What's up, y'all, it's your boy Jay Chris representing The Mob, MC Hammer Tribe, and your boy here – 6'4"
What's up everybody, we're The Williams Family. We're from Chapters Dance.
How tall are you?
I'm 6'2"
I am 6 foot or 1.82 meters for y'all Europeans out there.
I'm 6'1"
I'm 5'9" and 3 quarters, but who's counting, you know?
In this video we invited some of our favorite tall dancers to STEEZY HQ
so they can share their ultimate tips for you to work with what your mama gave ya
and to use it to your advantage.
but first make sure to subscribe and hit that notification bell
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So Jay Chris, how do you handle always been placed in the back when you're dancing in groups?
Well it usually starts with a series of tears
Handled it pretty terribly the first couple years, just cried myself to sleep.
And then it starts with me just walking to the back center
because at least I'll be able to be blocked behind the best person or the choreographers
So when you're a tall dancer, you have longer limbs, which means that in order to get from point A to point B,
there's a longer distance. How do you always get to your extensions?
I think it's important to find the pocket in the music, that way,
because naturally, you're gonna think that you have to move faster because our limbs are longer
But I think you just find that pocket in the music and then being aware of my body
So when Jay Chris says "find the pocket", he doesn't mean look inside your pockets for a snack
'cause I can't fit in that pocket...
*clears throat*
Dancing in the pocket is all about making sure that your movements are perfectly in sync with the music
Compared to a shorter dancer your arms and legs have to travel a little further in order to hit each picture,
so you might have to go a little faster so that you're still matching the music.
To learn more about dancing in the pocket you can check out our other video, right here.
Basically it's just practicing when you're doing it, like, half-tempo.
So you have to make sure to practice hitting your, like, angles and your extensions, like, the entire class
You guys might recognize Williams Fam from all the viral videos that they make.
What are some tricks you guys have for not getting cut off in frame?
Instead of going like this, and, like, boom – arms gone, you have to slightly alter your angle, yeah?
Also, sometimes we use, like, a lower angle, and also just stay farther back.
For, as far as the iPhone goes,
with the 1X at the bottom, that's like the bottom – like if you post it on Instagram,
that'll be the bottom of the video
So we always tell the videographer, like, make sure it's above our feet or like above the 1x.
Now, do you train your body any differently from an average-sized dancer?
I think the biggest thing, the most important thing to do is to dance your height or be your height,
and not think that, because other peers may be smaller than you that you have to conform to them.
So really be mindful of your extensions, really be mindful of what your full reach is, your levels...
So basically, like, also just taking classes that are not big powerful classes,
and getting used to that kind of movement
Sometimes we've been in some classes,
we're thankful to have been training with Melvin for so many years, because it was super hard,
when he first started doing all that super fast stuff, we were like, woah – it's impossible.
So yeah, just train with people to push your comfort zone.
Train with the small ninja dancers
If you're worried about keeping up with dancers of different sizes,
then you can take class at your own pace on STEEZY Studio
How do you guys stay in sync with shorter dancers?
With our knees.
Yeah work on your levels and then you gotta work on your leg strength because it sucks down there
I've been here my whole dance life, so that we can fit in.
Yeah, but it does – it definitely sucks a lot more than the average dancer,
because we have to really go that extra mile, it feels like.
Managing my energy exertion, like how I exert my body when doing certain moves
I guess, like, the physics of the choreographer's movement – that helps me out a lot more too.
Understanding like their weight distribution– like a lot of people who choreograph really fast,
they're never putting their heels on the ground
So things like that. Kind of find little cheat codes that may not be explained, like verbally,
but you just watch the way that they're dancing and you can kind of see how it is
Do you have any tips for staying confident when you perform?
What we like to do and, like, Greg kind of taught us this, he's like,
Yeah when I'm on the side, when I'm about to perform, I literally tell myself, in my head,
I'm the best dancer in the world, you know?
You don't need to be arrogant and go and tell everyone that.
You don't gotta be like, "What's up, bro? You ready for this performance?"
"I'm way better than you."
Being nervous and being excited are actually very close feelings.
If you change from like, "I'm nervous"
Then you're like focusing on messing up
But if you change it to "I'm excited" then you're like "I'm excited to perform and do my best."
So we talked a lot about the challenges that come with being a tall dancer,
but that's not all there is. So, what are some advantages that you have for being tall?
I think that one, the most advantage, off top, is being noticed.
So, no matter what you're doing as a taller dancer, understand it's your time to shine every time you're on stage .
Your waves look longer, your pops look bigger – everything.
If you're able to train it the right way, for example, Dom.
Dom Kimura?
Dom Johnson, yeah, I was thinking of his Instagram... sorry Dom, love you.
His waves, his body rolls, his levels – he uses all that to his advantage.
So it just makes him much more of a versatile dancer.
Your face is bigger, so your facials are better.
*laughing*
That's not true at all!
Thank you guys so much for watching. We hope that you found these tips useful,
and if you have your own tall dancer tips
please leave them in the comments down below so we can all share the knowledge.
And If you want to put these tips to practice then head on over to STEEZY Studio.
See you in the next one!