Shimmy Exclusive Interview

TRAVIS WALL





Shimmy: Tell us about your training in general.

Travis Wall: I started pretty much when I was born. It literally was only five days after I was born that I was at my moms studio. I've always danced, technically age 3 was my first class and my mom has always been my teacher.


Shimmy: How did SYTYCD change your life?

Travis Wall: In every way possible. My dancing, personality, outlook on life, literally everything. In my case it definitely was all for the better. Life has exploded after the show. and that's exactly what I went on the show for, exposure.


Shimmy: What have you done since the show and tour wrapped?

Travis Wall: Ive been teaching on conventions, choreographing my butt off, moved to LA then to NYC. I've been researching alot of different genres of art, making clothing and costumes for people. I'm putting so much work in now with choreography because by the time I'm 25 I wanna be on top of the choreography world and doing my own shows and stuff. I will not wait until, say I'm 45! You've got to work your way up so why not start now!


Shimmy: What dance related projects are you working on now?

Travis Wall: I'm working on the 4th season of SYTYCD. I choreographed all the auditions this year as well and I will be setting choreography on the top 20. I also teach on a convention called NUVO and I'm going to have my own show next New Years that is basically a runway fashion dance show in New York.


Shimmy: What/who inspires you in dance and in life?

Travis Wall: Beyonce! Ha! No but seriously, I love her! My mom is pretty much everything to me front and back. She is the reason I do what I do. My best friend/roomate Ivan and it's just nice to always have a friend by your side no matter what you do. Jason Parsons inspires me so much in dance and in life. Danny Tidwell alwaya pushes me to be better.


Shimmy: What is your dream role to dance?

Travis Wall: I don't really have one. I guess there is no dream role because I haven't made it up yet. I always say you have to make your own stage to dance on. Don't sit back and watch people talk about starting something new and amazing, you have to do it yourself.


Shimmy: Favorite performance to date?

Travis Wall: I kinda want to say doing Wade's piece on Dancing With the Stars. I think because it wasn't part of the reality competition, but it was a paid job by Wade. I loved the routine and the entire week leading up to it. Of course I still love the bench routine and sexy back (from SYTYCD).


Shimmy: We've heard rumblings of a clothing line with Ivan, is it true?

Travis Wall: .Yeah I was really into this past fall because I thought I would have more time on my hands but I was wrong. I've been even busier than last year. It will eventually happen yes. As of now I've just been making things for friends and events. It specializes in girl corsets and guy vests. Its gonna be called Ovalee Beatin!

Shimmy: We've also heard that you'll be a big part of SYTYCD again this season. Can you tell us more?

Travis Wall: Not really big. it's just really nice to be on the other side of it now! I like watching how everything goes down and what goes into the process. I cant even imagine being on this side and watching myself walk in and audition. but yeah, make sure you guys watch this season!


Shimmy: Movmnt- how did you get involved and how is the magazine different from the other dance related publications?

Travis Wall: My brother Danny and David own the magazine. It is different cause it just doesn't focus on dance. It involves fashion, music and society that revolves around dance. The photo shoots are OVA!


Shimmy: What are three things that you cannot possibly live without?

Travis Wall: Chick-fil-a! humor! and a shower!


Shimmy: If we swiped your ipod for an hour, who would we be listening to?

Travis Wall: Depends on what day and where I'm at. I have a play list for when I'm walking in the city. Recently Ive been listening to Portishead, Sigur Ros, Jason Mraz, Madonna, Beatles classics, and old classic 70's and 80's disco songs. It's time to bring it back.

Shimmy: Where do you see yourself a decade from now?

Travis Wall: I can't tell you. If you would have told me two years ago before the show that I would be here, I would have laughed at you ha!!

Shimmy: If the gift of dance disappeared tomorrow, what would you be doing?

Travis Wall: Probably fashion or comedy! But I'dstill be choreographing and directing. My limits are not just dance!

Shimmy: Tell us something about yourself that will be a surprise.

Travis Wall: I'm allergic to seafood. I don't like millionaires with no talent. I still sometimes pick my nose. Oops that one slipped. I can't sleep without socks on.

Shimmy: What would you like to say to your fans?

Travis Wall: Thanks again for all your support once again. We are just dancers and you guys kinda make us a big deal which is crazy, but thanks. After the show we're just supposed to disappear back into the industry but some of you guys make better things happen for us, so thanks!

Shimmy Exclusive- Movmnt Is Coming!

When I was about fifteen years old my girlfriends' and I would pour over teen magazines. It was back in the mid-80's and everything was bright, bold and above all else, it was colorful. We would venture into the grocery store once a month and buy a copy of everything, then share custody of the newest issues. One day I walked into the store and found a new magazine called Sassy. It was aimed at my age but even the cover was different. I couldn't tell you why, it just was. I bought the issue and loved it from one end to the other. I never missed an issue after that and when they arrived I poured over every inch right down to the binding (There was always a message on the binding!). Did they deal with teen issues? Sure, but the approach was different. It was like a peer was talking to you. Did they do fashion spreads? Absolutely, but there was always a deeper message behind the clothes and setting. In a nutshell, Sassy made me think.

It has been twenty years since I've had that reaction to a magazine. One where you just absorb every ounce and still keep it tucked away on a shelf for fear you missed something that you'll be overjoyed to discover on some random day. This week for the second time in my life, I've had that same reaction. This time the publication that took me by complete surprise is called Movmnt. The latest issue includes a sit-down with SYTYCD fan favorites' Sabra Johnson, Danny Tidwell and Neil Haskell that actually puts readers at that table. Forget everything you already think you know about these three and just listen to them banter. The dance-fashion-in-action will blow you away and have you even heard of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings? Vintage Motown sound for a brand new generation of listeners. If you are not a subscriber already then you need to pick up a copy next week when it graces' Barnes & Noble shelves for the very first time.



David Benaym is the brilliant guiding force behind this innovative new magazine and he was kind enough to give Shimmy a bit of his time this week. What follows is a glimpse into how love of dance and journalistic vision collided in the form of Movmnt.

How did I find myself involved in the dance world? Well like many stories it is a love story. I grew up in France so I was familiar with performances, the ballet world, the Arts in general are really part of the everyday culture there. I grew up watching Maurice Bejart performing live on prime time TV. As a journalist I also specialized in the media and entertainment world. I covered the Oscars as well as the Cannes Film Festival many times. But I was never involved with the Dance world. While covering the 2004 Presidential campaign in New York I met Danny Tidwell. He really is the one that introduced me to the dance world, as he was a performer with ABT at the time. His knowledge and passion for the dance world, its history, the choreography, the technicality as well as the quest of sense in performances. I was hooked, so we worked together along with choreographer Lauren Adams, on a project called Moving Still. Mixing performance, photography and fashion, we created a show and book. At the time I really started to dive into the dance world, watching performances as various as classical ballet at the MET with ABT, contemporary pieces from choreographers Lar Lubovitch, Ohad Naharin, and even intimate workshops by Mia Michaels (that was even before she started to judge on So You Think You Can Dance). So it was a very sudden, learning, breath taking initiation to the dance world, and the involvement came naturally. It's one of the rare places where there is no language barrier. The emotion is pure, there are so many layers of emotion, understanding and interpretation that if you ask an audience members what they feel at a certain moment of a performance, you might not get even once the same answer. My education, my passion as a journalist has always been about words and phrases. So coming from a different background, culture, with a different accent, I just let myself immerse, I am a child when it comes to watching a show. I forget as much as possible everything that makes me- me in order to feel, candidly, rediscover every time the beauty of a pirouette, the emotion of a silence... By doing this, I always discover more about myself. Even the worst in life is never disappointing.



Moving Still was a great success, and we kept on hearing from dancers how much they loved the photography, how different it was from everything they had seen before. At the time we were already talking about working on a different dance magazine. The book started to sell well at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and I succeeded in selling some pictures from the book to Flaunt, a fashion magazine that loved the feeling of. But just doing a fashion dance magazine was missing substance, and we are all about the quest of sense, and definitely have the ambition to talk about issues for a generation that gets more coverage about Paris Hilton in Jail than any 'real' story. I mean I can't even dare to talk about conflicts in Africa, hostage situation in South America, or Health Care in America...

But there are many other ways to do so, and dancers, performers, have this capability to convey messages, ideas, changes. Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, The Bolshoi, they all were methaphores to talk about subjects that mattered at the time that they were written. I was looking for a new project at the time, particularly as a publisher (I launched two magazines in Europe 2 books in the US). Danny Tidwell and I analyzed the dance magazines that existed already and realized that they all were very technical, or targeting a very young audience and their parents, but the 18-35 year old generation, the dancers themselves, performers, musicians, entertainers in general did not have a publication that echoed to what they live and love.

These artists are trend setters, they create, innovate, they are very often in advance with the rest of the society, and yet, interact with the real world. With them there are a lot of young adults that we identified as the pop culture generation that are passionate about the art and want to know more than just what these artists have to offer on stage. With Movmnt, we wanted to give fashion photography both motion and emotion. Seeing the clothes in action, sometimes to the fullest, and still portrait dancers in editorials that make sense to who they are. With this new issue, with Neil, Sabra and Danny, I feel that we are starting to really get there.

Yes the pictures are gorgeous, but there is also a meaning to every single one of them and an article on the side for the journalistic aspect of the magazine. We brought together all these different aspects, fashion, dance, music, social issues and Movmnt was born. Each issue has a general theme, a feeling, it is never obvious, never written in a big way because it is not about education, but about experiencing a learning process. We have a wake up call in each issue. It's a double page spread featuring a different feeling that happens around the world. Last issue it was about the graffiti world, very colorful and yet historical. It encompasses the political murals in Nothern Ireland as well as the anti-poutine grafs in Russia, or the cultural revolution in China.



We want Movmnt to be entertaining, yet with meaning.

In the future issue we might look back at the 80's... I believe that our generation, the pop culture generation is missing a link. There is something about these years that has a huge impact today, plus the heart of our readership was born in the 80's and it might be nice to sing along and ask ourselves if video really killed the radio...we are going to look for Roxanne, live in a box, dance la lambada, wow, maybe not after thinking about it! We haven't approached ballroom really at all... not by snobism, but because we've yet figure out how to approach it the right way. I want to understand how Russians can be so incredible at latin dance and understand the passion of the fox trot. I'd love to do a shoot with some of these dancers but challenge them as individuals, see them away from the partner that they always rely on.

Next week when Movmnt comes to newsstands it's our first goal of course, to reach a wider audience. We want to bring the Movmnt family to dance lovers, and performers themselves. But personally, if I could touch just one person, to fulfill their dream. Just inspiring someone to reach and accomplish their passion, that would bring me a tremendous amount of joy

Visit Movmnt online HERE.
Subscribe To Movmnt

Moving Day For Shimmy!

Sorry our updates have been really slow this morning. We are in the process of switching servers. By days end you can update your bookmark for us to

www.shimmyonline.com

We will still be seen at this current blogspot address as well until our site layout is complete.

In the meantime, look through our archives and know that we have great stuff coming soon. The next few days will bring more exclusive interviews with SYTYCD alumni, a chat with U.S. ice dancers Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov and a peek inside life on the road with a few Stars On Ice cast members.

Then there's Movmnt... more on that surprise later!

Movmnt On Its Way To Newsstands

Hello everyone, long time no post, I was 100% devoted to the coming issue and here are some fresh news...

The new movmnt featuring Sabra Johnson, Danny Tidwell and Neil Haskell is coming very soon...

It will be shipped to subscribers on Tuesday January 29th so depending where you live you can expect it first week of February or so. It will then hit newsstands February 11th. Movmnt is available in every B&N and B&N university nationwide, Universal News, and hundreds of selected newsstands throughout the US and Canada. It will also be available online for single copy sale as well as with a subscription at www.movmnt.com

This is our best issue to date. :-) Well that's what i say every time but it's true. We are trying to improve each time. One special treat... SYTYCD lovers will love the free folded poster included in this issue... The poster will mark the launch of our non for profit campaign "Keep it Real" to bring back to the community and bring awareness to issues that touches us the most.

Also, movmnt has its own social network. For those who love music, dance, fashion, for the pop culture generation that moves in style, join movmnt.net and lets shake our world, share your videos, pictures, create your own blog...

See you on the other network...

Stay tuned, for more news...

David Benaym,
Editor in Chief, Publisher of movmnt magazine