Travis Wall What kind of dance does your company focus on? We are a contemporary dance company. We use a lot of contemporary music, but our show is very eclectic. There’s musical theatre, electronic and contemporary music––you name it! There’s a whole range of music and, depending on the music, we move differently and that’s why we are called Shaping Sound. We are a very music-driven company. Our musicality and choreography is what we’re best at. We create different movements and images based off of the music.
Why are you coming to Salt Lake out of all the cities you could go to? Utah’s always one of the best places, and our favorite place to go because the dancers are truly world-class. Dancers that go to nationals and compete against the entire United States are usually from Utah if they win! The studios, training, technique and work-ethic that all of the kids have in Utah is just amazing.
What’s been your best dance event in Utah? We just had NUVO in Utah (Ogden, April 19-20) and it was the best competition I’ve ever seen on a regional stage. It actually looked like a national competition. It looked like what we’re going to see this year at the dance awards in New York City this July! It was the biggest turnout we’ve ever had and, honestly, the competition was like number, after number, after number of amazement. I was like, ‘How are we going to pick who wins?’ It was really hard. Our highest award is called DJ’s Pick, which means you score 97 or higher from each judge. We, honestly, give out maybe two, three or four in each city we go to, and at NUVO in Ogden, I kid you not, we literally gave out 30 or 40. That’s how many
Travis Wall So You Think You Can Dance runner-up, Travis Wall, shares his amazement with Utah’s dance talent. Travis will be teaching a dance workshop and performing at Capitol Theatre with his dance crew, Shaping Sound on May 25. More information at www.shapingsoundco.com
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IN Magazine | May 2013
high-scores we gave out––it was crazy!
What genres of dance are Utahns the best at? There is amazing ballet technique, but also a lot of Utah studios develop really good ballroom and hip hop dancers. The thing is in Utah, the studios train the kids in techniques of all genres of dance. I feel like a lot of times, across the United States, dancers don’t train in a lot of different styles–but these kids (from Utah) can do everything.
Why do you think the dancers in Utah are world-class? I don’t think the kids get too distracted away from dance, and the studios are great! I also think there’s a discipline trait there. They’re hungry––they want to be there (in the studios)! They aren’t being forced to be there, and I think that makes a big difference.