Kaycee Rice: Difference between revisions

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|<ref>[https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kaycee-rice-sean-lew-on-being-professional-dancers/id1479071608?i=1000458003616 Kaycee Rice & Sean Lew - On Being Professional Dancers]</ref> On this episode, Kaycee and Sean tell all about their experience competing on World of Dance, the story of how they met and began dancing together, building their dance careers on Instagram, and stories of the celebrities they have worked with.

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==Brief Resume of the Early Years==

===Before Studio 13===

Kaycee was grown up in a family who loves do sports. Her entire family did Tae Kwan Do and Kaycee was into it since pre-school. But she felt, she was like the ‚Lone Ranger‘of her family. When she had to go into a competition and entered the sparring, she let more the other kids kick her than vise versa, because she didn’t want to fight. So actually she didn’t like it and more by fluke her mom put her in a hip-hop class when she was four and she instantly felt she is meant to do this.

So she took the short cuts and passed directly the 35th chamber of Tae Kwan Do „Winning the fight without a fight, break the will for a fight and be all nice together“and entered into 1st chamber of Dance Fu. She basically skipped the kicks and pushes and called it dancing. But one can still recognize some spin kick techniques in her pirouettes today (for more details ask her dance partners about injuries).

Kaycee was five when she stood first time in a competition on stage and felt immediately in love with it and was crying when she left the stage, because she wanted more. She was right from the beginning a natural performer – face expression, lip singing and body language. If you didn’t have the privilege to start your dance career as an infant, you properly know how hard it actually is to do some spine and turn combinations so that looks good. But Kaycee was rattling it off easy like breathing since she was six – she is a left foot dominated clockwise - and showed very early the unnatural figures to bend her back backwards. In consequence she got very young an extreme strong tummy muscular, core strength, excellent balance and her famous flexibility. And people are still asking, if it doesn’t cause any long-term damage when she gets older. She started very early with tap as well.

===Studio 13===

Kaycee`s parents were properly often told how talented their daughter was, and as to remember, 2008-2010 were special times in the US, actually worldwide. So Kaycee`s mom thought it was a good idea to kill some flies with one slap and founded „Studio 13 Dance“ in Simi Valley where Kaycee grew up - a suburb 25 miles north from LA downtown - to keep an eye on her daughter, spare some driving time to classes, spare classes costs, earn some money with the studio – and last-not-least – Kaycee’s older siblings Kylie and Devon could be cared about as well, who are three and six years older than Kaycee. Her sister Kylie was a competition dancer as well and part of the Studio 13 project team. So Kaycee got basically her own dance studio, where she could train 24/7, when she was seven years old.

She grew up in a relatively protected environment and - that was very important for her development - she didn’t need make big risks and investments to find friends, because the other kids came to her into the studio as an institution, the daughter of the owner. The parents described her as very shy at these days.

Her training in Studio 13 was not well documented for outsiders. Gene Tapia was her first teacher and regarding Kaycee Kristyn Abbadini and Joy Mosman choreographed many of her solos in the early days. But her competition results speak for themselves. She was without shadow of a doubt a very talented young lady, but considering [https://www.dancecompetitionhub.com/competition the currently about 350 north-American dancing organizations and companies], who are crowning their regional, national and international champions and supporting thousand of very talented young dancers out there, not that much special. But Kaycee properly didn’t care. She was just looking forward to next competition season to rush out with her friends and sweep the board of trophies. Her biggest ambitions beyond that were becoming a teacher at Studio 13 when she will grown up and maybe one day take over the studio from her mom.

But then something happened set her more apart …

====Tricia appeared====

Tricia Miranda, the queen of hip-hop choreography, started her career actually in ballet. As a young girl she tried to cover the dance moves from TV in her hometown Yuma in Arizona. Still these in days she is bringing some of her meanwhile famous dance students into town to the Yuma Hip-Hop Festival and makes the event of national interest.

She started as a trained ballet dancer -- calling herself a "chola ballerina" who shaved the sides of her head and rocked hoop earrings and dark lipstick while donning her ballet shoes. The look became to her personal brand. In her late teens she co-directed a ballet company and received a full scholarship to the prestigious Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. But her dream was to be like the dancers she saw on television and her inspiration Tina Landon, who both danced with and choreographed for Janet Jackson.

After moving to Los Angeles at the age of 21, Miranda knew it was time to truly pursue her dreams and was properly struggling like most pro dancers at the beginning. Her "big break" happened just three years later at 24 when she was cast as a dancer on Beyoncé's "Ladies First" world tour (see above) and she later became a staple in the touring, video and dance industry.

However, she wasn’t always treated that way, she often complained about the unfriendly and impolite working atmosphere. When people complaining about the extreme cutthroat of the dance industry, it was nothing comparing to Tricia’s days. Everyone was just looking to the top of the stardom, the second tier was struggling and the third tier was starving. She often complained about the impropriated demands so that she could keep her pole position. In other words, she felt exploited.

One day after 12 years, she was finally fed up during the filming of Spears' "Circus" video. - "My knees were bleeding from doing groundwork in the gravel, and I was just starting to feel over it -- and I remember never having that feeling before, It's not fair to take a spot from a hungry dancer who deserves to be there just to get a check. I'm not that person, that's not for me." - And she quitted her job as professional dancer on the top of her game – forever – and switched to full time choreographing, teaching and creative directing and got soon an equal reputation.<ref>[https://www.espn.com/espnw/culture/story/_/id/17832394/live-your-life-hip-hop-choreographer-tricia-miranda-rise-top 'Live your Life' -- hip-hop choreographer Tricia Miranda on her rise to the top]</ref>

Regarding Kaycee, one day one of her teachers (she didn’t say whom) tried to match up Tricia with Kaycee. First, she talked to Kaycee’s mom that she needed to take Tricia’s class; and on the other hand she insisted to Tricia, that she urgently needed to see the little girl she discovered at Studio 13. At the beginning Tricia wasn’t very excited, because it was pretty rare that she let any kids in her classes. But one day annoying was successful and Tricia visited Studio 13 and Kaycee took her class.

Kaycee said she completely failed. Of course, she did. That happens if you take an unprepared university test in elementary-school. Tricia hardly ever taught kids. Why she should adjust her teaching methods to one kid she just met?! But she was properly impressed how far the nine years old munchkin got, before she “finally broke out curve and smashed into the mirrors”, compared the professional dancers in Tricia’s master classes, because she took instantly a grab on her and made her to her very first permanent kid student. If Tricia had known the toxic side-effects of these cute munchkins, she properly had been wearing gloves.

But since then Weirdo had her first permanent world-renowned industry dancer and teacher, who really worked personally with some of the biggest artist, such as Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Brittney Speers and Black Eyed Peas, to name a few, a former top dancer in hip-hop and – last-not-least – someone with Tricia’s business opportunities and educational networking to give her the full doses of the highest industry standards. Before Kaycee and Tricia it was absolutely unique that a nine-years-old had such an industry giant in her corner.

==Print Media==

@@ Line 1,376: / Line 1,376: @@
 |<ref>[https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kaycee-rice-sean-lew-on-being-professional-dancers/id1479071608?i=1000458003616 Kaycee Rice & Sean Lew - On Being Professional Dancers]</ref> On this episode, Kaycee and Sean tell all about their experience competing on World of Dance, the story of how they met and began dancing together, building their dance careers on Instagram, and stories of the celebrities they have worked with.
 |}
+==Brief Resume of the Early Years==
+===Before Studio 13===
+Kaycee was grown up in a family who loves do sports. Her entire family did Tae Kwan Do and Kaycee was into it since pre-school. But she felt, she was like the ‚Lone Ranger‘of her family. When she had to go into a competition and entered the sparring, she let more the other kids kick her than vise versa, because she didn’t want to fight.  So actually she didn’t like it and more by fluke her mom put her in a hip-hop class when she was four and she instantly felt she is meant to do this.
+So she took the short cuts and passed directly the 35th chamber of Tae Kwan Do „Winning the fight without a fight, break the will for a fight and be all nice together“and entered into 1st chamber of Dance Fu. She basically skipped the kicks and pushes and called it dancing. But one can still recognize some spin kick techniques in her pirouettes today (for more details ask her dance partners about injuries).
+Kaycee was five when she stood first time in a competition on stage and felt immediately in love with it and was crying when she left the stage, because she wanted more. She was right from the beginning a natural performer – face expression, lip singing and body language. If you didn’t have the privilege to start your dance career as an infant, you properly know how hard it actually is to do some spine and turn combinations so that looks good. But Kaycee was rattling it off easy like breathing since she was six – she is a left foot dominated clockwise - and showed very early the unnatural figures to bend her back backwards. In consequence she got very young an extreme strong tummy muscular, core strength, excellent balance and her famous flexibility.  And people are still asking, if it doesn’t cause any long-term damage when she gets older. She started very early with tap as well.
+===Studio 13===
+Kaycee`s parents were properly often told how talented their daughter was, and as to remember, 2008-2010 were special times in the US, actually worldwide.  So Kaycee`s mom thought it was a good idea to kill some flies with one slap and founded „Studio 13 Dance“ in Simi Valley where Kaycee grew up - a suburb 25 miles north from LA downtown - to keep an eye on her daughter, spare some driving time to classes, spare classes costs, earn some money with the studio – and last-not-least – Kaycee’s older siblings Kylie and Devon could be cared about as well, who are three and six years older than Kaycee. Her sister Kylie was a competition dancer as well and part of the Studio 13 project team. So Kaycee got basically her own dance studio, where she could train 24/7, when she was seven years old.
+She grew up in a relatively protected environment and - that was very important for her development - she didn’t need make big risks and investments to find friends, because the other kids came to her into the studio as an institution, the daughter of the owner. The parents described her as very shy at these days.
+Her training in Studio 13 was not well documented for outsiders. Gene Tapia was her first teacher and regarding Kaycee Kristyn Abbadini and Joy Mosman choreographed many of her solos in the early days. But her competition results speak for themselves. She was without shadow of a doubt a very talented young lady, but considering [https://www.dancecompetitionhub.com/competition the currently about 350 north-American dancing organizations and companies], who are crowning their regional, national and international champions and supporting thousand of very talented young dancers out there, not that much special. But Kaycee properly didn’t care. She was just looking forward to next competition season to rush out with her friends and sweep the board of trophies. Her biggest ambitions beyond that were becoming a teacher at Studio 13 when she will grown up and maybe one day take over the studio from her mom.
+But then something happened set her more apart …
+====Tricia appeared====
+Tricia Miranda, the queen of hip-hop choreography, started her career actually in ballet. As a young girl she tried to cover the dance moves from TV in her hometown Yuma in Arizona. Still these in days she is bringing some of her meanwhile famous dance students into town to the Yuma Hip-Hop Festival and makes the event of national interest.
+She started as a trained ballet dancer -- calling herself a "chola ballerina" who shaved the sides of her head and rocked hoop earrings and dark lipstick while donning her ballet shoes. The look became to her personal brand. In her late teens she co-directed a ballet company and received a full scholarship to the prestigious Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. But her dream was to be like the dancers she saw on television and her inspiration Tina Landon, who both danced with and choreographed for Janet Jackson.
+After moving to Los Angeles at the age of 21, Miranda knew it was time to truly pursue her dreams and was properly struggling like most pro dancers at the beginning. Her "big break" happened just three years later at 24 when she was cast as a dancer on Beyoncé's "Ladies First" world tour (see above) and she later became a staple in the touring, video and dance industry.
+However, she wasn’t always treated that way, she often complained about the unfriendly and impolite working atmosphere. When people complaining about the extreme cutthroat of the dance industry, it was nothing comparing to Tricia’s days. Everyone was just looking to the top of the stardom, the second tier was struggling and the third tier was starving. She often complained about the impropriated demands so that she could keep her pole position. In other words, she felt exploited.
+One day after 12 years, she was finally fed up during the filming of Spears' "Circus" video. - "My knees were bleeding from doing groundwork in the gravel, and I was just starting to feel over it -- and I remember never having that feeling before, It's not fair to take a spot from a hungry dancer who deserves to be there just to get a check. I'm not that person, that's not for me." - And she quitted her job as professional dancer on the top of her game – forever – and switched to full time choreographing, teaching and creative directing and got soon an equal reputation.<ref>[https://www.espn.com/espnw/culture/story/_/id/17832394/live-your-life-hip-hop-choreographer-tricia-miranda-rise-top 'Live your Life' -- hip-hop choreographer Tricia Miranda on her rise to the top]</ref>
+Regarding Kaycee, one day one of her teachers (she didn’t say whom) tried to match up Tricia with Kaycee. First, she talked to Kaycee’s mom that she needed to take Tricia’s class; and on the other hand she insisted to Tricia, that she urgently needed to see the little girl she discovered at Studio 13. At the beginning Tricia wasn’t very excited, because it was pretty rare that she let any kids in her classes. But one day annoying was successful and Tricia visited Studio 13 and Kaycee took her class.
+Kaycee said she completely failed. Of course, she did. That happens if you take an unprepared university test in elementary-school. Tricia hardly ever taught kids. Why she should adjust her teaching methods to one kid she just met?! But she was properly impressed how far the nine years old munchkin got, before she “finally broke out curve and smashed into the mirrors”, compared the professional dancers in Tricia’s master classes, because she took instantly a grab on her and made her to her very first permanent kid student. If Tricia had known the toxic side-effects of these cute munchkins, she properly had been wearing gloves.
+But since then Weirdo had her first permanent world-renowned industry dancer and teacher, who really worked personally with some of the biggest artist, such as Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Brittney Speers and Black Eyed Peas, to name a few, a former top dancer in hip-hop and – last-not-least – someone with Tricia’s business opportunities and educational networking to give her the full doses of the highest industry standards.  Before Kaycee and Tricia it was absolutely unique that a nine-years-old had such an industry giant in her corner.
 ==Print Media==