EARNEY: Can we get a clap?
JAY CHRIS: Oh, I thought she was gonna clap,
she went for a woah..
JESSIE: What's up everybody!
Welcome back to STEEZY's YouTube channel!
It's your girl, Jessie!
CLAY: And Clay!
JESSIE: So we get a lot of questions from both tall dancers and short dancers
asking for tips because-
depending on your height,
you DO have specific challenges and advantages!
Our special guests for this episode are:
Dassy Lee and Jay Chris Moore!
DASSY: Hello~
my name's Dassy Lee,
I'm originally from South Korea,
I'm a member of Femme Fatale and The B.
I've been dancing for about 20 years..
I've been on So You Think You Can Dance Season 14-
I've been traveling around the world teaching dance,
learning,
also battling and performing so-
yeah that's what I've been doing!
JAY CHRIS: What's going on everybody!
My name is Jay Chris,
you may have recognized me from dancing with teams like GRV,
Academy of Swag,
Culture Shock Los Angeles,
or you've seen me dancing on stage with MC Hammer,
or my own company, The MOB Dance Crew
DASSY: So, today- I would like to teach you my choreography,
It's uh, popping-
JAY CHRIS: Oh yeah! DASSY: It's straight popping!
[Dassy laughs] JAY CHRIS: Let's go!
DASSY: We starting very basic walk!
We gonna use the same arm and same leg,
we gonna-
POP up together.
DASSY: Pop!
Down!
Pop.. down..!
JAY CHRIS: Oh- just from the jump, just– okay.
Alright! [Dassy laughs]
JAY CHRIS: Just not even gonna ease into it-
we just gonna- okay here we go!
DASSY: Here we go!
Pop! Pop!
Pivot! Pivot!
Yes! Already got it! [Jay Chris yells in triumph]
DASSY: But because you are tall,
you'll be over there,
and I'll be right here.. JAY CHRIS: I know- I'mma be in the other room..
DASSY LEE: A little bit like- JAY CHRIS: Okay..
JAY CHRIS: Okayyy let's go~! DASSY: We go sevenn-
DASSY: And three..!
And four..! And-
Ah!
DASSY: Think that you are going out
like cobra going out this way. JAY CHRIS: Okay..
DASSY: Yes-yes yeah-!
Boom..! Ka!
Koong..! Ka!
DASSY: Yeuhhhhh!!
DASSY: Ha! Ss!
DASSY: Three, four!
Five, six! Seven, eight! JAY CHRIS: OHHHHHHHHH!!
DASSY: One, two..!
DASSY: Yess!
JAY CHRIS: Noo I missed- DASSY: Yes!!
JAY CHRIS: Oh, yes?? DASSY: Yes!
[Dassy laughs]
DASSY: There- that's dope!
JAY CHRIS: That's me throwing- my stress away!
[Dassy laughs] JAY CHRIS: Go away go away go away go away go away!
[Song: "Talk" by MadD3e]
JAY CHRIS: And she hits SUPER hard.
The placements-
her pathways are insane, so it's like-
she's able to get to like- certain places a little bit quicker than me
so I have to extend a little bit more
just to kinda like, translate the movements
so it looks just as big on me as it does on Dassy.
Because I was so excited to just like get into the choreography
I didn't pay attention to my own breathing patterns
which was restricting me from being able to hit
all the levels that I wanted to-
just focusing on breathing patterns
and THEN technique-
which would be a lot more-
beneficial in the learning process.
When she comes down and when she brings it in
and when she like moves her hips-
her levels changes so much
that I REALLY have to like, drop down but-
it's hard to not look awkward when you're doing it.
So I remember like dancing on GRV and stuff
and dancing with shorter people-
like levels was a consistent thing that I HAD to drill into my body so-
I'm glad I had that training to help me do that.
JAY CHRIS: Now we're gonna learn my piece..
Why you look so nervous?
DASSY: I'm not nervous!
JAY CHRIS: Okay! Okay..! DASSY: This is just regular me at home!
[Dassy laughs] JAY CHRIS: It's definitely easier than your piece!
Boom.. boom.. boom.. boom.. boom..
Tick.. tick.. tick.. tick.. tick.
DASSY: Yeahhhhh! JAY CHRIS: Ohh OKAY!
JAY CHRIS: Also! There's no legs for that..
It's literally- it's all arms!
If you DO that I'm gonna be mad because that's–
I can't do that-
and then I'm just gonna be like, "this is your routine now.."
JAY CHRIS: Football.. catch.
Bring it out to prep..
And we know what's coming next..
[Dassy laughs] JAY CHRIS: WOAHH.
DASSY: Woaahhh~!
JAY CHRIS: Tick.. tick.. catch.. ah! BOOM.
DASSY: AHHHH yes yes!
JAY CHRIS: And five and six and seven and eight and boom! DASSY: Ohhhhh mann-
DASSY: Wababababababababa–
JAY CHRIS: Drag over..
Swing it up..
Come over..
Put down.
Step touch, step touch..
[mimicking song]
Tick-tick-GAH!
Hit hit- ohmygosh she got it!
Tick-tick-ha-ha-haa
She was playin' us!
DASSY: No-! [laughs] JAY CHRIS: She- she was playin' us the whole time!
JAY CHRIS: Ohh my Goddddddd!!
[chanting] JAY CHRIS: Tall..
Short..
Tall..
Short..
I'm closer to the ceiling..
She's closer to the floor..
Easier to tie her shoes..
[Song: "Roses (Imanbek Remix)" by Saint Jhn]
DASSY: I think the musicality was somehow-
hard for me..
Every choreographer choreographs-
uh- in different uh-
music uh- musicality so it was-
kinda hard for me..
but other than that, it was really fun!
Once I hear the music, I know what I'm doing.
I think I should work on..
more details-
small movement because I have a habit of doing big,
so everything gets really like- sloppy sometimes-
so I think I need to be more cleaner side.
I LOVED Jay's choreography like-
whole thing-
cause the musicality was so on point with the music-
I loved how he used the tutting
because I need to really work on my tutting so-
it was really challenging me,
and also when we danced together,
actually it really looked super sick!
I was kinda worried because-
I never learned his choreography before-
I never really met him-
really kind of interacted with him-
so I was worrying until we danced, like-
we like, just-
[claps hands]
fire together, you know?
So, don't doubt yourself-
if you are short,
it's okay- if you are tall,
use that!
[laughs]
JAY CHRIS: I liked ALL of her execution, I mean-
she's a beast man.
She, is definitely-
one of the more powerful-
shorter dancers that I know of- as a freestyler as well.
She's able to explode and the dynamics that she has in her body-
being able to go from something smooth and chill
to just placing that HIT..
and her body control just in general..
If you've seen her dance, you won't forget it.
Dassy's definitely up there in like- one of my top ten.
I got HUGE respect level for her.
DEVIN: How tall do you wish you were?
JAY CHRIS: Yo, okay-
how tall do I wish I was??
Alright,
if you asked me like-
ten years ago..
I would say I want to be a strong 5'8.
Now? I would be happy at a strong 6'.
Being like an even 6 foot is just cool..
You can be on that Allen Iverson height,
he was 6'1..
and he was BALLIN'..
I'm 6'4,
and, it's really not doing that much..
like I'm not playing basketball!
As a dancer, it's been a blessing because the top- my dynamics,
it definitely helps me be noticed,
with my height-
but I've never been SHORT,
so I don't know what it's like to- be short.
DASSY: Ummm... [laughs]
I think, as a dancer,
I wish I was 5'6..
because it's kinda-
good height to get an audition..
cause sometimes they don't look at me..
cause I'm too short..
BUT~ at the same time, I just like myself-
I'm 5'2 or 5'1 or whatever- [laughs]
I just don't really care-
I love myself.
I can bring as much as the tall dancer-
I can bring the energy-
with my small body,
I can do it-
I know how to do it so I don't really care about it right now..
JAY CHRIS: Just dance big..
I think that dancing big is..
very, very important..
Sometimes we have a tendency of-
shortening our moves if we think something is too intricate
or if it's hard-
or if it's fast..
I think just going for it initially
and expanding your body as much as you possibly can
is what's gonna help you.
If you're not being fully dynamic throughout your whole body,
you're not being the best possible dancer you could possibly be-
you're not telling the story in its fullest potential.
We don't want to whisper,
we want to tell our stories with CONFIDENCE.
So.. small or tall,
take up all the space you possibly can.
DASSY: Don't put you inside of the box
before you learn-
before you experience it because..
I- when I was learning popping,
I didn't really think that I was small.
I always think that I can just like-
impact everyone
in the room- even though I'm in this tiny stage
I can show my power so-
just don't put yourself into the box-
just do it.
CLAY: Thanks so much for watching this video!
Make sure you take 5 seconds-
RIGHT NOW to think of your tallest dancer friend
and your shortest dancer friend..
You got it? Now share this video with them!
[shares video profusely]
You can also follow both of these dancers
at these social media channels!
JESSIE: Dassy and Jay Chris are actually both STEEZY Studio instructors as well,
so if you wanna take class from either of them,
then log on to STEEZY.CO
and get 7 days of free dance classes!
Now if you've been subscribed to STEEZY for a while-
which, you should be,
we've been doing this series called "THIS vs. THAT."
We did "Krump vs. Whacking,"
"Beginner Dancer vs. Advanced Dancer,"
and now "Tall vs. Short Dancer."
So let us know what kind of dancers you want us to compare
in the next episode by commenting below.
BOTH: See you in the next one!