Flying Steps
Hamer Hall, Melbourne
March 14, 2013

By Paul Ransom.

Doing headspins to Bach and having it time out perfectly is a pretty cool trick. In fact, the whole cross-century, multi-genre mash-up that is Red Bull Flying Bach is something to behold.

However, the idea can wear thin; and Flying Bach veers dangerously close to novelty and pastiche. Whilst there is no doubting the imaginative and technical bravura of it all, nor the extraordinary athleticism of the seven b-boys, the marriage of JS Bach and break dance is certainly a little strained.

That said, there are moments throughout when the match is eye-poppingly brilliant. Artistic Director Christoph Vagel and choreographer Vartan Bassil have managed to create a palette of moves and motifs that allow for both b-boy virtuosity and a more structured formalism. The inclusion of Japanese ballerina Yui Kawaguchi adds classical grace and a love interest narrative. It also serves to highlight the technical rigour of both break dance and ballet; and this in turn creates many of the show’s most satisfying moments.

But of course it’s the sheer weirdness of popping and locking to the busy contrapuntal timings of Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier that keeps grabbing your attention. Technically, you expect it to fall apart – but it doesn’t. Indeed, Flying Bach also finds time to reference Viennese court dances and contemporary phrasing over its seventy minute journey. There dance subtleties in this work that are not evident in the promo blurb and they give the night some backbone.

Strangely though, there are several flat spots during the show. The ‘comic’ elements border on embarrassing and the lengthy (if cleverly executed) projection sequence breaks the trance.

Of the elastic, energetic, vertabrae defying moves of Benny Kimoto and his international crew you can only say good things. Okay, it’s not totally ‘street’, but then neither is Flying Bach. Their muscular, masculine swagger is matched by great technique and, in this instance, executed with restraint and purpose.

In spite of the fact that it’s more trickery than genuine inspiration, Flying Bach is a palpably disciplined work. It avoids the obvious lure of nightclub lighting or excessive remixing and allows the ‘purity’ of both Bach and breakdance to show themselves to good effect.

(I wonder what JS would make of it?)

Eighteenth-century breakdance? Yes, it is possible; and as Yui Kawaguchi explains, even Japanese ballerinas love breaking to Bach.

By Paul Ransom.

Think of two diametrically opposed things, put them in a blender and call it art. The oft employed fusion/mash-up trick has been tried in everything from post-rock to poetry and disco to dinner time. Sometimes it’s genius; other times it’s … yeah, well – let’s not go there.

In the world of dance we’re used to this approach. Often it’s a cover for a dearth of other ideas. However, every now and then some bright cookie goes out on a limb and creates a little unexpected cross-genre magic. Enter Red Bull Flying Bach, the coming together of breakdance, ballet and Johann Sebastian Bach.

The idea of breaking to Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier is out there enough but to add a classically trained Japanese ballet dancer to a troupe of acrobatic German b-boys and have them pop and lock to piano and harpsichord is, at the very least, worthy of a curious peek.

Speaking from a wintery Berlin, a thoroughly fascinated Yui Kawaguchi recalls how she felt when the idea of her joining an all-male street dance crew was first mooted.

“When I first met Flying Steps I was quite shocked,” she says frankly. “Their attitude, how they rehearsed and thought about a piece was totally different from mine. I was really wondering how it could work; how could I stand on the stage with them?”

‘Red Bull Flying Bach’ is coming to Australia.

Kawaguchi’s background in classical ballet and her huge reputation (she choreographed the opening ceremony of the East Asian Games in 2001) had perhaps not prepared her for such an adventurous project. “I took time to see how they [Flying Steps] reacted to the music, how they co-ordinated their bodies and I actually found a lot of similarity with classical ballet. They are quite strict, on the beat and on the music, and they have names for all their steps.”

Devised by artistic director Christoph Hagel and choreographer Vartan Bassil, Flying Bach features eight dancers (seven boys, one girl), bringing the contemporary rhythmic discipline of breakdance to the less obviously beat driven world of eighteenth century Viennese music.

According to Kawaguchi, “The heart of this show is that with the classical world and the street dance world you can still translate. They can meet together. It doesn’t mean that they have to become the same. We can stay in our world, but if we meet we can create something unexpected.”

Flying Bach has clearly struck some kind of chord. In Switzerland tickets were selling for up to a thousand euros on eBay. “You can really see the different kind of audiences in the theatre,” Kawaguchi enthuses. “The breakdance kids will come with their grandfathers to listen to Bach, so they can share their ideas and their fascination. This is the kind of celebration in performance that I have been missing for a long time.”

Speaking with Yui Kawaguchi it’s clear she’s been inspired anew by Flying Bach and by her involvement with Flying Steps. Working with dancers like Benni Kimoto (the first person ever to do multiple, consecutive air twists), has both challenged and invigorated her. She also loves working with boys.

Yui Kawaguchi, center, performs in ‘Red Bull Flying Bach’ at the Teatro Carignano in Torino , Italy, on October 6th, 2012.

“I feel really comfortable – really safe,” she says. “It’s good because there are no complicated mental games, so it’s really easy with them. But once on stage they give off two hundred percent, so I have to be really strong. I have to be really careful with my conditioning because it’s like you are alone as a woman on a football team.”

Aside from the stylistic and gender gaps, Flying Bach has also proved itself to be a significant technical challenge. Dancing since the age of six, Kawaguchi needed to call on all her training and pay close attention to detail.

“Bach’s music is really ascetic so it’s not easy to just move with your emotions. I have to be really clear with my steps,” she explains. “It’s quite the opposite to a lot of modern dance pieces, which start with a theme or a story and then the music fits around it. This time we started with a composition that we could not change.”

To work in the more acrobatic milieu of breakdance, Kawaguchi needed to learn a few new tricks. “For example, I can stand on my hands now,” she proudly points out. However, the cross-fertilisation only goes so far. “It was also important that I didn’t become a breakdancer and they didn’t become ballet dancers. It is part of the art of this work that we can stay in our own worlds but also communicate. This is quite poetic, I think.”

Although Flying Bach sounds like a show with bells and whistles, it’s actually quite minimal. As Yui Kawaguchi explains, “For me, dance is music and music is dance, and for this project that is all that happens. We have no big scenery or spectacular costumes. It’s just human. The pianist plays and we dance. Very simple.”

With its daring and imaginative take on the smash-together fashion in dance, Flying Bach has already crossed the high/low culture barrier and generation gap. Its Australian tour will almost certainly bring skate punks to chamber music and grannies to hip-hop.

Who said dance wasn’t for the whole family?

By Kristy Johnson.

When you think of Christopher Scott, more comes to mind than just a choreographer – he’s a dance innovator and storyteller. This can be seen in his choreography for the latest Step Up franchise, Revolution.

A familiar face on screen, Chris has lent his hand to Fox’s number one hit competition series in the US, So You Think You Can Dance, for which he received his first Emmy nomination at this year’s awards.

Dance Informa caught up with Chris to chat about the success of Step Up Revolution.

How was the experience of choreographing for Step Up Revolution?

I started off my role in the franchise as the character ‘Hair’ in Step Up 2: The Streets. So being behind the camera five years later was a little surreal! It made the experience extremely special. Not to mention getting to create routines with some of the most incredible dancers in the world, all while working under supervising choreographer Jamal Sims, who just happens to be one of my mentors, director Scott Speer, who set an endless idea of what we could do in this film, and executive producer Adam Shankman, who has been such a big part of bringing dancers to the forefront as he’s a dancer himself. And three months in Miami! Basically it was a dream job!

Christopher Scott. Photos by Gabriel Goldberg.

Which parts of the choreography did you have a hand in?

I was in charge of choreographing the ‘Office Plaza Mob’, with 65 dancers in suits shutting down an office building in a display of protest. I also had a part in the ‘Museum Mob’. Jamal Sims gave me the piece to choreograph with the Hoberman Spheres (expanding 3D spheres) featuring Twitch. Then we all came together for the finale where I was in charge of Adam Sevani’s section with the riot shields, the b-boy section and Madd Chadd’s robotic police officer section.

How inspiring was it to be in Miami?

Miami is a really inspiring place for art! It has such a strong culture that being there really influenced the outcome of the choreography in some ways.

Is the Miami dance scene very different to LA?

I actually know a lot of dancers in LA from Miami, so I felt very at home there. I have to say though, some of the best b-boys in the world come from Miami! They call it ‘Flava Florida’ and if you have ever seen Skill Methodz Crew, Flipside Kings or other Miami crews, you might know what I’m talking about.

Some dance movies don’t always do so well at the box office. Why do you think the Step Up franchise is always such a great success?

I think the fact that it was a franchise built by dancers and people who genuinely love dance. The executive producer Adam Shankman, and Anne Fletcher who directed the first installment, have had an amazing dance and choreography career of their own. Then comes along Jon M. Chu, who directed the second and third installments. He put so much care into making sure the dance was authentic and shot in a way not to distract from the dancers but to enhance them. He also just happens to be an amazing storyteller and I think he plays a huge role in the success of the franchise.

How important has the Step Up series been for hip-hop culture?

I think it has been extremely important! There’s a whole generation of kids out there that haven’t seen Beat Street or Breakin. The Step Up movies have given that generation a dose of what I got growing up. Step Up 3D actually opened with a montage that spoke about hip-hop. The franchise has done a great job of showing that style to the masses in a really great way. For some people it might still just be a bunch of people spinning on their heads, but I know personally that it has inspired kids to train in these dance styles and respect them as art.

Congratulations on receiving an Emmy nomination for this year’s awards. You must feel grateful to shows like So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With The Stars for giving dance the recognition it deserves in the media.

Absolutely! They have created a place for dancers to be the stars. I am still amazed when I’m with Twitch and someone asks him for his autograph. He’s getting recognition for being brilliant at an art form, which hasn’t happened much since the Gene Kelly days. These shows have also given someone like me a place to tell stories through movement to a huge audience on a weekly basis, and has given us the opportunity to inspire a whole other generation of dancers who are going to continue to push the boundaries of dance in the future. So yes, I’m extremely grateful for shows like So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With The Stars and America’s Best Dance Crew.

What’s next for you?

I’m currently working on some projects for Jon M. Chu’s new dance lifestyle channel on YouTube called DS2DIO. I have been directing various episodes of a show we have in the US called Studio City, which features some of the best freestylers in the world dancing in a very specific location to them.

Photos by Gabriel Goldberg.

Correria /Agwa
Mourad Merzouki

Sydney Opera House
August 30 2012

As part of Spring Dance 2012

By Elizabeth Ashley.

Spring Dance 2012 curator, Rafael Bonachela, was determined to provide a dance program that was both challenging and inspiring to a wider audience.  His aim was to demonstrate that contemporary dance can be accessible, engaging and “for everyone. Dance that is full of joy”.

This raw energy and joy at the heart of dance is evident in the two-fisted work of Correria (running), and Agwa (water) by French choreographer Mourad Merzouki.

Merzouki worked with Rio-based street dancers with the intention to bring their street energy to audiences around the world. In Merzouki’s words, “I didn’t want this dance to just stay on the street. I wanted to bring it to the theatre…use costumes and lights… because for me, hip-hop isn’t just for young people or for the street, it can be for everyone in the theatre.”

The first piece, Correria, explodes on stage with the thunderous percussion of well-known Brazilian song Magalenha, as the cast of eleven male dancers fuse acrobatics, capoeira, hip hop and circus arts to explore the theme of speed and running. With little in the way of sets or props the audience hears film reels rolling whilst a video backdrop plays a jerky silent film of a runner cleverly mirrored by one of the live dancers on stage. The music is an interesting mix of jaunty ragtime, electronica and gypsy music.

Whilst the predominant dance forms are street based hip hop, samba and capoeira, Merzouki seems determined to place the dance strongly on stage without the expected hip-hop music, competitive gesturing and fashion of the associated cultures. Instead, Merzouki seems to be inspired by the aesthetics and music of the silent movie and jazz era.

The dancers convey hip hop’s versatility as they bring a street-based freedom and inventiveness to music as varied as samba, bossa nova, ragtime, tango and even opera.

In contrast to Correria, the second piece Agwa, is more colourful, light-hearted and witty as it comments on the planet’s most precious resource, water. The piece relies on utilising a grid formation to highlight the malleability of water with the choreography following a parallel inventiveness.

Unlike Correria, with its dispersed and almost monochromatic mood, Agwa is a brighter, more optimistic piece where the choreography combines collective regimentation with intervals of individual dancer engagement with the audience.  The clever use of glasses of water as stage props and the absence of distracting video backgrounds makes Agwa the more accomplished piece.

While Merzouki is determined to bring the streets to life on stage and remove the more juvenile and commercial elements of hip hop culture from his work, the two pieces seem somehow diluted by the transition.

The removal of all traces of conflict and competition, also removes drama, creating works that undertake wide-ranging changes with no apparent development. Whilst being inventive in some aspects of its vision, the choreography is emotionally unengaging and seems to leave the task of emotional engagement and investment solely with the music.

Eleven male dancers with similar dance styles also remove any degree of dramatic contrast that both works may have accentuated. The limited solo and partner work doesn’t provide sufficient change in the performance dynamic as we wait in anticipation for the burst of passionate innovation to be unleashed.

It’s only during the final breakout piece where the dancers finally seem to revel in engaging the audience beyond the constraints of choreography that we directly experience the hinted freedom and joy in their dance.

One wonders if in translating the vivid language of contemporary street dance culture to the contemporary dance stage something was lost?

Photos by Jess Bialek

By Rain Francis.

If Parris Goebel has been making waves in the international hip hop scene for the past few years, she’s just caused a tsunami. The 20 year-old Samoan-Kiwi was recently announced as a choreographer for Jennifer Lopez’ first world tour.

It’s a dream come true for the South Auckland dancer and choreographer, but she is no overnight success. Parris formed her own, all-female crew ‘ReQuest’ in 2007, and has been working hard to push the boundaries in her field. In conjunction with her father and manager, Brett Goebel, Parris runs The Palace, a dance studio in Auckland which is dedicated entirely to teaching the art of hip hop.

At last year’s Hip Hop International’s World Dance Championships in Las Vegas, The Palace cleaned up. Crews choreographed by Parris took home two gold medals and one silver – out of four categories. The previous two years, ReQuest had won the gold. In 2010, they were the first group ever outside North America to be selected for Season 6 of Randy Jackson’s America’s Best Dance Crew, triumphing over 400 crews in the auditions before making it all the way to the finals. More recently, Parris was crowned Female Choreographer of the Year at the 2012 Industry World of Dance Awards.

And now, at the time of writing, she is in Los Angeles, working with three other acclaimed choreographers on a stage show that will be seen by much of the world. American Idol judge Lopez has paired up with Enrique Iglesias for the two-month tour, which begins in July and covers South America, Europe, Asia and the States. It was reportedly J-Lo’s boyfriend – ex-back up dancer and now lead choreographer Casper Smart – who suggested Parris for the role.

So what’s it like to work with one of the biggest names in pop music? According to Parris, Lopez is “a very positive and genuine person. She is passionate about her work and wants the world to feel emotion through her music.”

In the recent American Idol finals, Lopez hit the stage with ReQuest to perform Parris’ signature ‘Polyswagg’. Parris describes the style as “combining sassy woman fire with aggressive inner strength. The grooves, heavy hits and milky flow are unique and will leave you inspired!”

Her recent successes have catapulted Parris onto the international stage, and her goal to be one of the world’s leading choreographers could be well within reach. As her father says, it’s “no longer a long term goal, [it will] pretty much happen in the next year.”

That family support, coupled with pure passion and dedication, have brought the choreographer this far. Her dancing journey began at age three with jazz classes, and although she now also enjoys contemporary dance, it’s hip hop that has her heart. “I have loved it since I was young,” she says. “It calls you and has so many ways to express yourself. It’s raw and from the street. You can do it if you are short, tall, big or small, boy or girl.”

To have achieved so much at such a young age is truly an inspiration. So what’s her secret? “Believe in yourself, chase you dreams”, Parris says. “Make sure you have only positive people around you. Anything is possible. Crowns up!”

Published by Dance Informa dance magazine -covering dance in Australia, dance training, dance auditions, dance teacher resources, dancewear and fashion and more.

Hip hop’s original liberation ethic is alive

By Paul Ransom  

As a cultural phenomenon hip hop certainly has its detractors. Criticised for its misogyny and glamourisation of violence it nonetheless persists as a vibrant artform, whether as the predominant pop music staple or as an athletic, uplifting street dance style.

For Marco Selorio, the man behind November’s World Supremacy Battleground event in Sydney, hip hop dance is about liberation and expression. So much so that despite its obviously competitive nature it offers both the crew and the communities they represent a source of pride and uplift.

“It was pretty much born out of the streets,” Selorio explains, “So the competitive nature of it stems from that. They’re up against each other and it’s very competitive; but if they win they’ve got the bragging rights.”

Whilst that very bragging can easily lurch into excess, Selorio insists that it goes deeper than mere self-aggrandisement. “If I win that battle and I represent my team, my town, my people, there’s a real sense of achievement in that. In hip hop people really come up to represent their own block, their own city and when they go back home they go with pride and everyone celebrates that.”

At the dance crew level hip hop culture works far more directly. As Selorio explains, “A lot of these kids are focused on dance and that takes them away from drugs and alcohol; and that’s probably the biggest thing to come out of this hip hop thing.”

In his role as the head honcho of Hoopdreamz and organiser of huge events like World Supremacy Battleground, (in which over 100 crews from around the Asia Pacific region competed over two days and nights), Marco Selorio sees even more subtle positives. “It builds relationships,” he says. “I mean, they come up battle ready cos they’re pretty rugged already from the streets, these kids; but then they get a sense of family from the crews. They become close because they train every day together.”

This is perhaps never more evident than with krumping, the high energy style created by legendary US dancer and WSB celebrity judge Tight Eyez. With its jabs, chest pops, stomps and arm swings, krumping is aggressive, improvised and often very emotive.

However, far from being just a dance craze, krumping is a fully fledged faith based artform. For its creator, krumping (Kingdom Radically Uplifted Might Praise) is an antidote to poverty, street violence and dissolution. Its Christian roots and social activism remains front row centre.

As its creator says, “Krump led us to Jesus and got us saved.” Indeed, for Tight Eyez (born Ceasare Willis) that salvation was literal. Still sporting a bullet wound from an earlier run in with South Central’s notoriously trigger happy street gangs, he is now a global hip hop star and an inspiration to those who are looking for a creative path out of generational poverty and violence.

However, critics of krumping point out that its aggressiveness is simply a commodification of violence. In contrast, krumpers talk about the dance as a kind of ‘ghetto ballet’. It is this schism – the interplay of competitiveness and liberation – that sits at the heart of hip hop and creates its energetic, enigmatic edge.

From Marco Selorio’s perspective big ticket hip hop events like WSB have a combination effect, one in which the discipline of competition and the liberation philosophy that hip hop embodies work neatly together. “When you put those two things together it lifts people up,” he argues. “They see it as something worthwhile to work hard for and when results come their way, if they win something or get recognised, the whole community celebrates their victory.”

The fact that the competition was intensified by the presence of high profile celebrity judges like Tight Eyez, Filipino legend Lil Pat and the sensational 19 year old world champion Parris Goebel only magnifies the benefit. “It really makes these kids wanna step up,” Selorio states. “That has to be a good thing.”

Yet, despite all the talk of faith and positive uplift, hip hop remains outside the dance mainstream. This might seem strange to a generation of young dancers well used to hip hop moves as part their regular classes or even to television fed fans of shows like SYTYCD, but to Marco Selorio getting media interest is still problematic. Even a huge, celebrity judged event like World Supremacy Battleground was greeted with widespread media silence.

“Major media shies away from hip hop, at least here in Australia,” he notes. “If I was doing the World Ballet Championships then people would probably go, ‘oh wow’ and pick it up but because it’s hip hop it’s a bit of a struggle.”

Away from the glare, however, hip hop dance forms are flourishing in communities around the world. Wherever there are mean streets, there will be crews dreaming of a way out.

Sadler’s Wells- Peacock Theatre, London
November 2011

By Lara Bianca Pilcher

Some Like It Hip Hop is an original and highly entertaining dance theatre masterpiece that is fun, fun, fun! This innovative production showcases company founder Kate Prince as the director but also as lyricist, co-choreographer and co-writer.  

ZooNation attracts an audience to the theatre that is varied from long time dance lovers and children to even those who usually just watch MTV; attracted to commercial music and dance.

Many children were in the audience. It’s so refreshing that founder Kate Prince has made a family friendly show that will encourage many children to pursue the arts. The stereotypes of hip hop being violent and overly sexualised are broken and hip hop is portrayed in a way that creates a safe show for anyone to come and see.

The story hooks the audience in, continually introducing more dance characters and further evolving others. The live song and acting moves the company from a dance only company to a revue.

The number ‘Invisible Me’ was like a hip hop version of Chicago’s ‘Mr Cellophane’, showing an oppressed character.  It demonstrates how hip hop dance can be fused with music to further evolve the dance narrative and allow dance to be a much more communicative theatre language. 

I’m a big fan of clean comedy (believing that it takes more skill than reverting to toilet humor) and there are so many moments to make you smile. Natasha Gooden’s doll like face is simply delightful as the dance character ‘Oprah Okeke’. The dancers’ faces and acting skills move them beyond dancers alone into true performers.

The lighting design by Johanna Town, is intricately designed and sets by Ben Stones are well integrated. The sets are as big and transformable as any top West End musical. So often dance is executed on a rather empty and bland stage but not in this show, the sets move and are constantly changing. There is never a dull moment.

The music by DJ Walde and Josh Cohen is original, enhancing the dance communication. There is a symbiotic relationship between the movement and music, true to the foundation of hip hop in the 1970s in Bronx NYC. 

The big numbers at the end are a bonus and the whole cast, including the vocalists each have a short freestyle solo, reminding us of the spontaneous and competitive nature of street dance. Many of the performers move with explosive speed and risky air-born lifts and flips. The show is simply invigorating.

Melbourne International Arts Festival
Malthouse Theatre
October 2011

By Grace Edwards.

Indonesian choreographer Jecko Siompo’s Melbourne Festival offering, We Came From The East, is a light-hearted exploration of the roots of hip-hop. “Hip-Hop was born in Papua, you don’t have to believe me, but my great grandmother told me,” says Siompo. Starting with this simple premise, Siompo traces the journey hip-hip may or may not have taken from Papua, through Indonesia and finally to New York.

Performed in Siompo’s trademark “animal pop” style, this piece is nothing if not energetic. It’s a frenetic blend of contemporary and tribal dance styles infused with the shuddering movements, screams and yelps of wild animals set to a lively and highly percussive soundscape. The ensemble dancers handled the fast-paced choreography reasonably well, whilst the acrobatic displays of the male performers added an extra physical dimension to the piece. The popping and locking sequences were less well-executed, perhaps owing to the different backgrounds of the dancers, though this did not prove a major hindrance to the overall design of the choreography.

The piece could, however, have benefitted a great deal from a stronger conceptual direction. The overarching theme of the show was hinted at only briefly, most explicitly in a vocal mosaic of interviews and musings on the origins of hip-hop. In the final scene, the dancers donned bright-coloured jackets, marking the arrival of contemporary hip hop; how we got there, however, remains a mystery. Meanwhile, a few odd quips and some seemingly out-of-place references to Pinocchio only further obscured any insights to be gleaned.

The choreography also suffered from a lack of light and shade. There were indeed signs of progression throughout the piece; the heavy use of floor work in the initial stages of the performance was replaced by more upright passages, the plain costumes and heavy tribal body paint was balanced by the contemporary final sequence. The dancers’ verbal passages progressed through several different languages, presumably Papuan and Indonesian dialects, through to English. Nonetheless, Sempo’s choreographic style proved somewhat limiting in this respect, at times becoming overly repetitive.

Soloist Jakob Yaw, stunningly painted half in black and half in white in perhaps a nod at his heritage, performed his role with strong presence and assurance.

The shortcomings of this production were ultimately minimised by Sempo’s playful, joyful approach to this piece. We Came From The East is a show to be embraced not for its profound insights nor its technical wizardry, but for its most basic contribution as an energetic and uncomplicated tribute to the ever-evolving and awe-inspiring world of dance.

Photo: Jecko Siompo’s We Came from the East (c) Riduan

By Kristy Johnson.

They may not have taken out the title as America’s Best Dance Crew in Season Six, however this all-female hip hop group are winning in their own right. Winning back-to-back titles at the World Hip Hop Dance Championships in 2009 and 2010, and recently performing at the Australian Dance Festival, it seems there is no stopping these girls from New Zealand in their quest for world recognition.

Dance Informa caught up with ReQuest, to chat about their stint on America’s Best Dance Crew, and what they’re up to next.

How did you find the experience of competing on America’s Best Dance Crew? Did it meet your expectations?

It was amazing, and one of the highlights of our time as a crew thus far. It met our expectations. Our goal was to just make the show and we weren’t focused on necessarily winning it. We totally enjoyed the journey of just being on the show. It was surreal for us to watch the show over the years and think, ‘wow imagine being on that show’. We never thought it would be possible as it was ‘America’s’ best dance crew, but we always had a dream of what it would be like.

You may not have won the sixth season, but there’s no doubt you’ve had success outside of the show. Are you glad for the exposure that comes from the TV show?

The exposure of being on the show was more the general public and those outside the dance world. We had already achieved a high degree of recognition through being the world champions in 2009 and 2010 so most dancers knew us. Definitely being on TV increased our fan and supporter base all around the world.

How has competing on ABDC influenced your success as a dance crew?

We really dance for the love of dance and to share our gift, so we felt we were successful already. Being on the show just exposed us to more people and I guess you can say we were successful by just getting chosen to be on the show.

Besides the winners of each series, are there any other ABDC crews that stand out to you as being at the top of their game?

Definitely. Jabbawockeez are really the main crew everyone knows as they won season one and have gone on to bigger and better things. Beat Freaks and Fysh N Chicks who are both all female crews really stood out for us and they showed the way for the ladies.

Were you a bit intimidated at being the only international crew to compete on the show? Or do you think this was to your advantage?

We weren’t intimidated at all, but knowing we were the world champions meant we had to bring it. It was really a huge disadvantage not being American as it is a popularity show and we suffered when it came to public voting. We knew this from the start so we didn’t let the voting get to us.

Who are some of your dance idols?

Parris Goebel from The Palace Dance Studio is really our driving inspiration. When you get to dance, train, sweat and learn from her everyday then you can’t help but be inspired. For everything she has accomplished with ReQuest and all the crews from The Palace Dance Studio at the age of 19, makes her our idol. We all get to dance full-time because of her driving force and she has shown us how to follow our dreams.

How often do you rehearse together?

We train and dance six out of seven days. Our day is made up of fitness training, ReQuest training, teaching our hip hop classes and then Palace crew trainings. We did have a contemporary class we all took once a week.

What’s the one thing your fans would be surprised to know about you?

Not one of us actually has red hair!

What’s next for you? What are you currently working on?

We have a busy month in October for Rugby World Cup performances, and then in November we have a tour to the Philippines and Japan.

By Kristy Johnson.

He’s worked for the likes of Britney Spears and Jason Derulo, yet LA based hip-hop and house choreographer Tony Czar remains a teacher at heart. Dance Informa caught up with the in-demand choreographer, fresh off the 2011 Source Dance Hollywood Tour, to talk teaching, career highlights and how Aussie dancers fare in the American dance scene.

You have been to Australia numerous times now. How do you find the standard of dancers?

The dancers are becoming amazing. I have seen the transformation in the dance scene all over Australia over the past four years.

Australian dancers are known to be quite versatile. But are we really on the same level as dancers in the United States?

Many of the dancers are on the same level. There are several dancers from Australia who are getting so much work in Los Angeles. They have the drive and the heart to make it work.

Are there any particular Aussie dancers or choreographers you feel have the potential to make a name for themselves in the States?

There are so many dancers in Australia who could dance in LA. Since you ask for a particular dancer – I believe Anti Fischer from Brisbane definitely can work in the US if she can get her visa. I have watched her transformation since she first came on the Source Dance Hollywood Tour four years ago. She has so much passion and determination.

When you visit Australia and have downtime, what do you like to do?

We really don’t have much downtime when we are on tour in Australia. However we love the Gold Coast!

Your experience as a choreographer is impressive, having worked with some of the best names in the business like Britney Spears and Jason Derulo. Do you ever stand back and think ‘wow, am I really doing this?’

I have always believed in what I do. In addition, I have been working with the right people at the right time to be given these opportunities.

Are there any music artists that are on your choreography wish list?

Missy Elliot, Beyonce, and up and coming Rye Rye!

Your workshops are always a great success. What do you enjoy the most about teaching?

I love having fun and passing on my passion of dance. I love watching the students when they have the ‘aha’ moment and get what I am teaching both physically and mentally.

Reality television has made a huge impact on the dance industry. Given the chance to have your own show like The Dance Scene, would this be something that interests you?

I am a teacher at heart so my favourite jobs are always going to be teaching jobs.

What’s next for you? What projects are you currently working on?

My schedule is fully booked with teaching jobs all over the world. I teach in Poland, Taiwan, Russia, Japan, Korea, and Guam, to just name a few of the places I will be going.