![]() “This product allows people to do both simultaneously.” “Smirnoff ICE Electric Flavors were born out of the insight that adults previously had to choose between the dance floor and their drink,” says Heather Boyd, Brand Director of Flavored Malt Beverages, Diageo-Guinness USA. The class consisted of over 25 people, and we learned a full dance that gave off an old school essence (complete with the *real* Running Man). ![]() The music was blasting so that the bass was heavy enough for every student- especially those with a hearing impairment- to feel (he playfully noted that for a deaf person, trying to catch the beat solely through vibrations is like “trying to connect to wifi”). Despite his modern day hip-hop attire of jogger pants and a gray snapback, he’s got a very old school flair to his dancing, likely due to his love for the film Breakin’, a movie he watched as a child that cemented his love for the style.Īfter a quick warm-up, Fonseca taught the class how to count the beat through vibrations, so that they could stay in time with the beat. I watched as Fonseca prepared for the class by freestyle dancing to the beat he’ll use for the combination. I encourage him to keep going and don’t let the world take him down! Defy odds! Break those barriers!” “There’s a lot of hearing people who think that deaf people aren’t able, and he has that persistence and I admire that. ![]() “I know it’s not an easy thing to do,” she noted. Although she fell out of a regular dance routine, she said watching someone like Chris chase his dreams is inspiring to watch. A student named Mara Ladines was a cheerleader in high school and on a dance team in college- the only member on these teams who could not hear. There were a handful of students in the class who are hearing-impaired, however, much like Fonseca, they’re not letting their disability throw off their groove. There was also a budding photographer in the mix, Bekka Gunther, who was both excited and anxious to take the class. “I’m comfortable dancing and moving my hips and dancing in my own way, but I’m not comfortable with choreography,” she said bashfully. I stretched beside CJ Salvador, a dancer for Justin Bieber, and chatted with Jeremy Strong, a choreographer for Jason DeRulo. All it takes is one beat, and I’m there!”Īmong the photographers and videographers who were crowded into the small-yet-intimate exercise room were some of my fellow classmates for the evening. “The structure of the rhythm is something that I really connect to easily. Since he’s unable to hear the music, Fonseca uses vibrations from the heavy bass to count the music while he teaches so that he can stay on beat. “I love hip-hop music because the bass is so strong on it, and I just love that,” he explained. The attraction that Fonseca has to hip-hop is magnetic. Lizzo May Face Trial Over Alleged Harassment, Plaintiffs' Legal Team Releases Statement He spoke to me via an interpreter, who relayed the message to another interpreter since sign language across the pond is slightly different from sign language here in the States. “Smirnoff’s hashtag I think adds to the fact that dance is a universal language,” said Fonseca in regards to the importance of dancing highlighted through the campaign. and Europe as part of Smirnoff Ice’s “Keep It Moving” campaign, which corresponds with the rollout of their new line of malt beverages, “Electric Flavors.” ![]() Now, he’s fulfilling one of his dreams of teaching hip-hop dance in both the U.S. I’ve taken a few dance classes in my day, but this is for sure one of the most memorable.Īfter a case of meningitis as a child left him completely deaf, London-based dancer and choreographer Chris Fonseca has defied the odds by continuing to dance and teach despite his impairment. The class was physical, emotional and ended up being more inspiring than I could have ever imagined. I walked into Kore New York in Manhattan’s meatpacking-district on a humid Tuesday in early-May, excited to take a very special dance class.
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