Jon Mitsui

Mitsui, like most college dancers began his dance career in high school after one of his physical education requirements was to take a dance class. A little after that he realized he was good at what he did when his coach Juliette King asked him to try out for the schools team. Dance became a regular part of his life, as he would constantly take classes throughout all of SoCal ranging from workshops hosted by many of the colleges teams around the area. In specifics, PAC Modern

Gina Hong – Bossy

The concept video of the week goes to Gina Hong and the Bad Girls Club (BGC) for choreographing to Bossy by Kelis. The video gives off a very Girl Power vibe consisting of the all female showcase team BGC. Their choice of costume is very street wise which adds to the mood of the video which is a very bad girl who is willing to fight you kind of vibe. Gina utilizes various different levels which gives the video flavor, making choreography from the ground to a chair and even standing up. The dancers really utilize their flexibility by making sure they hit a very deep plie and also jumping straight into the splits.

NorCal Vs. SoCal

The divide between NorCal and SoCal is extremely different. All in all dance will generally be the same except with a different feel of styles, but aside from just the styles the energy and feeling of classes is completely different. As mentioned by Milo McManus, he describes NorCal as more comfortable, meaning that it is more of a safe feel. NorCal tends to be at more of a slow pace, everyone that takes class here generally does it to dance, or as an outlet which is why class seems more relaxed up here.

Nico Isaac O’Connor

NIO

Born in Redwood City, and living in San Bruno, San Mateo and Antioch, northern California native Nico O’Connor has had his fair share of the Bay. Being exposed to dance by the likings of MTV and Musicals, Nico O’Connor has become one of Hip Hops renowned Jazz-Funk Instructors in California, and to everyones surprise this Hip Hop legend did not begin dancing in that style. At the Age of 18 he began dancing in ballet folklorico and once he reached high school he was finally introduced to hip hop through a friend who needed a dancer. He was taken under the wing of this friends choreographer and from there began his growth in the hip hop art.

Milo McManus

Photo by Rocko Luciano

Born and raised in San Jose Milo McManus took his first dance class on accident by attending his brothers rehearsal at the age of 12 in flip flops learning to DMX’s “Party Up” Slowly after taking his first class he fell in love with hip hop dance and joined Future Shock, and competed at Hip Hop International in Vegas. He continued dancing in the Bay Area joining teams like Culture Shock Oakland from the age of 12 – 16 and was part of the first class of Funk Beyond Control (FBC) from the age of 16 -18. Shortly after ending high school McManus moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dancing career where he was contracted by Bloc Talent Agency in 2007.