MAN. where do i begin with this video. i guess i'll start with the idea. a couple weeks out before urban paradise i got the honor of being asked to perform with my boys at the event by pat cruz and we all jumped on the opportunity. the only question was what we would do.

at some point i asked someone who's opinion i really respect and they challenged me to do something classic and timeless. specifically this marvin gaye song. seizing the challenge immediately i still knew the piece would need some type of a period or ending because the original song stays in the relaxed groove all the way till the end...i sat on this for a minute. then i remembered that since i had posted my choreography to lido's flip of the kanye album, lido and i had exchanged some messages about working together at some point but hadn't gotten around to it so i thought this might be the perfect opportunity. within a few days my new friend lido and i were chillin in a studio and kickin it around noho working on this mix from scratch. let me tell you something THIS MAN IS A PRODUCTION BEAST GENIUS. i felt like i've never made a beat in my life watching this dude fly through creating music. the work process of blending ideas of what i had and what he had was completely seamless. truly a dream come true for a choreographer...and trust me there will be more to come.

from there we still had to MAKE the piece itself with only 5 days before the event. since a lot of my normal young lions were booked or busy i assembled a team of a few OG young lions with a mix of brand NEW ones and gave it whirl. we created the dance from scratch that week and somehow all made it on that stage and made it happen. currently still pleasantly shocked at the result (sometimes i can bite off a little more than i can chew when it comes to work load hahaha). i'm so proud of these boys and so thankful to have Lido's time, effort, and NASTY contribution to what made this piece complete, and most of all i had SO MUCH FUN GETTING DOWN OUT THERE. Thank you Urban Paradise for hosting such a loving event. and thank you to Vibrancy for grabbing the footage. hopefully this may inspire one of you to do something you never thought you'd do before. lets keep this shit pushin.

love,
ian.

dancers : trevor takemoto, bong buno, hugh aparente, noah tratree, julian deguzman, dylan cheek, dallas atrillo, aidan gibney.

choreography by : ian eastwood

cinematography : vibrancy