the idance® blog of Omar Paloma random flotsam and jetsam about me and the company I built

7Feb/100

Been Working hard

Sorry I haven't been around. Been working hard on the UK Hip Hop Dance Championships Site. Most UKHHC posts willl now be made there... www.ihiphopdance.com

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17Jan/100

More Reasons to be proud

Formal congrats to DNA, Jukebox Juniors, Status, and Unity Youth... Got to Dance Finalist All crews who have participated in the UK Hip Hop Dance Championships. Unity Youth were last years varsity champions, DNA have been Varsity UK Champions and have been in the final three EVERY year they've entered the competition, as have Jukebox Juniors who were also Bronze Medalists at the world Hip Hop Championships

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16Jan/100

Do you feel proud?

I had a surreal moment last week watching So You think You can Dance. I was watching the dancers chosen for the show, and I realised that in that show one of the judges, Sisco, was a dancer from Culture Shock UK (an idance Group) two of the competitors were dancers, Chloe and Mark, were from Culture Shock UK. One of the choreographers, Simeon (who choreographed the bench dance for Tommy and Charlie) was from Culture Shock UK, and one of the dancers in Boy Blue (dancing behind Lemar) was home grown idance talent (took his first dance class EVER at our studio) and eventually went on to Culture Shock UK.

I can’t think of any other groups in the UK that can say they’ve had that kind of impact  except for 2xs but hey... even they were started by culture shock UK/idance dancers. On top of that, Animaineax winners of Move it Like MJ, were started by Mark from Culture Shock UK. Plague unity youth as well and Peridot (same show) are champions of the UK Hip Hop Dance Championships, and performed at platformONE, two idance events.  DNA and Jukebox on “Got to Dance” were  winners of the UK champs as well. Nemisis the first ever hip hop dance group to finalists on Britain’s Got Talent and Flawless who were last year’s runners up both are former winners of the Hip Hop Champs.

Last week we had a MasterClass with Tony Czar. We gave Nicky’s Hip Hop 3 for free for anyone who attended. I was slightly worried when dancers started showing up for Nicky’s class and they were, on average,  10 years older than Nicky’s students, and they REALLY looked the part. It seemed completely out of balance.... until the choreography. Our Nicky  and students SHINED... and several of these towering hip hop adults struggled with the technical complexity of the routine. In fact, it was slightly humorous to see some of the adults, many of  whom are in dance companies and/or run  classes and schools of their own, struggling with choreo that our students took as second nature.

It's beautiful and makes me smile.

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