Dancer performs incredible “hip hop vs. ballet” routine earning 8.2M views
Annika Verplancke is one of those dancers that people can’t seem to get enough of. She has been seen all across the world and is an incredible dancer and performer. Even with her other videos, people can’t get enough of her performance at the Youth America Grand Prix European semi-finals.
It makes sense, however. The routine is INCREDIBLE.
Choreographed by Magali Berael and Fundi Omari, the routine is set to the song “Heart Cry” and is one of the most unique musical pieces ever seen. Anika performs the song from two perspectives – the first is a ballet dancer, and the second is a hip hop dancer. The crazy part is that she does them both at the same time.
Anika is only 13 at the time!
To make matters even crazier, Anika was only 13 when she performed this fantastic dance. Dressed the part, her left side was covered in hip hop style clothing, and her right side was in a half tutu and ballet shoes.
When she started dancing, it was stunning.
Whenever Anika danced on her right side (our left), she would gracefully pirouette and lunge around the stage. When she favored her left side (our right), she completely changed her style, going for a faster and more modern style.
It was a dance battle – with herself!
While some people compete against others in dance battles, Anika took that challenge personally. With the same song playing, she competed against herself, pitting her skills and two styles against each other in a dazzling performance.
Which side do you think won?
From our perspective, it’s tough to tell. Years later, people are still debating in the comments! While we have no idea if there is really an answer, people don’t seem to care. The video has 8.5 million views and has been seen all over the world.
Who even is Anika?
Anika is a Belgian-American dancer who studied in Cannes at Ecole Supérieure de Danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower (quite the name) and Julliard School in New York. While most people can only hope to get into one, she went to both!
She has won awards all across the world and continues to gather more.
Imagine all the trophies she has on her home bookshelf! While most of us have our 3rd place soccer trophy from 5th grade, Anika is on a whole different level.
Watching her performance, it’s not hard to imagine why.
Even now, in 2020, Anika is trying to be active. It has been a tough year for performers, but Anika has been enjoying the time off. She has gotten into yoga and is finding out what she truly values.
“I feel like once quarantine started, I immediately found myself reflecting on the past. My whole dance career education and starting to question why am I doing what I’m doing. What are these patterns that I’ve created over time? Good habits, as well as bad habits – why are they there? And what do I really want to do in life? So, kind of deep questions, but it was nice to actually be able to ask myself these questions and think about them,” she said.
Check out the video below!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
Source: YouTube, See It Live