This week has been mad, loved being back in class having missed everyone so much whilst on tour (to view what we got up to on tour scroll down for the videos!)

Lots of exciting stuff all in the pipeline which unfortunately I can’t talk about just yet but rest assured as soon as I can I will, 2012 is looking to be an incredible year, new classes, new events new crews new everything!

Junior crew:

Well Sunday at the auditions was really impressive, you know I’m not easily impressed but I have to say I was deeply moved by the passion, commitment and performance ability of the dancers.

Having decided after much deliberation to start a junior crew I was so blown away by the turn out of dancers who wanted to be in the new Junior crew. I was also humbled by the attitudes of the parents which was open honest and excited about the future (my kind of people!)

Mel and Pete who will be heading up the junior crew I know are super excited about the standard and we are all really excited about what the junior crew are going to achieve. A big thank you to the parents who took time out of their Sunday to support their children (I’m sure Mr Cameron would wish there more parents as caring and supportive as you guys!)

Here is a few pics of the junior auditions:

A big thank you to everyone who came down and made the day such a special event, big congratulations on everyone who made it and also to everyone who didn’t make it. To audition for anything in life you have to be strong and have courage, two of the most important traits to becoming the success you want. As I said on the day those of you who weren’t successful this time – work hard, attend extra classes make it your goal to succeed next year and the likely hood is you will. Remember talent is a falsehood… real progress comes from daily application and focus. Talent is the ability to never ever give up.

Senior Crew:

So last year we only took on 3 dancers. We are specifically very tight on who we let in to either of a our crews. Being part of a performance crew is a big commitment and we make sure we don’t take tourists.

So given the uber high standards I thought we may only take on 1 or 2 additional dancers….how wrong I was.

The standard was a whole level up from last year, it seems when one person raises the bar everyone else has to raise their’s and that’s exactly what happened.

The standard was so high across the board it made decisions uber tough, at one point the panel (Me, Alison (company manager) Fi (assistant dance captain), Alex (dance captain) nearly had a stand up brawl!

Such was the standard it was not a clear cut decision at all. Making the cut at each stage became so difficult when we got down to the last 30 we looked and realised that anyone of the dancers deserve to be in the crew. So we added new choreo and had to test other things just to raise the bar and try and differentiate the slightest difference so we could make our decision.

In the end we took 8 new dancers many more than we thought but the standard and dedication was so high we couldn’t choose.

It seems the bar keeps being raised and the focus and dedication needed to be part of the official crew only gets higher with time.

I can safely say the future of the Urban Strides Crew is in safe hands, with this much immense talent coming through and staggering commitment focus dedication and energy it’s only going to get better and better and better!

Congratulations to everyone who came down we really appreciate your time and effort. Those of you who were unsuccessful keep going, remember – most people in the crew had to audition for 3 or 4 years before getting in, so if it’s something you want – focus on it, train more, do advanced and intermediate classes, practice outside of class and you too could be part of the crew.

If you came down to the auditions let us know what you thought of the day spread some leave on a friday and leave a comment in the box below.

Have a great weekend,

To infinity and beyond!

Big Luv

Andy

Auditions are this Sunday 29th January – exciting!!!!

Here are a few useful facts about the auditions:

Timings

- Juniors (school years 4 -9) Arrive at 9am. Be prepared to stay until 12pm.
- Seniors (14 years and over) Arrive at 1pm. Be prepared to stay until 5pm.

Location

The Dance Studio located at Bucks New Uni, Queen Alexandra Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire
HP11 2JZ. Enter the Uni via reception in the tall blue building. There is no parking at the Uni but you can park at the nearby Eden car park ( it’s a 1 min walk).

Fee

Please bring a £5 audition fee with you.

Format

There is no need for auditionees to prepare anything. We will see people in groups and the audition process is on a round by round basis, so there is no way of knowing how long you will be needed for. It all depends on how many people turn up and how many rounds you get through!

For the Juniors, we expect a parent to remain with them.

Successful Auditionees

The juniors will train every Saturday (including half terms) 11-1pm and the seniors 3-6pm. All training takes place at the Bucks New Uni. Payment for these classes is half termly in advance.

If you have any questions at all, Alison, our Company Manager will be at the auditions and will be happy to answer any queries.

The Urban Strides Team

The Urban Strides performance Crew are performing at the MEN Arena for 3 nights this week! Check out the Tour Diary from yesterday!

Remember, auditions for the senior performance Crew and the brand new Junior Crew are on Sunday 29th January. Juniors 9-12 and Seniors 1-5pm. No need to register, simply turn up on the day at Bucks New Uni, High Wycombe with your £5 audition fee.

Check back tomorrow for the next video diary!

Keep on dancing

Andy

This week I was having a catch up with Sammi one of our long term crew members, she was on a tour bus in germany. She is dancing on the Thriller LIve tour. What made it interesting was The fact that out of a cast of 10 dancers on the tour 4 were all members of the Official Dance Crew with Sammi being dance captain and Shae being the resident director.

With only a handful of people leaving the crew in the last few years having 4 all be performing on the most prestigious tour in Europe is quite interesting. So I interviewed Sammi and found out what our Urban Striders are doing in the world of professional dance to put themselves above the crowd.

This interview is fantastic to show you what it takes to be a successful dancer and more importantly how much benefit being part of the Urban Strides Crew can be. Especially for your self confidence and helping you to fulfill your dreams.

Here is a pic of Sammi in the crew

Take your time to read the interview I know you’ll find it beneficial,

How old were you when you started Urban Strides?
I started urban strides when I was 13 years old.

What class did you attend?
I attended a Thursday class at the Misbourne school in the evenings.

How long before you plucked up the courage to audition for the “Official Crew”?
I took the first opportunity I had to audition for the crew as I loved the classes and desperately wanted more training and performing opportunities and didn’t want to lose anytime!

Why did you want to audition for the crew?
I wanted to audition because I loved the classes so much and realised this was something I really wanted to take seriously and start thinking of for a career. I got to the stage where all I Did was dance and practice so I knew I had to be in the crew!

How did you feel during the audition day for the Crew?
The day of the audition I felt very nervous because for me I knew if I didn’t get in it would take me another year to wait to get in and I was desperate to get in as soon as possible. I was also exited because I worked so hard in class all the time and hoped it was paying off. The audition had a great fun atmosphere and just being there made me happy.

What advice have you got for people who are auditioning for the crew?
The advice I would give to people auditioning for the crew is to just be yourself and show your personality and who you are more than anything. Work hard, keep motivated and don’t ever let yourself get knocked back because not every audition is going to go your way but it’s about fighting back and coming back stronger that builds you, and just to enjoy everything and take in all of the experience!

Was being in the crew what you expected?
Being in the crew was more than what I expected. I learnt so many different styles, and learnt about freestyle, performing, choreography and just everything I needed. The performance opportunities were amazing especially for the age I was at as well.

What 3 things did you enjoy most about being in the crew?
The three things I loved the most about being in the crew was meeting such amazing people and our crew was more like a family than a crew, how quickly I improved as a dancer, and how it built my confidence which I think was the biggest part of me becoming the dancer I am today.

What are your 3 most memorable moments from being in the crew?
My three most memorable times from being n the crew would have to be: the banter that we all had on tour together ( especially Beno and graham dressing up in ballet tights for us and generally cracking me up!) , when we performed at Hay festival because I loved that set and it was such a fun trip, and the making of the Urban Strides DVD with the amazing cars, it was a very fun shoot!

What was your favourite performance?
My favourite performance would have to be our tour at the O2 arena. Walking out and performing on that stage infront of that many people was just amazing.

What was your favourite choreography?
The whole set at Hay festival for me was my favourite choreography. I loved the song choices, I loved the routines and the whole idea. It was a 20 minute set and I was the only girl involved and I had such a great time with everyone and learnt a lot from this set!

Looking back at your time performing with Urban Strides how much of an impact do you think it had on your development and your life in general?
I think that being in the crew has definitely had a big impact on my life and my career. Before urban strides I didn’t really have any self confidence and being a part of the crew and having such amazing supportive and friendly members really helped me to progress. As soon as my confidence grew, my dancing and my performance especially just improved. So these days I’m not afraid to try new things and takes risks and I feel being able to do this really helps to further yourself as a dancer and a performer. Performance was always a massive part of being in the crew and having this has helped me in my career so much. Performance is the first thing people look for and being able to naturally perform I think is a key factor to being a dancer.

How well did your time with Urban Strides prepare you for your career?
My time with urban strides helped me a lot with my career. I was a part of the crew for 4 almost 5 years and I think having that much experience of performing and having already built up my cv was a massive help for me getting into college and other opportunities. As I’ve already said, having the ability to perform well has helped me a lot and just generally having trained for that long in many styles so I was as versatile as I could be I feel has helped.

You performed your choreography during a piece we performed at the Wycombe Swan, how did you feel seeing your own choreography being performed by your crew for the 1st time?
The day when andy said I could choreograph something for the crew I was so excited and just amazed to have the opportunity. I’ve always wanted to be a choreographer when I’m older and choreographing has always been something I love and to have the opportunity to create something of my own and try it out was incredible. I remember showing it to the crew and being so nervous, once it was put in the show and watching it being done I felt very proud and just determined and motivated for my career. It made me want to work even harder because the feeling of seeing your own creation come to life was so exciting and I just wanted to push myself further to become a choreographer.

You have always loved choreographing is this something you would like to do more of in the future?
I definitely would love to choreograph in the future. I would like to perform as a dancer first and slowly make my way into choreographing, I always choreograph in my free time and work on my skills and try to better myself so that one day my dream of being a choreographer can come true!

You went straight from college (graduating in July) to getting your first job (august) this is unheard of in the dance industry, what did you do to get noticed and stick out in the audition?
I feel I am very lucky to have got work so soon out of college. I was expecting to be struggling for the first year making my way through auditions. In June before I had graduated we had a workshop with Gary Lloyd (the Director who worked with Urban Strides on The Royal Variety Performance-small world!) where we learnt a routine from Thriller Live and had to freestyle. I loved the workshop and made sure Gary knew me and remembered my face as I knew auditions for Thriller were soon. I auditioned for the show in the first week of August. I was unbelievably nervous as I have wanted to be in Thriller Live since I started college. I feel I made myself stand out in the audition by showing my personality and passion. I made sure in freestyles that I wouldn’t just be into myself and just dancing but I would go up to the panel and have fun whilst still showing skills, I did everything possible for them to just be watching me. I tried my hardest not to get nervous too and just thought about how much I wanted that job.

How does it feel being part of a tribute act for an artist like Michael Jackson?
Being in this show and representing Michael Jackson every night is amazing. I have always looked up to Michael and going out on stage every night infront of hundreds of people who are passionate and dedicated fans of michael and seeing how happy it makes them makes me feel very privileged to be dancing and representing his music. There is never a moment when I am bored or can’t be bothered because he is such a legend and his music to me is unbelievable and I hope generations to come always know and love michael and this show keeps him living!

What was your most memorable piece of advice you still use today that you got from your time with Urban Strides?
My most memorable advice I received from urban strides was to dance like no one is watching! That’s how I feel and what I think about in auditions because work is limited in this industry and auditions are not the time to be nervous and forget steps, you just have to be confident, give it your all and just let yourself go, enjoying yourself and dancing like no one is there and as if your in your bedroom is the perfect way to do it!

What advice would you give for young dancers who want to follow your path and audition for the Urban Strides crew?
For people who have the same ambition as I have and wish to take the same steps I would just say to always believe in yourself and to work very hard and always keep determined. Train as much as you can and never become complacent. Auditioning for the crew is really beneficial and has guided me towards my career so much.

Any other bits of info, advice, or wisdom you have that you want to share?
If there was anything else I would say it is to always stay humble and always be kind and respectful with everyone you work with. Being talented is important but being a good character to work with is even more important. This is also one of the best bits of advice I received from being in the crew. The dance industry is quite often about who you know, and being a friendly and easy person to work with is always going to help you! Good luck to everyone

Wise words indeed, let me know what you thought of the interview, any ideas it sparked off for you and if it’s helped you think about anything in a new light. Sammi went from going to class to being on a year long tour, in a tribute show for arguably the biggest musical icon in history. It all started with going to an audition for Urban Strides, remember you can achieve anything you want if you apply yourself.

Let me know what you thought drop a comment in the box below

Have a fab weekend

Big luv

Andy

We have been thinking about this for a long time, how to do it properly, how to ensure we get the best people onboard and how we can train the next generation of juniors to be at a performance standard.

So I am delighted to anounce the creation of a brand new performance crew ahem (drum roll)…….

“The Official Junior Urban Strides Crew”

As you know at Urban Strides we do things differently it’s probably what has given us the edge and the ongoing success we have enjoyed for the past 12 years.

I believe passionately that performance opportunities are a privellage. I was taught very quickly the chance to entertain, excite and energise an audience is a gift not a given.

I have also held a very strong belief that if we are to do anything in life we should commit whole heartedly to it and give our very best to help it succeed.

With this in mind the Junior Crew will be run in the same way The senior crew is currently run, this is our winning formula and has enabled us to Open the Royal variety performance, be seen in 128 countries worldwide, viewed by a global audience of 1.73 billion and seen on 36 TV channels.

The winning formula:

The principles of success are simple and straightforward: work hard, have fun and achieve. People often see the results of this in our arena tours, TV appearances and live shows but they are not always aware of what we do that results in these phenomenal opportunities.

These achievements have been reached by a tremendous amount of hardwork, dedication, sacrifice and practice, lots and lots and lots and lots of practice!

This Junior crew will be creating their own identity their own choreography and their own chemistry on stage.
The senior crew got all of their opportunities from continuos hard work and a positive and friendly approach to rehearsals.

Therefore the goals and aims of the Junior crew will be to:

- Improve their dance technique to an Urban Strides performance level
- Be dedicated to training outside of the crew rehearsals
- Bring a positive and passionate attitude to rehearsals every week
- When ready create a performance piece to give to promoters to ask for the opportunity to perform-again only when they are at a level that we feel is commensurate with the standards required by the Urban Strides philosophy.

If the junior crew follows this formula I have no doubt in my mind the success and opportunities will follow but only after the hard work, drive, ambition and the continued support of fantastic parents.

If you work hard, commit yourself we are living proof you can achieve anything but as the great Muhammed Ali once said,

“I ran on the road long before I danced under the lights”

Hard work 1st then success.

Here is the proof:

Here is a video of James who started with us aged 7, James usually does 3-5 hrs of classes per week, and has not stopped driving himself forward, and here he is after that hard work having been scouted by ITV with an opportunity to Perform on the Prime Time ITV show born to Shine, check it out:

Now what you don’t see on the video is the hard work and commitment and the extra rehearsals but believe me it’s there.

So the benefits of being in the Junior Crew are:

* Opportunity to work with industry professionals
* Dramatically increase your dancing ability
* When ready – performance opportunities
* Be able to say you were the original members of the first ever Official Junior Crew!
* Be able to create something you can call your own
* Create great new friendships with like minded individuals
* 50% off all additional class fee’s
* Discounts off clothing
* Discounts off Hip Hop Don’t Stop (when over 11yrs old)

What we are looking for in Junior dancers:

* Confidence to express
* Authentic Street dance technique (hip hop, house, lockin, poppin, breakin)
* A positive attitude
* A team player
* Hard working
*Dancers who are in the age range School Year 4 up to school yr 9 (if you are in School yr 10 you are eligible to audition for the senior crew-see next blog post below)

Here is what we are looking for in the parents of Junior dancers ( yes your auditioning as well!)

* Support and belief in Urban Strides values of hard work, dedication, commitment and fun!
* An understanding the Junior Crew has been created in order to create something exceptional and this will not happen overnight.
* An understanding that your child may not be selected for every performance and this decision will lie with the creative director
* Be an active ambassador for Urban Strides and your childs crew
* Ensure your child attends every rehearsal ( 2hrs Saturday mornings term time from 11-1 pm cost £16)

If you feel this opportunity is for you we would love to see you at the auditions and will relish the opportunity to create something new, exciting and that will enrich everyone’s life that is involved.

So the auditions for the Junior Crew are:

When: Sun 29th Jan 2012 9 am – 12 pm (auditions are run round by round so bring a book or ipod to keep you entertained)

Where: Bucks New Uni:

Our brand new studio located at Bucks New Uni, click here for a map There is no parking at the Uni but you can park at the eden car park located here ( its a 1 min walk)

Please be aware the audtions will be run round by round so we have no way of predicting when you will finish please be prepared to stay until 1 pm if necessary.

AUDITION FEE :£5 payable at registration-Cash only. Children must be accompanied by adults at all times, apart from when in the dance studio.

The official senior dance crew dance captain Alex has 3 top tips for auditionees;

* Have confidence
* Enjoy yourself if you’re having fun it will show in your performance
* Relax everyone wants you to do your best

Tell your friends and we look forward to seeing you there!

When is it? – Sunday 29th Jaunary at 9.00 am – 12.00 pm

Where is it? – High Wycombe Campus
Queen Alexandra Road
High Wycombe,
Buckinghamshire
HP11 2JZ

Good luck and I can’t wait to see you on the day.

Big luv

Andy

P.S. If you have any questions you can email Dianne at classes@urbanstrides.com or call 08448 488825

Missed you guys! Hopefully you’ve been catching up with us on the tour diaries and have felt apart of our tour as well. Just before Christmas was crazy we didn’t have a day off for 5 weeks, putting in the grind! But now we are back and super psyched for an awesome new year we have lots of exciting new projects lined up for you as well as our brand new classes starting off with breakin’ this term which is an awesome style to brush off the cobwebs and get right back to dancing and feeling the Urban Strides vibe.

Today I want to announce one of the most crucial dates in the Urban Strides calendar-The Urban Strides Official Dance Crew auditions on Sunday 29th January.

The Crew is our flagship, the elite, the people who represent the Urban Strides family on the worldwide stage and show people what authentic, original and creative Street Dance is all about as well as living the positive values of passion and positivity we hold dear to our hearts here at Urban Strides.

The crew meets up every week for 3 hour rehearsals where we train, improve, share and create new and exciting choreography theatre shows, TV performances, and Arena performances.

This year we are performing at 18 arenas including 4 times at the busiest performance arena in the world the O2.

So if you are over 14 years of age and want to be a part of one of the UK’s most successful Street Dance crews, radically improve your dance ability, feel part of an exciting and dynamic team, perform on huge stages, create original and innovative performances, and feel the tight bond that being part of the Urban Strides Official Dance Crew can bring you should come down and audition.

Who we are looking for:

People who are willing to learn. People who have been Street Dancing for at least a year or who feel very confident as a Street Dancer. People who are willing to put the time effort and energy into becoming truly excellent. People who have a strong passion for dance.

When it comes to creating an excellent dance crew dance ability is important, but it’s not the most important, after all we can teach you how to be an excellent dancer, its what we excel at. What we want is someone with the passion and performance capability to give their all on stage, rehearse till they drop and know when to have a laugh and be a part of a fun team.

If you feel you have the right attitude-(because ultimately thats what it’s all about) then you are exactly who we are looking for to be part of the Official Dance Crew.

Here are some of the benefits of being part of the crew:

*Train with the best instructors and choreographers in Europe

*Receive huge discounts on classes, clothing and Urban Strides events.

*Perform on some of the biggest stages in the world

*Create and develop original and ground breaking performance pieces

*Dramatically increase your dance ability

*Be able to say you are part of the Urban Strides Official Dance Crew

Here are some of the Official Crew’s performing credits:

* Being the first Street Dance Crew in the world to open the Royal Variety Performance for Her Majesty the Queen

* Being seen on 36 TV Channels including BBC, ITV, Channel 4, E4 and MTV

* Been viewed in 128 countries worldwide

* Performed alongside artists such as:

* Alexandra Burke

* Dizzee Rascal

* 78 Arena performances (More then any other Street Dance Crew in history) including performances at:

* London O2 Arena

* Manchester MEN

* Birmingham LG and NIA arenas

* Sheffield Metro arena

* Newcastle Arena

* The Royal Albert Hall

* The Odyssey Arena Belfast

* The RDS Dublin

* Commissioned work by Breakin Convention

Here is an example of one of our recent shows:

Here is the story of Cyrus one of our crew members who is now embarking on a professional career in dance on how he got involved in the crew:

I had the Urban Dance Explosion CD and DVD that Andy presents and already had a love of street dance and hip hop culture. Then I came to watch Urban Strides at Activate I realised that is what I wanted to do. The power and energy that came off the crew really connected with me, and I knew that I wanted to be a part of that. I enrolled at Aylesbury high school classes and did as well as jamming and practicing in between classes. The classes gave me a huge inspiration. It was the platform of real technique and performance training that I needed.

I was really nervous the day before the audition because I was unsure about whether I was good enough. Then I thought, there is nothing to lose if i dont go. The worst that can happen is I don’t get in, but because I wanted to be part of the crew so much I knew that even if I had to audition 10 times it would be worth it. When I knew I got in I was overwhlmed because it was the culmination of so much hard work. When I first started at the rehearsals I was still nervous but the energy was so positive and everyone was so friendly and lovely. Being in the offical crew was even better than I thought, everyone was so welcoming it felt like I had been adopted by a new family, everyone was so lovely.

The amount of knowledge and experience I have got from the crew has been incredible, dance wise and the knowledgde about hip hop dance culture. Words cannot explain the improvement Urban Strides has made to my dancing. When I first went on tour with the crew it opened my eyes to a whole new world and I realised this is what I want to do for a living. Urban Strides has shown me what I really want and how i can achieve my dream. Don’t worry if you have never been to an audition before. Going along to the audition and being part of the crew was a life changing experience for me, it could be the best decision you ever make. Give it all you’ve got and don’t be scared, there is nothing you can lose.

Where is it?:

Our brand new studio located at Bucks New Uni, click here for a map There is no parking at the Uni but you can park at the eden car park located here ( its a 1 min walk) However you can drop off outside the uni just not park their.

Registration starts at 13.00 pm should you be successful you will be needed until 17:00 pm there will be lots of waiting around so bring a book or an ipod!

Please be aware the audtions will be run round by round so we have no way of predicting when you will finish please be prepared to stay all day if neccesary.

AUDITION FEE :£5 payable at registration-Cash only.You must be over 14 years of age.

The official dance crew dance captain Alex has 3 top tips for auditionees;

* Have confidence
* Enjoy yourself if you’re having fun it will show in your performance
* Relax everyone wants you to do your best

Tell your friends and we look forward to seeing you there!

When is it?- Sunday 29th Jaunary at 13.00pm – 17.00 pm

Where is it?- High Wycombe Campus
Queen Alexandra Road
High Wycombe,
Buckinghamshire
HP11 2JZ

Big luv

Andy