TikTok Star McKenzi Brooke Releases Debut Single, "17"
Rising TikTok superstar, McKenzi Brooke, has an impressive knack for social media. She has grown her audience to a bolstering 13MM+ all before her 18th birthday!
On her debut single, “17”, McKenzi provides listeners with honest introspection into the societal expectations of teens today, as well as how and why she chooses to blaze her own trail.
Music is a natural next step for this gifted, multi-faceted performer, who will be able to leverage her devoted audience and digital marketing skills to bridge the gap between Millennial and Gen-Z listeners. With “17”, McKenzi gears up to re-introduce herself to the world as an artist and songwriter with something to say.
Check out “17” by McKenzi Brooke HERE!
Check out McKenzi’s easy-to-learn choreography above and remember to tag @mckenzibrooke & @danceon in your posts!
AMAZING DANCE VIDEO TO HALSEY'S I AM NOT A WOMAN, I'M A GOD
Continuing the impressive content roll out for Halsey’s new album — If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power — DanceOn presents our latest Artist Request for lead single, “I am not a woman, I’m a god”. Nicole Kirkland’s exciting choreography comes to life as Director Ryan Parma takes us inside a boring office setting that’s about to get a whole lot more interesting. Nicole is joined by dancers Yai Ariza, Donovan Gibbs, Bailey Pina, and Tristan Edpao in this exciting, dance-fueled fever dream. Check out the video and exclusive interview with choreographer and featured dance influencer Nicole Kirkland.
What is the Artist Request video for “I am not a woman, I’m a god” about?
Nicole Kirkland (Choreographer and Featured Dancer): This video is about a woman being ignored and looked over in the workplace. She uses her new superpower to get the men at her work to do what she wants.
How did you use choreography to tell the story?
NK: I used choreography to tell the story. In the beginning we used simple hand movements to show the men not listening to me while a meeting was taking place. Towards the middle of the video the main female character is having fun with her powers as she controls the men. This is my favorite part of the choreography because it shows dancing mixed with “human” movement.
How did you find the dancers for this project?
NK: All the dancers I picked for this video I have used before on other projects. I trust them to get my vision across. Yai Ariza was in my viral “Wap” video. Donovan Gibbs, Tristan Edpao and Bailey Pina I have used on many different concept videos on my YouTube channel like “Whoopty” and my #SavetheChildren video.
What does the song “I am not a woman, I’m a god” mean to you?
NK: The phrase “I am not a woman, I’m a god” reiterates the power women have. Sometimes with all the pressures of society we can forget our power and our strength. This phrase reminds us of that!
If you could do any future collaboration with Halsey, what would it be?
NK: I would love to help create a music video or live performance for Halsey. I have always been a fan of her work, and I think we could make some really cool art together.
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF NICOLE’S CHOREOGRAPHY AND PERFORMANCE?
TELL US IN THE COMMENTS BELOW!
DUNCAN LAURENCE MAKES AN ARTIST REQUEST
By now, you've probably heard the unforgettable song "Arcade" by singer-songwriter Duncan Laurence. Laurence first stepped onto the world stage when “Arcade” won the coveted 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. In the almost three years since, “Arcade” has gone on to rack up billions of streams worldwide, creating new fans of Duncan Laurence wherever it goes.
And now, the song has its own stunning contemporary dance video as part of DanceOn's "Artist Request" series. Directed by Ryan Parma and choreographed by Jan Ravnik, "Arcade" beautifully comes to life through the movement and storytelling ability of Jan Ravnik and dance partner Madison Alvarado. A beautiful, heart-wrenching glimpse into the dilapidated remains of a relationship past, the Artist Request for "Arcade" perfectly visualizes Laurence's poignant lyrics. The duet takes us physically and emotionally through what’s left of the home and life the couple once shared.
Check out the video below and let us know what you think!
SNAKE EYES MOVIE DANCE BY THE KINJAZ
DANCEON NEW RELEASE ALERT!
Paramount's new feature film SNAKE EYES: G.I. Joe Origins releases this Friday July 23, 2021 and they are KICKING off the premiere with an innovative vertical dance video featuring The Kinjaz. Check out the video here:
One of the most revered characters in the G.I. Joe franchise, Snake Eyes was last portrayed by Ray Park in the ’09 & ’13 live-action feature films. In the upcoming film, Henry Golding stars as Snake Eyes, a member of the G.I. Joe team who is known for his relationships with Scarlett and Storm Shadow, as well as his mastery of Martial Arts and hand-to-hand combat.
This newest installment of the franchise serves as an origin story. Centered around a mysterious, lone fighter —known only as “Snake Eyes“ — Golding is welcomed into and trained by an ancient Japanese ninja-warrior clan called the Arashikage. However, loyalties are tested when secrets from his dark past are revealed, which eventually leads him on the path to become the famous G.I. Joe hero fans around the world have come to know and love.
Check out the latest trailer for SNAKE EYES: G.I. Joe Origins
Who are The Kinjaz? A crew and "artist's brotherhood" founded in 2010, the Kinjaz are known for their signature intricate choreography style and creative storytelling through dance and new media. Kinjaz frequently release original dance videos across their channels on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. Among their many viral successes, they created this concept video to Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” which garnered over 9 million video views on YouTube:
The Kinjaz are made up of a number of well known dance influencers you can follow on Instagram and other social platforms. Check them out here:
Anthony Lee
Vihn Nguyen
Mike Song
Bam Martin
And more!
What's your favorite Kinjaz video? Let us know in the comments below:
PERMISSION TO DANCE
DanceOn trend alert! BTS dropped their new single PERMISSION TO DANCE July 8th 2021, and we are unapologetically grooving to it. If you are looking for a good time, look no further than the official music video:
The choreography includes international sign language signaling ‘fun’, ‘dance’ and ‘peace’. Check out the especially smooth execution of Jungkook’s pencil turn around 2:14. The original choreography to the full track can be viewed here in BTS’s official rehearsal dance video:
Despite the strong connection to dance in the song lyrics and music video, no choreographer is listed in the music video’s credits. Full credits in screenshots below!
We searched online and could find the name of nearly every talent involved but no mention of the choreographer in any press story or posting. We’ve reached out to the creative team and hopefully will update this post soon with information on the choreographer(s) identity and work!
If you are looking for a way to learn the official PERMISSION TO DANCE choreography, there’s an excellent breakdown and tutorial created by YouTube dance influencers Ellen and Brian. Check it out here:
Learn the dance and join the BTS Army by posting your own version of the routine. Shout out to @Chisaakiii for her joyful take of Permission to Dance on TikTok. Over 3 million views so far and counting! We’ll see you out there on the virtual dance floor!
"Up The Beat" with FILA USA's new Dance Challenge
Biggest TikTok Trends of 2020
Cardi B Ft. Megan Thee Stallion - WAP
The Weeknd - Blinding Lights
Megan Thee Stallion - Savage
Saweetie - Tap In
K Camp - Renegade / Lottery
Kesha - Cannibal
Jason Derulo - Savage Love (Siren Beat)
Roddy Ricch - The Box
JACKBOYS, Travis Scott (Ft. Young Thug) - Out West
Curtis Roach Ft. Tyga - Bored in the House
Biggest Viral Hits of 2020
Liquid Love by Ebb & Flow
DanceOn is proud to announce the premier of Liquid Love, directed by Jo Roy to Ebb & Flow’s single Liquid Love. We were crazy about this dance concept video the moment we saw it!
From Ebb & Flow about Liquid Love: This song reflects the melancholy beauty of trying to hold on to someone you can’t have but that you crave intensely. It’s about an elusive love that always keeps you aching for more because you never get enough. When writing the lyrics to ‘Liquid Love’ we chose to go high concept with a water theme to describe the feeling of something that is hard to control and keep for long with phrases like “give me your rain”, “ebbs & flows”, “I am so thirsty,” “drown me in your deep.” When we approached our director, Jo Roy, with the idea of doing a dance video for this song, she came up with the sand visual and in-reverse dancing that we felt was a brilliant way to evoke the intention of the song. We loved the idea and ran with it, and we are so grateful to the creative people involved with making this art video come to life!
Danced by Charles Rodger & Lydia Purves-Ware and choreographed by Alek Palinski, this team of creatives came together to make a truly breathtaking piece. Bravo!
About Ebb & Flow
Ebb & Flow is a soulful pop trio, originally founded in Los Angeles, consisting of Gabby Gordon (vocals/keys), Ronen Gordon (drums/production), and Morten Kjær (vocals/keys). The Danish-American-Israeli band began working together in 2014. They have since toured on three continents played over 200 live shows and released 3 studio albums: "Neon Hearts" , "Edge Of The World" and an EP “Phase I“
Listen to Liquid Love
Listen to Ebb & Flow
NETSKY AND ALOE BLACC - SNITCH - OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO
Netsky and Aloe Blacc’s Snitch is the latest in a recent trend of official music videos that feature dancers instead of the music artist(s). We’ve seen this strategy with iconic dance centric music videos like Sia’s Chandelier and Justin Bieber’s Sorry. Propelled by music artists and the music industry, dance has entered into a new era that puts dancing and dance artists in the spotlight. Now more than ever, music artists are focusing on collaborations with dance artists to bring creative visuals and incremental fans to new music releases - a point recently highlighted at the VMA’s during Missy Elliott’s moving speech thanking the dance community.
For Snitch, Republic Records and DanceOn tapped director Donovan Okimura and choreographer Dana Alexa. The cast (aside from Dana who plays the teacher) is made up of 8 dancers - all of whom you should know! - Sammy B, Tahani Anderson, Jadyn Hernandez, Kelly Sweeney, Sophie Santella, Liv Simone, James Herron, and Reif Howey.
Check out the official music video to Snitch, and let us know what you think in the comments below!
Unbraced: a film by Cara Scott
DanceOn is proud to announce the premiere ‘Unbraced’, New York-based Cara Scott’s gorgeous and inspiring directorial debut.
‘Unbraced’ was created out of a mission to empower and encourage a sense of community among those affected by scoliosis.
The StraightForward Scoliosis Foundation collaborated with director, Cara Scott, by reflecting on her personal background as a dancer prior to undergoing a spinal fusion surgery. Given the director’s background and Foundation’s combined goal of promoting scoliosis awareness through art, they gathered a group of dancers ranging from 19-40 years old to share their personal struggle with scoliosis through movement. It was important for them to capture the movement of other dancers who have experienced, lived with, and have continued to move with scoliosis in the expression of their art form. In further developing this project, they received an outpour of individuals sharing similar stories for the first time, including the musical artist of this song, Emeryld.
This film is a token of appreciation for the strength and vulnerability of the women in this film and the greater scoliosis community.
Best Old Town Road Videos
Lil Nas X’s OLD TOWN ROAD featuring Billy Ray Cyrus is the song of the summer 2019! According to Billboard, the track led the Songs of the Summer chart for 14 weeks straight. The ranking is calculated based on cumulative streams, air plays and sales between Memorial Day and Labor Day - all of which was likely spurred on from “Old Town Roads” trending videos across social media. To celebrate Old Town Road’s record breaking success, we’ve rounded up our Top 10 Old Town Road videos. Giddy up Old Town Road fans! Let us know you favorites below.
#10
We’re kicking this off with an adorable dance video filmed on an actual horse ranch and starring Tinie T.
#9
Coming in at #9, we present to you the smooth moves of 15 year old influencer Yvng Homie. Check out his thumbnail - we love it!
#8
It’s the Old Town Road line dance you’ve been searching for! With 1MM views and counting, we are very impressed with 5, 6, 7, 8’s Line Dance Class.
#7
The sketch at the beginning is a little cheesy, but stay with it and you will experience a routine that is absolute #squad goals. The video was created by YouTube stars Poonam and Priyanka and features a cover version of Old Town Road by Jatavia Akiaa featuring Simmi Singh.
#6
Quite possibly the sexiest version of Old Town Road out there, it ALMOST doesn’t matter that the featured dancer of the video is the super talented, major music artist Halsey. Wait WHAT?!
#5
The official dance video for Old Town Road according to Billboard features queen of twerking Lexy Panterra.
#4
We challenge you to find a cuter father daughter dance to Old Town Road than this amazing routine created by Cole and Everleigh of the famous LaBrant Family!
#3
By far the most viewed Old Town Road dance video with over 23MM views so far and growing, Matt Steffanina and Josh Killacky’s rendition is full of life and features some of the best young dance talent on the rise.
#2
Proof that Old Town Road has trended far beyond borders, we love 1 Million Dance Studio’s video featuring choreography by Enoh.
#1
And #1 of course goes to Lil Nas X himself! This video of his live performance for a gymnasium full of screaming, dancing elementary school kids is the stuff dreams are made of. This is a moment this artist and these kids will remember forever, and thanks to digital video, we get to share in the fun too!
#BoysdoBallet
“Good Morning America” had the online dance community talking about them today. In case you missed it, here’s what went down.
First GMA’s host Lara Spencer reported on British royal Prince George’s upcoming academic curriculum. Subjects outside of the basics, she reports, include religious studies, computer programming, poetry and ballet. She then went on to laugh at the idea of Prince George taking ballet saying “we’ll see how long that lasts” and leading the live audience to laugh along with her. Check out the video below:
Lara Spencer’s remarks struck a chord with dancers everywhere who took to social media platforms to express their disapproval:
Lara has since issued an apology on her Instagram:
Janet Jackson Day!
"As we look to the future of keeping catalog relevant in a digital age, we find what resonates most are activations where we come to the fans. We want to engage fans at their points of natural consumption, appearing in fun ways on the screens and platforms they’re enjoying and making them fall in love with an artist’s legacy through a new medium and lens.” - Andre Torres, VP of Urban Legends (UMe)
DanceOn recently had the pleasure of hosting a Masterclass Event at Mihran K. Studios in Burbank, California in which Anthony Thomas and Tina Landon taught their original choreography for Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation” and “If” respectively.
With a wide range of talent from kids to adults, dancers at every level were able to enjoy this celebration of iconic choreography and music. Alongside staples in today’s dance community like Gabe De Guzman and Samantha Long, two generations of dance came together, learning from the best and paying homage to the sounds and movements that have helped elevate dance to where it is today. Artists among the ranks of Janet are timeless icons in both dance and music. Some of Tina and Anthony’s students included Taylor Hatala and Kyndall Harris, dancers who have had first-hand experience dancing with Janet.
“I think Miss Janet has inspired me to be more of a performer. I’ve always been a dancer, but just watching her in rehearsal change from this sweet Janet that everyone knows to this fierce monster on stage, that inspired me to do the same.” - Kyndall Harris, currently on tour with Janet
Head on over to DanceOn’s Youtube page to relive the excitement and take in some of the experience and wisdom that was so graciously shared with us on this awesome day!
Madonna Announces Official U.S. Tour
The Queen of Pop is back! Madonna just announced a small U.S. residency tour where she will be headlining more “intimate venues” in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. This will be her first tour since March of 2016. The tour will support her forthcoming album, “Madame X”, dropping on June 14th.
Here are the official dates as of now:
New York - September 12th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 19th, 21st - 26th, 28th & October 1st at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House.
Chicago - October 15th - 17th and the 21st at The Chicago Theatre.
Los Angeles - November 12th - 14th, 16th - 17th, 21st and 23rd - 25th at The Wiltern.
You can find out more ticket info by clicking here and have a listen to her two new singles, “I Rise” and “Medellin”, on Spotify by clicking here!
Lil Wayne & Blink-182 Announce A Summer Tour
The Mid 2000’s are back in full effect! Weezy aka Lil Wayne and Blink-182 (sans Tom DeLonge) just announced an arena/amphitheater tour for the summer.
In honor of this awesome tour announcement, Weezy & Blink-182 dropped this sensational live mashup of “A Milli” over the instrumentals of “What’s My Age Again?”
Hopefully this nostalgic crossover means we’ll get a collab album this year, keeping our fingers crossed!
You can purchase tickets to the tour by clicking here!
The Jonas Brothers are back!
The cover art for the latest single from The Jonas Brothers, “Sucker.”
Get ready to travel to the year 3000 because Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas are back! The Jonas Brothers dropped by “The Late Late Show with James Corden” and announced their official reunion during their Carpool Karaoke appearance.
Superfans have taken to social media with the hashtag #JonasBrothersBlackout to let the world know that Jo Bro’s are about to take over the pop music game…again.
Their new single, “Sucker”, drops at midnight ET on 3/1/19!
Are you excited about the Jo Bro’s getting back together or you keeping your fingers crossed for an *NSYNC reunion tour?
Follow our official playlist for all of best music to groove to!
WATCH: Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper's flawlessly perform "Shallow" at the 2019 Oscars
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper gave us one of the most sensational moments of the 2019 Oscars. Hollywood’s biggest night brought us one of the most raw and sincere performances of the Billboard chart topping song, Shallow.
Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper left the crowd speechless at the 2019 Oscars
Watch the jaw dropping performance below and tell us that you’re not in love with both of them by the end. Hopefully these two follow the footsteps of Hugh Jackman and “The Greatest Showman” and give us the ALLY / Jackson Maine tour that we’ve all been waiting for.
Also, CONGRATS to “A Star Is Born” on winning Best Original Song!
Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am & India Love drop the 2019 bop of the spring, #PRETTY
Black Eyed Peas frontman, Will.I.Am, teamed up with social media sensation, India Love, to bring us one of the catchiest songs of 2019.
The music video for #PRETTY feels like an awesome nostalgic fusion between the intro fo “Clarissa Explains it All” and something from the Lil Kim catalogue in the mid-90s.
Check out the music video and let us know what you think!