A few weeks ago, my dance team, UPrising Dance Crew, hosted a workshop for the famous dancer, Gabe De Guzman. Although he is only 17 years old right now, he is a very passionate and accomplished young dancer and teacher. He was only 10 years old when he won the Hall of Fame Junior Solo National Champion, and he was only 11 years old when he danced with Will Smith at the Kids Choice Awards in 2012. Known for his hip hop and freestyle dancing, he has performed at the 49th Super bowl halftime show with the legendary Missy Elliott and superstar Katy Perry. When he visited Boston College for the workshop, he talked with us and told us about working with Justin Bieber on one of his music video. He also told us that performing with Bruno Mars was one of his favorite performances.
For the workshop, Gabe taught us a combination of dance moves that he made with Matt Steffanina, a famous choreographer who has worked with Snoop Dogg, Chris Brown, and LMFAO. The song they choreographed to is called “Uproar.” During the class, I took a video of Gabe doing the combination that he taught us and it was really cool how he danced for us here in Brighton Dance Studio (check out the video here).
Gabe just has a great stage presence and his master class was such a great learning experience for everyone. His dance moves were very fitting with his chill style, however, he was able to really use his whole body to go full out and dance so that even the people in the back could see all his moves. Using these techniques and his kind personality, Gabe was able to own the stage during performances. It was honestly so great how he came all the way from California to work with us and share his passion for dance at Boston College.