Paul

Be Different

My idea for Be Different comes from my dissatisfaction with most conventional forms of dance.
I started street dance when I was 14 and I started contemporary when I was 19. I’m 23 now.
During the last 9 years I’ve seen many dance performances where it was obvious that the dancers were really talented but I didn't see very much that was new or different; it was all the same style over and over again – street dance especially.

I was getting bored and if I danced the same way I was worried that audiences would get bored with me too. That’s initially why I changed to contemporary. It seemed to offer more freedom and therefore more variety.

The next move seemed obvious: to mix street with contemporary. And for that matter why not mix any different dance styles together? Ballet, salsa, tap with voguing, krump, whatever – experimental dance.

That way I might make something new and different. Watching the work of Avant Garde choreographers too then adds another level of challenge. I’m not very interested in dance style names anymore; I just let my feelings guide me.

Thanks to Florence for filming my dance.