldaBEAST announced the #lilBEAST team. Kaycee Rice, Lexee Smith, Gabe Deguzman, Larsen Thompson, Jaron Snyder, Josh Price, Taylor Hatala, Nike Tracreee, Tessa Brooks, Sophie Reynoldson, Phoenix “lil mini,” Kennadi Boese, Leah Roga, Kaylyn Selvin, Sean Lew, Kade Pait, Jordyn Jones, Big Will Simmons, Soni Bringas, Sophia Jahadhmy, Zealand Yancy, Boogie Tinay, Sierra Neudeck, Tati McQuay, Talin Silva and….. Sparkles Lund! Here is my blog post about it. http://sparkleslund.com/?p=353

The Journey – We do this just because we can!

  • July 2014 – lilBEASTS perform at The Pulse in Las Vegas for the closing show – win the Choreography Award! Killed it.
  • August 2014 – immaBEAST DVD released featuring the entire team. Becomes a top selling instructional DVD for hip-hop dancers http://sparkleslund.com/?p=413
  • October 2014 – worked one-on-one with WilldaBEAST and Janelle Ginestra http://sparkleslund.com/?p=17014
  • October 2014 – immaBEAST performed at DanceON in Los Angeles at an event featuring the stars of the upcoming movie Beyond The Lights. – Here is our video https://youtu.be/qYre6y7NJKs
  • November 2014 – on set for the filming of a video to Touchin, Lovin for Trey Songz featuring Nicki Minaj – http://sparkleslund.com/?p=17033
  • November 2014 – lilBEASTS do a video for @Ciara “That’s Right” https://youtu.be/ruAshPdTdrM
  • December 2014 – I book a job to dance in the season finale of Dancing with the Stars with fellow immaBEAST dancers Trinity Inay, Soni Bringas, and Jordyn Jones,  https://youtu.be/IuYmnhr8hEA
#immaBEAST crew selected for Dancing with the Stars

#immaBEAST crew selected for Dancing with the Stars

The Journey Continues

Being on immaBEAST is a blessing. Will is one of the most humble, hard working, generous, and genuine people I have ever met. He surrounds himself with people that are not only talented, but have big hearts. The team is really a family of people who help each other and I have made friendships that I expect to span a lifetime.

Kaycee Rice TwinningNo matter where I go – a convention, a competition, an audition, or even a class in LA, I am bound to run into another member of the immaBEAST family.

Join Us!

I hope that you can make it to the #buildaBEAST event. Again, be sure to get your tickets right away. It will sell out fast.

Feb 14 2015
0

Happy Valentines Day

By | Dance, Vlogs, Work | No Comments

Sparkles Lund and Taylor HatalaA few weeks ago I had the opportunity to do this collaboration video with one of my friends, #lilBEAST team members, and favorite dancers, Ms. Taylor Hatala. Choreography for the video was none other than #immaBEAST team member Antoine Troupe. Of course, the video was produced and directed by my friend and life coach, @directorBrazil. The concept was focused around a Valentines Day release using the hit Meghan Trainor song, Dear Future Husband.

I hope you like it.

Press Release

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 13, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Valentine’s Day is not a romantic Hallmark card for 11-year-old Taylor Hatala and 12-year-old Sparkles Lund. Too young to date and too soon to have found love, these two young professional dancers worked with renowned freestyle and hip-hop choreographer Antoine Troupe to produce a Valentine’s Day video to Meghan Trainor’s song, “Dear Future Husband,” being released February 14 on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER6O55iAPZk).

“When you are our age, boys are just friends,” says Edmonton-born Taylor Hatala. Hatala is commuting to Los Angeles and working part-time as her burgeoning career develops. As testament to Hatala’s talent, her YouTube videos to Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgfF_c6uPaU) and Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pfloxVMJGw), have been seen more than 30 million times, garnering appearances on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” and RyanSeacrest.com, among others. Troupe, Hatala and Sparkles Lund became friends dancing on the immaBEAST hip-hop crew, under director Will ‘WilldaBeast’ Adams.

According to Troupe, the concept for the video was born during the filming of the immaBEAST routine for the Choreographers Carnival Anniversary show this past January.

“Although dance is my life,” says Troupe, “I am driven by the impact that dance has on developing healthy, active, and confident kids.” Troupe selected the piece that he claims was ready made for Sparkles and Taylor.

“Meghan Trainor’s work is perfectly kid-style,” says Sparkles Lund, who recently released a video last week to Trainor’s hit “Lips Are Movin” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hA5VLVq7dc). “What girl doesn’t want a future husband that brings flowers, open doors, and wants to be her one and only?” Lund asks.

Sparkles Lund began her professional career in dance at age 10. Her recent work includes a three-city tour for Macy’s Glamorama and an appearance on the finale of ABC-TV’s Dancing With The Stars, performing to “Hard Knock Life” from the new Annie movie.

“Working with superstars like Taylor Hatala and Antoine Troupe is a blessing,” confesses Lund. “It’s so exciting to see Taylor’s career skyrocket, and I am so happy that Antoine was able to work with Prince to choreograph his latest video ‘Breakfast Can Wait.'”

YouTube is fast becoming the path to rapid stardom for many of today’s young performers, circumventing the previous paths that were largely limited through New York and Los Angeles.

Lund, who lives in Arroyo Grande, locate on California’s Central Coast near San Luis Obispo, and Hatala, who lives in Edmonton, Canada, are adopting the strategy started by Willdabeast by creating their own YouTube channels to self-publish their work. Willdabeast is teaching young dancers that YouTube is a place where you can make a mark and punch up your career. His YouTube page has more than 735,000 subscribers and more than 100 million views. Hatala’s YouTube channel is at http://bit.ly/taylorhatala and Sparkles Lund YouTube channel is at https://www.youtube.com/user/sparkleslund.

About the Video
Dancers: Sparkles Lund & Taylor Hatala
Choreography – Antoine Troupe
Director – Brazil Siqueira
Music – Meghan Trainor, “Dear Future Husband”

Feb 01 2015
1

Dancing In Super Bowl Halftime Show

By | Auditions, Dance, Friends, Work | No Comments
lilBEAST and Tricia Miranda

Gabe, Will, Tricia Miranda, Kaycee, and Charlize

Don’t get me wrong – dancing in Super Bowl XLIX with Katy Perry would be absolutely amazing. The halftime show set list was perfect and included a surprise performance by wrapper Missy Elliott with choreography by Tricia Miranda. Katy is among my favorite artists and the ability to work with her on the biggest stage in the world would be beyond my dreams. The good news is that I had a shot at an audition video. Better news is that four kids I dance with on team #lilBEAST with Willdabeast Adams booked the job!

Today’s Super Bowl half time show featured Kaycee Rice, Gabe de Guzman, Will Simmons, and Charlize Glass! I feel so blessed to be able to work and dance with so many talented kids! My friend and fellow #lilBEAST, Soni Bringas was on TV last night staring in the the primer of Lifetime’s new show, Beautiful and Twisted opposite Rob Lowe, Pez Vega (Spanglish), and Candice Bergen (Murphy Brown, Sex in the City). #lilBEAST Nation taking over!

I was not able to go to the audition for Katy Perry. At the time, the audition call did not mention Missy (Surprise Guest!) I had already committed to travel to Pittsburgh to work with Liz Imperio and the Hollywood Vibe team. It was my first time representing Hollywood Vibe and it would not have made a very good first impression if I bailed on them. But turning lemons into lemonade, I was able record and send in a video audition. My agent, Shayna Brouillard of Clear Talent Group told me it would be a long shot, and she was right. I did not book the job or get a call back. But I still had fun shooting the video!

I was so excited to see my friends during the Super Bowl halftime show. They killed it. (Trivia – XLIX is the number 49. Next year, in MMXV or 2015 the letter for the Superbowl will be L).

In other news – my YouTube channel went over 200,000 views this week and my subscribers hit 700. Still a long way to go to hit my goals, but hey – a girl has to celebrate milestones. Right? Here is the audition video I sent in.

 

 

 

 

Nov 04 2014
0

WilldaBEAST Launches Trey Songz Video

By | Dance, Friends, Uncategorized, Work | No Comments

I am so lucky to be able to work with so many great choreographers like Los Angeles based Willdabeast. I am on his kids hip-hop crew #lilBEASTS. He has an older team that he works with called #immaBEAST. As I mentioned in my post last week – I have a secret…..

WilldaBEAST with his awesome partner Janelle Ginestra filmed an amazing dance to a new song called Touchin, Lovin by Trey Songz featuring the AMAZING Nicki Minaj. Janelle choreographed all of the parts with the girls in it and Will choreographed all of the parts for the boys.  Janelle is the one in the gold shirt with the cute tall bun.  I just love her style – she is SO full out!  I think this song is going to be a hit and that all of us will be learning to dance to it this year.

I was on set when they were filming and had a chance to interview WilldaBEAST about what he calls “a concept video/music video.” He told me “The inspiration for this piece was big, clean – line choreography with the new swaggy style of 2014. ” If you follow WilldaBEAST, you know that his career is taking off in a huge way.   He just won the Next Generation Award at the World Dance Awards 2014 signaling the industry’s view that he is the next exciting up and coming choreographer. All of us who know him already know that he is the BEAST!

I am so happy for Will. The new video is below. Be sure to click on his DVD offer at the end of the video. I was in that! You know that all of us dancers need all of the help we can get!

It is so great to be on Will’s team.  I’m having so much fun!!!

If you want to download the song from iTunes click here.  I gave you the link to the “clean” version by the way – the only one I’m allowed to listen to!

I will be releasing some new stuff that I worked on with WilldaBEAST in the next few weeks. Be sure to subscribe to my blog and/or subscribe to the Sparkles Lund YouTube page if you want to be notified when it drops.

Here is my #lilBEAST story

 

Here is the making of the trey songs video .  The not-so-secret romance between Will and Janelle goes public in the video  #outted by @directorBrazil

 

About WilldaBEAST Adams

Instagram: http://instagram.com/willdabeast__

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/willdabeast

 

About Janelle Ginestra

Instagram: http://instagram.com/janelleginestra

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MissJanelleG

 

About World Dance Awards

http://www.worlddanceawards.com/

 

 

#immaBEAST crew selected for Dancing with the Stars

#immaBEAST crew selected for Dancing with the Stars

 

Oct 26 2014
1

Willdabeast Solo Fun

By | Competition, Dance, Friends, Travel | No Comments

Solos are the second part of the new dances that I am learning for this year’s dance season. We already learned our group dances. I am doing fewer group dances than last year because of auditions, #lilBEAST rehearsals, and hopefully……jobs! I could not resist teen lyrical with choreography by Tahirih Ellison; teen large open with choreography by Katie Schofield; junior hip-hop with choreography by Re’Sean Pates (Glee); and teen large jazz, also by Re’Sean Pates. I am super excited about the trio I am doing with dancers Juliana Keller and Taylor Costa with choreography by Keara Blake.

On Wednesday, I learned a brand new solo with one of my favorite choreographers, Will “Willdabeast” Adams. Just so you understand how I manage school, dance and auditions, here is the story of my day.

First, I traveled to Harloe, a local elementary school to dance for a program called Red Ribbon Week. Red Ribbon Week is a drug and alcohol abuse prevention program. Our studio performs at many elementary schools to show how many great things you can do instead of drugs, like dance! Unfortunately, I only got to do the first school because I had to go to LA for an audition. On the way there, I did all of my homework during the three-hour drive.

Once we got to LA, I had an audition for a secret project that I can’t tell you about. I made it through the first round, but then got cut. I only book about one out of every ten auditions, so I don’t really get upset about not being picked. One of my friends Simone got picked, maybe some others too – so I am happy for them. Besides, I was so excited to work with WilldaBeast on a new solo!

Once the audition was over, my mom drove me to Nappytabs, which is a rentable studio as well as a very popular clothing store. When I entered the room, Will got started on my solo right away, with his assistant Deanna Jenkins. Deanna taught me the first section of it, which was really hype and fun, and I absolutely loved it! It took me a while to get the choreography though, because it was very fast. After I learned that section, Will taught me another section that was slower and calm, but still really challenging and fun to learn. We worked together for about an hour and a half and have most of it done. I need to go back next week to finish and clean it.

The sweet ending to my day was that my dad flew into LA from Chicago for a meeting and was staying in Beverly Hills at the amazing Montage hotel. This place is so nice that they bring a special bed for our dog Austin. Even food and water bowls. Not to be left out, they bring me chocolate and other fun kids stuff. My dad was traveling all week, so it was a great surprise to meet up with him. The only tough part was that we had to get up at 4 am to get home in time for me to get to school.

In other exciting news this week, I launched the trailer to my new YouTube channel. Take a look and subscribe http://youtu.be/POVkGPOWvbg! I will be publishing a new video every week or so. Next week (or sooner), I will be launching my new website – it is almost done! The new site will replace this one.

be Happy

Aug 18 2014
0

immaBEAST DVD

By | Dance, Friends | One Comment
Sparkles Lund and Will Adams Willdabeast

Willdabeast

 

A few weeks ago, WilldaBeast (Will Adams) invited all of the lilBEASTS (including me) to come film Year 2 of his immaBEAST instructional DVD. For those of you who have no idea what any of this means, I joined a hip hop crew called lilBEASTS recently, click here to learn more about it, but if you’re only confused about the DVD part, I will fill you in now!

Instructional DVD’s can be used for anything from “How to Knit” to “How to Dance” which in my case is the purpose. In this instructional DVD, Willdabeast teaches a ton of his dances that he originally taught in class. I think its really great because if you live far away, but you want to take a class from WilldaBeast, you can!  He offers it to hip hop dancers and aspiring hip hop dancers around the globe to have the chance to take class from him even if you don’t live in Los Angeles where he lives and teaches. His video from last year just hit 30 Million views – so you can understand the quality I am talking about.

The way that lilBEASTS is involved is we assist him for one of the dances, to the song, “Get Me Bodied” by Beyónce. It was really fun, because most of us (including myself) didn’t know the dance yet, so it was like a private class just for us! The choreography was a little bit challenging, but I picked it up quickly. The dance was hip hop, but it was a little bit sassy too. I mean, come on, you can’t not be sassy when you’re dancing to Beyónce! Man, I love that girl. Anyway back to the point, we spent about an hour filming, and then we were finished! That was the end of yet again, another amazing day with all the lilBEASTS and WilldaBeast.

I hope you enjoyed learning about when I filmed an instructional DVD with WilldaBeast!  If you would like to pre-order the video you can click here!  It will help raise money for WilldaBeast and all of his amazing dance efforts!   Tell me what you think of the video after you buy it!

Here is the Trailer

 

 

Jun 11 2014
0

#lilbeast AUDITION 2014

By | Auditions, Dance | 3 Comments

Two Sunday’s ago, I auditioned for the popular hip-hop crew owned by Willdabeast, lilBEAST. There is also another crew for ages 14 and over owned by the same person called immaBEAST. For those of you who don’t know what a hip-hop crew is, it is a type of dance team that specializes in hip-hop. These dance teams called crews perform at many events including World of Dance and Carnival, two very big dance shows. Today, I will be telling you all about my experience auditioning for lilBEAST.

At 1:00 on June 1st, I went to LA to audition for lilBEAST. The line was wrapped around the whole building so I was very worried that it was going to be very hard to be noticed, but once we got inside of the room it wasn’t too bad. We started learning the choreography and I understood it right away. I was pretty proud of myself because usually it takes me a while to pick up the choreography. After we learned a lot, we split up into groups and the judges chose who they wanted to move onto the next round. I, luckily, was one of those people! I was so excited!

After that round, I had to wait a while because they had the boys go first, and then I went. I killed the choreography, meaning I didn’t forget any of it and I went super full out. To make things even better, I made it through that round too! After that part, a bunch got to freestyle if they wanted too, and that was very fun because of all the different styles that people did. This was pretty much the end of the audition, except that we did the combination a few more times but it wasn’t judged.

Once it was really over, my mom and I thought we should thank Willdabeast for inviting me to audition and being so kind to me, so we did. We had a nice long chat and then he quietly told me that I made it but it’s still a secret. After that, I thought I was going to pass out I was so excited! At that moment, I knew that I have officially “made it” in the dance industry.

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