How Relevant

shaunevaristo:

I’ve been wanting to post this since last year but life kept coming and somehow it all just got lost in the shuffle of things in my life. Never the less, here is it… enjoy! 

Late September, 2006. I had just moved to LA and choreographed my first Carnival set. I was fresh from San Francisco and I wanted to bring a new presence to LA. A presence that hadnʼt been seen before. Something that reflected myself and where I came from. I had a lot to prove. I knew that I wanted dance to be my life and I knew I was destined for something great. Even if there were failures and hard times along the way, I knew I had the support of my friends and family behind me and that this dream of mine was worth all the sacrifices ahead.

I moved to Culver City with $1000 in my pocket and four great people by my side. Mary Neville, Gina Lu, Aimee Lucas, Ben Chung and myself took a chance to take ourselves to the next level. This will always be a memorable time for me. Talk about making something out of nothing! An Ikea mattress on the floor, ramen noodles for the first month and a half, adding white rice to every meal to fill you up and drinking your free filtered water from the faucet. Oh and of course, fast food to hold you off during the day…$1 menu son! Shoot! Driving to North Hollywood everyday to take class took 45 minutes to an hour in traffic. Sometimes I would sleep in my car between classes and I’ve even slept overnight so I wouldn’t have to drive back and forth at times.

I remember being at an audition one day, this was when the Dome at Millennium was still there. By the way, I really miss that place! Anyway, I was sitting at the back of the studio and I just remember knowing that I wanted to do what he was doing. He could control his project, pick the dancers that best fit the part and work on something that just seemed like a lot of fun. I remember looking at the walls around Millennium and seeing so many choreographer’s Photos and admiring how amazing these people were and still are. Wade Robson, Marty Kudelka, Jayson Wright, Super Dave, Ro Ro and Rino, etc. I was star struck every time I saw them. I knew from moments like these that teaching and choreographing in LA was what I wanted to do.

I would call Millennium almost everyday and ask if they needed subs. Sometimes I would call twice or more just incase someone dropped out at the last minute. I ended up subbing my first class at the end of my second week in LA. I did a collab with Phi from the Jabbawockeez and thanks to him I was able to get down and showcase a bit of myself. Luckily, Jin the manager at millennium saw my work and started asking me to sub consistently. Within my first month, I got my own class! Mondays and Wednesdays at 2pm… Crazy! I was and still am so proud of that moment. I got my first job within my first month in LA and I loved it! If Millennium hadnʼt given me a chance, I don’t know where I’d be. I will always be grateful to Jin and Phi for that chance.

From there, my class picked up really fast and was soon one of the fullest classes for a 2pm slot! I was so surprised and happy because I couldn’t believe all of these people were wanting to learn what I had to offer. Things seemed like they were getting better! No more ramen noodles, I could buy small things for myself and for the apartment. I was just  happy hustling my way up and at the time dance was so abundant. Imagine taking class and being surrounded by dance giants like Marty, Jayson, Eddie Morales, Roger Lee, Ed Moore! Or seeing Rich and Tone stop by and then taking class with Tony Testa, Jillian Meyers, Dmoe, Brian Tanaka, David moore, Twitch, Lindsey B and Jaffar Smith. It was like an all-star cast almost every class!

Waiting outside the Dome with so many dancers was always exciting. I loved that whole environment! I remember little Laura taking class with me and Nicky T waiting at the door checking stamps for class and talking about his eagles!lol I remember long conversations with Shorty after class and chillin with Mykell and Stephanie at the front desk while they were work-studies. I also remember seeing choreographers in super awesome cars, pumping loud-ass music as theyʼd pull up into their parking spots underneath the tent in the backlot. At first, getting recognized by my peers and choreographers was a hard thing to accept because I didnʼt believe people out in LA knew who I was or what I was about. It was a great feeling to know people you respect so much we showing me love.

In my second year in LA my career was building and I decided to move to NoHo. Actually, just down the street from where Movement Lifestyle is now!Haha I loved that year! I got a dog, a studio apartment, I bought a small TV from Best Buy (which I still have) and finally got a bed frame! Life was good. I felt good! I was doing some traveling here and there but I didnʼt realize that new technology was about to take my career to the next level. People from all over the world would travel to LA to dance/train and would go to Millennium to take classes. I guess YouTube hit around that time and dancers would record my classes and put them online. From there, my popularity grew exponentially. People who were in other countries could now watch my classes and study my dance style online and people who found me on YouTube could now contact me and bring me out to their country to teach or travel to LA and actually experience my class first hand. Many people enjoyed what they saw and spread the word about. It was amazing! So thatʼs how my fan base grew. Side note: I really want to thank all the people that have been down for me since the beginning! Itʼs because of you that I can still do what I love and constantly try to better myself as an artist. :)

I did go through many hardships that year as well. Let’s just say that when youʼre influenced by one dancer or a whole group and it isnʼt taken in the right light, things can get really messy. I can only speak from my heart when I say that I know my intentions were pure and I came from a place of wanting to be a part of something that I thought was, and still is special. I heartbroken by the whole situation and vowed from that moment on, that I never wanted anyone to feel discouraged by me. That if you were influenced by me, I would encourage you to find your own style from mine. I would encourage dancers to continue to grow and share their art with others, to keep going and keep developing because dance is much bigger than your style or mine and bigger than “do or donʼt”. Everything that I learnt was taught or created by someone else and I was influenced by many people. I was just able to find me and my own style amongst all that inspiration and do dance how I felt was me.

I found that most of the time, hip hop was based around beats and rhythms, but I was always moved by lyrics and usually moved to them. The way I found ʻmeʼ was by discovering emotion in myself and in music. When I realized that for me, beats, rhythms and lyrics weren’t enough, that’s when I felt that my choreography took off. I found that I had a plethora of life to pull from. I knew that no one else could live my life and so even thought moves could be similar here or there, my intention or reason behind would be completely different from anyone else. From then understood that I could continue to teach my technique and style but be confident that I had found my own movement. My life became my movement :)

My biggest achievement that year was working with my first artists NLT. I choreographed my first music video for the boy band and I got to meet Omarion and Marquees Houston as they worked closely with them. I also got to work with Korean artists Big Bang for the first time. I received a Myspace message from them and the rest is history. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but Kpop took me on a wild ride. Talk about good timing! I guess Kpop was popular and audiences/fan base were growing so by the time I got together with Big Bang, Kpop was on the brink of international success so it was only a matter of time till noise was made.

The next two years for me were very similar. I moved again, but this time I kind of got into designing. I’ve always loved design and I loved that I got to be aesthetically creative in my own space. I also got my first car on my own… my Mini Cooper! :) I have to thank my brother CJ for getting me into them and now, Iʼm a mini enthusiast! Stylish, not too flashy or baller, super fast and way too much fun! I was loving life a lot during this time because I was building and saving for my future, basically Working my butt off! 2008 and 2009 was the busiest I’ve ever been! Around the world and back, building my career. I spent much of my time in Korea and my life became based around my time there. I even got an offer to live there but I didnʼt take it. From Big Bang stemmed more Korean artists like Tae Yang and then GD. I got to see and help develop 2NE1 before they even became a  girl group and I also worked with Se7en for a bit as well. YG Entertainment became the label I worked for. I was never exclusive to YG, nor am I now but I’ve built a great relationship with them in the past and I try to just let the future plans for me work itself out.

Other than that, traveling and teaching was what I was doing. I was probably out of the country twice every month and sometimes gone for a few weeks or a month at a time. Work was good but there was definitely a downside to it all. Loneliness really set in and selfishness at times. I became a workaholic and didnʼt set enough time for family and friends and even downtime for myself. Personally, I went through some tough times, especially in the last part of my fourth year in LA. Iʼm lucky that I had a few real friends who were there for me when things were difficult. 

The last two years have been such a roller coaster and still are! Big things for my career! :) 2 Carnival pieces that pushed me as an artist, working on some major concerts, a little bit of film and a shit load of music videos!lol I got to work with artists in Japan, Thailand and even France. I got to choreograph on American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance and I even danced for Beiber. I will never forget at the beginning of 2010, I was at a dance camp overseas and an older woman from Spain came to take my class. I would always come down to eat breakfast at the hotel and she would always be there. We ended up sitting together almost every morning just eating breakfast together. She was really into astrology and one morning she started to tell me about what the stars had in store for my future. She told me that soon I would do something big. Something that was going to effect the world and all the people around me. She also said I would have to make the biggest sacrifice of my life. Little did I know that what she was talking about, soon enough everything would come to fruition. Soon everything would make sense.

Almost two years ago my revolution was born. I sat down at Starbucks on Tujunga and Riverside with a portfolio from staples and a blank piece of paper. I remember writing down two words; movement and lifestyle. I didnʼt know what it meant and I sat for hours trying to figure out what the hell I was trying to say. All I knew was that my movement and the lifestyle I lived were so intertwined that it was one and the same. I had come to understand that everyone had their own movement too. Whether it be art, photography, music, etc. That was their lifestyle! I used to get so mad when people would ask me what I do for a living and when I’d tell them that I was a dancer, Iʼd hear them laugh or chuckle. Did they think it was funny for a man to dance? Did they think dancing wasnʼt a serious profession? I used to get so angry! Well now people know and now we are making some noise. Dance isnʼt just a hobby, itʼs our lifestyle. I believe we are our generationsʼ renaissance and that we are the ones to make change. We’ve been here and now people are taking notice and weʼre not going anywhere. I can’t wait to show people that we deserve to be respected in this industry and that our movement in dance can be a way to provide to the greater dance community. I look forward to the future generations too. They will learn from us, we can help guide them and in turn they will help others.

I feel that where our ʻmovementʼ is now, is just the beginning. All of these things that I am doing for the company are just stepping stones towards the bigger picture. In my years of dance to come, I will do what I can to benefit the art that has given me so much and continue to help inspire this community the same way it does for me and so many others. Sometimes I feel like people are afraid. Afraid to let go, afraid to let music truly move their soul and be free to express themselves how they really want to. I feel that sometimes people are afraid of change and taking the steps to make a difference. The time is now and there is so much art and talent around to learn from and share. So wake up and start moving! Whatever your grind, where ever your hustle, keep it moving.

This is a look back on the last few years of my life and the time I’ve spent living and working here in the City of Angels. a few years deep and this is just the beginning. 

Thank you for reading…

Shaun Evaristo

This is such an amazing read. Soooo inspiring. Shaun Evaristo is hands down one of my favorite choreographers.

If you love dance or are trying to understand the love and passion dancers have. Please read this.

Amazing.