Good mornShe won a scholarship to the United States of America to the tune of a cool 23 000 us tuition fees for high school after she proved a great dancer just at the age of 14. Nigerian born dancer Bridgid More recently, she has been with two dacing groups at the eUROPEAN UNIVERSITY OF lEFKE, where she is performing alongside and has already scoopoed an award. Here, this fierce dancer shares her journey with The Step Ahead, read on.
How did you first began dancing?
“I started dancing when I was six years old. My mom had taken me to this annual park festival in our hometown (London, Ontario), where there was face painting, food, games and all that good stuff. While we were there, a dance studio was putting on a dance performance, and my mom told me that as soon as they were finished, I told her that I wanted to do what they were doing. The next thing you know, my mom had enrolled me to be part of the competitive team at that same studio, Laurie-Ann’s School of Dance. I competed in ballet, tap, jazz and lyrical numbers, but my strongest style growing up was always tap.”
Following your time at Laurie-Ann’s School of Dance, where did you further your training?
“I trained and competed at Laurie-Ann’s until I was 12 years old and ended up moving to Mississauga, Ontario, where I started training at Canadian Dance Company. There, I continued the same styles of dance, including pointe. I competed with them until I was just about to turn 16 but ended up quitting because, unfortunately, it was becoming difficult to afford. So I quit dancing from 2007-2009, but for the beginning of 2009, I danced with this hip hop/contemporary group in Toronto on Saturdays, just for enjoyment.
I moved to Vancouver, BC, for university the following fall and was accepted into the Source Dance Company, which focused on contemporary, ballet and some commercial hip hop. After I finished the year with Source, I spent my next year training with SOULdiers, which was a company that focused on hip hop, breaking, popping, locking and house.
Winnie Chang dancing right of Katy Perry in concert. Photo courtesy of Chang.
Winnie Chang dancing right of Katy Perry in concert. Photo courtesy of Chang.
While in this company, I also joined TwoFourSeven, another more community-based company and also took a few trips to L.A. to experience the dance scene. It was during this busy year that I realized that although I love dancing and performing in general, my soul resonated with funk styles. To this day, I continue my training in L.A. whenever I’m not working!”
At what point did you know that you were going to pursue dancing as a career?
“I saw my first underground dance battle in Vancouver in the winter of 2009. I watched people express themselves so creatively and passionately in ways I hadn’t seen before. I had been so accustomed to just watching choreographed routines in competition or on TV shows, that seeing people freestyle so beautifully in a friendly battle setting was just mind blowing. It was so inspiring and exciting to watch, and it filled me with so much joy. It was during that dance battle I decided I wanted to dance for the rest of my life.”
Specifically what brought you to L.A. five years ago?
“Throughout 2010-2011, I took a few trips to L.A. to train. On one of those trips, I decided to just audition for a new agency that was starting, just to practice. It went well, but they had told us that if we didn’t hear within two weeks to just try again next time. I went back to Vancouver and didn’t hear within the time frame, so I continued to live my life and train. Two months later I get a phone call from an unknown number. It ends up being Lisa Lindholm from the newly
