Join Bartholomew Hall as we sit down with Lexi Maize, founder of Upside Down Dance Networks ahead of Medway's first street dance festival!
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00:00Hello and welcome to Invicta Sport, the only show on your TV dedicated to Kent's sporting action.
00:18Today we're bringing you an interview with Lexi Mays. Originally from Paris, Lexi began street
00:23dancing at the age of 14. After finding success dancing, appearing on screen and even performing
00:29in various dance battles, he then created Upside Down Dance Academy after hopping over to Kent.
00:35We hope you enjoy.
00:43And I'm joined by Lexi in the studio now. Thank you very much for being here. Really good to have you on the programme.
00:49First of all, I want to talk about your journey with street dance. You're originally from Paris.
00:54You began dancing just as a teenager. Tell me about some of those early inspirations.
00:58What led you to it?
00:59So, my early inspiration was Michael Jackson and Usher. And then, so, my sister got me into, like, a club and stuff like that with my mum.
01:12And then I started to dance with my first teacher called Loic, you know. So, yeah.
01:19And what, I mean, how did you go from something that was, you know, just a bit of an interest, something that you just enjoyed doing, to then going, well, maybe I could do this as a career.
01:26Maybe I could dance for the rest of my life.
01:28So, I didn't know that I could do it as a career. I just started from Fern and then, eventually, I got good at it.
01:37And then, I realised that people was on during seeing me dance in school. And then, from the school, you know, that's when the, you know, the trend started, basically, yeah.
01:50And I know that, you know, street dance is really popular on social media now. And we've got a few clips to play in a bit of time.
01:56Some of your own clips. Back then, 1999, how did you get the word spread about your own work?
02:03Oh, okay. So, before, it was just word of mouth. Because, like, I started to dance before social media and, you know, YouTube was starting and everything.
02:15And then, so, yeah, YouTube was the main access where we could watch videos of dancers and stuff.
02:22So, it was just about putting yourself out there. And then, you just had to be at every event so that people could just speak about you, basically, yeah.
02:34And then, moving to the UK as well, what was the sort of difference you noticed straight away in terms of the scene in Paris compared to Kent?
02:41So, in Paris, the scene was, like, really on the ground. So, we used to train in, like, malls, shopping malls and stuff, a place called La Défense.
02:51Like, close from Paris. And then, all the dancers used to go there. And then, so it was between that and the club around our daily lifestyle and jobs and stuff like that.
03:03And then, so, I was teaching over there. And then, I decided to do the same thing in the UK.
03:10But when I came to the UK, I saw that the scene here was more commercial. You know, it was more, like, to do with TV, news, like, movies, all of those kind of things.
03:24Like, dancing for artists and stuff like this, which was, like, a little bit different because in Paris, the focus was more on underground battles. Yes.
03:35So, was it more, sort of, self-expression over in Paris, whereas here, maybe you have to, sort of, conform a bit more to what people want in order to be able to get the jobs?
03:43Yes. So, two things. It's like, in Paris, you could just do battles every week and stuff like that. And you could also have, like, free spaces to train and free, a lot of freeness, you know.
03:58And then, when I came to the UK, you had to pay for studio, you had to pay for everything. It was just a different way of doing things.
04:08We used to have some space, a space called the Trocadero in Piccadilly, but that place shut down and stuff like that.
04:16So, it was not really easy in the UK to transition on that level. Yeah.
04:22But, obviously, you know, you've fought through and you've coached now. You've made some of your own groups as well. Tell me about that. I mean, you know, you've danced everywhere.
04:31Tell me about that sort of growth because, you know, you've powered through.
04:34Yes. So, me being in the UK, when I first arrived in the UK, I had the opportunity to meet, like, Madonna.
04:42I had the opportunity to, through other dancers, like Big Abdillo. And then, we also, I also did, like, movies to dance for D2.
04:51And, like, a couple of other opportunities, you know, where I got to be a movement artist in a couple of productions, cast for different theatre and productions and stuff like that.
05:05But then, now, my focus is more on, like, transmitting to children and young people how to dance, how to become street dancers, versatile street dancers, not just in one style, but in different dance styles.
05:20And then, if they have the commitment and if they have the passion as well, maybe they could follow my footsteps or in the sense where they could themselves become dancers, choreographers or dance teachers and then transmit to the next generations.
05:39So, I've started the work, like, back in 2008, 2009. And then, now, we have a couple of, like, all my old students that have now become teachers now.
05:52So, now, they teach other kids and other young people and stuff like that. So, it's just like a cycle of transmission.
05:59I mean, it's fantastic. I mean, is there something about sort of young people who have that sort of energy about them, that commitment, that means, you know, you have to sort of grab that early on to make sure that they can,
06:08they can power through and follow in your footsteps, as you say.
06:11Yeah, no, it's not just my footsteps, but it's like, you know, all the people that made it, it's really rare to see, like, a young person starting from maybe age six and then becoming, like, a professional dancer, for example.
06:26You know, this will have to be an end-on-end walk with the parents and everybody involved, you know, just to make sure that this happens and then we support the young people.
06:37We support the young talent all the way. But so, but in essence, so what I'm trying to transmit is what has been transmitted to me because I'm also working into the footstep of the people before me.
06:51So now we're just trying to transmit the culture through what I got from them and I'm just transferring that to them and then also merging both worlds, which is introducing them to the people that taught me and to the people that also initiated the dance styles.
07:11And I suppose it's all about that coaching, that mentorship that is able to then build a community here in Kent as well. So tell me about Upside Down Dance Academy. You set it up here as a sort of base for people to sort of foster that talent that you talk about.
07:24So Upside Down Dance Academy is mostly for the adults to train, to train anybody that wants to learn how to become a dance teacher or dancer or choreographer or just want to learn how to dance for whatever purposes.
07:40And then we have USDT kids and USD kids is the focus is on the kids from 6 to 18 and for the same similar purposes. And then we do competitions and then we take them competitions and hopefully we'll take them abroad as well to do international competitions as well.
08:01It doesn't matter if it doesn't matter if it's break dancing, hip hop, popping, you know, whatever street dance styles. And then we also have a social community aspect, which is the USDT community where we offer free social dance jams for just to entertain the culture so that people that may not know what it is and then they will just want to have a quick look of what this is.
08:24So every week we are hosting sessions in London and hopefully here in Midway where people can just come and have a tester and see what the street dance is about and what it's like basically.
08:38And how important is that culture to understand in order to go on and not just be a professional, but just to be, you know, a successful dancer?
08:45It's really important because, you know, often what I find is in London is that people are taking it too seriously. And then the fact that if you take something too seriously, it just like takes away the main thing, which is dance and dance is supposed to be a fun thing.
09:03So it's just about engaging them for dance and play. And then eventually if we see that, you know, that talented and they want to develop further, then that's a different conversation, you know, so that's what we do with USDT Network.
09:16So and then just to clarify, USDT Networks is like this involves USD Academy, USDT Kids and then now we've got USDT Festival that englobes all the events and the battles and anything competitive.
09:33And we also do online classes, courses and, you know, everything that a football club will do.
09:40I mean, it's fantastic work that you do and so much that's going on, but I suppose we can't really sort of talk about it without actually looking at it and enjoying it and breaking it apart.
09:48So we've got a couple of clips to play of some of your own dancing. Let's take a look at one of them now.
09:52And I was just hoping you could sort of walk me through what we're looking at here.
09:56Oh, haha. So that was me when the locks was shorter. So me practicing. I think I was doing hip hop. Yes. And then, yeah, this was me training.
10:12And then so this is the after session while when I'm done teaching somebody or when I'm done with the class to spend extra time in the studio just to practice. Yeah.
10:23Yeah. And I mean, you know, it's such a physical thing, dance. I know we spoke to a lot of athletes on this program as well.
10:29How important is it to, you know, to make sure you are fit and healthy in order to be able to do this?
10:33So dance in itself, dancing. So I teach, I teach and I train six days a week.
10:42So that that in itself is like a workout. And then and I don't miss some really, I can say, committed to my training sessions.
10:53But then other things that dancers sometimes include is like gym workouts and stuff like that or calisthenics and stuff like this.
11:03And just to make sure that we we build body strength and everything to go with it.
11:08So then we can get more creative and we have more flexibility.
11:12All right. Well, I'm assuming lots of like core strength as well.
11:15Yeah, core strength.
11:16Very important. OK, well, thank you very much for sharing your story.
11:19And we're going to take a quick break now.
11:20But when we come back, we're going to talk about the the Medway Dance Festival,
11:24which is just coming in just a few weeks time. And there's a lots of exciting things going on.
11:28Yes. Don't forget, you can keep up to date with all the latest football news by reading Kent Online.
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11:48That's it for part one. Join us after the break as we continue our chat with Lexi.
11:58Hello and welcome back to Invicta Sport right here on KMTV.
12:09Today, we're speaking with street dance coach Lexi Mays from the Upside Down Dance Network,
12:15ahead of the inaugural Medway Street Dance Festival.
12:18We hope you enjoy part two of our chat with him.
12:21Let's talk now about the street dance festival that's coming to Medway.
12:24We've got one of your brilliant posters here. Tell me what people can expect.
12:28So people can expect something that they have not seen before.
12:33So like the whole intention behind this festival was for me because sometimes I feel like I'm an alien in here, you know,
12:42because I come from France and then we have all those great dancers over there and stuff.
12:47So I just wanted to give an opportunity for UK dancers and not only UK dancers, people from Medway to experience what I experience when I go abroad.
12:58And then so to bring all the dance artists from America or from France or, you know, other countries in one place, you know, so that it's like as judges like the main figures of the moment maybe.
13:19And then just to give like a test of what it's like to to compete on the street dance high level, you know.
13:29And then so and then so what people can expect is talent, I would say.
13:36I would say and, you know, energy and a lot of energy and a lot of skills.
13:44So hopefully so if you like Michael Jackson, if you like Usher, if you like, you know, all those like dance group that you see on TV, expect more than that.
13:56Love that. Yeah. And you've got loads of events happening throughout the week as well.
13:59What's the sort of overall goal? Because you spoke a bit about just there about sort of building that culture.
14:04What is the scene like here in Medway? Is it sort of dwindling in the numbers?
14:08So the scene in Medway is still at the early stages.
14:14So it's still happening in street dance, in commercial or maybe tap dance or ballet.
14:21The scene might be a bit more strong and stuff like that.
14:25But for street dance, the still is still really new.
14:30And it's not a lot of people that really know or should I say it's not a lot of people that have the right knowledge to transmit to others.
14:41And then to to be able to compete on the international level.
14:45So the aim is to to help forge talent in Medway so that they can represent the UK abroad or even here to to the USDD festival.
14:58That would be fantastic. So what type of person is sort of this sort of designed for, you know, we're talking young people, old people.
15:05What type of mindset do you have to have?
15:07OK, so often people are asking me, oh, yeah, they're saying, oh, I might be too old for this and stuff like this.
15:14The oldest person that is coming to judge the battle is probably close from 65 years old.
15:22So if if you are from this in if you're born in the 70s, 80s, 90s and oldies, then you can come and have a boogie with us.
15:37You can come and watch or you can if you feel like you've got skills, you can enter also.
15:43Yes, absolutely. And of course, we're here on a sports show, so we had to mention it.
15:47And it was sort of one of the headline grabbers at the Olympics last year in Paris was, of course, breakdancing.
15:53What was your reaction to it? Because it did have a mixed, mixed reception.
15:56But from yourself being being part of the street street dance community, you would I'm assuming have loved it.
16:02Yeah, I loved it. I love to see it.
16:05And then I was hoping to see that, you know, a lot of us were hoping that there will be dove.
16:12If breakdancing is in the Olympics, then maybe popping, maybe hip hop will also be, you know, so that's the kind of idea that we the hope that we had and stuff like that.
16:23And then so now we still don't know what's going to happen in the future.
16:27It's like a kind of undecided ish, you know, there's a lot of like talk, some positive talk and then some battles also because of some some elements that has happened for the Olympics and stuff like this.
16:42But I just believe that it should be those kind of things should be organized by people in the street dance industry and and that this should be like a background check just to make sure that those people who they said they are basically in terms of like, have you been competing before?
17:03You know, like people should do like a kind of background check just to make sure that the people that are organizing those things are the right people.
17:13I suppose because as you say, you know, the culture is what makes street dance is not just about doing the moves and, you know, adhering to the rules.
17:20It's about actually, you know, feeling it.
17:22Yeah, it's all about, you know, music and like feeling the beats is the most important.
17:28You know, you have to be able to react to the music.
17:32You have to be able to like feel and sometimes communicate a story, you know, and sometimes you have to be a little bit more cheeky and do crazy skills or crazy technique and stuff like that.
17:45But then, you know, so that's the hope for most dancers.
17:50So let's keep our fingers crossed so that the next time we still have like an Olympic game or something similar to represent street dancers.
18:01And what other sort of competitions are there around?
18:03Because I know we were talking about, you know, battles, you know, sort of underground scene.
18:07But, you know, if somebody wanted to sort of represent their country or their area, what options are there?
18:12So we have the biggest competition in the world at the moment is Just Debout and it's in Paris every March at Bercy.
18:24And then so this is like an event that is celebrating street dance and from all around the world.
18:31So they're getting duos of dancers from Japan, Korea, France, all of the countries.
18:40And then at the end, everybody meets in Paris every March for Just Debout.
18:46And then another big event will be in Amsterdam.
18:50And that event will be called Summer Dance Forever.
18:54And it's like one versus one and also another event that attracts thousands of dancers from every country in the world to come there.
19:06And then we've got a lot more in France also.
19:09Would you say that street dance and the whole scene is maybe overlooked by a lot of people?
19:14A lot of people, the problem I think in the UK is that sometimes you have judges that are not battling.
19:23And are judging street dance battle.
19:27It's like saying you've got football fans that are doing the ref and they're just fans.
19:37They're not actually qualified to be there, but then they still judge the battle.
19:43So now the thing, the aim of this festival was just to like try and correct that by bringing the real figures, you know, because some of the people are coming.
19:57Like, you know, people that taught Michael Jackson, for example, or people that choreographed Maya Carey.
20:03I'm talking about popping Pete and Link, you know, those kind of things. Yeah.
20:07It sounds absolutely brilliant. That's definitely something that people should be, you know, thinking about going along to.
20:12A question that we always ask people on Invicta Sport at the end of our interviews is if you could speak to your younger self again.
20:18What advice, what message would you give to yourself that, you know, that teenager that was just starting out dancing?
20:23I would say don't give up. Your time will come, you know, and then don't listen to people that is trying to put a barrier on your dreams.
20:36Yeah. Well, Lexi from the Upside Down Dance Networks, thank you very much for joining us.
20:40The street dance festival takes place from the 29th to the 1st of June.
20:44I'm sure lots of people will be heading along. Thank you very much for joining us today.
20:47Thank you. There's plenty more sports news, interviews and features available over on our website.
20:52Just go to kmtv.co.uk and click on sport. There you'll see videos like this one.
21:06Well, it was a derby day like no other on the Easter weekend.
21:09Rivalries were put aside and new ones formed, with Aylesford Bulls ladies and Maidstone Rugby club women's joining forces to take on Swale ladies.
21:16Made up of Sheppie, Sittingbourne and Faversham ladies RUFC.
21:21As part of the Mayor of Swale's charity day at the Sheppie Rugby Football Club, the two sides were playing to fundraise for charities like Lupus UK and Seteda.
21:28All while promoting women's rugby in the county.
21:31Women and girls rugby is becoming really big. You know, it's building.
21:35Of course, at the moment we've got England Roses playing in the Six Nations at the moment.
21:41They're playing today as well. So yeah, anything like this is brilliant to get women and girls rugby out there.
21:47Just helping our local two teams as well to do the same and build their numbers so that, you know, you've got then extra local teams to then play and be involved as well.
21:59The Mayor selected the charities when he was elected and said he had the idea for the exhibition match at the club's end of year dinner.
22:05We came up with the idea of actually we could put an event on a Swale trophy.
22:10Initially, we were thinking of having the three sides take part against each other.
22:15And then we actually thought, well, no, hang on.
22:18Favisham and Sydney Warner still developing.
22:20So why not have a combined Swale 15 and have a game that way?
22:25And Sheppie have been fantastic in getting all this arranged with the other two clubs, bringing Maidstone and Aylesford over for the competition.
22:32And hopefully it's going to be a really good day and a really good game and we can raise lots of money for the two charities.
22:37And one of those charities, Cetada, who give advice and support to those struggling with domestic abuse, credit these kind of events with getting their name and their work out there.
22:45It's really important, especially a community event like this, for people to be aware of what we do.
22:51I think people just don't realise that domestic abuse is really prolific in our communities.
22:57And with one in four women being a victim of domestic abuse across their lifetime, we know that our services are never more needed.
23:05In the end, the home advantage wasn't enough.
23:07And despite leading by more than 20 points for the first half, Maidstone and Aylesford won by 42 to 35.
23:17Now, even though Maidstone and Aylesford women's might have clutched the win here, it's also a wider victory for women's grassroots rugby here in Kent.
23:24With Favisham and Sittingbourne not often able to play these types of large games due to limited numbers.
23:30So even though it's been a day of tackling your opponent, they've also been tackling larger issues at the same time.
23:35Finn McDermid for KMTV in the Isle of Sheppey.
23:39That's it from us on today's episode of Invicta Sport.
23:42Don't forget there's plenty more sports news, interviews and features from right across the county available on our website.
23:47Let's go to our website.