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Saturday, May 3, 2008
Intervew with Dave Scott Choreographer for So You Think You Can Dance and Step it Up
Q. RealityWanted.com: Are you a reality TV fan?
A. Dave Scott: I think it is a good and bad thing. I think it is entertaining and good work for dancers. People just need to get into it for the right reasons. Reality TV isn’t going anywhere. Also I am a big fan of The Biggest Loser, it is a real tear jerker.
Q. RealityWanted.com: So tell me how it is to be a judge on So You Think You Can Dance? Do you have any recommendations for people on the show?
A. Dave Scott: I was a judge last season and this season and it has been a lot of fun. I always recommend to people to not try to go with the trends, be an individual and most importantly appreciate yourself. Never stop. There are always going to be obstacles in your way but if you have the passion don’t ever stop.
Shimmy: How have the last two weeks since the release of Step Up 2 The Streets been for you?
Briana Evigan: It has been crazy! I've been doing lots of press and going to a lot of cool events. I've got another movie in the Philippines starting March 5 so I've been trying to get ready for that and trying to get another movie lined up for April, when I'm back.
Shimmy: Tell me about the movie that you're starting March 5th.
Briana Evigan: It's an independent, aimed at Sundance so it'll be a little bit slower for me and that'll be nice. It's a drama/romance that is based on the 1999 I Love You virus. I'm playing a DJ in it, a really cool girl and that's all I really know so far. I read the script and thought it was really cute and fun. I'll find everything else out in a few days. I'm excited.
Shimmy: Did you expect Step Up 2 to do so well its' first week out?
Briana Evigan: Not really to be honest. Everybody was just kind of waiting to see what would happen. We didn't have too high expectations just because it is a dance movie. You never know who you'll attract to it but I'm so happy about it. It's just awesome because it's my first role- first real job and it blew up as big as it did!
Shimmy: What was the best part of working on the film for you?
Briana Evigan: The people that I got to work with were just so cool for a first experience. The director was really great with helping everyone to fulfill their first roles. The dancers were just so warm and welcoming to one another. Of course the dancing was exciting for me. I got to work with three of the top choreographers in the world. They were just unbelievable and they taught me all different types of dance that I'd never gotten into before. Dancing in the rain was- I think every dancers' dream come true. It was hard and it got pretty cold but it was definitely worth it. We had one month of rehearsals for the film and they were basically eleven hours a day, if not more. It was tiring but at the same time, we're all dancers and it was something that we loved to be doing for eleven hours a day. Dave Scott was one of the challenges for me as a choreographer. He does a lot of popping and stuff. I'd never really gotten into that kind of style. I was more of a street hip hop dancer.
Shimmy: What exactly is your dance background?
Briana Evigan: I started off as a little girl. When I was around seven years old I started with Shane Sparks doing street hip hop. I continued taking his class and I was at Millennium and then Broadway Dance in New York. I just kind of branched off into other kinds of hip hop, salsa and jazz, ballet later on. Then I was in a company called E Funk and we kind of had a hip hop/sexy burlesque thing going on. Before I had the film (Step Up 2) I had this really sexy thing going on and I had to step away from all of that in order to play more of a troubled, rebellious ghetto girl.
Shimmy: Is there any other genre of dance that you'd like to dip your toe into?
Briana Evigan: Tap dancing! I've never even taken one class on it. The guy that plays "Hair" in the movie is an unbelievable tap dancer. I think he made everyone kind of want to get into tap a little bit.
Shimmy: What would your dream role be?
Briana Evigan: I'm definitely pushing the acting a little more now. Maybe an action kind of thing. There are a lot of roles that I'd love to play and an action, bad-ass kind of girl is one of them. There are actresses that absolutely inspire me like Rachel McAdams, Natalie Portman and Julia Roberts.
Shimmy: Tell me something that your fans would be surprised to know about you?
Briana Evigan: Surprised? I played Shirley Temple as a kid in a lot of plays (laughing). I don't know, that's a hard one because I'm pretty real and not full of surprises.
Shimmy: Give us three things you cannot be without.
Briana Evigan: My dogs- an Australian Sheppard and a Pit-bull mix, food- I eat so much it's crazy- and music. My musical taste is all over the place. I like dance music, Daft Punk or Master Kraft. I love rock. Zeppelin, The Beatles, Timbaland, Missy Elliot. I really like all kinds of music.
Shimmy: If in ten years you aren't dancing, what might you be doing instead?
Briana Evigan: I've been going to school for communications and something I've always wanted to get into is speech therapy for children. I love working with kids so something along those lines, teaching preschool. Maybe being a public speaker for a corporate company. This is the first semester of school that I've taken off. I'll see when I go back where things branch off for me.
Shimmy: What would you like the dancers that you've inspired to know?
Briana Evigan: Be as real as you can in your own mind because it's so easy to get pulled into other things. You need to be very well grounded, you have to know who you are and you need to be sure that you're doing everything for yourself. Keep going and remember that it's not easy. Plenty of times I was just about to stop and focus only on school. You just have to keep trying until it finally happens for you. Being honest with yourself is definitely the key.
"Step Up 2: The Streets" is a movie for dancers and non-dancers alike that will leave you wanting more. With rhythmic moves and sultry attitude, this film makes you want to get up on your feet and dance.
Continuing from the 2006 smash hit "Step Up," this sequel follows young Andie (Briana Evigan), little foster sister of Tyler Gages of the first film, as she tries to find her balance between school and the streets.
As a member of "410," a gang of dancers that hold the title for best dance crew in the underground battle called "The Streets" five years and running, Andie must be loyal to her crew and their trouble.
Andie's guardian and late mother's friend, Sarah, disagrees and plans to send Andie to Texas to live with her aunt.
A short appearance from Tyler (Channing Tatum) provides Andie with the second chance she needs to stay and audition at the prestigious Maryland School for the Arts.
Andie's style of dance leaves her outcast at the school, leading her to make friends with the school heartthrob Chase, played by Robert Hoffman, who shares her love of freestyle dance.
Disney will proceed with a third installment of its hit dance franchise "Step Up," tentatively titled "Step Up 3-D." Pic will become the latest 3-D live-action film from the Mouse House, with "Step Up 2 the Streets" director Jon Chu in talks to reprise.
Offspring Entertainment partners Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot, who have reupped at Disney for three years, will develop the film; the pair produced the first two "Step Up" pics.
Deal extension, which keeps them on the lot through 2011, comes after "Step Up 2 the Streets" turned in a surprisingly strong $28.7 million over the five-day Presidents Day weekend. The picture, co-financed by Disney and Summit Entertainment, cost $20 million to make.
When it came time to take the Step Up franchise to a whole new level, they called in Jon M. Chu.
Although Step Up 2 was originally slated to be a direct-to-DVD movie with a measly $7 million budget, director Jonathan Murray Chu stepped in to make the sequel to Step Up a bigger, better update. Unsatisfied with the original script and the shortage of dance numbers, he upped the dance scenes by almost three times as many and even increased the necessary budget to that of the original, $22 million.
Chu loved the first Step Up, but he knew his version needed something different. "It's about a crew, and being a family in this crew, and what takes to be a family," says Chu. "We also wanted to take it out of the dance studio and bring it out back to the outside -- bring it back to the city -- so we could bring in all types of dance and all types of people."
Hence, the addition of "The Streets" to the title of the film. However, Chu did want to keep a few elements from the first movie.
"We definitely wanted Channing (the lead actor in Step Up) to be a part of this," says Chu, "but we didn't want him to just come in and say hello and leave. We wanted him to do a dance number. So it was fun that we got to give him a good goodbye with a big dance number. But then once we ended that, I wanted this movie to be on its own."
It was nice of Step Up 2 to remind us of its predecessor, but the difference was noticeable. Instead of focusing on a love story, with ballet moves incorporated into all of the choreography, Chu emphasized breaking and pop locking in his new movie, shining a spotlight on the dance as its main objective.
WHERE: ArcLight Theatre 6838 Hollywood Blvd Hollywood, CA
STEP UP 2 THE STREETS is the follow-up to the smash hit "Step Up," which ignited theaters in August 2006. When rebellious street dancer Andie (BRIANA EVIGAN) lands at the elite Maryland School of the Arts, she finds herself fighting to fit in while also trying to hold onto her old life. When she joins forces with the school's hottest dancer, Chase (ROBERT HOFFMAN), to form a crew of classmate outcasts to compete in Baltimore's underground dance battle The Streets, she ultimately finds a way to live her dream while building a bridge between her two separate worlds.
Look for the hot Atlantic Records soundtrack exclusively featuring the # 1 smash hit "Low" by Flo Rida and T-Pain, plus new singles and videos from Missy Elliott, T-Pain, Enrique Iglesias, Trey Songz featuring Piles, Plies featuring Akon, Cassie, Cherish featuring Yung Joc and more.
