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The
Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
December 23 - December 29, 2004
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DANCE
December 23, 2004 There is no new Dance story this week. "Am I sweating yet?" December 16, 2004 By Julian Wise
At the center of all this is Kelly Peters, the Island hip-hop impresario who has introduced his raw, kinetic dance routines to scores of Vineyard students. In his latest effort to broaden his hip-hop vision, Mr. Peters is creating a pair of instructional videos which promise to capture the excitement and energy of his live classes. After conferring with the director that the beads of sweat on his forehead aren’t visible on the monitor, he waits while the director counts, “3-2-1 action.” With his trademark grin, he looks into the camera and says, “Hi, this is Kelly Peters. Welcome to the ‘Make It Happen’ dance video.” A constant in Kelly Peters’s dance career is taking things to the next level. He began teaching classes in health clubs and yoga studios with dreams of opening his own studio. Despite high rents and a shortage of commercial space, he succeeded in opening Kelly Peters Dance, the first dedicated hip-hop studio in New England. In the past year he has transformed his core group of students, The KPD crew, into a high-flying hip-hop ensemble that has performed at 6 Flags and on the CBS Early Show. Now, with the upcoming release of the Make It Happen video series, he is poised to go nationwide with his hip-hop gospel. Mr. Peters says the idea for the instructional video was spurred by the low quality of other products on the marketplace. “I’d seen some other videos that were very successful, and I didn’t feel that the teaching was that great,” he says. “The moves were usually too quick to pick up by watching. I thought, ‘what a waste for these kids that really want to learn to dance, that just picked up this tape that’s going to have to sit on the shelf.’” Mr. Peters decided to remedy this by creating two tapes, one for beginners and one for advanced students. He claims his tapes will fill the gaps. “What will separate this from the other products is, people are actually learning to dance. I made a beginner’s tape where I’m literally teaching you how to move your body by using foundational hip-hop party dances and movements.” While he doesn’t want to give any trade secrets away, Mr. Peters hints that the video will feature mirror images that simulate standing behind him in class. “When I say ‘move to the right’ and I’m moving to the right, we’re both moving to the right,” he says. Mr. Peters says part of his mission is preserving the purity of hip-hop dance, something he believes has been diluted by instructors who claim to teach hip-hop but are actually teaching jazz dance to a hip-hop beat. “A lot of studios that offered hip-hop basically capitalized on those six letters,” he says. “ If you put that up in your window, you’re guaranteed business. I would like to try to preserve authentic hip-hop movement.” To ensure a quality production, Mr. Peters presented a Manhattan media investor with a business proposal in September, 2002. Within three weeks he received notice that the investor had approved funding. “The investor believed in what I’m trying to do,” Mr. Peters says. “It’s more than just about dance; I want to reach people in a positive way, and I want to educate people about hip-hop.” Once the funding was secure, Mr. Peters secured the services of Peter Temple, an Emmy award-winning director who teaches at Columbia University. Mr. Temple and his crew transformed the Playhouse into a film set. Jim Parr provided original music with Rico Lumpkin, the Florida producer who worked on the TLC single “Waterfalls.” “If I had three words to describe [director] Peter Temple, they would be brilliant, efficient, and professional,” Mr. Peters says. “He was able to convey and articulate my thoughts and vision. I wanted the set to be very classy but hip-hop, and he was able to do that.” The dance footage is currently being edited at Galen Films in Vineyard Haven, and Mr. Peters anticipates a late-summer release. He hints there’s a big plan for marketing and says his investor has several well-placed media connections. Mr. Peters predicts direct-marketing television ads and promotional tours with himself and his dancers “I have to bring the kids back in time for school in September,” he says. Mr. Peters’ students express excitement at the prospect of appearing nationwide in a video series. Lauren Beford, 17, says, “We’ve always dreamed we could do something like this.” Marguerite Smith, 11, says viewers will be getting the real hip-hop deal. “Kelly Peters’ hip-hop is different from other kinds,” she says. “I don’t think I’d learn it from anyone else.” While the video has commercial prospects, Mr. Peters says the ultimate rewards are intangible. “It’s the look on my kids’ faces, to see their excitement, their happiness and passion for what they do. I don’t care if I make a dime from the video. To see them on the day when they walked onto that set, the excitement in their eyes was worth it to me. I feel like I’ve accomplished something major with that. It was worth a million bucks.” Kelly Peters video is available on Dec. 17 at Midnight Farm; Aboveground Records; and Alley’s or at www.kellypetersdance.com. |
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