Kaycee Rice
Kaycee Caitlin Rice (born on October 21, 2002 in Woodland Hills, California, U.S.), is a young professional dancer, actress, model and a philanthropist living in Los Angeles, California.
| Kaycee Caitlin Rice | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Gender | Female |
| Age | 15 |
| Birthdate | October 21, 2002 |
| Nationality | American |
| Hometown | Los Angeles, California |
| Height | 5'2" |
| Eye Color | Brown |
| Hair Color | Brown |
| School Grade | 10th (18/19) |
| Professional Information | |
| Profession | Student Dancer Actress Model |
| Affiliations | Daniel Hoff Agency Bloc Talent Agency ImmaBEAST Co. |
| Dance Studios | Studio 13 Dance Studio (2009-2016) Candy Apple's Dance Center (guest) |
| Titles | see below |
| Friends and Family | |
| Parents | Laura Rice (Mother) Brad Rice (Father) |
| Siblings | Kylie Rice Devon Rice |
| Friends | Haley Huelsman Ashtin Roth Chloe Smith Tessa Wilkinson Laquifa McKenzie Morales |
| Pets | own a dog |
| Nicknames | Weirdo |
At the age of 10, Kaycee did a "Werk" routine for a national dance competition, choreographed by former star dancer Tricia Miranda, which she won. Pop singer Katy Perry somehow found the YouTube video of her routine four months later and tweeted it to about 38,000,000 of her followers. After then she became an overnight internet sensation.[1] She was the first dance kid ever went viral by a non-televised competition video and inspired the youth in 2013. She got immediately interviewed by CNN, appeared on the Queen Latifah Show and some national newspapers and magazines wrote articles about her, plus an exclusive interview with her entire family by UK's Daily Mail. The singer of the performance song "Werqin Girl", Shengela Laquifa, visited her in Simi Valley at Dance Studio 13, which her mom owned, to thank her for enormous boost in record selling.
Kaycee danced for TV shows, music and concept videos, classes and conventions assistance, teaching, commercials and live stage performances. Since joining ImmaBEAST in 2014, she is considered full professional, in the sense of child labor laws allowed it.
She got most fame by dancing or starring on many hours of class routines and concept videos in high quality with some of Los Angeles most influential and established choreographers with millions of hits over the years. In September 2018, she had about 1.3M followers on Instagram, 260K subscribers on YouTube, 100K followers on Facebook, representing millions of her fans worldwide.
With the age of 15, Weirdo has had already a thumb thick productive and professional record, with a level of summarizing highlights that many professional dancers cannot match at the end of their carriers, such as; performing on the TV broadcast with most watchers in American history, 120 millions plus 80,000 in the arena, the 2015 Super Bowl XLIX halftime show, side-by-side with Katy Perry and Missy Elliott with the age of 12; she's also been on the Oscars (2014) and 90210 and featured in the music video for "All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor (2.2 billions hits in 2018) with the age of 11. Performing on the stage with Justin Bieber and Janet Jackson with the age of 13; and many more.
Kaycee was a guest dancer on the fifth season of Dance Moms and got her first acting main role on Disney's "How to catch a ghost."
She made commercials, for instance, for Walmart and Nike. She gets first dance kid ever sponsored by Nike and had been allowed to design her own shoe for them - design Weirdo.
She got the nickname "Weirdo" by her mom to describe the not normal behavior of her daughter, which she accepted and made it to her personal philosophy - "Be yourself and be weird." aka have self-esteem and be self-confident and don't care what others think. She runs a small wearing enterprise first the slogan "Weirdo - Just be you.", managed by her mom, which became much more than a fan merchandiser.
Weirdo gets online home schooled since 6th grade, but went for 10th grade to a public school, got A-s straight in first semester, showing she has much more to offer than just an high carrier IQ. First action, she made a video about different types of teachers and got, until Sept 2018 with about 35 K hits, just 10 dislikes by 9 described types of teachers. - What?! I had already four-times more fun in life than you old guys, being more successful than you all together. So what do you want to teach me about life, I don't already know? I can read you like a book ..
On the other hand, Kaycee is literally famous for being humble and not to take off by success, start bragging or being cocky, even if false modesty seems sometimes ridiculous. Her parents and choreographers conventionalized her to keep ground-standing. If she wants to compare with someone else, she should trying the girl in the mirror or on video. But that was exactly what led to her popularity. Always smiling, in good mood and supportive. Her new dance partner Sean Lew said about her "Try bowling with her. She left a trail of glitter and unicorns!" Kindness is her number one must-have feature; for herself and others.
Kaycee also dances many years as philanthropist, such as for www.idance4acure.org, and supporting to fight childhood cancer. Due her engagement and popularity, and those of many other dancers and choreographers, the funds rises very well, financing research and treatments for children with cancer and she personally has had spent some time with kids diagnosed cancer.[2]
She is trained in a various styles of dancing - ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, tumbling and her strongest suits contemporary and hip-hop. Her favorite style is tap. Her former partner Gabe De Guzman described: "She picks up choreography really quickly—and she can do any style of dance you throw at her." And DanceSpirit wrote: "Armed with limitless flexibility and a natural expressive quality, Kaycee carved out her place in the competition world as a versatile technical dancer." [3] Her back flexibility combined with her without-first-sign spin and turn combinations ending in accentuated fierce moves became to a kind of trademark of her dance. Derek Hough, who was not used to watch Kaycee stated in The Duels round of World of Dance Season 2: "First of all, the back bend over there, sick, absolute stunning!" She made a stretching routine video, to show how she kept that flexibility. Gabe described her with "She's like Elastigirl from The Incredibles. She's that flexible." Her new partner Sean Lew stated: "She has no bones." [4] But actually he should know better after experiencing Weirdo's martial arts unplugged - she has a Blue Belt in Tae Kwon Do - during rehearsals of World of Dance by getting it twice in the testicles and one time straight in his head with her leg, of course accidentally. [5]
In 2018, she competed with Sean Lew in season two of NBC's World of Dance. Both were nominated for the Industry Dance Awards 2018 for most fierce dancer under 18, together with Charlize Glass, JT Church and the winner Eva Igo.[6] As absolute surprise must be considered her nomination for a Streamys Award - The Oscars of Web - in the category Dance together with 1million Dance Studio, Dytto (Courtney Nicole Kelly), Kyle Hanagami and Matt Steffanina with still sweet 15 years old. The winner is TBD on Oct 22, 2018.[7] She also started teaching her first dance classes with her own choreography. All of her first three classes of about 80 dancers were sold out in advance.
Dances
Solos
| Year | Dance Name | Dance Style | Choreographer | Competition | Place Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Goodie Goodie | Tap | unknown | Showstopper | unknown |
| Hound Dog | Jazz | unknown | Showstopper | unknown | |
| 2010 | ABC's of Love | Tap | unknown | Starbound (Long Beach I) | 1st in Junior Petitie Solos |
| Starbound (Redondo Beach II) | 1st in Junior Petitie Solos | ||||
| Starbound (Anaheim II) | 3rd in Mini Competitive Solos | ||||
| Cooties | Acrobatic Jazz | unknown | Starbound (Redondo Beach II) | 3rd in Junior Petitie Solos | |
| Starbound (Long Beach I) | 4th in Junior Petitie Solos | ||||
| 2011 | All About Me | Jazz | unknown | Showstopper (Anaheim II) | 4th in Mini Competitive Solos |
| Somewhere | Lyrical | unknown | unknown | unknown | |
| 2012 | Evil Gal | Jazz | unknown | KAR (Long Beach) | 1st in Secondary 8 & Under Solos |
| Thunderstruck (Las Vegas) | 1st in Junior Solos | ||||
| Rainbow (Ontario I) | 2nd in Elite Starz 9-11 Solos | ||||
| Favorite Things | Lyrical | unknown | unknown | unknown | |
| That's Tap | Tap | unknown | unknown | unknown | |
| 2013 | Black Widow | Jazz | Kristin Abbadini | Starbound (Redondo Beach) | 9th in Junior Solos |
| Werk | Hip-Hop | Tricia Miranda | unknown | 1st in Junior Solos | |
| DaCara | Jazz | Kristyn Abbadini | unknown | unknown | |
| DaFace | Tap | Joy Mosman | Revolution (Upland) | Regional Junior Miss Revolution | |
| Gone | Open | unknown | Showstopper (Anaheim II) | 5th in Junior Competitive Solos | |
| Starbound (Redondo Beach II) | 3rd in Junior Solos | ||||
| OMG | Tap | unknown | KAR (Long Beach) | 1st in Junior Solos | |
| Starbound (Redondo Beach) | 2nd in Junior Solos | ||||
| 2014 | Flawless | Hip-Hop | Tricia Miranda | Thunderstruck | 1st in Junior Solos |
| Revolution (Upland) | 3rd in Blue 9-11 Solos | ||||
| Trapped | Open | unknown | unknown | unknown | |
| unknown | unknown | unknown | Revolution (Upland) | 2nd in Junior Superstar Solos 1st Runner-Up for Regional Junior Miss Superstar | |
| 2015 | Fine Objects | Open | Zoi Tatopoulos | Spotlight Dance Cup | 1st in Teen Solos |
| Hot Stuff | Jazz | unknown | unknown | unknown | |
| Misdemeanor | Hip-Hop | unknown | Nextstar | 1st in Nextstar Teen Solos | |
| Talk | Open | Kristyn Abbadin | Showstopper (Anaheim II) | Diamond Winner | |
| 2016 | Nerodia | Open | Zoi Tatopoulos | Rockstar | 1st in Teen Solos |
| Spotlight Dance Cup | Diamond Winner |
Duets
| Year | Dance Name | Dance Style | Choreographer | Other Dancer | Competition | Place Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Car Wash Cuties | Jazz | unknown | Bailey Holt | Showstopper (Anaheim II) | 4th in Mini Competitive Duet/Trio |
| 2013 | Monster | Hip-Hop | unknown | Gabe De Guzman | ||
| 2014 | This Is Us | Hip-Hop | unknown | Bailey Holt | ||
| 2016 | Control | Open | unknown | Gabe De Guzman | ||
| Gumball | Contemporary | Zoi Tatopoulos | Bailey Holt |
Groups
| Year | Dance Name | Dance Style | Choreographer | Other Dancers | Competition | Place Awards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Beat Thieves | Hip-Hop | unknown | unknown | Nextstar | 1st in Junior Groups |
| 2015 | Pink Friday | Hip-Hop | unknown | Hayley Kassel Abbigail Hoogveld Anneston Pisayavong Aubrie Shadday Bailey Holt Kinsley Holt Kioni Gallagher Kylie Rice Becca Perenchio Alexandra Markow |
Starbound - National Talent Competition | |
| Sassy Seven | Jazz | unknown | Kinsley Holt Violet Osmanson Becca Perenchio Rayline Perez Anneston Pisayavong Marissa Temme |
Spotlight Dance Cup | ||
| Six | Jazz | unknown | Bailey Holt Kinsley Holt Becca Perenchio Anneston Pisayavong Marissa Temme |
Nextstar | 1st in Junior Advanced Small Groups | |
| Ethreal | Contemporary | unknown | Haley Huelsman Tessa Wilkinson Chloe Smith Ashtin Roth |
Energy | 2nd in Teen Small Groups |
TV Competition Shows
America's Got Talent
In 2014, Kaycee competed on season 9 of AGT with her dance partner Gabe De Guzman as Kaycee & Gabe, but they were eliminated during Judgment Week. Judge Howie Mandel voted "No", because he felt Gabe was much better than Kaycee. He did not know that she had a broken foot, because she did not tell. Otherwise she would not being allowed to perform on stage and had to let down Gabe.
tWitch & Allison's Kids Dance Challenge
In 2015, the duet with Gabe De Guzman was much more successful on The Ellen DeGeneres Show season 13, where they both won the prize to get a chance being on the Ellen show. At the beginning it was announced that just one kid was allowed on Ellen, but they danced together first round as duo, were been accepted, spitted up for next one and at the end met each other as finalists. However, tWitch & Allison were so amazed by their talent, that they had spoken with Ellen let them both on the show, but they didn't tell, until final duel was battled out. After then they had shown the kids a video of Ellen telling them the good news. On the show, they performed as a quartet with tWitch & Allison, after a short interview with Ellen.
World of Dance
In 2018, on the NBC World of Dance show season 2 she performed with her new partner Sean Lew as Sean & Kaycee, getting second in Divisional Final and they became one of the most popular acts of the show with a lot of special clips and interviews by NBC. They got huge laudatio during the show. Jennifer Lopez eulogized them as with "If anyone in this competition can be called prodigies, it's Sean and his partner Kaycee." ... "You have a real talent" .."technically perfect" ... "You move me in a way I cannot explain sometimes." and actually broke out in tears after Sean & Kaycee had the nerves to perform half of their qualifiers routine blindfolded in front of 8.5 million watchers on national television, making an huge impact in the dance community. Jenna Dewan stated in an interview later: "I swear, they are the future of choreography and dance." After first airing the adorable couple was no longer treated as dance stars, but as common celebrities, who pointed out that they are just best friends and not dating (yet). Scores of rounds see below.
| Qualifiers (Silence) | |
|---|---|
| Ne-Yo | 97 |
| Jennifer Lopez | 96 |
| Derek Hough | 95 |
| AVERAGE | 96 |
| Duels Round (Grimey) | |
|---|---|
| 3 Xtreme | 87 |
| Sean & Kaycee | 93.3 |
| The Cut (Can I Be Him) | |
|---|---|
| Ne-Yo | 88 |
| Jennifer Lopez | 94 |
| Derek Hough | 94 |
| AVERAGE | 92 |
| Divisional Final (The Way I Do) | |
|---|---|
| Ne-Yo | 91 |
| Misty Copeland | 92 |
| Jennifer Lopez | 95 |
| Derek Hough | 91 |
| AVERAGE | 92.3 |
Dance Titles
- Pulse Protégé 2013
- Miss Petite Starquest
- Miss Petite KAR 2010 & 2011
- Miss Petite Encore
- Regional Petite Miss KAR 2012
- Regional Junior Miss Revolution 2014
- Thunderstruck International Top Soloist Title Winner 2010, 2011, & 2012
- Starbound Miss Star of Hope 2012, Rainbow Dancer of the Year 2012, Miss Jr. Nexstar 2012
- Teen Miss Nexstar 2015
- Teen Miss Dance Icon as well as the grand title champion at Thunderstruck's 2015 International Finals.
Runner-Up Titles
- 1st runner up for Regional Junior Miss Rainbow Elite Starz DOY 2012
Gallery
Videos
Fun Facts
- Kaycee began dancing when she was 4 in a half years old and began competing when she was 5 years old.
- Kaycee's favorite style of dance is tap.
- In 2014, Kaycee was dancing around 20 hours per week.
- Kaycee celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah.
- She danced on America's Got Talent with a broken foot and on a national dance completion with a broken arm. Last her dance group won.
- She started practicing Tae Kwon Do before dancing, being certified Blue Belt.
References
- ↑ DailyMail EXCLUSIVE: Katy Perry's Tiny Dancer: How the superstar turned one little girl into an internet sensation
- ↑ Kaycee Rice meets Parker Monhollon
- ↑ Gabe De Guzman and Kaycee Rice Are a Stage Match Made in Hip-Hop Heaven
- ↑ Sean Lew & Kaycee Rice To the Pointe with Kristyn Burtt
- ↑ Sean Lew - "Bloppers" video - Behind the scene of World of Dance
- ↑ Industry Dance Awards 2018 for most fierce dancer under 18
- ↑ Dance brought to you by Just Dance(R) 2019